Sorry it's been so long since the last update, I felt bad so I made sure that this one was super long.
I would like to thank m-is-for-MollyMansfieldMealing for the idea, I put a little twist on it :)
I hope you like it.
Beth x
Connie sipped at her steaming cup of coffee scanning her desk of paperwork. A gentle knock at the door startled her slightly, relief washed over her realising she had a reason not to start the mountain of work she had to complete. Connie smiled when she recognised the beautiful blonde that entered the room. 'Hi you' Connie whispered with a huge grin. 'Hi babe' Rita matched her facial expression as she sat in front of her glancing over the paperwork 'wow…'
'I know, I really need to get this sorted before tomorrow' Connie sighed. Rita looked at her sympathetically. 'How about I order take-out tonight and we go through it all together?' Rita offered. Connie smiled gratefully 'that sounds amazing but it's my job, I can't let you do my work for me, that's not fair on you'
Rita stood up and walked around the desk so she was right in front of Connie's face. 'I don't mind, I want to help you, you've done so much for me…I'm not going to take no for an answer.' Connie kissed her lightly. 'Thank you…'
Rita kissed Connie back before standing up and headed for the door, 'I'd better get to work, I will see you later…try not to stress out to much…' Rita left Connie beaming.
As Rita exited the office smiling to herself she didn't notice Zoe watching her suspiciously.
The ED doors flew open as Dixie wheeled in a patient, Rita matching her stride listening to the details. 'This is Alex, she's 22, fell 15ft down a flight of stairs, large scalp wound to her head, K.O'd temporarily. GCS was 12 on arrival now 15, pulse 90, BP 110/70, SATs 98%, she's had 250 saline and 5mg morphine…1.2.3' Dixie reeled off as the team moved the patient to the bed.
'Hi, my name is Rita where does it hurt?' Rita asked the young girl gently. 'My head and my tummy' Alex leant forward moving her hand to her stomach and cried out in pain. Rita placed her hands on the patient's shoulders and helped her back to a comfortable position. 'My back…it hurts so much' Alex whimpered. 'Okay, I'm going to give you some more morphine for the pain.' As Rita sorted out the pain relief Connie marched into resus 'What have we got?' Rita reeled off the vitals '….and she has a lot of pain in her abdomen and back, I've given her another 5 of morphine for the pain' 'Right, I want a head X-ray and a full trauma CT scan please.' Connie instructed one of the nurses and then turned to the patient 'has the morphine helped at all? Are you still in pain?' The patient nodded and winced. 'Right, Rita another 5mg of morphine.' Rita nodded and carefully administered the drug. Connie watched her intently, Zoe walked in to check on another patient in resus that was on quarter hourly obs. She glanced over at the two women, noticing the way Connie was staring at Rita's every movement.
Later on that day, Rita was discharging her third patient when she heard Zoe, Max and Robyn talking about going out for a few drinks. She lifted her head just as Zoe called to her 'Hey, did you want to come to the pub after shift?' Out of the corner of her eye she could see Connie who had heard the question and was approaching the group. '…urmm…sorry, I have plans…' Rita stammered apologetically, worried that someone would notice the eye contact she had just made with the clinical lead.
'I am paying you to work. You can talk about your off duty plans when you're outside of work' Connie threw a glare at the three standing together, not slowing her stride, then flashed a sly smile at Rita before heading to her office.
At lunch time Rita took the opportunity to see her favourite human. 'How's it going beautiful?' Connie asked her as she sat down with a sandwich. 'Not bad just a few minor injuries. How are you getting on?' Rita gestured at the paperwork. Connie sighed 'I've got through at least half but it's taken me four hours, I blame the people upstairs making cuts and changing protocols...'
Rita went to check on Alex as she approached the bed Connie entered resus with the results of the scans. 'The scans show your C spine is clear but there is damage to your spleen, you need surgery to repair or remove it' Connie informed the patient. Rita looked at the monitor in alarm 'her BP is 90/70 and pulse was 100 she is deteriorating. We need to get her to surgery now.' Connie burst into action, called up the relevant department '…we need you to do your job, we are bringing our patient to you now, be ready' she hung up the phone and commanded the other nurses to take Alex up to surgery. Zoe entered resus as Alex was being wheeled off. She noticed Rita and Connie standing very close together talking about the patient. 'Is everything okay with Alex?' Zoe interrupted their conversation. Rita took a step back when she heard the consultant's voice. 'Yes, as long as surgery goes well she has a good chance of survival, it was lucky we were in the room when she started to deteriorate, we caught her just in time' Connie informed her in a professional manner, not wanting Zoe to suspect anything and uncertain if she did.
Rita poured Connie a glass of wine, watching her reading and signing the documents on the kitchen table. She placed the drink on a clear patch of table before kissing the top of the brunettes' head. She placed her hands on Connie's shoulders and gently started massaging her knotted muscles. Connie sighed enjoying the relief; she was so tense 'I think I'll be done in an hour, when do you think the take-out will arrive?'
Rita smiled 'Any minute now, you should put those into neat piles to one side; you don't want the Chinese sauces to get on them.' As if by cue the doorbell rang. Rita grabbed the change as Connie cleared the table.
'Thank you, have a nice evening' Rita waved at the delivery man and plonked down at the table looking forward to the warm meal. As they begun eating Connie thought about the day, 'did Zoe seem to be acting a little strange around you today?' she enquired. 'Maybe, she invited me out making sure that you heard and she saw us chatting earlier…do you think she might suspect something?' Rita asked a little concerned. 'It's possible, she is very perceptive and we may need to throw her off the scent so to speak.' Connie paused. 'What did you have in mind?' Rita smiled waiting to hear the plan, knowing that Connie had probably thought of something. 'I think we need to put on a little show for her tomorrow…you need to be 20 minutes late to work, I'm going to lecture you in front of her and a few other nurses, then throughout the day I will constantly make remarks to you when she's around, you've got to answer back like you used to before…before all of this happened.'
Rita pondered this getting rather excited, 'what's in it for me? Considering I'll have to spend the day being told off.' 'Well, I'll allow you to yell back at me, within reason, without any official consequences and I'll take you out to dinner in the evening, that little Italian place you've wanted to go to for a while. How does that sound?' Connie offered smiling at the beaming blonde. 'That sounds like fun, I'm in'
'Excellent, I'd better finish this paperwork…' Connie huffed, 'Come on I'll help you, what can I do?' Rita prompted. Connie looked at the eager blonde 'It would be really good if you could organise those forms in date order and close them up in the relevant files.'
'You don't normally let this pile up. How did it this bad?' Rita questioned. 'Well, I have distractions now…but I don't mind' Connie smiled coyly.
After about half an hour everything was completed and organised. Rita had cleared up the Chinese and Connie moved all the paperwork into her car so that it was all ready for the next day.
Rita had a quick shower and was brushing her teeth when Connie came into the bathroom reaching for her own toothbrush. 'You look so adorable…' Rita's eyes widened when she saw Connie in the mirror getting ready to tickle her, 'noo…' Rita tried to say through the minty foam, some spilling from her mouth into the sink. Connie laughed and just slipped her hands round Rita's waist hugging her tightly. Rita rinsed her mouth and turned round so she was facing Connie, Rita brushed her nose against Connie's giving her an eskimo kiss. 'Go on get into bed, I'll be in in a minute' Connie playfully shoved the blonde.
Rita got into bed, set an alarm on her phone and tried to warm up the bed by moving around. She watched as the brunette entered the room. 'How do you look so stunning in Pjs?' Rita asked her in awe. 'Shut up you' Connie retorted teasingly. 'Seriously though is there anything you don't look incredible in…?' Rita continued. 'I'll let you be the judge of that, if I ever look less than stunning you let me know.' Connie answered with mock seriousness. 'Okay, but I doubt that will ever happen.'
'You're so adorable Rita Freeman' Connie snuggled up to the blonde. The women lay there for a few minutes enjoying each other's presence. Connie played with Rita's hair, absentmindedly at first but then began to plait little sections. 'I love being with you' Rita whispered, wanting to say the sentence without the 'being with' part but was too nervous to admit it. 'I love being with you too' Connie smiled squeezing the petite blonde; she was so happy that Rita felt the same way, she also wanted to say those 3 words but was too afraid of scaring Rita. They fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
The next day, the show was about to take place. Connie looked at her watch, Rita should be here in 5 minutes she thought rather excited about her plan. She left her office and headed to the staff room. Rita was there and so was Zoe. 'Perfect' Connie thought to herself smugly. 'Nurse Freeman. What time do you call this? I am fed up with you being late all the time' Connie started. Zoe glanced between them nervously. 'I'm not always late' Rita retorted.
'You are 90% of the time and you need to get your act together' Connie demanded.
'Can't we go to your office and do this?' Rita asked raising her voice and gesturing to the other members of staff that were watching.
'No, you need to understand once and for all that you can't just come in when you feel like it! No excuses. I just won't have it anymore this is you last warning. Do you understand me?' Connie concluded her hands on her hips.
'Wow, she is good at acting' Rita thought to herself before saying 'Yes I understand Mrs Beauchamp' looking at her straight in the eye sending shivers down Connie's spine. 'Good, I expect more from you, don't cross me again today Nurse Freeman' Connie turned on her heel and left. All eyes turned to Rita. Robyn and Lofty came over 'Are you okay? That was really uncalled for, she should've talked to you privately not in front of the whole ED, she's really earning the title of the ice queen' Lofty put his arm around Rita's shoulder squeezing her in a reassuring manner. 'Guy's I'm fine, I'm used to it by now, you know what she's like I'm sure she has lots of stick from the people upstairs' Rita was trying to be careful not to defend Connie too much but at the same time give them a slightly different perspective of the clinical lead. 'Anyway we should get to work.'
Throughout the day Connie took every opportunity to lecture Rita.
Rita was hurrying to reception when Connie stopped her, she had seen Zoe so wanted to take the opportunity 'Nurse Freeman can you take Mr Goldsmith to X-Ray, he's in cubicle 2.' 'No, I am a nurse not a porter.' Rita answered her matter-of-factly. 'Then get a porter, I have more important things to do, you need to sort it out' Connie replied. 'Fine, I'll find Max, I don't appreciate being told to do something that isn't in my job description.' Rita shot back. Zoe watched them, 'wow they're really at each other's throats today' she thought.
Rita entered the staff room for a glass of water; she spotted Robyn and Lofty giggling on the sofa with a piece of paper in their hands. 'What are you guys laughing at?' Rita headed over to them intrigued. 'Oh just something we drew…what do you think? The resemblance is uncanny.' Lofty handed her the paper. 'Lofty! You drew Mrs Beauchamp as the ice queen…why has she got fangs?' Rita laughed. 'You know because she's like a vampire…' Lofty told trying not to burst into hysterics. 'I'm going to have to take this, wouldn't want Mrs Beauchamp to find this would we?' Rita folded up the picture and put it in her pocket. She was looking forward to showing it to Connie later on.
Connie took another opportunity, Rita had been talking to a patient for 15 minutes after she had discharged them, once the patient was out of earshot Connie started again 'You're not supposed to have personal conversations with patients, you need to move on to the next one, if we have a back log it'll be your fault for wasting time.'
'Mrs Beauchamp, I've had enough of you. If you don't stop harassing me while I'm trying to treat patients I will…' 'You'll what Nurse Freeman?' 'I will resign! You are a bitch! There is no need to treat me like this, a little respect goes a long way' Rita yelled back at her, cheeks burning red. Connie was a little scared, was this Rita acting or was there any real meaning behind it. 'How dare you talk to me like that! My office now!' The staff watched in shock as Rita followed the clinical lead to her office. Anxious whispers filled the air. Frantic glances being thrown around the room.
Once Connie had shut the door and closed the blinds she turned to Rita. Now they were alone Rita grabbed Connie, bringing her close and kissing her releasing all the emotion they had just built up. 'Wow, was all of that acting?' Connie asked a little worried. 'Yes, although a few months ago I may have wanted to say something like that' Rita grinned smugly. Connie laughed, settling down in her chair. Rita took the picture out of her pocket, 'what do you think of this?' Connie fell about in fits of laughter 'who drew this? It's hilarious…I love the crown of ice' 'I won't divulge that information but at least you can see how our little show is affecting the staff.' Rita admitted. 'Clearly, I'm doing something right.' Connie grinned.
Later on that day during Rita's lunch break she checked that no-one was around before sneaking into Connie's office, not knowing, that again, Zoe saw her enter.
Zoe stood outside Connie's office, the blinds were shut but she could hear quiet voices. 'Why are Rita and Connie in there during their break, it doesn't sound like an argument…' Zoe thought to herself. 'What are you doing?' Max questioned her looking quizzically at his girlfriend. '…oh…urm nothing' Zoe didn't want to say anything, she knew it was ridiculous to think Connie and Rita were friends let alone more than that so she decided she needed proof before sharing her assumptions. 'I finish in 10 minutes did you want to go up to the on call room?' Max waved off the unanswered question deciding if Zoe wanted to talk about it she would tell him at some point. 'Sorry, I can't right now but I'll make it up to you tonight' Zoe winked at him; she could've gone with him but was intrigued to find out what was going on between Connie and Rita. She watched Max leave with a smile before taking a deep breath and placed a hand on the handle. She paused before trying the door, it was unlocked. As quietly as she could she pushed it open.
Zoe froze when she saw Connie sitting on her chair with Rita kissing her passionately. They hadn't noticed her. After a few seconds Zoe decided she didn't know what to say or do so she just left quickly and quietly hoping they hadn't realised she had been there.
Once Rita had left the office Zoe decided to question Connie trying her best not to be too invasive. She entered the office smiling at the clinical lead, '…I don't miss that' she smiled looking at the paperwork. Connie smiled at her politely not saying anything. Zoe took a seat in front of the desk. '…So…how are you? I realised we haven't had a catch up in a while…' Zoe asked cheerily. 'I'm good…and very busy…was there something in particular you came in here for Dr Hanna?' Connie retorted glancing from the paperwork to Zoe. '…just wanted to know if you had anything new going on in your life…are you seeing anyone?' Zoe asked nervously worried about the reaction she was about to receive. 'It's unprofessional to talk about such things in the work place. If you are interested in me yourself then that is especially inappropriate.' Connie stated. Zoe laughed a little before stopping abruptly when she saw the signature Mrs Beauchamp death glare. Zoe left the office feeling rather amused at Connie's reaction; she decided to hunt down Rita for answers.
About an hour later Rita was finishing up with a minor injuries patient, 'all done Mrs Maxwell, here's some antibiotics. I'm just going to discharge you and you're free to go' Rita concluded politely handing the woman the medicine. 'Thank you nurse' Mrs Maxwell smiled at her as she left the cubicle.
Rita was filling out the discharge form when Zoe approached her 'Can I have a word Rita?' 'Sure, I'm almost done here' Rita replied. 'We need to go somewhere a bit quieter, I believe the relative's room is empty at the moment, can you meet me there in 5?' Zoe enquired. 'Sure, I'll be there in a bit' Rita was curious what Zoe wanted to talk about so secretively, she was worried it was about Connie, had their little show worked?
Zoe was sitting when Rita entered the room, 'take a seat, there's something I wanted to talk to you about…' Rita sat down getting more and more intrigued. '….this is going to sound out of the blue but do you have a boyfriend or girlfriend at the moment?' Zoe asked trying to approach the subject as friendly as possible. Rita stared at her a little confused, did she know? '….urm I don't know, I'm dating someone at the moment but we haven't made it official or anything yet' Rita didn't want to lie but she also didn't want to divulge any sensitive information. Zoe was unsure how to proceed without making the situation uncomfortable. 'Okay, are you happy with them?' she asked nervously. 'Yes, she makes me very happy…I don't think I've ever felt this way about someone before' Rita stared off in the distance reminiscing the day they went to the park and had the picnic. 'Good, that's all that matters, I'm looking forward to meeting her when you've made it official.' Zoe smiled, butterflies started circling Rita's stomach but she remained calm 'yes, I'm sure you'll like her…we'd better get back to work, wouldn't want Mrs Beauchamp to find us in here on duty' Rita finished. Zoe laughed internally, trying her best not to let it out.
At the end of her shift Zoe decided the best way to inform them that she knew was to directly tell them. She stood outside Connie's office preparing herself for an intense situation. She opened the door; she hadn't expected to see the same scene as before. She closed the door behind her and locked it before clearing her throat 'You should really lock the door if you're going to do that.'
Rita jumped off Connie. They stared at Zoe. 'I already knew about you two, that's why I asked you earlier but neither of you would admit anything so I thought the best way to let you know would be to tell you both face to face.' The shocked women continued to stare at Zoe unsure of what to say. 'Don't worry I won't tell anyone, I just wanted you to know that I am aware that something's going on.' Zoe left the office. Rita looked at Connie, once they had recovered from the initial shock they started laughing hysterically. 'Her face was a picture!' Rita giggled 'I guess our plan failed.' 'It wouldn't have if we'd remembered to lock the door…distractions…' Connie sighed 'I trust her not to tell anyone, it was fun though wasn't it?' 'Yes, we could still play with it a bit; I'm sure the other members of staff believe we are nemeses and think you're the ice queen.' Rita winked. 'Very true Nurse Freeman, shall we head to the Italian place, I think you've earned it with your very convincing performance' Connie stood up, planted a kiss on Rita's lips and slid her fingers between Rita's. 'Sounds like a good idea, I'm starving… and thank you very much…you were pretty good yourself' Rita grinned at the brunette.
Zoe was sitting outside having cigarette thinking about the love birds. 'I wonder if they would be up for a double date…I might mention it when everything settles…' as she pondered the thought she spotted Connie walking to her car, Rita was nowhere to be seen. She got up and walked over to her 'where's Rita?' 'She's just changing out of her scrubs…' Connie replied. 'I just wanted to let you know I spoke to Rita earlier before…you know…and she told me that she was really happy…she didn't tell me that you were the reason why but she said that she hasn't felt this way about someone before.' Zoe smiled at the blushing brunette. 'Thanks Zoe and thank you for keeping this a secret. It means a lot. We haven't made anything official we're just seeing what happens.' Connie told her gratefully.
'What are you two gossiping about?' Rita joked as she saw them. 'Oh, nothing, you ready to go?' Connie asked glancing at Zoe for a brief second. 'Yeah…see you tomorrow Zoe.'
Zoe waved, as they drove out of the car park, smiling to herself 'they are so adorable, I hope it works out for them…god only knows what would happen if it didn't…what a scary thought.'