When Bernie went back to the office, Serena told her that two people frantic with worry had arrived at Holby early in the morning: "One of them was a Colonel Something and the other a young woman. She was rather agitated, but not a relative, apparently – she said she was a colleague. They seemed anxious about the quality of the care at Holby." Bernie smiled at Serena's obvious indignation.

"When I said you used to be an army surgeon, they calmed down a bit. Anyway, they didn't really say if she was Forces – I got the impression she might be MI5 or MI6."

Bernie's eyebrows rose: "Really?"

"Maybe – but it's none of your concern – not for the next two days at least."

"Why on earth?"

"Bernie! Don't tell me you've forgotten you're representing Holby at a Trauma Conference at the Royal Hospital in Liverpool?" Serena sounded exasperated. Bernie bit her lip: "Oh, yes – that – sorry, it clean went out of my mind. I've been a little …distracted."

Seeing Bernie's sudden hangdog expression, Serena softened: "What is it?"

"It's …my husband - Marcus… He's being difficult about the separation. I expected that, but … And he got the kids to write statements, too. I knew I wasn't mother-of-the-year material but …"

"I see."

"I thought I'd explained – you know, why I had chosen that job, why I wasn't at home with them, but apparently I went about it the wrong way. I knew it wouldn't be easy for them, but I thought that as long as they had their father, they would be all right."

Serena smiled sympathetically: "Come on! Stop beating yourself up. They are all right, aren't they ?"

Bernie sighed: "Depends on what you mean by all right. Straight-A student Charlotte has decided she doesn't want to study Modern Languages anymore, she ditched uni to go woofing in Italy, and Cameron …" She sighed again: "When he said he wanted to go to med school, I was so proud… I thought …well, I thought I'd done something right, you know. And then, in his first year at med school, he got into a …festive… crowd. They partied a lot, and they experimented a lot too. After several warnings from the uni, they were going to send him down… I think Marcus pulled some strings – I was in Afghan at the time – anyways, they allowed him to drop out. And since then … well since then, he's been working on and off in bars and fast food chains. I'm sure he still smokes, too. Anyway, he doesn't want to talk to me anymore, and I ….Oh God, Serena! What have I done wrong?"

Bernie put her head in her hands and groaned: "Actually, don't answer that. I should have been there for them."

Serena stood up and came to put a comforting hand on Bernie's shoulder: "Good thing you're going to Liverpool – a change is as good as a rest, or so they say." Bernie lifted her head towards her colleague: "Couldn't you go instead of me? I hate public speaking. And …I'd like to keep an eye of that Kate Stewart – she's just been through a major surgery, and …"

"And nothing. We'll take care of her. And I can't go, because you're the expert in Trauma surgery, for one, and moreover, I have meetings I need to attend here. You'll be fine."

Kate blinked several times. Where was she? Her vision was blurry, her head ached, her throat felt raw and dry. She couldn't focus, she felt disorientated and weak all over. She tried to sit up, but found she couldn't. A rushing sound filled her ears, and she retched. Someone handled her a basin, but she had nothing to throw up – only a trickle of bile. She tried to open her eyes properly but the harsh glare of the neon lights hurt. Actually, everything hurt – even moving her thumb felt like an impossible task.

"What …where …" The words came out slurred and her tongue struggled to form a complete sentence.

"Don't try to speak just yet, Ms Stewart. We've just taken the intubator out, take your time. You're at Holby Hospital, and you've had an accident. You're going to be fine, but you've taken quite a battering."

"Not …the…first time."

"Ms Stewart, please! It will hurt less if you don't speak."

Kate shut her eyes again. An accident – what accident? Why couldn't she remember anything?

A little later, she heard someone come into the room again. Not the nurse – not the same footsteps. She forced herself to open her eyes – she had to know what was happening. She focused on the person standing at the foot of the bed, and wondered why the dark-haired woman looked so stunned. Even thought she was obviously trying to control her facial expression, Kate had been trained to notice such things, and it was obvious to her that the woman had had a shock.

Composing herself, Serena came nearer the bed and squirted her hands with antiseptic solution: "Good morning, Ms Stewart – I'm Serena Campbell, one of the consultants. It appears you're recovering very well. You'll be able to have visitors soon. You've had two already, but you were still in the recovery room. Is there anyone we can contact for you?"

Kate shook her head and immediately regretted it as it sent waves of pain inside her brain. She still couldn't remember what had brought her in that bed, but it must have been quite an ordeal, because she hadn't been in such pain for a long time …probably not since her sons' births. The IV in her wrist added an unwelcome burning and pulling sensation to her overall discomfort. She gingerly extended her right hand to her face and felt the bandages over her nose. The dark-haired consultant had seen her gesture, and told her that a plastic surgeon would come to see her shortly. Kate didn't really care about her looks, she was more interested in knowing when she could get out of this hospital, but she was too weak to argue.

Serena left the room, satisfied that the patient was as well as could be – some of her bloods weren't back to normal yet, and her heartbeat still a little below the normal range, but that was to be expected. Back in her office, she sat down heavily and stared at the empty chair on the other side of the desk. She'd had a shock – even though the patient's face was covered in darkening bruises, and she sported a huge bandage on her nose, she was the spitting image of... Surely that was not possible? She didn't know a lot about Bernie Wolfe's family, but surely her colleague would have told her if she had a sister – actually, Serena distinctively remembered Bernie telling her she was an only child like her – well, like her before she'd known she had a sister. Moreover, she had mentioned the surgeon's name to Ms Stewart's colleagues, and it didn't seem to ring a bell. For one moment she thought she must have drunk too much the night before, but she remembered she hadn't had alcohol for …a few days, since the weekend. She wondered if she could phone Bernie and ask her, but quickly decided not too – she didn't fancy being laughed at. She would wait until her return.