Tom dropped Ellie-May off at her nursery and then drove to work. On the way, he thought about Sam. He'd never seen her like that before, she was rarely ill and if she was it wouldn't be more than a cold, and she would deny even feeling a tiny bit lousy, never mind take painkillers.
Tom parked the car and walked into the ED where he and Sam worked before heading to the staffroom. He found Zoe sitting on the sofa, drinking a coffee.
"Where's Sam today?" Zoe asked nosily, standing up and picking up a file that was sitting on the table.
"She's ill." Tom stated simply, knowing Sam wouldn't like to be talked about.
"What are her symptoms?" The doctor asked, getting very nosy indeed.
"Nausea, headache, probably just tiredness..." Tom said, thinking nothing of it. "Why?"
"Just wondering." Zoe said, heading for the staffroom door. She was definitely hiding something.
Tom was left with his thoughts once again. He shouldn't have left Sam alone, what if something happened and he wasn't there to help? He should have just stayed at home.
His thoughts were interrupted when he glanced up at the clock and realised he was fifteen minutes late for his shift.
Tom walked to Mr Jordan's office and knocked on the door. He heard a faint 'come in' so he opened the door.
"Yes, Dr Kent?" Mr Jordan asked, barely looking up from the file he was reading.
"Erm, Sam won't be in today, she's not well." Tom said. His words made Mr Jordan look up from the file, he knew that Sam wasn't a complainer but he dismissed the thought and smiled.
"Okay, thanks for telling me." Mr Jordan said. "Tell her I hope she's better soon."Tom shut the door and got to work, treating a boy with glass embedded in his hand.
Meanwhile, Sam woke suddenly from her dull, light sleep. Her head was pounding and she could hardly concentrate as she rifled through the drawer of her bedside cabinet, looking for some paracetamol.
After a few moments searching, she found some and picked up her glass of water to take them. It was empty. She swung her legs off the bed and stood up, walking slowly out of the bedroom.
Sam made it to the top of the stairs before she began to feel dizzy. She rubbed her head with the back of her hand, the coldness soothing the headache for seconds before the pain returned.
Sam began to feel woozy, and her legs suddenly couldn't hold her anymore.
She started to tumble down the stairs; she could feel herself rolling down until she landed with a thump at the bottom. She lay for a moment before being consumed by darkness.