Chapter Seven:
Thank you so much for your reviews everyone!
This is the last "pre-written" chapter - i.e from now, I'll be posting as I write. Got a friend up this weekend but I'll be back to writing next week!
"Max!" Louise calls from the centre of the ED, attracting the attention of nearly everyone nearby. "Come here!"
"What's up?" Max asks, leaning over the workbench, crossing his arms and leaning his chin on top. "Come to your senses and realised that I'm the man of your dreams?"
Louise fixes him with a stare. "No. Wouldn't want to hurt Tara," she shoots back immediately. "I just wanted to update you on something I saw on social media. Something to do with the bet."
Max immediately perks up. "Ooohhh…do you think I'm finally going to get my money?" he muses, staring off into the distance. "Because, well, there's a new TV I want to buy and I've got a hundred quid tied up in that bloody bet, and it's taking them far too long to get together. People are almost bored."
"Are you sure?" Louise retorts. "I swear nobody in this place talks about anything other than Mrs Beauchamp's love life in the pub. If I wasn't emotionally invested in her life, I'd think we were all being creepy."
"Well…back to the point, what's up?" Max changes the subject back, aware of the fact that standing and talking in the workstation doesn't make him look busy. And he's very, very busy. Plus, Mrs Beauchamp almost caught him talking about the bet last week, and they came very close to having to explain why her name was being mentioned in conjunction with the term 'bet'.
Louise doesn't say anything, simply turns the monitor so Max can see the photo on it.
It's a photo of Connie and Sam sat together, smiling widely, clearly taken by Grace. It's not just a 'let's smile at our daughter' smile, but one of genuine warmth and happiness. The photo's not brilliant – thanks to a strange filter of sunshines in the corners of the snap – but it almost looks like Sam's arm is wrapped around the Clinical Lead.
The picture's captioned, don't normally say this sort of thing, but I really love my parents. They're the best, even when my dad makes me do my homework and my mum makes me think about what I want to do with my life. #ILoveMyFamily
"I think I'm going to cry," Max says, a huge smile on his face. "I think I've won. Can we class photos as evidence they're together? Because if so…I've done it!"
Louise smiles, "I just love that she's calling them a family…it's great."
Another voice joins the conversation, though thankfully it isn't either Sam or Connie. Whilst Sam's still vaguely aware of the bet – at least Max assumes he is, given he keeps dropping hints about Connie and Henrik Hanssen – he's probably not aware how much some of them have at stake. Noel, for some reason, increased his stake to include his favourite action figure, currently the only one to back a Connie/Guy Self relationship. Jac Naylor's a pretty strong favourite, but Sam's now flying way out in front – though, as betmaster, Max has ensured everyone else has ridiculously poor odds.
"Where do you keep getting these photos from, Lou?" Alicia asks, turning the monitor towards her so she can look at it more closely. "Surprised Mrs B's on social media – she doesn't seem the sort, does she?"
"Nah, it's on Grace's, but she tagged Sam in it," Louise explains, feeling a little déjà vu from when she explained pretty much the same thing to Dylan. "He's not very big on it either, not for the last few months, so it's pretty much just pictures that Grace has put up. She's a sweet kid – most wouldn't even mention their mum or dad on the internet."
Alicia snorts. "Why am I not surprised you're friends with Sam," she jokes, before abruptly stopping. Probably something to do with the ill-fated 'almost one-night stand' she had with Sam nine months before. "But, yeah, well, it's cute, isn't it? Can't imagine what Dylan's going to say, though."
"Can't imagine what I'm going to say about what?" Dylan announces from behind Louise and Alicia.
"Didn't hear you approach, Doctor Keogh," Louise mumbles.
He snorts. "Well, when there's a nurse, junior doctor and a porter standing at a workstation for a matter of minutes without anyone being on the phone, it's quite clear something's going on," Dylan retorts, taking a step closer so he can look at the screen. "Ah, I see," is all he says.
"Well? What do you think?" Alicia presses, her interest in the departmental gossip overriding the idea of leaving it be.
Once again, Dylan snorts. "She can do whatever she wants," he adds. That he hasn't gone straight in for the attack on Sam Strachan shows the rest of them how he's mellowed – slightly – towards the registrar over the past four and a bit months. "But I still wish he'd clear off out of here and never come back…and preferably bring our Clinical Lead back down. Now I'm sure you've all got some work to do – so do it."
"Right, can I have two of vicryl," Connie says, her hand deep within the chest of a forty-something year old man lying on her operating table. "Jac, can you…" she trails off as she gestures to her assisting surgeon to grab part of the patient's chest.
"Just relax," Jac says, though from the little bit of face that Connie can see, it's clear that the Darwin Clinical Lead is enjoying this.
Connie merely fixes her with a stare, and asks for another two of vicryl, feeling for the arterial vein amongst the various blood vessels. Over the past few months, doing cardiothoracic operations has become second nature to her again; it doesn't take long to fix the problem.
"What are you doing?" Jac asks. "Surely you should have secured the clamps on the aorta first…?"
Once again, Connie fixes her with a stare as she feels the patient's left ventricle. Better than it was, but still not perfect – not up to Connie's standards.
"No," Connie explains, sounding almost patient. "Doing it this way is not only faster, it affects the patient less. Do try and not question every decision I make, or I'll expel you from my theatre like I did last time you did so. Now, press down on the right lung, and check the bronchiole please."
There's an audible breath around the theatre as, once again, Connie Beauchamp proves exactly who is in charge.
"That was fun," Jac comments as she enters the consultants' office on Darwin, tying her hair up as she walks. "Nice of you to treat me like a child again, though. I thought we'd gotten passed this." She's turning Connie's words back on her, though she is clearly speaking in jest.
Whilst Connie wouldn't call Jac her friend, she'd certainly struggle to find a word to clearly define what their relationship had become. She had visited the younger surgeon's house – and been pleasantly surprised at her daughter, Emma – and they'd gone out for dinner and drinks on more than one occasion after a stressful meeting or three. The pressure's certainly stepped up over the past month, as they're now only two weeks away from the official Centre of Excellence rating confirmation, and Connie's been thankful to have Jac around. Not that she'd exactly openly admit it, of course.
"Stop trying to undermine me, then," Connie replies absentmindedly. She's reading a text – more of an essay – from Sam about how Grace's school has sent home some unnecessary paperwork confirming that she's fit to be in school. Bit late, given it's now early-December and Grace has been back at Holby Grammar since September, but that's the incompetent headteacher all over.
Jac jumps onto the sofa behind Connie's desk, and laughs. "Me, undermine? Never…" She then sits forwards, and Connie jumps slightly. "Ooohh…who's sent you an essay? The still anonymous lover boy?"
Connie blushes, and shrugs. She's on the verge of admitting to Jac that she's with Sam Strachan – as, after all, it's been five months; they're probably due to go public – but she doesn't think she can quite bring herself to do it. The smug look on the younger woman's face would probably cause Connie to throw her out of the window…because, for five months, the one name she's continued to come back to is Sam Strachan.
"Who says he still exists?" Connie retorts, swiftly closing the text message before Jac can make out the sender's name. "Who says he ever existed at all? Why am I actually facilitating you poking around my love life, rather than focusing on the presentation we're giving tomorrow?"
Jac ignores the second part of the sentence and smiles. "Because we're best friends and you just can't wait to tell me that you're dating someone, have been for months, and are actually capable of being a normal human being?" she says, laughing slightly. "And then you'll confess who it is, and then we can stop this merri-go-round of me asking who you're dating and you ignoring the question that we've done for five months, because frankly, I'm tired of it, and I just want you to admit that you're dating Sam Strachan. Like, properly dating. Not just sleeping with. Because if that's the case, I'll be super disappointed."
Connie makes sure she's facing the computer as she replies. "Well, I'm sorry to say that you won't be learning anything today, Jac. Or ever, if I can help it. Now, what's Mr Gormum's status?"
They talk about the patient for a few minutes before Jac leaves to do her ward round, and it's only as she leaves that Connie realises she didn't refute the fact that she's in a relationship with Sam Strachan.
"Alicia, with me," Elle calls as she passes the workstation with a new patient, wheeled in by two new paramedics, Faye and George. "Right, we'll go to resus one, please chaps."
Alicia follows swiftly behind Elle and the patient, hearing snippets of the information. GCS 11…they've had a fall off the side of a block of flats…might have been pushed…definitely been in a fight, too…not even seventeen years old.
For a split second, Alicia sees how the patient's age and gender affects Elle – because, realistically, it could be one of her boys. But then she pulls herself together, and orders the patient to be moved across onto the bed, and starts reeling off a list of tests that need to be booked whilst Alicia does the primary survey. As strong as ever, with a hint of Connie Beauchamp in there: Elle's always been a strong doctor, but there's some things she's learnt from the Clinical Lead.
"My name's Alicia, can you count how many fingers I'm holding up?" Alicia says gently to the boy, who still looks dazed from the flashlight shone into his eyes. "Can you tell me where you are, or what your name is?"
He doesn't reply, and Alicia fears that it's a bad head injury.
"Doctor Munroe, what do you suggest we do?" Elle asks suddenly, and Alicia feels her mind go blank for a moment, as it clears all of the clutter about Ethan and the bet and whether her mum's happier nowadays out of the way, so she can focus on this patient.
"Right…CT to start with, then all the usual blood tests, clotting, amylase and MRI following soon after," Alicia says, almost immediately. "He's holding his airway, so I don't think we need to intubate, but we should have a kit on standby, in case he deteriorates."
Elle nods, looking across towards the patient, but Alicia doesn't think she's really looking at him. She's clearly doing her best to pretend that there's absolutely no resemblance to Blake Gardner.
"Good job," Elle replies suddenly, turning back and smiling slightly at Alicia. It's clearly a forced smile, and Elle's already making her way towards the door. "I'll be in resus two; if you need me, just shout loudly. Will you be alright?"
"I'll be fine."
"Dad!" Grace calls across the ED, turning the heads of anyone who could be the father of an almost-teenage girl. "There you are! I've been looking for you for ages," she adds, as she makes her way across to where Sam Strachan is standing near cubicles.
Looking confused, Sam reaches out and gives her a brief hug as she approaches. "Sweetheart, what are you doing here?" he asks gently, taking a brief look at his watch. At least it's after school's finished. "Mum's upstairs, if you're here to see her."
Grace shakes her head, looking slightly embarrassed. "I know she is, remember, she said at breakfast? She's finishing late tonight because she finished so early yesterday…?"
Sam shakes his head and laughs a little in amazement. It's a sign he's getting old, he thinks, at how much quicker Grace is at recalling simple information than he is, at times.
At the workstation, over Grace's head, Sam catches sight of Dylan. Whilst they're still not on good terms – he doesn't think they'll ever be, in all honesty – Dylan no longer wants to bite his head off the minute that he walks into the room. Which is progress. And today, he needs Dylan to retroactively authorise something he's done – done entirely for the good of the patients, of course, but done without permission.
"Er, yes, you're right," Sam replies distractedly. "Look, Gracie, I just need to talk to Dylan for a minute about something quite important…can you go sit in your mum's office for a couple of minutes? I promise I'll be in there shortly."
Grace nods and disappears off towards Connie's office without complaint, and once she's gone, Sam makes his move.
"Dylan," he begins, watching the consultant's shoulders stiffen. "I need to talk to you about something…"
Turning around swiftly, Dylan rolls his eyes. "Has anyone ever told you that starting a conversation with I need to talk to you about something and then trailing off is honestly the worst way to start what is likely to be a painful chat?"
Sam smiles, remembering the times he did a similar thing to Connie, until she shouted at him and told him to stop because he was making her more anxious than she was already, before abruptly stopping the smile. Dylan thinks he's smarmy enough already.
"Er, yes, it might have been mentioned," Sam responds, noticing Dylan's attention waning already. "Right, well…I've reanalysed the patient figures for minors, and it's clear that the department would benefit from a slight restructure, equipment wise…so I've moved it all around and shown the relevant staff on shift today. They seem particularly pleased with it."
Dylan's mouth falls open with shock, and Sam thinks this is the first time he's seen him speechless – around Sam, anyway.
"Just when I think I can tolerate you, you do something that makes me question my own sanity," Dylan mutters, rolling his eyes. "Well, I assume you've discussed this with Mrs Beauchamp, which has emboldened you enough to make a change without the relevant authority, so why are we even having this conversation?"
Sam looks away. "I, er, haven't talked about it with Connie. Why would I?" he tries to look confused, but isn't entirely sure how successful he is.
Dylan looks up at the ceiling and then away, shaking his head rapidly. "Connie could do so much better," he mutters, barely audibly, before waving a hand and turning. "Right, just leave it. I'm sure she'll appreciate everything you've done whenever she's next down here. Just…stay over there. Away from me."
Connie could do so much better. It becomes extremely clear to Sam that everyone in the department is aware of the relationship between him and Connie – and that his attempts to deflect onto Henrik Hanssen have failed, miserably.
In their defence, they're five months into a relationship which, other than Grace, two people know about: his mother, and Elliot Hope. Hell, they even live together nowadays – it would be strange if people hadn't noticed. And maybe they should have told people sooner. But it doesn't matter really anyway, because who gives a damn what the department think?
On her way to Connie's office, Grace stops by the secondary workstation, suddenly aware of the fact that she's the subject of at least five people's gaze. Turning slowly, she sees Robyn, Max, Noel, Alicia and Charlie facing her direction, though at least Alicia and Charlie pretend to turn away when they see her.
Figuring that a chat with Charlie and some of the rest of her parents' co-workers would be more interesting than just sitting in a boring office, Grace heads across to the work station.
"Hi Charlie," she begins with a wide smile. "How are you?"
Charlie turns back to face her and smiles back, as genuine as always. Charlie's definitely her favourite work person.
"I'm good thank you, Grace," he replies. "It's nice to see you – though I suppose it's good that you've not been around here for a while. Stay away from the nasty germs." The last sentence is clearly tacked on, and Grace knows that he's trying to stop her having to think about the numerous near-death experiences she's experienced in her life. Oh well; that part of her life is over now, she hopes.
"Yeah, I've been at school a lot," she explains, "I've got a part in the Christmas play in a couple of weeks which is really exciting. How are you all?"
There's general mutterings from the others that they're good, if a bit tired, and Grace gets the feeling that even if they weren't good, they wouldn't tell her. She's the Clinical Lead's daughter, after all – and, admittedly, a child.
"So…Grace…why are you here today?" Noel asks. "Nobody's hurt, are they?"
Grace smiles and shakes her head. "Nooooo, nothing bad. I just started to walk home from school and realised that I'd left my keys at home," she says, shrugging a bit. "I used to do it all the time…but this is the first time both mum and dad are at work, so I came to get dad's keys."
There's a rapid changing of glances between the staff, and Grace gets the feeling that, if they weren't in a hospital, half of them would be cheering right now. From what she knows about Max and Noel, she's surprised they've managed to stop themselves.
"But…why does your dad have a key to your mum's house?" Robyn asks, sounding confused – or pretend confused, probably. As a budding actress, Grace can just about tell when someone's pretending to be confused (or anything else), and Robyn definitely is.
And it's only then that Grace remembers that her parents' relationship is still a secret at work – she definitely overheard a conversation or two about how Jac Naylor kept pressing mum about who she's dating, and how the department keep making funny looks at dad.
So she's let the cat out of the bag.
Oh well, she thinks swiftly. It's about time anyway. And anyway, these people are doctors – they should be clever. If they can't figure out that her mum and dad are together again, maybe they should go back to school. Because, in all honesty, her mum and dad are the most obvious couple in the world – if she didn't like that the relationship makes both of them happy, she would have disowned them months ago.
"Because he lives there…?" Grace replies, trying to sound equally confused. "I'm sure it's a normal thing for everyone who lives in a house to have a key to it. Unless you're like two or something."
This time, Max can't keep it in. "YES!" he shouts, attracting the attention of everyone passing by. "Sorry," he adds, directing this towards Charlie and his disapproving stare.
"Sorry, Grace, but…are your mum and dad together?" Charlie asks, a smile now on his face. This makes her happy – her mum always talks about how Charlie's approval is important to her, and evidently he likes that they're together.
"Of course," Grace replies, deciding to be a bit bratty. It's fun, sometimes. "I mean, are you all blind or something? I mean, it's pretty obvious that something's going on between them, isn't it? Literally all of my friends could tell immediately – and none of them had ever met my dad before this year." She smiles widely, especially as all of their mouths drop open.
"Aw," Alicia says after a few seconds' pause. "I'm happy for them. Is it nice to have them together, Grace?"
She shrugs. "I don't get away with as much anymore," she admits, causing all of the adults to laugh. "But yeah I really like it. Home feels like home. But my dad said I should wait in mum's office, so I best go there before he thinks I've, like, disappeared. Bye."
Grace turns and walks away, just about able to hear the ensuing excitement and furore at the prospect of her mum and dad being together. Really, it's not that big a deal, she thinks. Why are they so excited about two adults being happy together?
"Doctor Gardner," Alicia calls through the door of resus two, iPad in hand. After a brief chat with the others about the fact that Mrs Beauchamp and Mr Strachan are in a relationship, Alicia's patient's test results finally arrived, and they're inconclusive. Of course they are. "Have you got a minute?"
Elle nods and walks across the room, taking the iPad off Alicia with a nod of thanks. "Ah…inconclusive, how helpful," she notes immediately. "How's he looking?"
Alicia shrugs a little. "He still seems confused and groggy, but there's no sign of concussion on the scans. His bloodwork is normal – no drugs of any sort in his system – but circulation seems to be a bit dodgy in his legs. Have you ever seen anything like this?"
"Dodgy circulation?" a voice interrupts. Sam Strachan. Of course. "May I?"
Without waiting for a response, Sam takes the iPad out of Elle's stunned hands, and begins to look over the MRI and CT results.
Alicia barely manages to resist mentioning anything to Sam about his relationship with Connie – she figures she should let Elle know first and, anyway, now's not a particularly appropriate time. But, strangely, it's as if he knows that the department knows: because, for five months, Sam Strachan has acted like a normal registrar.
Recently, however, he's started to push boundaries. To throw his weight around, and see whether Elle or Dylan will keep him in check. Most of the time, they don't, seeing it as Connie's job to deal with him – both in and out of work. And all this does is make him more and more confident, ultimately culminating in him trying to take over this complicated case.
"Managed to gain an insight for us lowly ED doctors, Mr Strachan?" Elle asks pointedly, after a minute's silence.
"Hm…you might want to take a look at the heart," Sam says slowly, none of his usual swagger. At least when he's diagnosing patients, he takes a break from trying to smother everyone with his ego, Alicia thinks.
But then she can't resist replying, "his heart? Didn't realise the heart caused grogginess and symptoms of a head injury."
Elle just about stops herself laughing by biting her lip; Sam, on the other hand, just smirks. He must be in a good mood, Alicia thinks, for him not to even be fazed by this.
"No, but the heart causes circulation problems," Sam explains kindly, in a completely un-Sam-like manner. "And that might clear up some symptoms so you can work out the head injury. Good luck."
With this, he hands the iPad back to Alicia and walks off towards Connie's office, leaving both Elle and Alicia dumbstruck for a moment.
"Did he really just do that?" Elle confirms, shaking her head in disbelief.
"He did," Alicia corroborates. "But it turns out that him and Connie are definitely a thing. So that could be why."
Elle snorts. "Well, when Mrs Beauchamp does return, if he carries on doing that, they won't be a thing for much longer."
Alicia has to agree.
"Sorry, Gracie, I got distracted with a patient," Sam says apologetically as he enters Connie's office to find Grace sitting in her mother's chair.
Grace shrugs. "It's fine," she replies, before adding, "I guess I should apologise to mum for always getting mad at her for doing the same thing, because you do it too."
Sam laughs a little and crosses the room, leaning against the desk next to Grace. "Mum understands," he replies, fiddling with one of the pots of stationery on the desk. "But I'm sorry for leaving you. Why are you here though, darling? I didn't realise that was the plan."
"It isn't," Grace admits, looking up from her phone. "I, er, well I forgot my keys again. I'm sorry, I didn't do it on purpose." She sounds like she's about to cry, and Sam drops down into a crouch, ready to hug his daughter, should she start crying.
"I know, sweetheart," he says, almost in a panic. "I wouldn't have said you had. Look, here's my keys, I'll see if anyone's leaving soon to give you a lift home. I don't want you walking home from here, not now that it's dark."
"But you got mad last time I left my keys at home," Grace mumbles, now having started crying.
Wrapping his daughter in a hug, Sam bites his lip to stop himself crying, too. He's been slightly harsh on her recently, to counter the fact that he let her away with far too much when she only lived with Connie, and he hadn't thought about how a little thing like getting mad about keys might affect an eleven year old.
"I'm really sorry, Gracie," Sam says quietly. "I didn't mean to make you upset before, and I don't want you to be upset now. I've got some patients I need to finish treating, but I should be done in an hour or two, so if you want to stay here and do your homework, I'm alright with that. And I'm sure Dylan will be, too."
Wiping the tears away from her eyes, Grace shakes her head. "I want Mum," she whispers.
"She's in theatre, sweetheart," Sam replies gently, even though he's not entirely sure where Connie is. She could be in theatre – or she could be in the morgue. There's been no communication between them since he sent her a text about Grace's school. "But if you stay in here, I'll get you a hot chocolate and you can do your maths homework, and I'll ring upstairs and see if she can finish a bit early. Is that okay?"
"No, I don't want her to finish work early," Grace retorts, contradicting herself. "It's fine, I'll stay in here. It's cold outside anyway." She makes a weak effort at a smile, and Sam returns it, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"Alright," Sam says, taking a step back towards the door. "Keep the door closed, and please try not to go into HDU or anywhere that you shouldn't be. Mum isn't down here to protect you – or me."
Grace is here, she forgot her keys, are you able to finish any earlier tonight? X
Connie reads the latest text from Sam and bites her lip, rapidly thinking through the possible options. She's got maybe another hour of work to do on this presentation, so if she leaves straight after that, she'll be down there for the same time that Sam's due to finish. Could that work? After all, she left at three yesterday rather than five, so that she could go to Grace's orthodontist appointment – she can't really leave any earlier than six today.
"Earth to Connie?" Jac calls from across the room, waving a hand in the air. "Are you listening to me? No, I didn't think so. You're actually called Marge Simpson! You're dating Sam Strachan! You're actually a cyborg! Really? No response to cyborg?" She trails off, realising that Connie still isn't paying attention.
"I, er, sorry, Jac," Connie says distractedly, frantically typing a text to Sam that confirms she can finish at the same time as him. "What were you saying…oh. You decided to go back to my love life. Moving swiftly back to cardiothoracic exploratory procedures…"
Jac rolls her eyes. "Mentioning Strachan is the only way that I can get your attention nowadays," she explains. "It's like you've got some sort of alert for him."
This time, it's Connie's turn to roll her eyes, as she fixes Jac with a particularly stern glare. "Back to cardiothoracic exploratory procedures," she repeats, turning her computer screen to face Jac. "Which font do you prefer with this background?"
"Why even bother asking?" Jac retorts, stifling a yawn. "We both know you're going to use the one you want. This project is your baby, after all."
"I know," Connie affirms, and turns the screen back to face her. "But it's your department now. I'd appreciate it if you learnt enough from this experience so that next time you need to confirm its status, I don't need to come back and hold your hand for five months."
"No plans to repeat this, mark my words," Jac adds, laughing a little. "Though it's been lovely to spend lots of time with you…I take it we'll be spending a lot more time together in the future though?"
Connie looks up, her expression confused. "What do you mean?"
Jac leans forwards, a glint in her eyes. "Oh, you mean you didn't know? Matteo's leaving – got a better offer from Cardiff; apparently, there he doesn't have to deal with me. I don't know why he thought that that was a good thing, but there you go."
"And you think I want to work for you?" Connie laughs, and turns back to the presentation. She's got to get a move on if she's leaving in an hour. "Dream on, Jac. I'm fine in the ED, truly."
"Oh," Jac retorts, sounding disappointed. "That means you don't want to sit up here and plait my hair all day and giggle like teenagers? Damn, that's my plans for an easy ride shelved. Well, if you find anyone who you think would be good for the job, let me know…and if you change your mind, you know exactly where we are…"
"Seven stories above the floor I currently work on, yes I know exactly where you are," Connie murmurs, typing furiously fast. "Right, can you practice your slides – they're on the shared drive. I'd like to make sure that you're capable of pretending to like people to get funding before I decide how much charm I need to apply."
Ten minutes before Connie's due to leave, Jac's phone buzzes.
"Oohhhh," Jac says, munching on an apple as she picks up her phone.
Then she drops the apple and laughs, the sudden noise causing Connie to look up and make eye contact with her.
"You're busted," Jac continues. "Living with him? My, my, Connie Beauchamp, you're a dark horse."
After ten minutes full of Jac asking increasingly personal questions about her relationship with Sam Strachan and Connie ignoring them all, Connie heads out of the Darwin consultants' office and towards the lift which goes directly to the centre of the ED. Time to face the thunder, so to speak; time to see how the masses react to knowing yet another detail about Connie's life.
It's almost disappointing to enter into an almost empty ED; there's one or two nurses at the work station, but they're night shift ones that she hardly ever interacts with. On the full walk to her office, she encounters Doctor Hardy – who looks as tired as ever; she makes a mental note to sit down with him on her next day in the ED and assess his status – and two paramedics she's never seen before.
"Mum!" Grace calls, looking up to see Connie approaching through the window.
Connie smiles and waves as she speeds up and opens the door. "Hello, sweetheart. I hear you've come to be our newest consultant?" she jokes as she enters the office. "Are you alright? Dad said you were upset?"
Grace shrugs. "Yeah I'm fine. I just forgot my key and then I just ended up staying. Is that alright?"
"It's more than alright, Gracie," Connie replies, rounding her desk and hugging her daughter. It's almost like déjà vu, for her to find Grace waiting in her office; however, this time, it isn't her fault. This time, Grace doesn't blame her.
And it's glorious.
"Dad's finishing in a minute – he's just getting changed," Grace adds, then bites her lip. "Mum…I might have sort of told people about you two. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, sweetheart," Connie says genuinely, smiling as she presses a kiss to Grace's forehead. "You saved us a job – and anyway, it was probably about time to tell them. Especially as I'm back down here in a few weeks."
At this point, Sam pokes his head around the door. He's wrapped up in the jacket Grace picked out for his birthday, and a Ravenclaw scarf which, in Connie's opinion, makes him more handsome than ever.
"Ah, there's my favourite girls," Sam says, smiling across the room. "I guess Gracie's told you about her little chat with Max and Noel?"
Connie smiles and nods. "She did indeed," she replies, looking away from Sam and down at Grace. "I think we need to take her out for dinner to say thank you," she adds, pulling Grace across the room towards the door with her.
"I think that's an excellent idea," Sam replies, and Grace laughs.
"Does that mean I get taken for dinner every time I tell someone that you're together?" she confirms, before shrugging out of Connie's grasp. "I'll meet you at the car, if that's okay, I just want to go and get a drink." Before either Connie or Sam can reply, Grace has already almost sprinted off in the direction of the vending machine.
There's a pause as both of them try and figure out exactly how they want to play this. They're together, finally, in Holby City Hospital; but Connie's never been one for public displays of affection.
"I love you," Sam murmurs into her ear as Connie locks her office door and slips the key back into her bag.
"I love you, too."
She slips her left hand into his, the skin contact electrifying, and they begin to walk towards the door. Over here, there's more members of staff from her team, but nobody tries to talk to them; instead, she can feel their gaze on the two of them, watching their every step.
"Are we really letting Grace choose where to go for dinner?" Sam asks quietly, as they make their way past reception. Half of the team appear to have followed them down here, and it's almost impossible for Connie to stop an embarrassed smile appearing on her face. In fact, it is impossible.
"No," Connie replies, looking across and up at Sam. "I think Lucca's. Where we went when we decided to tell her. What do you think?"
He smiles, and the expression lights up his face, his eyes, his everything. Looking at him, Connie realises she's never loved anyone this much, in this way. She's happy that the team know now, because she's glad she no longer has to pretend that she doesn't love him more than she's loved anyone else. She's even willing to put up with their constant ribbing or questions or unsubtle comments – because Sam Strachan is worth it.
Please let me know your thoughts!
