2.
It had taken a few days for Connie to adjust to the way of life she had in London, as per usual Michael had been playing the perfect husband in a loose attempt at getting her to accept his dominating decision, yet again. She couldn't help but hold the hope open that for once at least Michael truly was going to turn over a new leaf and turn into the romantic Casanova that she thought she'd married all those many years ago, that the new move to London would give their relationship the refresh it had needed. After all it had been a traumatic year for her in Holby, loosing dear friends on more than one occasion, nearly become toast at Christmas, for which Michael's absence hadn't truly been forgotten, but then again it had ended on a bittersweet happy note with Ric.
As the tenth day of her life in London was starting up, the noise of traffic increasing with each passing moment, people coming and going, swarming to the city to go to work, go to school, go about their business. Connie couldn't help but feel slightly pissed off that she wasn't joining them, Michael had promised to get her back into work within the week but problems at work had left her stuck at home, knowing no one, bored to the point of nothing. Adamant that she wasn't to lift a finger while she waited to go into work Michael had simply left his credit card for the past three days while he worked, suggesting Oxford Street might be a good place to start, she'd resented this, he clearly thought she could be fobbed off with a few days shopping and everything would be forgiven, yes he had taken the decency to spent time with her, ensure she was settling in ok, check she wasn't planning on running off anywhere but it was all this time alone, time to herself which was making her think. Holby had been a great place for her, a city big enough for her to make a reputable name, yet small enough for her to feel comfortable and safe. London she could tell was far too big and risky for her, Michael was liable to stray, she was liable to stray, or so she assumed, but Ric was burning on her mind too much, in the confusion of the move, Michael's niceties and now the lulling anger she could still feel every part of her body miss him, ache for him even. Swithering between sitting in the house and contemplating a future shaped only by Michael's off the cuff decisions and going out she chose the latter, Connie dressed in a flurry and lifted his credit card as she left.
It wasn't long past lunchtime when Connie finally made it to Knightsbridge, after half an hour on an unpleasant smelling under ground train budged between what she took to be a tramp and a teenager blaring out some obscene heavy metal music, Connie was fit to burst, huffing her way off the crowded train she relished in the fresh air as it hit her lungs when she reached street level, the fresh air found in Holby it wasn't, but it was a welcome relief none the less. Striding forcefully towards the doorman at Harrods she gave him one of her fake smiles as she passed him, heading straight for the clothes department, his card could take the sting there.
Four power suits, three skirts, numerous tops and shoes to match each outfit later Connie finally had enough of shopping. Ordering the strongest coffee going and taking to hibernating in a quite corner of the café bar, she found she had yet more time to think. She was getting a sense of entrapment, Michael was suffocating her already, they had yet to meet in a board meeting and she was starting to feel the antsy nerves of disappointment once again, it was all starting to settle out to the same pattern, she would create friends, foes, enemies, lovers in her new job, culminate them together in a farce like debacle which would ultimately lead to him saving her job, then taking off to a new country, county, city, the least distance he had to cover in order to save himself. Ric on the other hand was able to provide stability, more interested in patient care that ego care, he wasn't fussed where he worked, Ghana or Holby, John O Goats or Penzance, it was in different to him, what did matter was that he was with people who loved him, cared for him, appreciated him, and to be around people who he could cherish, Connie could safely consider herself one of those people now, despite their physical separation and soul departure.
Suddenly a frantic voice came on the tannoy, overriding the premature Christmas music, however tasteful, "This is an urgent appeal for any doctor or medical specialist to come to the food court immediately, assistance urgently required" Connie couldn't help but sigh, the Samaritan within her was pleading her to answer it but the egotistical sloth was urging her to sit tight, the former winning the battle of her conscience she rose to her feet and strode towards the noted destination, fully expecting to find a middle age man sprawled out unable to breath, she couldn't be more wrong, a young teenage girl was sat on the floor, crouched beside her was a frantic looking woman, her mum for all intents and purposes.
"Can I help you?" Connie asked stupidly as she knelt down to the girls level, she hated, loathed, and loved these cases for they were challenging, heart wrenching and heart breaking all at the same time, she let a genuine smile creep across her face as she instinctively took the girls pulse "What's your name?" she asked next, whizzing through the drilled questions she'd learnt all those years ago
"Sally" she mumbled, her still ashen face erupting light sobs as her mum vainly tried to consol her
"Right Sally, I assume this is your mum, can either of you tell me what happened?"
"She just collapsed, she hasn't had a SVT for months and the one afternoon we go out and it happens" her mum used the technical term as easily as you would asking about the weather
"Right how long since your last attack?" Connie was bemused as to the cause of the situation
"Seven months, when we last went to Guy's" the girl noted before her mum could speak "I have Romano Ward Syndrome" she said, Connie's puzzled face un-contorting as the picture got a whole lot clearer
"Ok, and it was seven months ago that you saw your consultant, if you don't mind me asking who that was" Connie was intrigued to know who her predecessor had been, what he was like, it was the one tiny thrill she got out of starting a new job, seeing if she matched up to anyone else, a trait she'd learnt from her self obsessed husband
"No we didn't see him that time, just the ED staff, as for our consultant, well we're between them at the moment Mr Rogers left a while ago, a new lady, Mrs Beauchamp or something is starting soon" The fact Connie was that lady hadn't twigged with the mother in the slightest
"Well you're in luck I'm Mrs Beauchamp" Connie smiled coyly "now as soon as the ambulance arrives I want to get you over to Guys immediately, by the looks of things you're medication isn't working and I would be happier if you were beside a defib machine, its nothing to worry about though" Connie reassured the two of them, taking to light banter in their short wait for the ambulance to arrive, joining them for the ride Connie kept a constant eye on the monitor, the patient clearly wasn't as stable as she had first thought, proven by the second attack upon arriving at the hospital. Seeing just how unstable the patient was Connie kept on trying her dam hardest to push her through the emergency department and up to her own ward, which she had no idea where it was, Michael had only informed her of the ward name and the fact it lay in Guy's hospital, Mere Ward, level three, useful…
Eventually Sally was moved from the resus room where she'd had several more attacks, increasing in frequency and severity, the culmination of this had been the uneasy decision to ventilate her and proceed with surgery, which Connie had decided to carry out herself, the connection she'd built up had been too much to waste on some cocky full of himself git of a doctor, which she could tell still inhabited Guy's.
Success was one word that had decided to grace her vocabulary hours later as she informed Sally's mother that the pacemaker had been successfully fitted and provided there were no more complications she would be right as rain in a few days, the satisfaction of this had been well needed for Connie, seeing someone genuinely pleased had been a missing part of her life in the past few months. The fuzzy feeling she got from this was enough to propel her to the maze that was her new ward, work place, and haven from home. She reached a long desk in the middle of the ward, separating the male and female bays, which she took to be the nurses station, looking for someone in a uniform other than light blue which signified nurses she thought fruitless to getting any sense out of. Spying the navy uniform worn by Chrissie Williams in Holby she moved forward to formal introduce herself, unperturbed by the sharp orders being barked at what she assumed were the Donna's of this world "Jessie, Mr Jenkins in bay three needs a bed bath, Rose go and tell that berk in room 2 to stop bleeping every time he needs someone to talk to" she turned her round on her heel as Connie let out a slightly bemused cough to notify her presence, the nurse turned round and glared at Connie "I don't respond to coughs" she barked before taking in Connie's scrubs and cold stare
"No but I don't respond to over confident gits either" Connie retorted, "I think you will find I'm your new boss, Mrs Beauchamp, cardiotharacics consultant"
"Ahh, I'm so sorry, you caught us at an extremely bad moment, the ward is overfull and AAU is dealing with a backlog, I'm not normally this rude, things just need done now not tomorrow, I'm Julia, ward sister"
"Right well I hate to add to your workload but I have no idea where my office is" Connie was interrupted by the sound of a promiscuous cough behind her, followed by a stealthy hand on her shoulder, as she turned round she took in the shocked face belonging to Michael, "hi sweetheart" she said coyly, allowing Julia to let her imagination run wild for all of two seconds before Michael broke into the discussion
"This is my wife Connie, I didn't know you two had met, Julia is the sister in charge here, errm I was looking for the minutes of the last board meeting" a light rummage in piling notes on the desk ensued as Julia pulled a thin looking folder out and handed it to him, before groaning lightly as an alarm went off from an all too familiar room
"If that man needs another chat I will throttle him" she fumed "oh and welcome to the mad house, I'm sure we will get the formal introduction come Monday but it was nice to meet you"
"You too" Connie blurted out before being led off down the corridor towards a door unlike the one from her old office in Holby, Michael standing back as she took in the new fresh looking office, subtly designed wallpaper adorning every wall and her clock hung on the wall opposing the door
"I was hoping it would be a surprise when you started on Monday but seeing as how you are here now it seemed appropriate, what the heck are you doing operating here today anyway" he asked angrily, if not a little irritated
"I was in Harrods spending your money as you kindly suggested and a customer collapsed, ironic really that it would be one of my future patients in desperate need of a pace maker and I just happened to be available to do it, not a problem is there"
"No not at all" Michael stammered "I just thought you needed a few more days off, allow me to get everything sorted here for you"
"Michael, I'm not a kid who needs her hand held, I would have been perfectly happy to have started last week, was there more than just your wish to make my office look nice"
"Yes, we are having trouble getting a male member of staff in place, I will not allow you to have two female registrars, and Cardiotharacics' does not run on PMT"
"That is sheer and utter crap Michael and you know it, boys can go play with their mechano kits in orthopods, leave the subtle work of the heart to us, now if you don't mind its been a long day and I have no energy to discuss this tonight"
"I hope you have enough energy for night in front of the telly then" Michael said making an advance to give Connie a hug, they both knew night in was code for many things unmentionable in the realms of a hospital unless in maternity and Connie was prepared to leave that side of things for several years yet. Michael clearly had other ideas on this matter.
