BeautifulNerd: You're welcome. I was nervous about posting on Fanfiction but it's been a massive weight of relief. I'm glad that you like Tails as one of my main concerns would be if anyone would enjoy reading about these original characters and I thought she'd get a backslash. You've been a massive help for this next part and I will be writing more about Tails. I started off planning the character and her backstory before writing the story completely. Thank you for reviewing.
This is the second chapter which involves Tails's first day at the ED. With this chapter up already, I thought I'd add it on.
Enjoy!
Alicia had just gotten ready for work after tying her hair back when she felt a familiar presence in the kitchen. Max was already at work but the atmosphere was tense when Mickey ended things with Jez, taking away the happy bloke who is always up for a laugh and transforming him into an emotional train wreck. The atmosphere died when the romance did.
Alicia smiled when she saw Jez placing his plate in the sink. She laughed as he was singing out of key to the latest song on the radio. It was hard to believe that this time yesterday, he reluctantly went out to go explore after being nominated by Alicia and Max to go get popcorn for their weekly movie night. Although annoyed that he had to leave for the shop again as he didn't get the popcorn and even grossed out that he put the sweet and salted popcorn into his coffee, she was happy to see him back to his normal self.
It was hard to believe that all of this was due to one person who he knocked a drink over. Can it be possible to like someone that you've never met?
One thing Alicia is aware of, she wished that she could meet this Tails.
"Thank you Tails," she whispered to the sky, certain that there's a chance they may not meet, "For bringing our Jez back."
Her mind stopped when she saw someone taking a deep breath outside the ED entrance. She must be the new junior doctor starting today.
As she approached closer to the destination, the butterflies started to flicker. The caterpillars in her stomach must have had a longer lifespan than she thought. She never felt that nervous at her last place so this must be a high level of nerves kicking her system into shape. Inhale, she tells out nerves to get out and stay out. Exhale, the nerves do as they're told.
Tails took her phone out of the pocket of her sky blue Mac and noticed that Lily had already sent her a message.
"I'll be in at 11. You'll be fine, you're in good hands x"
The best thing about Lily Chao is that she knows her well. She knows what she likes from her favourite food to her favourite music. She knows the best features Tails looks out in an ideal partner. She also knows when Tails is joking around, drawing light at even the worse situation.
But what Tails is most thankful for is that Lily knows how Tails is feeling, even when she isn't there to notice it. It was as if they were telepathic, sending thoughts out at a distance. Even after that one awful day, Lily had supported Tails and looked out for her.
Tails just wished that one day, she could return the favour.
"You alright?" Tails turned around to witness a young woman with blonde-auburn hair walk behind her, "You must be the new junior doctor."
"Is it that obvious?" Tails whispered, the butterflies decided to come back, not willing to go without a fight.
"I did the exact same thing you did," she laughed holding her hand out to her, "I'm Alicia. Dr Munroe, CT1."
"I'm Sally," Tails smiled, taking Alicia's hand and shaking it. She ignored the irritation of using her real name, knowing that at five this evening, she can go back to being Tails, "Dr McVay, F2."
"Nice to meet you Dr McVay," Alicia beamed at her, "come on. We can't keep everyone waiting for your arrival."
Tails watched as Alicia walked in before following her through the main entrance, the butterflies decided to make a hasty retreat.
Ethan had been fighting his nerves throughout the night when he knew that the day had come. The first day since Cal's death that he would be showing a junior doctor the ropes around the ED. He received the information from Connie about the promising doctor's background and spent all night revising the information in his head regarding her.
Name, Sally McVay. Age, 24. Profession, F2 Doctor.
Ethan heard that this young lady had done a placement in Dermatology but always had an interest for Neurology. He often wondered why Lily passed on the offer of mentoring Sally as the pair would have gotten on given their shared interest. Maybe she was scared over what happened with Alicia but the pair moved on from it and even became good friends. Why had the role been passed on to him and not her?
Ethan spent last night dealing with his nerves by making chocolate brownies. Baking often served as a good distraction from dealing with stress and the outcome were usually the best. Ethan always followed the recipe he received from his cousin Myra who owns a bakery but he likes to experiment with the ingredients and added his own personal touch.
Strawberries.
He offered this to everyone before and they all agreed that they liked the personal touch that Ethan had made on the brownies. Ethan smiled as he wanted to make a good impression on Sally and make her feel welcome.
What's the worse that could happen?
"Dr Hardy," Connie called out to him from her office with Dr McVay following her, "I do believe you're in cubicles today?"
"Yes Mrs Beauchamp," he smiled at her nervously before moving his eyes towards the new junior doctor standing next to her, "I believe you're Dr McVay?"
When Alicia brought Sally into her office to introduce herself, Connie instantly liked the look of her. Her blonde hair was neatly tied back like an explorer travelling out on a long hike. Behind her small, silver-framed glasses showed wisdom and maturity beyond her years. But one thing she did notice about her was that although the young doctor looked nervous, she was smiling with the biggest grin she had ever since. Connie could tell that the girl went through a difficult journey, but one that clearly set her on the right path. It is hard to believe that someone so young could look so mature for her age.
Connie had originally offered Lily a chance to mentor her but when she informed her of the doctor's name, Lily turned her down and explained that she couldn't mentor her. Connie was amazed to learn that the two girls lived four doors away from each other as children and have been good friends for over twenty years, despite the six year age gap between them. When Connie asked Lily what she is like, she was impressed with Lily's admiration for her. Her sense of humour made Connie chuckle when Lily told her that Sally knows when a person is down and will help try to take their mind off things. Connie was also impressed when Lily explained that Sally will often draw light out of a difficult situation. She can tell from Lily's description, that Sally will make a great asset to the team.
And she knew that someone like Sally is what Ethan needs right now.
"Yes," Sally smiled, trying to neatly fix her glasses in place, "I've heard great things about you. I can't wait to work alongside you."
"I'll leave you two to it," Connie smiled at the two of them before walking away.
"Would you please put that phone down?" Iain asked, annoyed as this was the fifth time in the past half an hour that Lily had been checking her phone, "She's in good hands with Ethan, you even said that yourself."
Lily had struggled to sleep within the past night and Iain's arms didn't help this time. Today was Tails's first day in the ED and Lily kept watching Tails as she kept repeating every key thing that she needed to understand in case of an emergency from initial assessments to specific drugs needed to treat different ailments.
Tails had always been the more resourceful of the two and Lily can remember how Tails had started to show a greater interest in anatomy and physiology at such a young age. Lily can remember how eager Tails usually is to learn as she often seen her watching documentaries surrounding the human body. She was often referred to as the "Swot of Mahogany Street" since she always dug into the textbooks and the internet whenever she heard about something unusual.
It was an incident regarding Tails that inspired Lily to be a doctor. At a birthday party, a four year old Tails tried the cheesecake that Lily's mother had made. However, it resulted in Tails struggling to breathe. Lily remembered how Tails's father (Lily's godfather) laid her down in the recovery position and checked her airway, eventually saving her life.
Lily and her friend Theresa were then sat down by Uncle Freddy who then explained that Tails's throat had swollen up, resulting in a blocked airway. The next Lily saw of Tails, the girl was laughing like a hyena. Lily can also remember her mother making an alternate recipe for the cheesecake for when the Davies come to visit. However, it was after seeing the effort that Uncle Freddy made to save Tails's life which made Lily wonder about what it would be like to be a doctor.
That young lady was always so confident so for Lily to see Tails repeating herself over and over and over was a surprise. Lily understood that the ED can be a challenging place to work in but she knew that someone like Tails will slide through with no problem. She'll be the among the greatest names of Holby's doctors.
"I know," Lily whispered, taking Iain's hand, "I just worry about her."
"You sure you're just mates?" Iain chuckled, pulling her closer, "Because you two sound and act like me and Gemma."
"Sometimes," Lily laughed at all the memories the girls shared, "I feel as if she is my Gem."
Lily's thoughts were interrupted when they noticed Jez walking out of his house and towards the corner shop. Iain and Lily quickly separated from each other after remembering how down he had been since his breakup with Mickey. It broke Lily's heart, as Jez was always happy and messing about, always laughing about his latest thoughts.
Just like he is doing now.
"Oh what a good day that I'm not at work," Jez laughed as he greeted them, "While people like you two losers are busy working whilst I am going to have a look for an upcoming hockey game."
"Are you okay?" Iain asked, confused.
Wasn't it yesterday that he was feeling low about Mickey?
"I'm sure," Jez beamed at the two, "Last week told me that life is too short. Anyway, see you old man."
Iain and Lily turned around to see Jez run into the corner shop. It was hard to imagine seeing him back on top form. Last week, Jez was annoying Iain by spending time moping about Mickey, looking through old photos and explaining to him how different he was to the rest of his family. Now, not only had he gone back to his normal self, he has now developed an interest in hockey.
Iain is certain.
Jez has met someone who was able to mend his broken heart.
Ethan stood by and observed as Sally carefully applied a sling onto Miss Peterson's fractured arm. So far, he was impressed with her skills and knew she was going to go far in the profession. He knew that at the start, her lack of confidence was obviously down to nerves with her starting in a new role but he was impressed. Whilst he observed her growth within a few hours, he also noticed a change in himself. He could be a great mentor and that will push him even further as he knew Sally wouldn't be his mentee for long.
"So," Miss Peterson asked, "Would I be able to play the drums?"
"Of course you can," Sally smiled.
"Good," Miss Peterson replied, "Because I couldn't before."
Ethan and Sally both looked at each other and smiled, finding her sense of humour a comfort to her.
"Okay," Ethan walked over to them, "We've finished with the sling. Now we're going to send out for your discharge papers before we can send you home."
"Thank you Dr Hardy," she smiled at him before looking at Sally, "You'll go far with him."
Ethan and Sally departed into the staff room for a quick break since the ED is strangely quiet. Sally is well aware that within the ED, things can go quiet one moment, but then it gets turned into a line of requests the next. It was the potential manic that made her feel as if she belonged as she always hated staying in one place for too long.
She also enjoyed working and learning alongside Ethan. He is dedicated to his line of work and is very resourceful. Tails felt as if she can turn to Ethan for an expert opinion over treatment in the future as he holds knowledge way beyond his years. She hoped that not only will they get on professionally, but would also become good friends in the future.
"So did you get here okay then?" he asked her as he grabbed two mugs; one grey with a blue stripe circling around and one blue mug with yellow dots scattered around.
"I did thank you," she smiled, taking the blue and yellow mugs, "But every time I come across the traffic lights, they always turn red. Tea or coffee?"
"Coffee please," Ethan answered before passing the sugar to her, "Do you know what the traffic lights say when that happens? Don't look now, I'm changing."
Ethan froze when he noticed that Sally looked unimpressed with that joke. Of course she did, it seemed to be a pretty bad joke but he thought she'd like it. Ethan remembered the last time he told that joke. It was to Alicia and she laughed at it, he assumed it was funny after her reaction. But then he remembered telling Cal that he was going to tell Alicia that joked. He must have asked Alicia to pretend to like it.
Would Callum have done the thing to Sally?
"Dr Hardy," she smiled, pondering for a moment, "Could you do me one favour please?"
"Never tell that joke again?" he assumed.
"Actually, I was going to tell you not to quit your day job," she laughed, "But please for the sanity of everyone you will ever meet, never tell that joke again please?"
Ethan smiled at the girl standing in front. At least he got a laugh, but he still can't help but think. If he failed to get a laugh out of being funny, would he be good enough to support her on her journey?
"Heads up mate," Max rushed to inform Iain and Lily, Alicia in tow, "Jez is-"
"Back to his normal self by the looks of things," Iain asked the pair confused, "And developed a sudden interest in ice hockey."
Iain is certain that Jez in a good mood because of one thing. How many people had often been perked up because something new had come up? Iain is thankful for that one person and is now wondering about who this person is. Is it a he or a she? Are they funny? Are they up for a laugh? Who Jez be a nightmare if something did happen.
"Hello, Dr McVay," Alicia greeted as the group noticed Tails walking amongst them, "So how's Ethan as a teacher?"
Iain and Lily watched as they saw Tails as never before. Iain was aware of her appearance as a doctor with her green scrubs, the same shade as Alicia. Her hair is tied at the back instead of the side like she normally has it and he had finally seen her in her glasses for the first time away from a book and the wheel. He never saw this side to her before. In fact, he was rather scared and now saw the girl as two very different people. First was Tails, the funny young lady who holds no prisoners and then Dr McVay, a smart young lady who holds no prisoners.
"He's good, thank you," she smiled, scratching her neck, "But a heads up would have been nice about the bad jokes."
"Please not the one about the traffic lights?" Lily pleaded as she noticed Tails nod, "He told that joke to me the first month he started working here. His brother pleaded with me to pretend to like it."
"He pleaded with me as well," Alicia laughed, "Sorry Sally. We should have warned you."
"It's fine," she beamed, blinking a few times to get some air out her eyes.
"Let us make it up to you," Lily smiled placing her hand on her arm, "I'll buy you a drink after work. The usual?"
Alicia and Max raised their eyes at Lily.
"Lily," Alicia whispered, "Do we even know what the usual is for her?"
It soon dawned on Lily. She hadn't mentioned to anyone but Iain and Connie that she knew Tails before. Lily wanted Tails to fit in with the group and she knew that if word got out that the pair grew up nearby each other, they'd assume she'd be another version of Lily. Lily knew she got off at the wrong foot and made too many rash decisions that people didn't like her. It took months before she let people in and they let her in. She didn't want everyone to get off at he wrong foot with Tails.
"No," Lily answered, playing with her hair, "But we can find out."
"Whiskey and coke," Tails answered, "That's my usual. If people know what my favourite drink is, they'll think I'm weird."
"Which is?" Max asked.
"Coffee with popcorn in it," she answered, noticing Max and Alicia wide eyes, "I thought it was strange first but my friend mixed it by accident."
Lily turned her face so that no one looked at her.
She was seventeen at the time and it was Tails's last night at home before she was due to leave for Elmworths Academy, a boarding school which is located north of Holby. Lily noticed that Tails was nervous about leaving home for the first time and didn't understand why her parents haven't enrolled her in the secondary school that she and Theresa went to. The two of them sat down to watch the latest coverage of the nights top ten music videoes when Lily witnessed Tails tense. It was so difficult watching someone who had been through such a hard time go through even more heartbreak.
Lily got up to Tails's confusion and made a mug of coffee, despite Tails never trying it before. She even delved into the cupboard and got a bag of sweet and salted popcorn out of the cupboard and opened the bag. The two mugs of coffee settled on the floor whilst Lily opened the bag. However, Lily opened the bag so fast, she accidentally dropped some of the popcorn into Tails's mug by mistake.
Looking back at the day, this drink had often been used to provide Lily and Tails comfort. It was definitely worth the lecture Lily received from Tails's parents after she was unable to sleep for the rest of the night.
"Sounds gross," Alicia commented, "But everyone got their taste."
Ethan walked out the storage cupboard. He had still been kicking himself for that awful joke he told Sally. He worried that everyone will found him to be rubbish now without Cal's guidance to support him. Being a mentor to the new doctor was meant to be the start of moving on from his grief but he thought about Cal pleading with Alicia and Lily to pretend to laugh at the joke. Needing a chance to move on he noticed that Sally was in the staff room on her lunch break that he sent her on and was immediately clicking with Max, Alicia, Iain and Lily. He suddenly felt a bit more at ease and decided that now is the time to reveal the brownies to everyone.
"Getting along with everyone alright Dr McVay?" Ethan asked as he entered the room, "Sorry for earlier."
"I told you not to worry about it," she smiled, "You're alright, Dr Hardy. Bad comedian, good doctor."
Ethan saw as Lily attempted to hide a snigger at Tails's joke.
"Please," Ethan smiled, "Ethan is fine. I think we need a fresh start."
"Okay Ethan," Sally smiled as Ethan noticed a twinkle in Sally's blue eyes, "I'm happy to be on first name basis with you."
Ethan grinned at her, happy to realise that they were back on good terms again. He walked over to his locker and brought out the tin on brownies.
"This is in honour of Dr Sally McVay," Ethan beamed, "Baking helps to calm my nerves. So I made my favourites, "Ethans Special Brownies". And I would like to offer you the first one Sally. Welcome to Holby."
Lily smiled when she saw Ethan and Tails getting along just fine. She kept telling herself that Tails is in good hands with Ethan but she was still unsure. Mentoring Tails was going to be the biggest challenge Ethan was going to face since Cal had died and she knows from experience what grief does to someone. She watched as Tails took a brownie and smiled as she saw the pairs' silent expression.
Wait!
Lily thought back to when Ethan first made the brownies a year ago.
After savouring every mouthful, she kept annoying Ethan at the pub, trying to get the recipe. It took numerous phone calls, constant texting and persistent nagging but she still wouldn't give up until she got the recipe and that all important secret ingredient.
Her mind traced back to when she was ten and had attended the dinner party.
That dinner party where Uncle Freddie and Aunt Sandy had to rush a four year old Sally to hospital after taking a bite out of her mother's cheesecake. She remembered as she watched Tails gasping for breath.
That day was the second worst day of her life and she was about to relive it!
Lily felt the adrenaline rush throughout her entire body. All she needed to stop this from happening again was to just shout...
"Tails don't eat that!"
All eyes fell on her. Lily still felt anxious as Tails froze, before lowering the brownie down. All memories of a four year old Tails went away as soon as she lowered that brownie. She felt Tails's annoyed groan leave her lips. Lily knew that her need to look out for Tails often irritated her but she knew that it's for the best. After all whose going to look out her?
"Lily," Ethan asked confused, "What's going on? Whose Tails?"
"Me," she answered, sighing, "Tails was a nickname I had since I was six. Lily lived four doors away from me when we were kids."
Ethan couldn't believe what he was hearing. Now, he knew why Lily turned down the offer. Everyone had a weakness that could stop them from keeping their heads in the game. He thought it was her father for Lily. Turns out, it was Sally. Lily turned down the offer because Sally was a dear friend to her. Ethan assumed that if the girls knew that they had a shared interest, they'd get along. He didn't know that they were already good friends.
"What's the problem?" he asked, regarding the brownies, "Why can't she eat them?"
"Because I remembered your recipe," Lily answered, walking over to Sally, "And it would have killed her."
"How?" asked Alicia, shocked to learn that Lily and Sally knew each other before, "Wait! You knew what she normally drink!"
"That's right," Lily replied before turning to Tails and placing her hand on her arm, "The secret ingredient was strawberries."
Ethan watched as Tails's eyes widen in pure disbelief. He watched as her annoyed look towards Lily soon turned into a cloud of relief as she giggled for a few seconds. This meant that Lily was quickly forgiven. But he suddenly tensed when Tails looked at him.
"Ethan," Tails eventually calmed down and took a step forward towards him, "I'm allergic to strawberries."
Ethan's eyes widened when he realised what he had done. Within the first day, he made a bad first impression on her with a terrible and out of date joke and then he nearly killed her. He suddenly felt thankful that Lily stopped her from eating the brownie but Ethan worried about what would have happened if Lily wasn't there. What would have happened to Tails if she had eaten the brownie? Ethan immediately felt bad and walked out of the staff room, without saying a word to anyone.
Cal would have been annoyed with him if he was still around.
Tails had searched high and low for Ethan, but she was unable to find him. She felt bad for earlier as she wished that she could have informed him sooner that she was allergic to strawberries. Tails had admitted she found the near miss funny, but she knew that there was a chance Ethan might not have thought the same. Alicia suggested that she'll go find Ethan but Tails stopped her and insisted on going. He walked out because of her, she had to fix this herself.
She found herself outside up on the roof. This was the last place she had been to and she was relieved to find Ethan there, looking at the view, watching the crowd walk past. She slowly approached him as he turned. By looking at his red eyes, she can tell he was sad.
"Hey Ethan," she asked before remember he may not want to talk to her of all people, "It's still okay to call you that, right?"
"Yeah," he whispered, tilting his head to invite her to stand by him, "Now can I call you Sally?"
"To tell you the truth, I've always hated that name," she chuckled, accepting his invitation, "You can call me Tails if you like."
"Why Tails?" Ethan asked, "Please don't tell me it's because you always have your hair tied back."
"I had it since I was six," she replied, "It might be due to the fact that my middle name is Taylor but I don't really remember. But I feel more like Tails than I do Sally."
She was glad that she got Ethan talking to her again. Tails knew that she was the reason he was down and she immediately felt guilty for it. All she wanted to do was to go back in time and convince her past her to laugh at his awful joke and tell him that she was allergic to strawberries. Maybe then, things would have been easier for the two of hem.
"I'm sorry," Ethan whispered, "I didn't mean to nearly killed you."
"It's not your fault," Tails smiled, turning around so her back was to the fence, "When I asked Lily what you were like, I felt so relaxed. She spoke highly of you and I wanted to make a good impression. I was nervous at the start of today but that was because I was going to be learning from one of the best."
"Who made bad jokes and nearly killed their students," Ethan reminded her but he was slowly breaking a smile.
"You didn't do a good job," Tails commented, "I'm still alive. Maybe next time, wait until RB is out of the room."
"RB? Oh Lily!" Ethan laughed, making Tails smile wider, "Forgot you were old friends. Cal would have loved you. He'd be pestering you for dirt of Dr Chao."
"Cal?"
"My brother," Ethan answered her, "He died a few months ago."
Tails was shocked when she heard this. Memories of her childhood were brought back to the days where the group were all together. Her, Lily, Theresa, Danny and everyone else were together whether it was to do a group study session or take part in races or even having a laugh at the seaside. Those days left along with one member of the group. She still thinks about her and hearing about Cal had brought back these memories. It must have been the same for Ethan but a bit different somehow.
"I'm sorry Ethan," Tails answered, holding back tears of her own, "I can't imagine what you're going through."
"You're were to know," he replied, "Mentoring you was my first big challenge since he died."
"You've passed," she smiled, "You're a good doctor. Bad assassin mind."
"Would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for that meddling doctor," Ethan frowned, making Tails laugh, "Finally I got a laugh out of you!"
"You're are funny Dr Hardy," Tails smiled, "Can we start afresh?"
Ethan invited Lily, Iain, Alicia, Max and Tails to the pub after work. It was the least he could have done after such an eventful day. He learned to always check to see if anyone was allergic to anything he bakes and that he needed approval before telling jokes. He's glad to make the agreement to forget today had ever happened with Tails and the pair decided to start afresh tomorrow.
Alicia was glad when Ethan and Tails came back to join them, relieved that Ethan didn't do anything stupid. She can tell that Tails is somewhat special and that she can help provide comfort to him. It would have been too soon for Ethan to become a mentor since Cal's death but if the mentee was someone like Tails then it was be quite helpful and both parties would benefit.
But something felt strange with Tails. Alicia thought back to last week when Jez went out feeling down but then came back with a new outlook for life. He said it was thanks to someone called Tails and that he was introduced to a popcorn latte. Jez also went to get ice hockey tickets and Alicia remembered Tails saying that she loves ice hockey.
Could Tails have been the one who mended her friends broken heart?
"I'll get this one," Tails insisted, standing up and walking towards the bar, keeping her eye on the table...
...and bumping into someone.
"Oh my God!" she called out, realising she knocked the gentleman's beer over him, kneeling down to pick up the glass, "I'm so sorry!"
"It's fine," he laughed causing her to freeze, "But we've got to stop meeting like this."
Tails looked up to see his hazel eyes, smiling when she was his cheeky grin.
"Jez."
"Hey Tails. Didn't think I'd see you again."
So that was Tails's first day. I'll be writing a few filler chapters as it will explore a bit more about Tails before revealing the ultimate backstory about her. I wanted to develop the potential that Tails will have to offer, including the possibility of a relationship with Jez.
Hope you're enjoying it so far.
Please review x