Here's a list of characters involved: Mr Hansen, Angus Farrell (Chairman), Mr T, Mo, Elliot, Tara, Ollie, Jac, Jonny, Zosia, Dom, Arthur, Guy, Colette, Jesse, Sacha, Michael, Essie, Serena, Ric, Harry, Mary-Claire, Raf, Fletch, Cara and Morven!

I'm trying to 'broaden my horizon' as it were, because I want to write for more characters than I usually do but I think I've ended up going a little overboard! This will be about 10 chapters long and there will be more of certain characters than others but everyone will be involved as much as they can be :)

Chapter One - Getting Ready

Following a recent staff survey, the Holby City NHS Trust had decided to run an annual awards ceremony after they found that they were succeeding in all areas but one: making their staff feel valued. For some, it was going to be a nice night out; an opportunity to dress up for the evening, enjoy a free bar and stay in a hotel overnight free of charge. But for others, it wasn't necessarily something to look forward too…

"Can I come in?" Jonny asked as he knocked on the bedroom door.

"Yeah." Upon hearing her reply, Jonny opened the door with his 1 year old daughter balanced on his hip. He had black trousers, a white shirt, black tie and blazer on and looked very suave but at the bottom of the white shirt was a green stain owing to Emma and her curious nature during finger painting. "You look…" He trailed off as he looked at her stunning figure. She was wearing a midnight blue, strapless evening gown with matching high heels and for a change she had her hair down and lightly curled.

"Your shirt is already marked enough as it is, I don't think you need a dribble stain on it too." Jac remarked.

"Sorry it's just… are you sure you're Emma's mum? Because you look like you couldn't possibly be anyone's mum." He grinned at her physique.

"I've got the 5 inch scar on my abdomen to prove it."

"I know you have, I get a glance of it every morning in the shower." He said playfully.

"Just tuck your shirt in." She ordered. "It'd be great if you looked somewhat presentable."

"Why don't you do it for me?" Jonny whispered seductively.

"Not now, we're already running late." Jac complained. "We still need to drop Emma off at the Nanny's place."

"Which wouldn't be a problem if you weren't so paranoid that you won't let anyone be in this apartment without you being here." Jonny added.

"Sorry I'm a bit early."

"No, no. It's fine. The taxi should be here in ten minutes." Mo stated as she let Derwood Thompson into her house. She closed the front door behind him and then lead him through to the kitchen which was slightly cluttered with a basket of washing sitting on the side and odd shoes dotted around on the floor. The fridge was covered in pictures of her on nights out, her and Jonny and of Emma throughout her first year of life.

"Wow, Mo you look amazing."

"Aw thanks Mr T." Mo smiled. "Do you want a glass of wine?" She asked.

"Already?" Mr T smirked.

"Already? Jesse and Adele probably started around midday." Mo laughed.

"I thought Adele wasn't coming." Mr T frowned.

"She's not, I'm just messing with ya. With the amount of medication she's on after the attack, if she had any alcohol her liver would probably pack up."

"Well at least you'd know how to get a replacement eh? What with the transplant team." He smiled nervously. "Do you think you'll win anything tonight?"

"Probably not." She replied simply. "It'll be nice to have a night out though. And you can't complain about the board picking up the tab. They're paying for the taxi, the booze and a night at the hotel… Just shows how unwell Adele must feel if she's giving it a miss." She shrugged.

"Excited about the speeches?" Michael Spence asked as he, Sacha and Essie sat in the taxi on the way to the Bristol Marriott Hotel where the event was being held. As clinical skills tutor, Sacha had been asked to present the junior doctor awards and that meant he had to give the speeches for them.

"Don't. I keep on getting part of a speech about one of them mixed up with the other when I know them all so well." Sacha admitted.

"Then don't read the speech from your cards, just tell people why they've won the award that they've got." Michael suggested.

"I've told him that but he's spent so bloody long writing the speeches that he doesn't want them to go to waste." Essie stated as she looked at her partner who was flicking through lined index cards that Rachael had had left over from revision.

"Well let me help with that." Michael said as he took the small cards from Sacha's hands, ripped them in half and then cracked the window open by an inch and let them go.

"I can't believe you just did that." Sacha gasped.

"Honestly Sacha, you'll be better off without them."

"He's right. You'll be a lot more entertaining making it up on the spot than you will reading things off of a card." Essie stated.

"Just make sure you have a few beers before you do get up on stage to calm the nerves. But not so many that your nerves disappear and are replaced by arrogance." Michael said sternly.

"Come on bumhead. You can tie your shoes in the taxi." Tara stated as she stood by the front door and watched the taxi pull up outside of their ground floor flat with Elliot Hope already sitting in it.

"No I can't, I'll fall over on the way to the taxi." Ollie protested. He finished tying his laces before he pulled the bottom of his navy blue trousers over his socks, straightened out his matching blazer and followed his wife out the front door.

"Have you got your wallet?" Tara asked as her husband locked the front door.

"I don't need my wallet, it's a free bar." Ollie replied bluntly.

"Phone?"

"I put it in your bag." He confirmed with a nod.

"We're forgetting something, I know we are." Tara said with a frown.

"I'm sure it's nothing important. Come on–"

"Our overnight bags!"

"Okay maybe it was something important." Ollie couldn't help but smile as he fiddled with the keys to unlock the front door once more.

"Do we really have to share a taxi with your dad?" Dom complained as he sat in the vehicle with his two flatmates on the way to the neurosurgeon's home.

"I told him to go in the taxi with Colette, Fletch and Jesse but he's had an argument with Jesse and is too pathetic to spend 20 minutes in the same car as him." Zosia remarked. She had a long-sleeved dark blue dress on that just about covered her knees as well as a pair of dark blue and black lace high heels.

"I'm telling you now, I am going to need a lot of alcohol to get me through tonight." He declared.

"Just remember that all the board members and Mr Hansen will be there." Arthur warned.

"I don't care about Mr Hansen anymore. If he doesn't like me for the doctor that I am, then that's his loss."

"Or yours if he decides to fire you." Zosia quipped.

"Haha." Dom mocked sarcastically as the taxi came to a halt and then the side door slid open.

"Good evening everyone." Guy smiled as he jumped in and sat next to his daughter, facing the two other males in the back of the car. "Please tell me you know how to do a bow tie."

"You owe me a fiver." Zosia smiled sweetly at Dom.

"Dammit." He muttered.

"You betted that I'd need help with my tie?" Guy frowned as his daughter began fiddling with the black tangled knot he had created around his neck.

"Yeah, and Dom happily obliged because he thought there was no way that a fully grown man couldn't do his own tie." Zosia smiled.

"It's not my fault. Your mother always used to do it for me and now it's your job." Guy stated. "In fact, she bought me this bow tie for a celebration at work about a decade ago." He stated.

"Mama bought you this?" Zosia questioned.

"Yes, why?"

"Well it just explains why it's not hideous like the rest of your ties."

"Hideous?"

"Sorry but your floral tie is awful."

"Sacha wears flowery stuff all the time."

"Yes but Sacha looks just as bad as you do." Dom muttered to himself.

The final taxi to get underway was a little more crowded than the others. Harry, Mary-Claire, Raf, Cara and Morven were crammed into a taxi on their way to the hall after a minor crisis had meant that Harry had had to run back inside to get changed – he and Raf had been wearing exactly the same tie from the same shop and the three women in the vehicle were insistent that they couldn't turn up wearing the same one.

"So how much have you two had to drink so far?" Raf asked curiously.

"I haven't had that much." Mary-Claire protested.

"And I only started because she started. What kind of man would I be if I let a lady drink alone?" Harry replied.

"You'd be better one if you stopped her from drinking until tonight and make the most of the free booze to save money." Cara joked.

"Like he has to worry about money." Mary-Claire laughed.

Serena huffed as the taxi she was in pulled up outside of a house she knew was home to Angus Farrell, the hospital's chairman.

"Did Hansen really have to put us in a taxi with him?" She sighed. "I originally intended not to take advantage of the free bar tonight but I may have to if I have to put up with him." She muttered.

"Well, let's hope there's a bottle of Shiraz cooling as we speak." Ric replied before he switched seats to make room as the door opened and the chairman himself climbed in.

"Good evening." Angus said civilly.

"Evening." Ric nodded. "Have you been looking forward to tonight?" He asked to make conversation.

"Not really no. Personally, I think it's a huge waste of money but the chief executive officer of NHS England has had a real drive on employee satisfaction lately and we're forced to abide by it." Angus replied. Serena rolled her eyes at the egocentric man before she glanced out of the window to watch the journey to the hotel. With the presence of such an intolerable man, it was sure to be a long journey…

"Good evening." Elliot smiled as Jonny held his hand out to help his partner into the taxi before he climbed in himself and closed the door. "Did Emma go to the Nanny's place okay?"

"Oh aye, she's probably being read her bedtime story by now." Jonny replied. "So, anyone thing they're going to get an award tonight?" He asked. They all knew the award titles and the nominations as it was in the programme they received along with their invitation to the event.

"I reckon Tara's got a good shot at getting the F1 award." Ollie stated.

"Ollie." She whispered.

"No, I'm serious. It's between you, Morven on AAU and Katie in radiology – the others haven't got a chance." He assured his wife.

"I reckon the consultant of the year award is the one I'm most looking forward to. Aside from nurse of the year of course. There're just so many nominations for it and we've got two of the nominees in the car." Jonny stated. "Even Mr Hansen is nominated for it. Though I'd love to know who put his name forward…"

Henrik Hanssen, CEO, was stood at the centre of the stage overlooking the large hall that had been booked with the hotel that was located a little way out of Holby, but they had had to have found somewhere big enough to host the celebration event. As planned, he was early so that he could check everything was going as planned. Circular tables perfectly arranged, laid with name labels, clean wine and champagne glasses, programmes and bar lists. Upstairs, hotel rooms were reserved for almost all of the attendees and the hotel staff were still running around doing last minute preparations. There were dozens of tables with at least one for each department; Darwin, Keller, AAU, Obs and Gynae, A&E, Pharmacy, Radiology, Oncology, Paediatrics, Psychiatry, Orthopaedics and many more.

Perfection was something that Mr Hanssen was rather fond of and he hoped it would be a word used to describe the celebration year after year. He just had to hope that everything would go smoothly…

Please leave a review and let me know what you think of the first chapter :)