A/N: I actually don't know where this came from. It was late last night - or early this morning, depending on how you look at it. Anyways, I was half-asleep when my imagination spurted this out, so I won't be surprised if it doesn't even make sense.

Sarah x

Serena sat at the table in the staff room, and she wished she was in theatre instead. She didn't enjoy having her hand temporarily emptied of a scalpel, and her mind forced to think of a daughter who had just caused her one nightmare of a shift. She would rather be busy in an operating theatre but, because her patient was not stable enough, it simply was not an option. So, here she sat, with Gabby's medical records, wondering how she'd screwed up. Speaking to Ric Griffin with their conversation varying from her defence of her decisions to Ric revealing to her that his son, Leo, had died.

And Ric was about to sit down with her to help her work it out, but her pager went off before he even sat next to her. As they rushed to Gabby's side, something occurred to Serena: in that short conversation, she had said "sorry" to Ric Griffin three times. That was a word she barely used. Ever.

By the time she'd spoken to Eleanor, and her daughter had confessed to faking her friend's urine sample, she had more than enough. She was stressed, which was an achievement in itself, and she was tired of being taken for a fool. Did Eleanor actually believe that she's done Gabby a favour by lying for her? It was quite possibly the most reckless and moronic thing she'd done in her seventeen years.

She sought a refuge of some sort, and she found it on the stairs, as abandoned as they were at this time of the night. She leaned against the vertical railings and let her head fall towards one of the bars, as it rested for the first time all night. She'd forgotten the mess a teenager and her friend could cause. And she had a nasty feeling that they were not the only ones drunk and higher than the moon. She hoped she was wrong, but she had a suspicion that her home was an absolute tip. Just brilliant.

She was not used to feeling this way, so desperately frustrated, tired and stressed out. She was normally strong, calm, a good manager. Tonight, she was struggling to manage herself, never mind the rest of the ward. Why, why, did Eleanor have to do this tonight, when she had four operations to do before midnight, trying to secure an important contract for the hospital? She'd had to come out of theatre twice for Gabby, and only to discover they'd both been on drugs.

She was a mother as well as a surgeon, and she knew she often left her daughter to her own devices, and trusting her was occasionally a mistake, but not on a scale this monumental. If the urine test hadn't been tampered with, they would know Gabby was pregnant and would have not ruled out complications in pregnancy as the cause of her deteriorating condition. How could anyone be so stupid?

The girls thought Serena was "cool" as they put it, but there was only so much even the coolest person could take. And Serena was cool and collected and calm. Normally. When there was not a worry for her daughter's safety, and she was not concerned about their habits and idiocy. Surely, especially with a doctor for a mother, Eleanor knew better than to even touch drugs.

Her eyes were closed and she was remembering when Eleanor was a child, about eight, and her version of a good night out was a film and then pizza and chips with her mum. How easy it was to look after her then. And now, she was reckless and couldn't even be trusted not to put herself in danger when her mother left her at night, for a night shift. It wasn't like Serena was going out and getting drunk at night; she wasn't setting that kind of example to her girl, for crying out loud. Eleanor was left alone at night because working on a surgical ward in a busy hospital necessitated in taking a night shift when it was required of her.

There was the sound of footsteps that stopped right in front of her, and she knew who was there. She didn't even need to look to know that Ric had figured out where she disappeared to. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him, and her eyes said, for a fourth time tonight, "Sorry." She said nothing; she knew she didn't need to.

Surprising her, Ric extended a hand for her to take, without a word, to lead her back to her ward. Back into the firing line. She cautiously took it, and he pulled her up to her feet. They exchanged a look that plainly said, "I'll hang fire if you will. We need each other's support."

When he was guiding her back to the war zone that was Keller ward – at least while Eleanor and Serena Campbell were there with, one drunk and the other under pressure – she swore that, just for a moment, his hand tightened around hers. It was a display of moral and emotional support she had not expected from him.

So she squeezed her fingers around his hand, very quickly, to show that she knew he was on her side this time. He opened the door for her, and she took a deep breath before she stepped through it. His hand was still holding hers, and she looked at him briefly. She she gripped his hand with more strength that usual, just for a few seconds, so he knew his effort was appreciated. And then she stepped back into the ward, where Gabby and Eleanor were, where she was under strain to be a mother, doctor, manager and calm person, all at the one time.

When she reached the girls to check on them, she looked over her shoulder, finding Ric standing with another patient. She gave him a slight smile that said, "Thank you."

He returned it discreetly, and it replied, "You're very welcome."

Hope this is OK!

Please leave a review and tell me what you think!

Sarah x