(Glad you're all enjoying the story! To be fair, it keeps mutating so even I'm not sure where this will end up :) Please keep on reviewing)

Chapter 4

"Michael, what are we actually meant to do once we get there? Do you really think she's going to allow two drunk Consultants to roam the hospital?" she whispered urgently as he continued on up the stairs, losing steam slightly.

"She won't even...know we're...there..." he panted, eyes widening as he took a deep breath in. "Wow! How do people climb these suckers every day!?" He shook his head incredulously as Jac rolled her eyes and climbed past him, not breaking a sweat. "Hey! Never leave a man behind!" he complained as she turned and looked down at him.

"I don't see a man." She feigned innocence as he scowled at her and continued up towards her.

"Can we pause...drink stop?" he asked as he produced a hip-flask from his back pocket. Jac's eyes lit up instantly as she took a seat on the top step on the landing they were on and he joined her. Taking a swig and passing her the flask, he grimaced and swallowed the whiskey, smacking his lips appreciatively.

"That's good whiskey." Jac agreed as she took another swig, passing him the flask back. She could feel the alcohol burning in her chest and relished the feeling of warmth.

"So...what happened in Sweden?" he asked suddenly, looking at her from the corner of his eye. "I mean, Hanssen leaves, you leave, you come back, Hanssen comes back...you did go after him, right?" Jac kept her gaze in front of her, but could feel her head swimming slightly. Sighing, she decided it wouldn't hurt if one more person knew.

"His father was ill. He went back to Sweden to sort out his father's Company which, incidentally, was the company willing to invest £40,000,000 in Holby City." she paused, turning to Michael. "Hey...Serena was the one who sent me after him...you don't think..." Michael's eyes widened as he shook his head.

"No, there's no way they've been at it that long...surely!?" They looked at each other and Jac giggled.

"Just imagine...the two most senior members of staff having a secret affair that nobody even knew about?" she giggled again as she took the flask from him and took a swig. "They'd have to be masters of deception! All those board meetings, HOD meetings, working weekends..." They both fell silent as they passed the flask between each other. "Is this right?" she asked suddenly, turning to face him looking concerned. "Shouldn't we let them have their privacy?" Michael pretended to think about it for a moment before snorting and standing up.

"No way, man! This is just too big to ignore." he said, stumbling on the step slightly as Jac reached up to steady him.

"Okay, then let's catch them at it...so to speak!" she laughed as Michael screwed up his face. As they continued up the stairs, Michael began to sing loudly, and out of key.

"Let's get it owwwwwn, Oh baby,

Let's get it owwwwwn, let's love babyyyyy..."

He began to dance and gyrate his hips exaggeratedly, Jac falling into fits of laughter at the expression on his face. To her, he looked as if he was having a rather uncomfortable bowel movement, and she told him as such.

"You're just jealous 'coz you don't have these moooooves!" he said, thrusting his hips from side to side, Jac trying to get away as he grabbed her and spun her around on the landing.

"Stop it you idiot!" she laughed. "We're both going to end up at the foot of the stairs, our bodies nothing but mangled heaps!" As Michael pulled her close and began dancing with her, they heard a door open on the level above them and voices enter the stairwell. She sucked in her breath suddenly and Michael pulled them back against the wall, craning his neck slightly to try and see who it was.

"Okay...goodnight Mr. Hanssen!" shouted a voice as footsteps began to sound, getting louder and louder. Jac looked at Michael and sniggered nervously, knowing instantly who was descending the stairs. The pair stood silently and waited until the unmistakeable figure of Elliot Hope bounced into view. He stopped suddenly when he saw them, and regarded them curiously over the top of his glasses.

"Ms. Naylor...Mr. Spence..." he said cautiously as he stared at the two consultants, stood with their backs against the wall, trying not to sway from the alcohol but failing miserably.

"Good evening Professor Hope." Jac smiled as she tried to focus all her energies on staying upright and not showing how drunk she really was.

"I thought you'd left hours ago...what are you still doing here?" he asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow as he looked from Jac to Michael.

"Nothing, Jac forgot her...thing...so we're going to get it." Michael slurred as Elliot smiled his understanding and stepped closer to them.

"Well don't let Ms. Campbell or Mr. Hanssen see you!" he warned, tapping the side of his nose and continuing down the stairs. "Goodnight." he shouted back over his shoulder.

"Night!" They both replied in unison. Once they were sure he was out of earshot they dissolved into fits of laughter.

"Oh no...he's never going to let me forget this!" she complained, groaning and leaning her head back against the wall.

"Hey...we were never here, remember?" He winked conspiratorially as she shook her head in exasperation.

"Come on, let's just get up there, see what needs to be seen, then get the hell out of here!"

"Sounds like a plan." Michael replied as they once again set off rather more sluggishly up the stairs.


Hanssen was back in his office, finishing up his paperwork when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" he answered loudly as the door opened swiftly and in came Chantelle. "Ah, Nurse Lane. How may I be of assistance?" he asked lightly as she beamed at him.

"We've just had a referral up from AAU, but he's not very happy." Hanssen sat still, trying to decipher what she was telling him.

"What do you mean, Nurse Lane?"

"Well, the patient is quite drunk...he was being quite loud and disruptive. Ms. Campbell seemed to have it under control but I thought maybe if you gave him one of your death stares..." she said simply and Hanssen chuckled.

"Very well Nurse Lane." he smiled as he got to his feet ready to follow her from the room. "Although, for the record, I don't give death stares." he protested as she smiled knowingly.

"Oh don't you? My mistake." She headed for the door, both of them smiling to themselves. As he stepped onto Keller, he could instantly hear the bedlam the drunk patient was causing.

"Mr. Wallis, you need to calm down and sit down please." Serena was attempting to guide the man back to his bed but he was having none of it.

"No! I don't need to sit down!" As Hanssen arrived next to Serena, she looked up, sighing loudly.

"Mr. Wallis, 35 years old, impaled himself on a pitch-fork." She gave him an exasperated look before turning back to the patient. "Look, I know you may feel well enough to be moving around, but you've just had a sharp object removed from your thigh and I need you to please get back into bed! The alcohol is most probably masking the pain." she explained as he stared at her through bleary eyes, trying to make sense of what she was saying.

"Oh, you're very beautiful. Okay, I'll do it. But only because you're lovely." he emphasised as Serena looked up at Hanssen, blushing before helping him into his bed.

"There we are! See, isn't that much better?"

"Mmm." he replied, his head lolling to the side, him falling asleep within seconds. Serena shuddered as she began to move away from the bed, motioning for Chantelle to head over and do his Obs now he was asleep.

"Well you handled that situation perfectly Ms. Campbell." he stated as they walked towards the Nurses' Station.

"He was harmless really, just very drunk." she smiled as she reached the Nurses' Station, picked up his file and flicked through it, finding the X-Ray. "Have a look at this." she said as she handed him the X-Ray and awaited his verdict.

"It seems he is a very lucky man!" he exclaimed as he saw exactly where the fork had embedded itself in his thigh.

"Quite. An inch to the right and he'd have been singing soprano." she said candidly, smirking as Hanssen swallowed nervously. She took back the X-Ray, sticking it in the file and headed around to the other side of the desk, sifting through another pile of dense files. Picking up the armful of work, she moved out from behind the station and headed towards her office, Hanssen accompanying her.

"How many electives are on the list for tomorrow?" he asked, watching Chantelle hurrying past with a kidney dish filled with whatever Mr. Wallis had drunk earlier.

"There are 4 down for the afternoon. 3 Hernia repairs and one Colectomy." Suddenly, she stopped still and turned to face Hanssen. "Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched?" she asked him as he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Excuse me?" She widened her eyes and glanced quickly to her right before looking back at him.

"Well don't look now, but I believe we have two little pixies at the end of the ward who believe themselves to be invisible." she said , smirking as Hanssen looked to where she had indicated. He frowned as he saw Michael Spence pressed up against the wall, thinking he was somehow blending in...and Jac Naylor stood against the wall opposite him, bending down and attempting to disguise herself by pulling her coat up over her head. He turned slowly back to Serena and raised an eyebrow questioningly. She sighed, long-sufferingly as she handed her files to him and headed towards the two clearly inebriated Consultants.