Chapter 7- Every time that I say goodbye

The week leading up to Georgie's departure felt like the slowest week ever. After saying her goodbyes to Elvis, she drove back up to Manchester in his car. It felt like she'd cried for most of the journey home and she was just glad she was leaving too. She'd spent the last few days with her sisters and mum. Mainly watching movies and trashy tv programmes but also for coffee and lunches out. As Georgie wasn't going to be home for Christmas this year, the whole family had decided on having an early Christmas Day yesterday. Max and Grace had cooked a lovely turkey dinner with all the trimmings and they'd all exchanged gifts. It had felt strange celebrating Christmas in September but they were all just glad to spend some quality time together. Like with every family Christmas, the day had ended with an argument over who had cheated at monopoly.

Since Elvis had left, Georgie had managed to have 2 short phone conversations with him and their first Skype call. The signal wasn't great but it was better than not seeing him at all. Elvis couldn't say much about his mission as it was classified information, and it was probably just aswell Georgie didn't know the details.

Georgie was due to go out for drinks with the 2 section guys tonight. It had become normal procedure that they would all go out a couple of days before a tour to get reconnected again. Even the captain was going along, so Georgie couldn't really say no, even though she didn't really feel like going out.

It ended up being a good night but Georgie still wasn't feeling herself. It was as though a piece of her was missing, and she knew exactly who that piece was. She made her excuses and left early. As Georgie climbed into bed, she checked her phone and to her surprise had received a text from Elvis, just apologising that he hadn't been in contact today and saying night and that he missed and loved her. Georgie was gutted that she had missed his text but text back anyway, saying she loved and missed him so much.

As Georgie sat in bed that evening unwinding to one of her favourite songs she listened to the lyrics 'Every night when the sun goes down, and I'm left in this lonely town...Every time that I say goodbye,

Every night when I close my eyes'. She couldn't help but let her tears fall. She missed Elvis so bloody much. Even though they'd only been together for a short time, she couldn't remember her life without him. There's was an intense and passionate relationship. What a lot of people could only dream of having. Even though she was in a big city like Manchester, she couldn't believe how alone she felt tonight. With that thought Georgie closed her eyes tightly shut and begged for sleep to take over.

The following day Georgie said goodbye to her family ready for the Syrian mission. The Lane household was running high with emotions with 4 crying females. Max wasn't quite sure where to put himself. He was going to miss Georgie like crazy aswell, but he understood she needed to do this for herself, even though he wasn't keen on Georgie's chosen career path.

The journey into Syria was scary for the team. Even though they were only there on a humanitarian mission, they could tell straight away that they weren't welcome by a lot of people. The 2 section guys were there mainly to guard the refugee camp along with the Syrian army, but Georgie had also used her time back in Manchester to train the guys in basic first aid treatments, so she could get on with the more tricky patients. She knew right from the start she was going to be in high demand and probably wouldn't have the best facilities. After all the bad publicity Syria was getting on the news, Georgie knew they weren't going to be overrun with medical volunteers, but she would try her very best to help as many people as she could.

The first few weeks of the mission flew by. As Georgie had guessed, she had been overrun with patients. Working 12 hour shifts every day including weekends, with hardly any breaks and in the 34 degree heat. During her time in Syria she hadn't had much time to speak to Elvis. Quick texts here and there and missed calls from each other made it difficult to properly catch up, but they had managed to have a Skype call last night which was amazing. Seeing Elvis's cheeky face again had given her the boost she needed and had really cheered her up. Elvis was due to fly home soon, and he was gutted she wouldn't be joining him for a few weeks yet. They had a big job to do in Syria and Georgie knew just how many people needed her help. She couldn't leave yet.

Elvis returned to the UK a couple of weeks later. It felt strange and cold being in his house without Georgie, and he knew straight away that he didn't want to waste anymore time. He wanted everything with Georgie, which was a foreign feeling for him. He'd never been in a proper relationship before, the thought always scaring him, but with Georgie he wanted more. Elvis decided to put on some of Georgie's favourite tunes to make himself feel closer to her, and as he sat in his armchair listening to the lyrics 'How the winter makes me wonder where you've gone' he thought back to happier times, and knew just what he wanted to do.

It took Elvis three hours to choose the perfect ring. He'd gone from jewellers to jewellers but wouldn't settle until he'd found the perfect one. He couldn't wait for Georgie to come home, so he could give her his late Christmas present, but first he needed to take the trip up to Manchester to collect his car and ask Georgie's parents a very important question. Elvis was very old fashioned and traditional when it came to things like this. He liked everything to be done properly and this would be no exception.

Georgie's parents couldn't contain their excitement over Elvis's news. They were both touched that Elvis had come up to Manchester to ask them personally and promised not to say anything to Marie or Lulu as once they find out, Georgie would know to. Elvis ended up spending the weekend with the Lane family, sleeping in Georgie's room. It was just what he needed to pick himself up again. It was always hard coming back from tours and re-adjusting to civilian life again, but now he felt closer to Georgie again and knew it was time to go back down south.

Georgie returned home on the 2nd January. Exactly 1 year after she met Elvis for the first time. Neither of them knowing at the time how much meeting each other would change their lives forever. Neither of them looking for anything serious, but sometimes fate has a habit of knowing what you need before you do...

Song credit: Birdy- Hear you calling