The next day, Lily walked into the staff room, glancing around before taking a strong painkiller and washing it down with a glass of water. When she'd woken up this morning she was dismayed to notice that the bruises had started to develop, showing a dismal smattering of colour on a previously blank canvas. However, she had to keep up appearances, and so forced herself into a pair of tailored trousers, and tucked in a long-sleeved shirt. Putting on her heeled boots was a whole other challenge.
Lost in her own thoughts, Lily flinched as Robyn and Alicia came barrelling into the room, laughing about their antics from the previous night.
"I mean, that guy was all over you," Robyn laughed, "He was not going to take no for an answer!"
"Tell me about it," Alicia replied in between giggles, "It's a good thing Iain was there to protect me!"
"Indeed, always good to have a hunky paramedic around," Robyn agreed with a wink, just as the man in question walked in.
"Morning ladies," Iain said cheerfully, throwing one arm around Robyn's shoulders, and another around Alicia's. "Should my ears be burning?"
"Nah, we were just talking about you being my knight in shining armour last night!" teased Alicia.
"It was my pleasure," Iain replied. "That guy was a bit of a creep though."
As Alicia and Robyn nodded in agreement, Iain spotted Lily leant up against the work surface in the corner of the staffroom.
"Goooooood morning Lily," Iain greeted her. He bumped his hip against hers, noticing the slight wince that Lily tried to hide. She was subtle enough that Alicia and Robyn hadn't noticed – they were already engrossed in their own conversation – but not so subtle that Iain didn't spot it. Was she injured?
"Good morning Iain," Lily replied. "Did you have a good time last night?"
"Yes, thank you. How about you? Did you get plenty done?"
Before Lily had chance to answer, Connie called the women out to the nurses station, so they could be briefed before the start of shift. Iain couldn't help but notice that Lily had stood slightly further away from everyone else than usual.
Watching Lily closely, he saw that her eyes kept drifting away from the consultant who was issuing orders, reacting to every slight noise around her. As the briefing ended, she grabbed the first file she could find, gave it a quick glance over and walked over to the corresponding cubicle. Iain turned around to have a quick chat with Ethan and Cal, when he heard a crash. Spinning around, he was alarmed to see a tray of instruments scattered across the floor, and Lily breathing heavily, hands shaking, while the patient guffawed, whilst drunkenly slurring, "It's alright love, everyone likes a bit of a tap on the ass. Don't pretend you don't like it."
Before the end of his statement, Jacob was standing over the patient, his very presence sobering him up, and Iain had placed an arm round Lily's shoulder, guiding her into an empty cubicle.
Sitting her down on the bed, he bent down slightly in front of her, watching as tears filled her eyes and her breathing got more ragged.
"Lily, I need you to breathe nice and slowly for me. You're safe; it's just you and me."
Iain reached out, taking her hands in his. He meant it to be a gesture of reassurance, but quickly let go when Lily gasped out a "No!" and pushed him away.
"Okay, okay, Lily, I'm sorry," he apologised quickly, "But I need you to concentrate on your breathing. You can do this, you are safe, and nothing can harm you here. Breathe nice and slowly, sweetheart, in and out."
Lily didn't even notice the term of endearment slip out of Iain's mouth, but the sound of his voice infiltrated through her panic, and gradually her breaths evened out, until her heart had resumed its natural, steady rhythm.
"Sorry," she whispered.
Iain shook his head. Without being conscious of his actions, he covered one of her hands with his, berating himself silently when she immediately pulled her hand away and shuffled along the bed.
"You have nothing to apologise for. That patient touched you without your permission, and that is never okay."
Lily felt tears well up in her eyes at Iain's statement. Quickly, she wiped them away and stood up, wincing slightly at the sudden movement.
"Lily, what's happened? Are you hurt? You keep wincing when you move and flinching whenever I touch you."
Lily sighed, and looked up at the man in front of her who was showing her such kindness.
"I have to get back to work," she said quietly, stepping round a confused Iain, and going back on to the ward. Iain watched her nod as Jacob told her that the drunken patient had been reassigned to Cal, and then she picked up a new file, and got on with her day.
At that point, Iain's radio crackled to life, and he jogged over to collect Jez, before heading out on his first call of the day.
Lily didn't feel right for the rest of her shift. The incident with the drunken patient first thing had really shaken her up. This is why she now found herself being summoned to Mrs Beauchamp's office.
"I'm sending you home, Dr Chao," Connie said, skipping the preamble.
"That won't be necessary, Mrs Beauchamp," Lily objected quickly. "I was just surprised by the patient earlier. I'm okay though, I can still do my job."
"I'm sure you can, and you can do so. Tomorrow. Dr Chao, you have had a shock today, and I can tell it has affected you more than you are willing to let on. Now, is there anything that you feel like I need to know?"
Lily shook her head, making one last plea to Mrs Beauchamp to let her get on with her shift, but the Clinical Lead was having none of it. And so Lily found herself in the staff room, getting her bag from her locker when Iain walked in.
"Hi Lily, how are you feeling?" he asked, making sure that she was aware that he was in the room before speaking, so as not to alarm her again.
"I am fine, thank you Iain. Unfortunately Mrs Beauchamp has decided that my opinion of my own wellbeing is not a sufficiently reliable assessment, and so she has sent me home."
"Well," Iain said, rubbing his hands together, "It just so happens that my shift is finished now, so why don't we go and grab a drink?"
Lily bit her lip, glancing to one side as she tried to think up an excuse. Before she could do so, Iain spoke again, rescuing her from having to lie to him.
"If you don't feel up to it, that's fine; you've had a tough day, whether you want to admit it or not. Can I at least give you a ride home? You haven't seemed right in yourself today, and I'd feel better knowing that you got home okay."
Knowing that he wouldn't take no for an answer, Lily silently nodded her head, and together they walked out to the car park, where Lily's chariot awaited.
