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Chapter Three
Lily ended up sleeping through her alarm that morning. She opened her weary eyes and caught sight of the time flashing up on her mobile.
It read 9:57am.
She cursed to herself and flung herself out of bed, racing through to the bathroom. She coughed into her hands, feeling overpoweringly sick, and noticed that she was still coughing up small specks of blood. She couldn't risk taking another day off work, though, especially after that woman complained about her. She needed to face up to what had happened.
"Mrs Beauchamp," Ethan said and opened the office door halfway. Connie was sitting at her desk, rifling through shedloads of paperwork. "I uh...I've typed up that statement you wanted," he said nervously and placed the sheet of paper on the desk.
"Thank you," Connie sighed. "I shall have a look into that."
"Have you not got Lily to write a statement?" Ethan asked and Connie shook her head. "Well, shouldn't you have her side of the story as well, I mean, so you have the facts right?"
"Doctor Hardy, who is in charge around here?" Connie asked. "I will decide where we take this, thank you."
The door opened and Lily strolled in. Her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, bags sat neatly under her eyes, she was already dressed in her scrubs and her stethoscope hung around her neck. Although tired and still not her normal self, she was clearly ready to get stuck into work.
"Doctor Chao," Connie said. "I have to say that I wasn't expecting you in today. You're late."
"I'm sorry, Mrs Beauchamp," Lily apologised. "I missed my alarm. Then I had to wait for a taxi because I had left my bike here."
"Sorry, I would have given you a lift," Ethan offered. "But you never replied to my text."
"The one that you sent last night?" Lily asked. "I'm sorry. I had gone to bed and I didn't see it until around three o'clock this morning."
"No, I sent you another one this morning," Ethan said, giving her wide eyes of concern. "Asking if you were back at work and if you needed a lift."
"Oh, I...I haven't had time to check my phone, to be honest," Lily admitted.
"What were you doing awake at three in the morning?" Connie asked, tilting her head to one side and giving Lily one of her famous glares.
Lily shrugged her shoulders and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "I just woke up," Lily aaid quietly. "I'm really sorry about yesterday, Mrs Beauchamp. I still have a slight cough but I'm feeling loads better. Honestly."
"If I see one sign of unprofessional behaviour, then you're out," Connie said, pointing a finger at her. "Do you understand?"
"Yes, Mrs Beauchamp." Lily nodded and put on a fake smile. "I understand. Thank you."
Lily turned on her heel and went to exit the office. "Doctor Chao!" Connie called her back before she was out of earshot. "Not so fast. We're not done here." Lily sighed and waited for Connie to continue. "Doctor Hanna and I have been speaking and I would like to send you out on location with Dixie and Iain next week."
"Why?" Lily frowned at her and stepped closer to the desk.
Connie paused for a few seconds and looked towards Ethan who was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pocket. "Doctor Hardy, don't you have somewhere to be?"
"Oh, right, sorry," Ethan said and smiled at Lily, before walking out and shutting the door behind him.
"As I was saying..." Connie sighed and looked back at Lily. "We've had a chat and although your bedside manner has improved immensely, there's...Well, there's still room for improvements. Last time when you went out with Jeff and Dixie, Zoe noticed a change in you and she thinks that it could be a good idea for you to have that experience again. I've spoken with Iain and he's agreed."
"But I don't understand," Lily's voice shrunk.
"It isn't a punishment," Connie told her. "You're a brilliant doctor, Lily, but I think everyone needs some extra training, don't they? I have purposely scheduled it for next week in case you still weren't feeling very well, so that will give you plenty of time to catch up on your sleep and get better."
"Okay." She nodded and tried to hold her tears back. Her stomach churned. "May I be excused now, Mrs Beauchamp? My throat's quite dry, I wanted to grab a drink before I started my shift."
"Don't be long," Connie said, knowing that it was highly unlikely for Lily to admit that she didn't feel well. "If there are any problems, come and find me."
Lily said nothing and hurried out of the office. She headed to the girl's bathroom and locked herself in a cubicle, suddenly feeling like she was going to be sick. She knew that she'd never live it down if she went and vomited in Connie's office so she just had to get out of there as quickly as she possibly could.
She turned and started vomiting straight into the toilet, coughing and spluttering whilst gripping the sides of the seat. She whimpered and wiped her mouth with one of her shaking hands. She coughed again and with a quick glance, realised that she had actually just vomited blood.
"Shit," she cursed and flushed the chain. She closed the toilet seat and slumped back onto it weakly, wishing that she could stay hidden in the cubicle for the rest of the day.
She still felt hot and as if she was going to pass out any second. She tried to take deep, slow breaths and hoped that she wouldn't throw up again at any point during the day. She couldn't afford any more time off. She waited to see if she felt like she was going to be sick again, luckily feeling better, before walking over to the sink and rinsing some water on her face. She then walked out into reception and sat down at the computer to do some research.
"Hey, Lily," Rita said, friendly as usual, and strolled over to the junior doctor. "Are you feeling better?"
"Hmm, thank you," Lily said. She bit the side of her lip, contemplating whether to ask before the words just blurted out of their own accord. "Would you say that coughing up blood is a serious matter, Staff Nurse Freeman?"
"Well, of course," Rita laughed. "Come on Lily, you should know that."
"I was just wondering," Lily said, trying to hide her worry. A tightness gripped her and a small panic raced through her mind.
"Why do you ask?" Rita asked her.
"Oh." Lily shook her head and folded her arms across the desk. "Just a patient."
"If you're sure," Rita said, giving a small smile before turning and walking off to deal with a vomiting patient. Lily sighed, and held a hand to her face, shaking her head and wishing everything would just get better on its own.
I'm actually so happy with the stories that I'm writing at the moment (which is rare for me to be honest, lol). I feel like my writing has improved a lot over the last couple of months and it's extremely helpful to have a beta reader to fix all of my grammatical errors as well. Thanks for everyone who's read, reviewed, followed and favourited.
Even if my updates are slow, I will try to update one of my stories at least once a week. I have choir and drama later so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get this chapter up today or not. We'll see :-) x