Reprimand
Tess stood in front of Zoe's desk. 'This is why I wanted to leave.' Tess said.
'Tess, this isn't like you. Why did you allow yourself to get involved with him in the first place?' Zoe asked. Tess didn't respond. 'Were you biased when you suggested him for the role of band six?' Zoe asked. 'No of course not. I'd never let my personal life interfere with that kind of decision.' Tess said. The door opened and Fletch entered. He knew what Zoe wanted as soon as he saw Tess and closed the door behind him, standing beside Tess and looking at Zoe. 'Right, you know why you're both here. I need my band six nurse and nursing manager to work together amicably. I can't have this kind of atmosphere in my department. This job is stressful enough as it is.' Zoe said. Fletch looked at Tess; he had no idea why she was so hateful towards him. He still had no idea what he had done to hurt her. All he had ever done was love her. He looked back at Zoe as she continued. 'We can't change what's happened, but I need you two to work together and if you can't then one of you will have to transfer.' she said. Fletch knew if someone had to go it would be him, Tess had too much history here. 'Prove that you can work together today. I'm not asking you to be the best of friends, just be professional and let your team see that you are a united front.' Zoe said and Fletch nodded. He didn't want to leave and he wanted things back to normal between him and Tess. He missed her, he missed their banter and playfulness that made the job that much easier. 'Fletch, you can go.' Zoe said and Fletch left, leaving Tess with Zoe. 'Zoe, I'm the senior member of staff, so I'm to blame. If you want me to go then I will.' Tess said before Zoe had a chance to speak.
'Tess...' Zoe started as she stood up.
'But I don't want the reason for me leaving to be made public. I killed my baby. I have to live with that for the rest of my life. That's punishment enough for what I've done.' Tess said. Zoe looked at her sadly. 'I don't want either of you to leave. I just want to see the old Tess back. Is that why you're angry with him, because of the baby?' Zoe asked. Tess didn't answer. She was angry at Fletch; not for getting her pregnant, but for telling her he loved her after she had killed their baby. She had no idea how she would have behaved if he had told her before the termination, all she knew was that before he went away and told her not to call him, she had felt like just a casual fling to him and thought that if she told him about the baby, he would feel pressured to stand by her. Now she wasn't sure how he would have reacted and she was more confused and guilty than ever. Anger was a better way of handling this than grief. 'Tess, I promise this goes no further, but you two need to work together otherwise what happened won't stay secret; they'll figure out something has happened.' Zoe said. Tess knew she was right and ever the professional, she was determined to smother her feelings to get the job done and nodded her agreement.
