For the record, I think Rita (and some of you) may disagree with my idea of good...


Rita and Iain returned to work the next morning, and, after arriving early to speak to both Connie and Charlie, it was agreed that Rita would work in resus for a while, that way she'd be less likely to be on her own. They also agreed, with Rita's consent, to inform the rest of the staff so they could all keep their eyes open, not only in case Mark made an appearance, but to be sure Rita was okay.

"Rita" Connie summoned the nurse into her office less than an hour after she'd started her shift, "a word please." Rita nodded and silently followed Connie into her office, sitting in the chair offered to her, "I've spoken to security, the police have already made them aware of the situation."

"Thank you."

Conne took a moment to look at the nurse, she couldn't believe the change in her over the past few days, "is there anything else we can do to help? If you'd like me to refer you to counselling or…"

"No, no thank you" Rita said softly, "I erm, I appreciate the offer but I, I just want to try and forget about it."

"Okay" Connie nodded, "if you change your mind I'm sure you're aware of the self referral process or you can come and ask me and I can…"

"Thank you" Rita nodded, "can I get back to work now?"

"Of course" Connie said, watching Rita leave the office, her shoulders slumped and her head bowed, nothing at all like the strong, feisty woman that had left the hospital a few days ago. Connie made a mental note to keep an eye on the nurse and to speak to Zoe, ask her to try and speak to Rita.

It was another half an hour before Rita saw Iain again after he brought in a patient with Jez. Zoe saw the concerned looks Iain kept throwing in Rita's direction and gently nudged the nurse before nodding towards Iain, "go and speak to him" she said softly.

Rita nodded and made her way out of Resus with Iain, "you alright?" He asked her softly as he held his arms out, Jez taking the trolley back out to the ambulance to give them a minute.

"Yeah" she whispered as she stepped closer to him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her, "just tired and…" she shrugged, "I can't stop thinking about him."

Iain sighed and kissed Rita's head, "I wish there was something I could do."

"It's not your fault" she whispered.

"It's not yours either" Iain replied quickly.

"I should get back to…"

"Rita" Iain gently held onto her wrist to stop her walking away, "It's not your fault." She nodded slightly and he kissed her again, "I love you."

"I love you too" she told him before walking back into resus.

"Everything okay?" Zoe asked as she watched Rita pull on some gloves before walking over.

"Yeah" she nodded, "do you want me to…?" She gestured to a cut on the patient's head and Zoe nodded.

"Please, it just needs cleaning and stitching, I can't see any glass or anything in it."

Rita nodded, "okay" she said quietly as she went to get the equipment she needed.

Zoe frowned slightly as she watched Rita clean and stitch the man's wound, whilst there was no doubting that she was a good nurse, Zoe couldn't help but notice how Rita's hand shook slightly as she wiped the blood from the man's forehead, and the usual casual chat she used to put the patient at ease was absent.

Rita looked up at Zoe once she'd finished, "thanks" Zoe smiled before holding out a small scrap of paper, "could you get Noel or Jack to ring Mr Hanson's daughter please, her name's Kate."

Rita nodded and forced a smile, "yeah" she said softly as she took the paper from Zoe, "I'll go ask them now.

"Thanks" Zoe said, watching Rita walk out of the room before turning her attention back to the patient.

"Rita" Noel smiled up as he saw her walk behind the desk, "what can we do for you?"

"Mr Hanson in Resus, he was in an RTC, can you ring his daughter please?" She held out the paper with her number on.

"Of course" Noel took the paper from Rita, "how is he if she asks?"

"He's fine, he's got a head injury and he was unconscious for a while so we're waiting to send him up to CT but he's not showing any worrying symptoms so we're not expecting it to show anything major."

"Okay" Noel picked up the phone, "I'll give her a ring now."

"Thanks Noel."

Jacob called Rita over after she'd finished talking to Noel, and, after speaking to him for a moment, she turned to head back to resus. She didn't make it though, she'd just passed the reception desk when she felt someone grab her wrist, "'ere, where's me brother?" Rita froze and the man's grip only got tighter, "you listenin'? Where's me brother?"

"I, I don't…"

The man shoved Rita against the wall before stepping closer to her, close enough that she could smell the alcohol on his breath as he leaned in, "look, either you tell me where me brother is or I'll…"

"You'll do absolutely nothing" Jacob said as he grabbed the man and pulled him away from Rita, "nothing except leave this department right now."

"Piss off, I wasn't talking to you."

"Yeah, well now I'm talking to you" Jacob let security take hold of the man, "and I'm telling you you're leaving" he said, letting the security guard lead the man out of the department as he crouched down to Rita who had slid down the wall and was curled in a ball on the floor, "you alright?" He asked but he got no response, "Rita?" He gently put his hand on her arm and that was enough to startle her back to reality. A rush of adrenaline raced through her system when she felt Jacob's hand on her arm, her heart began to pound against her rib cage, her eyes opened wide in fear, her muscles tensing ready to fight however, when choiced with the options of fight or flight her body chose flight. She sprang from the floor and raced into her office, so fast Jacob barely saw her feet touch the floor.

She only remembered to breathe again once she'd closed, and firmly locked the door behind herself, choking in air in large gasps as she tried to catch her breath after holding it for so long. She reached out, grabbing at her waste paper bin, pulling it closer as she felt her stomach lurch and she began to heave, not that there was anything in her stomach to bring up, she'd barely eaten since she found out Mark had broken into her house.

"Jacob, have you seen Rita?" Zoe asked as she left resus, her patient on his way for a CT scan, she'd been worried about Rita all day, her concern only growing at the fact Rita hadn't returned after speaking to Noel.

"In her office I think" he said before explaining what had happened, "do you want me to…"

"No, no, I'll go." Zoe said, thanking Jacob as she made her way into cubicles and over to Rita's office. "Rita, Rita it's me, are you in there?" There was no answer, so she tried the door, sighing as she found it locked "Rita, it's just me, let me in please."

"Is everything alright Zoe?" Charlie asked as he saw her stood outside the office he shared with Rita.

"No, it's Rita" she gestured to the combination lock, "can you let me in, I…" she struggled to remember the code for her own office when she was clinical lead, she had no chance with other people's, she could barely remember her own phone number.

"Of course" Charlie quickly punched in the number and pushed open the door, "I'll give you some time, you know where I am if you need anything."

"Thanks Charlie." Zoe stepped into the office and sighed when she saw Rita sat on the floor, her body shaking as she sobbed, "Rita" she said softly, kneeling down beside the nurse, "come here" she wrapped her arms around Rita, holding her tightly until she finally calmed down, "Jacob told me what happened in reception."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, no, it's not your fault, look, I know what you're probably going to say but have you thought about seeing someone, Ben, he's really…"

"No, no, I, I don't…" Rita took a moment to compose herself, "talking about it, reliving it again and again isn't going to change what happened, it's not going to make things any different."

"Therapy, counselling, it's not about changing what's happened, it's about finding ways to help you cope with what's happened, to help you move forwards."

Rita shook her head, "I don't, I just want to try and forget about it."

"Okay" Zoe didn't want to push Rita, "Do you want to go home?"

Rita shook her head, "No, Iain's working, I don't..."

Zoe nodded, understanding that Rita didn't want to be at home on her own, "Okay, well, take your time, stay in here for a bit if you need to, if we need you I'll come and get you."

"Okay" Rita wiped at her eyes, "I erm, I might try and get some paperwork done."

"That's fine" Zoe smiled, "like I said, if we need you I'll come and let you know."

"I, I'm probably going to lock the door."

"I'll let Charlie know you're in here, anyone who might need to come in knows the code so it's no problem." Zoe stood to her feet and held out her hand for Rita, "let me know if you need anything yeah?"

Rita nodded, "yeah, thanks"

Zoe smiled at Rita as she left the office, hearing the lock click shut almost as soon as the door had closed, she told Charlie that Rita was locked in the office doing paperwork before making her way to Connie's office and knocking firmly on the door, the clinical lead too confined to her office to wade through an endless pile of paperwork.

"Come in."

"Can we talk?" Zoe asked as she walked through the door, "about Rita."

"Is she okay?"

"Do you really think she's fit to be working? I've just found her crying on the floor in her office."

Connie frowned, "Jacob told me what happened, she was assaulted by a patient's relative, after everything that's happened I don't think it's surprising that she's feeling a bit shaken up. I spoke to her this morning and she said she'd like to try and forget what happened and move on, I think the only thing we can do is respect that and give her whatever help and support we can."

"I think…"

"If you notice that her personal life starts to have an effect on her work, or if you think her being here puts patients in danger then let me know and I'll speak to her again, but, after everything, I'm not prepared to insist she takes leave when having the normality and routine of work is probably going to be a help to her." Connie looked up at Zoe, "I'll keep an eye on her" she promised, "and I'm sure everyone else will too, Rita is a much loved member of the team, everyone's looking out for her, she's not on her own."

Rita managed almost three solid hours in her office before Charlie unlocked the door and poked his head inside, "We've got another RTA coming in, ETA 7 minutes, Zoe says can you give us a hand in resus?"

"Sure" Rita nodded, closing the file she'd been writing on, "I'm on my way now."

The stream of patients into resus seemed never ending, and, if she was honest, Rita was glad of that, the busier she was, the more patients she had to focus on, the less her mind wandered to the things she didn't want to think about.

It was several hours later when the last patient was finally transferred up to a ward and Rita was able to return to her office, intending to do more of the paperwork she usually tried to avoid. She frowned as she saw a sheet of paper balanced on top of the files she'd been working on, it certainly hadn't been there when she'd left her office earlier. Her heart stopped as she took a closer look at the note and realised the handwriting was an exact match to that on the note found in her kitchen, 'Lover Boy's right, of course you'll be safe... as long as you remember that this all needs to stay our little secret. Do as I ask, remember your place and don't try anything stupid like running back to the police and no one's going to get hurt so just remember that. If anyone gets hurt it will be all your fault.'