A/N On a completely unrelated note. I went to see Captain America 2 yesterday, and for ages, I was sat trying to work out where I had seen the Councilwoman before. Then I realised: IT'S SISTER JULIENNE! Day made.
….
Shelagh was avoiding Patrick, only talking to him when absolutely necessary about patients, never about Timothy.
Patrick was avoiding giving Shelagh any reason to get angry at him, or to make her uncomfortable, and so was also avoiding her.
Timothy was confused as to why Shelagh would drop him off at home, but wouldn't come in for a cup of tea. Or why his dad would take him to Carrie's earlier when normally Shelagh would probably have been around. He didn't like it at all.
Carrie was wishing that the two would kiss and make up already, not enjoying the distantly unhappy look on either of their faces. Or the awkward pauses when she automatically gave one a message to pass onto the other.
The midwives were trying to act as normal, but it felt as if there was an abyss between their two most adored members of the community. None of them were quite sure how to converse with either of them.
…..
"That was awkward!" Jenny said unhappily, slipping into the staff room and shutting the door behind her. "I feel as if mummy and daddy are fighting-"
"And all the kids are suffering?" Trixie finished for her. Jenny nodded, sitting down next to Cynthia and accepting a cake.
"It is awful," Cynthia agreed. "But what can we do? I think locking them in a cupboard is just childish, and we don't know what it is they argued about in the first place. It may be such a big thing that just talking about it won't actually solve anything!"
"I've yet to hear you come up with anything better," Trixie muttered.
"Poor Timothy," Jenny sighed. "If this is the first time any of us have seen Shelagh and Doctor Turner fight, he must hate it! Shelagh's always been there for him."
"I don't think that Shelagh's avoiding Timothy," Trixie sighed, "Just his dad."
"I was sat behind the desk yesterday, with Shelagh?" Cynthia said quietly, as if imparting a great secret. "And Doctor Turner came from the opposite direction. It was awful."
"What happened?" Jenny asked worriedly, "Did they have a row again?"
"No, but you know how, on this ward, there are four certainties?" Cynthia asked "You know, the ones like, Julie-Anne is always willing to hear your problems, that Evie is all bluster and no bother, that Shelagh understands the Doctor like no one else, and that the Doctor will always make time for Shelagh?"
Her two companions nodded, indicating for her to get to the point already.
"She heard him coming before I saw him. I noticed because she suddenly grabbed the file she had just finished and rushed over to the cabinet at the back of the reception area. He heard her scuffle, and looked up at her…. And he just looked so…lost. I think that he doesn't know how to make things better with Shelagh… I don't think any of us can do anything to help them."
"It's awful," Jenny sighed unhappily. "It's almost like there's something wrong with the air and we're all affected."
The other two murmured their agreement.
Outside the door, hand poised to open it, Shelagh's eyes had filled with tears. The last thing she wanted to do was make her colleagues uncomfortable. She wiped her eyes, turned, and walked to the toilets instead.
…
"They're cutting our funds!" Patrick announced, as soon as he entered Julie-Anne's office.
"Hello Patrick," She answered pleasantly, removing her glasses. "Yes. I had heard. Its not wholly unexpected, they seem to think that helping women give birth is an easy job."
"I'm going to try and fight for that pocket of cash to be directed at us, not plastic surgery. There are no stipulations after all, and surgery always have the most money!" Patrick sprawled into the chair opposite Julie-Anne's desk and covered his eyes. "As if things weren't already bad enough…" Julie-Anne heard him mutter unhappily, before he removed his hand and looked up to her. "Look Julie-Anne, we all know how much clout you have around here, everyone from A&E to dermatology, respect and like you. Is there any way that you would be able to come and back me up, and just generally con everyone into agreement?"
Julie-Anne smiled benignly, a plan already forming in her head. "You just try and stop me Patrick!"
Patrick smiled in relief, murmured his thanks, and said that he would forward her the details of the meeting before heaving himself up and leaving.
Julie-Anne sighed, hoping that her half-formed plan would return the spring to Patrick's step, and stop Shelagh looking generally absent.
….
Shelagh knocked gently on Julie-Anne's door, the day before the meeting with the hospital board. It had been an awful few weeks for all parties, and she had taken to scheduling her shifts so that she was on opposite shifts to Patrick in order to avoid him and make it less uncomfortable for her friends.
"Hey Jules," Shelagh forced a bright carefree smile onto her face and entered the office.
"Drop the act She, you know I can see right through it," Was the retort. Shelagh rolled her eyes and sat down. "I was just about to come and find you actually Shelagh. I have a massive favour to ask of you."
"Yes…" Shelagh asked warily, because Julie-Anne looked nervous and like she would rather not be having such a conversation.
"You're the only person who understands the statistics, the hours and the financial struggles of this department," Julie-Anne started. "Evie won't touch it, and I trust you to do the figures if I am away…"
"I know…."
"They're cutting our funding, and only you know exactly how that will affect our already motheaten books…"
"Julie-Anne, just spit it out. I'm imagining ward closure here!"
"Patrick has arranged a meeting with the board of governers about the charity funding that they still haven't decided where to allocate…" Julie-Anne paused and bit her lip slightly. Shelagh knew exactly what was going to come next. "I said I would go as well…But its on Thursday… At two O'clock…"
"Same time as the Dep Heads monthly meeting," Shelagh felt a wave of relief. Julie-Anne was going to ask her to go to the Dep Heads meeting, not the board of governers. "I can go to the Dep Heads for you, it's ok."
She was met with a slightly awkward silence, and Julie-Anne shuffling papers on her desk.
"Julie!" Shelagh pleaded.
"I have to give a presentation on contract hour management," Julie-Anne said quietly. "I'm sorry Shelagh, but I need you to go to the Board meeting."
Shelagh took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had promised herself that she wouldn't let their argument affect work after all. She could be entirely professional.
"Ok, can I have all of your prep and projections then," Shelagh said in weary resignation. "I'll need to be on absolute top form for Thursday after all."
Julie-Anne smiled at her friend in relief. "I really am sorry," she said quietly, handing Shelagh the file. "You need to meet Doctor Turner at one on Thursday, he wants moral support and respectability on his side, and you and I are the only ones who appear to have influence all over the hospital."
"I know," Shelagh sighed, flicking through the file "Doesn't make having to talk to him any easier…"
"Shelagh," Julie-Anne started hesitantly "Maybe you two should try and talk it out…."
"But where do I start?" Shelagh said unhappily "I don't even know what's wrong! I haven't got a list of things I can take to him to sort it out. I can't list the symptoms and make it better."
"What's wrong," Julie-Anne said softly "Is that he kissed you, and you don't know how to respond."
…..
Patrick looked at his watch worriedly and hurried his pace, briefcase clunking against his leg as he rounded the corner to the lobby he was meant to be meeting Julie-Anne. He skidded to a stop in shock. Waiting for him by the reception desk wasn't Sister Julie-Anne Parker, dressed to the nines in her grey suit, but Shelagh, standing, looking more beautiful than he had ever thought. She was looking down at the light brown coat she was holding in front of her, head bowed with the sun glinting off her russet hair. She had on a new suit – or at least, one he hadn't seen before. It was navy, a pencil skirt that looked fantastic on her. Patrick faltered slightly. Shelagh looked up, and shuffled awkwardly.
"Sorry I'm late," he said quietly. "I lost track of time choosing my tie…"
"I think it's a very…appropriate choice," Shelagh said quickly, before giving him a ghost of her former smile "Maybe you should have asked Timmy to pick one."
"Maybe I should…" He whispered. They stood awkwardly, figeting slightly, for a few seconds.
"Um, shall we?" Shelagh asked, indicating towards the lift. Patrick nodded, gesturing for her to go first.
The following lift might have been the longest two minutes of Patrick's life.
…..
As usual, the board was made up of pretentious, self-important and arrogant men who had never worked a hospital shift in their entire life yet persisted in dictating changes to the way the hospital worked without actually understanding the impact. Shelagh liked people, she was one of those people who genuinely thought well of all people, believing in the greatest capacity for human kindness. Yet even these men were grating on her already fractured nerves.
Patrick, beside her, was getting more and more irate as the gentlemen insisted that they couldn't redirect any more funds to midwifery when they were already stretching the budget so tightly. They would just have to allocate their funds more wisely.
"Forgive me for interrupting," Shelagh said quietly, sitting forward in her seat slightly, more than a little irate but concealing it rather admirably. "But I can't see how you've come to that conclusion," She flicked a page in the file she was holding. "We've retrenched at least five times over the past year, and every time, the restructuring has met with board approval. We currently have five midwives on staff, and three ward sisters. Sister Parker doubles up as the department head on top of her midwifery duties. So, staff wise, we are as stretched to breaking point as we could possibly be. Mothers need the midwifery department. Two have already been closed in the area and this hospital serves the women of the entire East end. Women come to us, they deliver their children and they want to feel safe. And we stop them from being scared. You may not consider it to be a significant department, but I want you to think of this. You were all delivered by midwives, whether it was at home, or in the hospital. We are a crucial department, and we refuse to be forced to provide substandard care to the women of the East end. It doesn't matter if you think that we are a publically unappealing area of medicine, but there is nothing more special than helping to bring a child into the world."
"Do you have children, Miss McDonald?" One of the board members asked her.
"I …" Shelagh faltered slightly. "I don't. But I consider it an honour to help women give birth, and one day, I hope to have a child of my own. And I would want a fully functioning and capable midwifery unit to help me deliver."
Patrick lowered his head to conceal a smirk. Only Shelagh could turn that to her advantage.
…
"Thank you," Shelagh shook the hands of the board members, smiling politely before following Patrick from the room. She waited until they were waiting for the lift again before turning to Patick. "Oh, well done Patrick," She beamed. "You were brilliant! Whether we got the extra funding or not, I can honestly report back to Julie-Anne than you tried your absolute best."
"Thank you," Patrick smiled down at her, feeling a little wistful. "But it wasn't just me, you were more than amazing! Anything I said paled in comparison to what you said in there!"
They stepped into the lift.
They rode in awkward silence for a few seconds, Shelagh intently studying her nails.
"Shelagh-" Patrick started hesitantly.
The lift doors opened onto the maternity ward. Shelagh turned to him quickly, flashing a smile before hurrying out with an awkward little wave, leaving Patrick standing in the lift alone, cursing his own cowardice.
A/N This has only taken so long because I was having a few issues with the ending. Stick to canon and have her walking off before either of them can confront *whispers dramatically* feelings. Or have some headway made. Took a few days of switching back and forth, but I think I am happy
Please don't expect quick updates, my exams are imminent and I haven't actually started revising yet :S
R&R?