On Boxing Day, Sybil had to go to work again and Tom, who would only start his new job after New Year, spent the day with his family. He was feeling a little bit guilty that he hadn't been as welcoming and grateful for their visit, as he normally would've been so he planned to make it up to them before they had to leave in the afternoon.

They had a great time, doing the tourist thing. Tom had visited London a lot before he moved here permanently for his new job, but the rest of his family had never been there so he was happy to show them around.

Over lunch his mother took the opportunity to ask him about Sybil again. She was clearly curious how they met and how long this relationship has been going on, but Tom avoided giving a straight answer. It wasn't that he was ashamed of what they had done, but he felt it was their private business. So he just kept being mystical about it and his mother was getting annoyed.

"I'm going to meet her parents on New Year's Eve." He finally gave her that as some kind of peace offering.

"Oh!" his mother exclaimed giving him a sharp look. "Then it is serious after all, isn't it?"

Tom laughed. "Why is that so important to you?"

"I just want you to be happy," she said. "And I don't want to see one of my boys sleeping around. It's not how I raised you."

Tom had the grace to blush. "I don't, Ma, really," he mumbled. "But do you have to get so Catholic on me?"

She smiled. "If you call that Catholic, you didn't pay much attention in Mass, Tom Branson. But tell me about meeting her parents? Where do they live?"

"Her father actually owns the building where I live. He seems to be rich, from all what I've heard and they have a family estate. Downton Abbey. It's in Yorkshire."

"An estate?" his mother asked, shocked.

"Yes, I actually heard of it before. Seems to be pretty big. But they're not living there, part of it is open to the public and they just visit it in the summer and over the holidays."

She stared at him in disbelief and he sighed.

"I know, Ma. She's way out of my league. I have no idea where this is heading and how it is going to work. But right now I feel like I know what I want, so here we are. I'm going to meet her parents, try to be on my best behaviour and hopefully they won't hate me."

Thankfully his mother was too shocked to say more so they joined the conversation among his siblings. Tom caught her giving him doubtful glances from time to time for the rest of their meal, but decided to ignore them.

When they finally said goodbye at the airport a few hours later, he kissed her on the cheek and smiled.

"Don't worry about me, Ma. I'll be fine."

She grimaced but left it at that. "Call me when you finish your first day of work." she grabbed the hand of her youngest niece.

Tom promised and waved them all goodbye as they walked to the boarding area. When he couldn't see them any more he turned around and went to the tube station. He took the tube back into town and since he was in the area anyway, he decided to go to the hospital and pick Sybil up from work. She had told him she would finish around 4:30 in the afternoon and if he had to wait a bit for her, he wouldn't mind either.

After asking the receptionist for Dr. Crawley he was told she was on the fifth floor so he went up with the elevator and saw Sybil instantly when the door opened. She was standing in the middle of the hall, holding a small child in her arms, who was no more than four years old. The little girl had no hair and was obviously distressed, because she was crying.

"Now there, Jenny," Sybil said softly to her. "Don't cry Darling, Mommy will come back, tomorrow. You know that, right?"

She looked up and saw him standing there. A smile lit her face and he couldn't help returning this smile broadly.

"Look, Jenny," she said to the little girl. "Here's a friend of mine. Why don't we go and meet him? Jenny, this is Tom. Tom, this is Jenny."

Jenny looked at him curiously, her distress obviously forgotten.

"Hey," Tom said gently and smiled at them both. "I thought I could pick you up."

Sybil nodded. "Sure. I just have to get little Jenny back in her room." She set Jenny on the floor and the girl ran down the hall to a room at the very end.

"She was upset because her parents had to leave," she said quietly to him. "Most children could be sent home for the holidays, but Jenny had her chemotherapy today so she had to stay. It's not her first treatment, and she's used to it, but I guess on the holidays it's harder than usual."

Tom swallowed. The reality of such a little girl having to go through chemotherapy hit him hard. He watched as Sybil helped Jenny return to her bed and switch on her CD player. There was another bed in the room, but no child in it.

"Nurse Gwen is going to look after you in a few minutes, Jenny, okay? And she'll bring Lucy back with her so you won't be alone any more."

Jenny nodded and smiled. She took her Teddy bear and snuggled it to her, obviously getting tired, because her eyelids dropped slightly.

"She's going to sleep in a few minutes," Sybil explained when they had closed the door behind them. "The chemotherapy makes them incredibly tired. But at least she never gets sick. She handles it really well. Two more cycles and she's through with it."

"What does she have?" Tom asked.

"Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma," Sybil said. "Most of the children here have it. This or Leukaemia. It's one of the "better" cancers if you can say so. Her chances are actually very good and she'll be fine soon, I hope."

Tom nodded. He didn't trust that he could say something without revealing his emotions. Seeing Sybil here at her work fighting for the life of little children moved him immensely.

Sybil had to check some things and then she talked for a while with a nurse that came down the hall with another little girl on her hand. Nurse Gwen obviously. Then she was ready to leave.

It was too early to have dinner, so they grabbed a coffee to go and sat down on a bench in St. James Park. It was cold, but there was still some snow, glistening in the evening sun. Tom had his arm around Sybil and she snuggled close to him. He was quiet, still thinking about her work and contemplating what he had seen.

"Why did you chose this field," he finally asked. "It must be so very hard."

"Actually I think that's why I chose it. I thought a lot about it when I studied and I realized I really wanted to help people as much as I possibly could. Those children, they have done nothing wrong in their life and still they have to suffer so badly. It is hard, but I really want to do anything I can to help them."

"But how do you manage if you can't?"

Sybil sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't really", she answered truthfully. "You develop very close relationships with the children in your care and their parents, too. With patients like Jenny, you can often help them. The children's prognosis are mostly good, but of course there are cases when there are complications and they die regardless of what you do. And then there are some kinds of cancer that are still incurable. There's one form of a brain tumour for example that unfortunately hits children where you really can't do a single thing. It is very rare, but it is an absolute nightmare! I have to tell the parents and I see their disbelief and their hope that there must be something. Any chance you know, something, anything! And unfortunately, I can't give them that because I know what will happen. Those days are absolutely horrible, really. I hold myself together for the parents and then I break down completely. I cry, I doubt and I'm devastated every single time. I shouldn't let it affect me that much, but it does and I have no idea how to shield myself from the pain. There are doctors on the team who are more able to cope than I am." She opened her eyes and looked at him. He could see the pain in her eyes, but then she smiled. "Still I wouldn't change anything for the world. I can't really explain it."

Tom stared down on her. "You're amazing", he whispered. "I can't believe just how amazing you are."

They sat in silence for a while, each sipping their cooling coffee and in thoughts. The sun was almost down now and the temperature dropped, so Tom stood up and pulled her up to him.

"Let's go home", he said.

Together they strolled to the tube. Tom held her hand in his own and wondered where this was leading. They only knew each other for three days! Even if it was obvious they both wanted to develop a relationship here, it was ridiculous to feel they had one already. And even more ridiculous to feel like being in love. But he really did.