6 weeks later.

"Mum… is everything okay?" Amy knocked on the bathroom door, when she heard her mum throwing up her breakfast. She heard the sound of the toilet flushing and waited for Jac to open the door.

"Yeah… yeah I'm fine," Jac said, as she walked into the kitchen to get something to drink, "where's dad?" she asked Amy, as she poured herself a glass of water.

"He already left… which means I get to walk into work with you today…" Amy said, smiling, proud that her mother was CEO of the hospital.

"You know it's not ethical…" Jac replied as she got her coat and car keys.

"But mum, I can't hide the fact that I'm daughter of the CEO, everyone knows on Darwin, even that Nurse Maconie is my dad, I can't really hide it… my surname is enough to blow out the truth… and besides dad's already left so you're my only ride…" Amy explained as she put on her coat.

"Yeah, okay fine, let's go…" Jac told her daughter, to shut her up. She certainly wasn't well at all.

…

"Come in!" Jac called out after the knock on her door.

"Joseph… how can I help you?" Jac asked, as she took a moment to look at Joseph for a second, then at her notes.

"Listen, by any chance, do you have some time to spare to assist me in theatre?" he asked politely, "it's an aortic bypass graft… Ms Effanga is busy with the med students and Dr Valentine is busy with his research and a full theatre list…" he added.

"Right… I'll scrub in, I guess my paperwork can wait a bit…" Jac replied, with a smile. She wasn't going to miss an opportunity to be in theatre, she missed surgery.

…

"Hello Darwin…" Amy said as she answered the phone at the nurses' station, "right, just hold one minute please…. Ms Effanga!" she called out to Mo. Mo, standing beside a patient in bed 8, started approaching the desk.

"It's Mr Levy, from Keller…" Amy told her as she handed her the phone. Amy left Mo on the phone and made her way to the supplies' closet. She remembered Jonny had asked her to refill the supplies trolley.

She was going through stuff on the shelf, when she felt someone's hands on her body.

"Aaaaa!" she gave out a little scream when she turned around to see it was Harry, "you scared me! Harry Bryne, don't you dare sneak up on me like that again!" she told him, as she slapped him on his chest. Harry couldn't stop laughing.

"Oh come on… will this make you feel better?" he told her smiling, as he pulled her closer to him and kissed her.

"Mmm…" Amy said, as they broke apart, "a little bit…"

"you know how hard it is to hide our affections out there, with your dad around the whole time? I don't know how much longer I can keep this up…" he said in a low voice, with his arms wrapped around her.

"I know… me neither… we'll tell them, we'll tell both our parents… soon…okay?" she reassured him.

"Right… listen, meet me for a coffee later, downstairs yeah?" Harry told his girlfriend.

…

"Ms Naylor, you ready?" Joseph Byrne asked Jac in theatre, scrubbed up and ready to begin surgery.

"Yeah of course…" she told him, standing opposite him, with the patient lying in between.

"Scalpel please…" Joe ordered. He was given one, but just as soon as he opened the patient up, Jac started making a face.

"You alright?" Joe asked her as she stepped away from the table.

"No, not really… I'm not feeling very well… sorry I can't do this…." Jac said as she ran out of theatre, as quickly as she can and into the first toilet nearby.

"Right… page Ms Effanga please…" Joe asked one of the nurses, as he carried on with his work.

…

"I don't have a long break I'm afraid…" Amy told Harry, as she emerged from the lifts and meeting Harry at the ground floor café.

"it's okay… here I got you this…" Harry told her, handing her a cup of coffee, "Listen, do you want to go outside on the bench? The weather is lovely today…"

"Sure," she replied. With one hand she took hold of the coffee cup, and held Harry's hand in the other, as they both walked outside.

…

"Hey are you alright?" Joseph said, as he walked down the stairs to see Jac, standing at the bottom of the staircase, staring outside the glass windows, overlooking the carpark. Jac looked up, as soon as she heard someone talking to her.

"Yeah I'm fine… well I am now at least…I've been sick twice…after breakfast and now…" Jac said, slowly. Joe stood by her.

"Sick?" Joe asked confused, "…any idea what's causing it?" he asked, concerned.

"I don't know… could be indigestion… we did have an Indian take away last night… it could've been dodgy or something…" Jac told him.

"Right…" Joe said, slowly. He was trying to figure out what was going on. Jac didn't seem herself lately.

"Oh would you look at it!" Jac exclaimed, still looking outside. She spotted Amy and Harry sitting on the bench, hand in hand, Amy laughing at something Harry was saying. Joe looked outside as well.

"Looks like they're back on…" Joe uttered.

"How can you tell? Maybe they're just friends…" Jac commented, still her eyes on Harry and Amy.

"Jac," Joe told her, now facing her, "I'm not stupid, I know chemistry when I see it… they were made for each other… just like us…" he told her, as he placed his hand on hers. Jac looked at him for a minute, but soon slid her hand from beneath his and walked away.

Joe couldn't understand. They shared something magical, that night at the dinner, 6 weeks earlier, but afterwards Jac has been shutting him out. He understood she wasn't going to show any affections whatsoever on the ward, and if she wanted time to decide who she was going to choose, he respected her wishes and gave her the space she needed. But she acted particularly weirder than usual today, she clearly wasn't herself, something was definitely up. He tried figuring out what it could be… and then one particular thought came to his mind…

'No she can't be…' he muttered to himself.

More is coming your way...the drama is not over just yet! the big reveal will probably be in the next chapter or the one after... keep reading... you're in for quite a shock... Thanks for your support so far x