Here's the next update. I just thought I'd say that Charlie, Adam, Jay and Kristy are Alexa's god parents. I had mentioned that in my previous fic but I thought I'd just say again. I'm not very pleased with how this chapter has turned out but I hope you enjoy it.
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Zoe ambled slowly back into the E.D, lost in her own thoughts and her conversation with Dylan still playing heavily on her mind. Zoe kept replaying everything Dylan had said in her head. Even though he had told her about Samantha, she was still unsure of his feelings towards her. Why hadn't he mentioned her before. Zoe couldn't work out whether there was a secret that Dylan was keeping from everyone about his wife. Whatever it was, Zoe was determined to find out what more about his marital status.
"Ah Zoe, there you are" said Ruth as she saw Zoe wandering. Zoe looked up when she heard her name and walked over to Ruth who was clutching an x ray.
"Who's is this?" asked Zoe. She watched as a bemused look encroached over Ruth's face.
"Zoe, it's Freya Young's chest x ray. You requested for her to have one earlier" said Ruth, reminding her colleague of earlier. Zoe nodded as she remembered and took a closer look at the x ray. "Yeah, as I thought a Pulmonary embolism. Can you give her some heparin intravenously please Ruth?"
"Zoe, are you going to come and help? She is your patient" replied Ruth, not understanding why Zoe seemed so distant all of a sudden. Zoe sighed and looked at the younger doctor frustrated.
"Ruth, I think you're capable of what I'm asking" said Zoe, raising her voice slightly and watching as Ruth's head dropped, obviously embarrassed of their disagreement in front of everyone.
"I know but I just thought you'd like to..." said Ruth but was cut short by Zoe who called over to Lenny who was nearby, taking in the tense scene that fell before him.
"Lenny, can you assist Ruth" said Zoe sarcastically as Lenny dutifully nodded. He hurried over and stood beside Ruth "I'm sure between you, you can successfully insert an IV line or is that too difficult for qualified doctors!" Zoe continued into an angry tone and then stormed off in the direction of Nick's office. When she got there she slammed the door behind her and flopped down on her fiancée's black office chair. As she looked over to the window and saw Dylan walking by, tears began to fall down her face. Zoe angrily wiped the tears away as Dylan disappeared round the corner. She couldn't understand why she was so upset that Dylan had a wife. It wasn't like she and Dylan were particularly close but there was just something about their talk earlier that got Zoe. She didn't want to believe for a second that she had any romantic feelings for Dylan but as she continued to think about her colleague, this thought began to loom over her more and more. A knock at the door brought Zoe away from her thoughts and she looked up as the door opened and Adam stood there, smiling sympathetically at Zoe. Immediately Zoe broke down in tears again and Adam walked over and crouched down beside her, embracing her in a hug. Zoe wrapped her arms around Adam and buried her head in his shoulder. She could feel her tears dampen Adam's shirt as he stroked her hair gently.
"What's the matter Zo?" said Adam quietly. He wasn't certain what was the matter with Zoe. He had seen Ruth in resus and she'd dropped into conversation that Zoe had seemed on edge earlier.
"It's nothing" replied Zoe, her voice slightly muffled as her face was head was still resting on Adam's shoulder. She couldn't tell Adam what was the matter. It wouldn't make any sense. Why would she look at any other man than Nick?
"It's obviously not nothing Zoe. You were so happy earlier. What's changed?" Adam pushed Zoe away from him carefully and cupped her head in his hands, the pads of his thumbs brushing against her cheeks. Zoe closed her eyes as she felt more tears surfacing. Adam was being for kind to her yet she felt she didn't deserve it.
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"Here was are sweetheart" said Nick as he parked the car next to Zoe's Mini. He turned and looked at his daughter who obliviously playing with her blanket that was laid over her. Nick was glad Alexa wasn't aware of all this distress that surrounded her and what's more, he was grateful that she was too young to understand the illness that he had suffered with over the past few years. Nick took a deep breath and opened the car door, carefully taking in the view of the hospital as he did. Nothing had changed. The outside was still bustling with doctors and nurses, rushing to get their patients that were brought in by the paramedics inside. Nick wandered round to the back of the car, pulling the door open and unstrapping Alexa from her car seat, lifting her up into and air and into the safe haven of his arms. He balanced his daughter on his hip and struggled as he locked the car. Nick began to walk towards the hospital. This was it. There was no going back. He pushed the E.D doors open and just stood in the entrance, rooted to the spot. It wasn't until he spotted a beaming Tess coming up to him and Alexa that he came out of his thoughts.
"Nick, It's so good to see you but I thought you weren't coming in until tomorrow?" Tess exclaimed, unable contain her joy that Nick had come in. Nick smiled, glancing quickly around the E.D. He felt slightly wary. It was such a long time ago that he had come back to work and he couldn't help but feel like an outsider even though virtually everyone in this hospital knew who he was.
"Well, you know me Tess, full of surprises" replied Nick, holding Alexa close. At that moment, Charlie appeared round the corner and paused when he saw Nick standing there with Alexa and Tess.
"You're a sight for sore eyes!" laughed Charlie walking over. He patted Nick on the back as he was unable to shake his hand due to Nick carrying Alexa. Tess signalled that she could take Alexa and Nick carefully placed Alexa into Tess' arms.
"I can't tell you how glad I am to be back. That flat was driving me mad!" Nick said, brushing his hands through his hair.
"Zoe's in your office" said Charlie and then he leant towards Nick "According to Ruth, she seemed a bit distressed earlier. I think Adam's with her" Nick nodded slightly but he couldn't hide the fact that he was worried about Zoe.
"Tess, do you think you could keep hold of Alexa for ten minutes or so, just while I go and see Zoe" asked Nick, quickly changing the subject. He suddenly found himself wanting to get away from reception of the E.D. He didn't want to have to hear any gossip of Zoe's earlier outburst.
"That's fine Nick although I'm not due my break yet but I think Jay is. Would that be ok?" questioned Tess although she was fairly certain that their boss wouldn't disagree about what she was suggesting.
"That's fine. Jay's good with Alexa so I don't have any problems with that" said Nick, thinking about the cheeky young nurse. Nick subconsciously looked over towards his office to where he could see through the blinds two figures which Nick presumed was Zoe and Adam.
"Sorry, we're keeping you" said Charlie understandingly as Nick looked surprised, not wanting to give the impression that he was in any way tired of his colleagues company.
"No Charlie, you're not, I'm just anxious to see Zoe" Nick replied hastily. He gave Tess and Zoe a quick smile and took Alexa's hand "I'll see you in a minute darling". Nick turned and walked off towards his office, pausing momentarily at the door, trying to make out the muffled voices from inside the door. He placed his hand on the door handle. His hand was visibly shaking as he pushed the door open to see Zoe with her head on Adam's shoulder, her face streamed with tears. When Zoe noticed Nick standing there, she jumped away from Adam quickly, her mouth suddenly forming a small smile.
"N...Nick. What are you doing here?" said Zoe now able to find her voice which she had lost when Adam had questioned her about what was wrong. Nick smiled and held his arm's outwards Zoe. she hesitated slightly but then quickly ran into Nick's embrace. Nick wrapped his arms around Zoe and squeezed her tight, never wanting to let her go. He planted a kiss in her head and she nuzzled closer into Nick, just as Alexa would do. Adam stood up slowly behind them, still in a state at Nick's presence and smiled as Nick looked at him but Nick didn't respond with the same expression.
"Nick, I'll come and see you later. It's nice to see you back here again " Adam said simply and he began to head out of the office. He could sense Nick would want find out what was the matter with Zoe but he somehow thought Nick would only get the same response as he did. Adam shut the door behind him but he suddenly felt an overwhelming temptation to linger at the door, just to hear what was being said between the couple in the office. Adam stood there for a few seconds when Dylan came up behind him and patted him on the shoulder, making Adam jump. He turned round quickly and glared at Dylan.
"Eave's dropping were we?" said Dylan without displaying any real emotion except for a small smirk on his face at what Adam was doing.
"Dylan don't you have patients to treat?" Adam retorted as Dylan shrugged in his usual cool uptight manner. Like others, Adam really hadn't warmed to Dylan and it showed every time the two men came into contact.
"I'm on a break" replied Dylan. A thought came over Adam as he faced his colleague, now more interested to talk to his colleague.
"Do you think I can have a word?" asked Adam completely ignoring the short discussion between them seconds earlier. Adam started to walk over to the nurse's station, away from the office in case Nick or Zoe was to hear the conversation he was about to have.
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I'm going to stop that chapter there as I was unsure of where to finish it. Please keep reviewing as I love reading them and thank you to my regular reviewers! I'll update when I can! (:
X Natasha X
