Cold Kisses

The snow was coming down thick and fast onto Zoe Hanna's windscreen as she drove the short distance from her house to Holby ED. Outside, the snow was laying on top of the numerous inches that had already fallen on the pavements and was fast replacing the snow on the road that had been removed not moments before. The truth was that the snow was falling quicker than it could be cleared, leaving the council workers with an impossible job.

The ED, and Zoe's normal parking space, could barely be seen right in front of her as the snow fell to heavily for really anything to be visible. The radio again burst into a traffic announcement as yet more roads were pronounced closed and again warned people to stay inside if possible. Managing to safely park in what resembled her space, Zoe got out of the car and again question why she had not dressed sensibly. The body con dress did a lot for her figure as it hugged her curves but little for her temperature as it came to a stop just above her knee.

"Always the sensible one I see Dr Hanna." Came a cheeky voice from behind her.

"I didn't realise that it was this bad, I thought the news was over exaggerating things again and by the time I realised that they weren't I didn't have the time to change." Zoe spoke as he stood next to her and they waded into the ED together.

"Not even your shoes?" Max laughed as he looked down at the 6 inch, expensive looking heels that she was wearing and shook his head slightly.

"Nothing is worth losing the shoes." Zoe reiterated, seeing as he clearly hadn't got it from when Robyn had seen her shoes and she'd had to wear trainers all day.

"They look like you're maybe going to have to lose them." Max pointed out as the shoes were wet through from wading through the snow between her car door and the ED entrance.

"Where is everyone Robert?" Zoe asked the man on reception as the silence she could hear shocked her, and then noticed that the waiting room was empty.

"Everyone's inside because of the weather, Louise and Noel have already rang in to say they can't get in and Staff Nurse Freeman seems to be facing the same problem through there." Robert told them before the phone rang again and the pair left to walk through to Zoe's office.

"Zoe! You made it in!" Rita cheered happily.

"Yeah, it seems plenty haven't though. I've only seen you and Max." Zoe replied, again seeing a lack of patients as she looked around. "Have we got anyone in?" She asked as Rita saw we looking around.

"A man in resus awaiting his theatre slot, Lily is through there with him as is Tash. There's an elderly woman in cubicle five awaiting a bed to become free on ward and then a baby with a rash in cubicle two who is waiting to be seen." Rita caught her up.

"I'll go and see to the baby then. Is any other staff in?"

"No, just those whom I've mentioned."

"Hettie Carter?" Zoe asked as she pulled back the curtain to the cubicle and entered.

"Yeah, I'm her mother, Lisa."

"How old is Hettie, Mrs Carter?" Zoe asked as she saw the rash protruding above the baby gro.

"8 months, she's had this rash all night. I thought she might have been too hot because of all the heating but I turned it down and it didn't even go down slightly.

"Has she got any allergies?"

"No."

"It could just be a reaction to the cold, some people have sensitive skin and this happens in extreme temperature change. Has she otherwise been well?"

"Yeah, she hasn't even had a sniffle." Lisa told Zoe.

"Okay, well we'll monitor her for a couple of hours just to make sure there's nothing else going on and then we can discharge you." Zoe said as she checked the baby's temperature and found it normal. "If there's any problems then press that call button and me or one of my colleague will be right through." Zoe said as she left the cubicle.

"Any luck with staff?" Zoe asked as she spotted Rita.

"No one is able to come in although we've heard nothing from Mrs Beauchamp."

"Okay. Is anyone waiting in reception?"

"No and by the sounds of it it's unlikely too. The roads to Holby hospital have been blocked off due to the snow, not even the ambulances can get in, everything is being diverted to St James. No one can get in and we can't get out."