Title: Moving On
Author: Raven Shadowrose
Rating: M
Pairing: ?/?
Summary: Dixie has been left broken hearted by Cyd's departure from the Holby team, what will happen when Cyd is replaced by Hannah Darbyshire and Dixie takes a liking to her? Will she find the happiness that she has been searching for, or will she end up with even more of a broken heart?
Disclaimer: I do not know or own any of the characters from Casualty, any original characters and the story are my property and I do not give permission for anyone to use this story.
A/N: This story will contain some femslash, if you do not wish to read then, by all means, back away slowly the way you came, other than that, enjoy the story and reviews are appreciated.
Thank you to chan. nelson4444 and BeethovenRIP for your reviews, I hope you enjoy this chapter
Chapter Eight.
Polly waited for Hannah by the ambulance that they were using that day, the weekly briefing had been done and all that remained was to wait for their first shout to come in. Polly sat in the front seat of the ambulance and sipped at her coffee. Polly was thinking about Dixie, it was obvious that she had it bad for Hannah, she had never seen her like this before. She had tried to encourage Dixie to tell Hannah how she was feeling without revealing Hannah's sexuality to her. Hannah had not given her permission to tell anyone so she would keep it secret until the time that Hannah chose to reveal it herself. 'Penny for them,' Hannah said as she sat in the passenger seat of the ambulance.
'Oh, nothing, just thinking.' Polly felt like she was in an impossible situation, she could make Dixie feel better by telling her what she knew, but Polly's conscience wouldn't let her do it.
Hannah wondered what was wrong with everyone today, Dixie had been very quiet and reserved during the briefing and she looked tired, Jeff and Polly were both deep in thought when she talked to them. She couldn't work out what was going on, maybe it was just the Monday morning blues that were getting to them all. They'd had a great weekend and now it was back to work, no matter how much you love your job, sometimes Monday mornings are rubbish. 'Polly, when do you want to start your guitar lessons?'
'Oh, I don't know, I'm free every evening this week. Can I come to yours on Wednesday?'
'Sure, we'll start simply. Are you prepared for your fingers to hurt?'
'I think so.'
'When you first start playing, the strings will hurt your fingers, but, you'll find the more you play the less it will hurt.'
'That's good to hear. Hannah, how did you know that you liked men and women? I hope I'm not being too personal, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to.'
'It's okay, I don't mind. I thought that I was just curious at first, like most people I suppose. I met someone in one of my classes, her name was Michelle. She told me that she was a lesbian.'
'Just like that?'
'Yes, she saw no reason to hide it. I admired her, I was struggling with my own sexuality at the time and she made quite an impression on me.'
'What happened?'
'We ended up talking, I told her all about myself and how I was feeling. Once I had finished talking to her, she kissed me.'
'What was it like?'
'At the time, it was different.'
'Did you like it?'
'I did actually, we dated for a little while, but it didn't work out. She left the university as she found it more difficult than she thought it would be. I am grateful to her though, she helped me figure out who I am.'
'Do you prefer men or women?'
'I like them both for different reasons.'
'What is it like being with a woman?'
'It was strange at first, I soon got used to it though. I've been leaning more towards women lately.'
'Do you have a specific type of woman you like?'
'Honestly, someone kind and compassionate, who isn't afraid to speak her mind when she needs to. Physical appearance means little to me.' Hannah sat back in the seat, telling Polly about herself had made her feel somewhat better, she hadn't wanted her and Jeff to find out that she was bisexual the way that they had. Polly wasn't judging her and that made Hannah feel so much better.
Polly thought over Hannah's words, she had accidentally described Dixie as her perfect woman. She wondered if Jeff was right and Hannah did like Dixie, she had watched them say goodbye at the little party and the hug that Hannah had given Dixie definitely lasted longer than the one Polly herself had received. Hannah had showed no sign of realising that she had described Dixie in what she had said. Polly wasn't sure what to do with the knowledge that she held, she couldn't deny that Jeff had seen Hannah and Dixie's attraction to each other before they had. Polly didn't want to interfere too much, it would only be a matter of time before it all came out. She had promised Jeff that she would talk to Hannah about her sexuality and it had cleared a few things up for her. The fact that Hannah was leaning towards women was promising, as was the fact she seemed to like Dixie. Polly had a lot to tell Jeff later on.
Jeff watched Dixie carefully, she had been very quiet all day. 'Jeff, do you think that Hannah is ready to go out on her own with Polly?'
'Is that what is bothering you princess?'
'Maybe I should have kept her with us for a bit longer, she's still new here.'
'Dix, you've said it yourself, she's a very capable paramedic.'
'I know, but Hannah and Polly are young, I worry about them being out there by themselves.'
'You trained Polly yourself Dixie, don't worry so much, they're sensible young women.'
'I know, it's just...'
'You care for them.'
'I do.'
'One of them in particular?' Dixie nodded. 'I know princess.'
'Am I that obvious?'
'Only to me. I've known you too long for you to hide anything from me.' Dixie sighed quietly.
'Then how do I explain Polly knowing too?'
'That might be my fault, I mentioned it to her. Dixie, answer me honestly, what do you feel for Hannah?'
'She's lovely and beautiful, she's the type of woman I could see myself spending the rest of my life with.'
'Then what's the problem?'
'I can't lose another friend Jeff.'
'I understand, come here princess.' Jeff hugged Dixie. 'Hannah would be lucky to have you Dix.'
'You're just saying that.'
'I'm not, I mean it.'
'Thanks Jeff.'
'You're welcome princess.' Jeff hoped that Polly had found out if Hannah liked Dixie or not.
Polly left Hannah cleaning the ambulance and went to find Jeff, she had promised to check in with him when she had found something out about Hannah. 'Jeff.'
'Polly, what did you find out?'
'I talked to Hannah and asked her about her perfect woman.'
'What did she say?'
'She said she wanted someone kind and compassionate and not afraid to speak her mind.'
'I see, interesting.'
'I don't think we should do too much Jeff, I think they need to find each other, if we interfere then things might go wrong.'
'Good point, so is locking them in an ambulance out of the question?'
'Yes, don't you dare do that Jeffrey Collier.'
'Okay, I won't.'
'Good, hush, Dixie is coming this way.'
'What are you talking about?'
'Halloween is coming up again, we were just saying that we should have a party.' Polly looked at Jeff and he took the hint to back her up. 'Maybe we could actually do it on the day this time as it is on the Friday, after work we could all get ready here and hold a little bash somewhere. Invite some of the doctors and nurses too.'
'I don't know, aren't we a bit old for Halloween?'
'Come on Dix, it will be fun, we can dress up.'
'All right, I'm in, but you two have to organise it.' Polly looked at Jeff and grinned, she had something else in mind too but for that she would need Hannah's help.
Hannah closed the doors to the ambulance after she had finished cleaning it, she was pouring the water away when a very excitable Polly came over to her. 'Someone is happy.'
'We're going to have a Halloween party next Friday night, please say that you will come.'
'Sure, I'm not doing anything.'
'It is fancy dress, I'm going to go as a witch. Do you have a costume in mind Hannah?'
'I do, but I think I will keep it a secret for now.'
'Oh okay, I have something else in mind, a little trick if you like. I want to get Jeff back for all the tricks that he played on me a while ago.'
'What do you want to do?'
'I'm not sure yet, but I want to play a very good prank on him.'
'Are you sure he won't mind?'
'He started it, I promised that I would get him back one day and enough time has gone by, he thinks I've forgotten about it, so now is the perfect time.'
'Okay, I'll help you. My friend James has the perfect thing to help you get your revenge, I'll call him and get what you need, he's been looking for an excuse to come and see me anyway.' Polly giggled and Hannah couldn't help but join in with her. 'I like having a partner in crime.'
'I like being your partner in crime. Will we get into trouble for this from Dixie?'
'No, she loves a good prank.'
'That's good.'
'Hannah, what do you have in mind?'
'Come here.' Hannah whispered in Polly's ear what she was going to do.
'You genius.'
'I'm glad you think so.' Hannah and Polly laughed and walked towards the locker room.
Jeff looked at Hannah and Polly laughing, he couldn't help but think that they were up to something. 'Dixie, what do you think those two are up to?'
'They're probably just talking costumes. What are you going to go as Jeff?'
'A zombie, of course.'
'Have you been watching horror films again?'
'No, well, maybe. I think I'll make a great zombie. What about you Dixie?'
'I don't know, I haven't really thought about it.'
'You could always go as a black cat.'
'No thanks, maybe I'll go as a devil.'
'Yep, that's definitely one for you Dixie.'
'Are you suggesting that I'm evil, Jeffrey Collier?'
'Nope, would I do that?'
'Let me think, yes, I do think that you would.'
'You do get a bit evil at that time of the month.'
'I'll show you evil Jeffrey.'
'I'm sorry, please don't make me do the paperwork.'
'I'll do worse than that.'
'Please Dixie, my best mate, I'll buy you chocolate.'
'Cadbury's?'
'Yep.'
'Done.' Jeff breathed a sigh of relief, he was off the hook this time.
Dixie laughed inwardly at Jeff, she wouldn't have done anything, but the threat of doing something was more than enough for him to buy her chocolate, and she used it to her advantage whenever she could. She watched Polly and Hannah out of the corner of her eye as she went to her office, they seemed to be getting on well. She had been worried about them being alone on shouts, but their reports indicated that nothing out of the ordinary had happened during the day. Dixie breathed a sigh of relief, maybe she was just worrying over nothing. She was going to look out for them for the rest of this week just to make sure, and if she thought that they were in danger then she would insist that Hannah go with Jeff and Polly come with her. Dixie just wanted them both to be safe when they were out on duty.
Dixie felt like there was something that she didn't know, Polly had told her to tell Hannah how she felt, why would she do that? Is it possible that there might be more to Hannah than she knew? Jeff wasn't telling her something that he knew, she knew when he kept things from her and he was doing that now. They had both been secretive since the day that Hannah's mother came into the station, just what had she said to Hannah that made Jeff and Polly keep this secret of hers? What could be so bad that Hannah didn't want anyone to know? 'I'm keeping a secret from her too,' Dixie said to the empty room. 'I have to tell her, I just can't find the words.' Dixie looked around the room, she was looking for inspiration, but she didn't find any. Dixie shook her head, she hated that she was being such a coward, but, she didn't want to lose Hannah. She would rather have Hannah as a friend and keep her feelings inside, if she didn't tell Hannah how she felt, then Hannah wouldn't go away like Cyd had.
