A/N: This is Chapter 9, and as you will read, there's a hint of Leddi in it, as well as some Hanssen and Ric :)
Sarah x
Pain. Inside and out. It was the first thing she felt. Vividly aware of the cuts on her arm and neck, she didn't want to move. Then she a soft noticed pressure on her hand. Curious, she forced her eyes to open. She expected Eleanor. Maybe even Chantelle. Or Michael, considering how much he knew. But she did not expect Ric to be the one squeezing her hand while she was unconscious.
She hazily zoned her vision in on his face. "You're awake," he gave her a soft smile.
"Chantelle?" Serena immediately asked. "Chantelle. Is she alright?"
"She's fine. She's had her jaw wired shut, and it's annoying her, but she'll be fine," he reassured her. His gaze became penetrative and she just knew what was coming. She reverted her gaze to something else, anything else, rather than watch him see right through her façade. She felt her neck, and winced when she touched the raised bump. "You'll be left with scars on your neck and arm," he told her gently. "Sorry."
She gave a single humourless laugh and replied, "I'll consider them mementos." She looked down on her scarred arm and found directly beneath the now permanent mark, written in what appeared to be Jungle Green metallic eye liner, Stay Strong in loosely spirally letters. She looked back up at Ric, raising an eyebrow.
"Chantelle did that," he smiled at her. "You'll be proud of her. She managed to keep just enough blood in your body to save you. If it hadn't been for her, you wouldn't even have made it to theatre." He gazed at her intensely again, and she sighed heavily.
"Go on, then. I'm assuming Michael and Hanssen have told you," she said. "Spit it out before it gags you."
"Why didn't you say anything?" he demanded gently. "When I came back during the power cut, why didn't you tell me everything? I could see you were terrified, but you wouldn't let me in," he explained to her, wrapping his other hand around hers. She didn't want to go here, back to this place where she was so vulnerable. "Contrary to what seems to be stuck in your head, Serena, I do care about you."
That was it. She couldn't hold back the tears anymore. All she could do was wipe them away the moment they spilled over. She couldn't answer him, simply because she didn't have the answers he wanted from her. "Well," he continued. "I know you're worried we'll see you differently. But you'll always just be Serena Campbell to me. Annoyingly efficient and very manipulative, but funny, charming, playful and with a wicked sense of humour to boot,. You have to be the only person I know who can have a blazing row and do it with a smile," he grinned.
She gave him a watery smile, and responded by returning the pressure on her hand. "Eleanor," she sighed. She felt weak now; her body was growing tired after the trauma it had only just survived. "Where's Eleanor?"
"She'll be sleeping in the on-call room," he answered her. "She's fine, but I'm not going to wake her just yet. She didn't sleep last night while you were knocked out. She spent the night drinking coffee, eating crisps and driving me crazy."
"Is Eddi alright? I told her not to go with Luc and Michael to find us but she went anyway," she explained to him.
"Ask her yourself," he smiled at her. He went and opened the door, and Eddi and Luc stepped in. Luc, of all people. Now she knew people actually did care about her. All she knew of Luc was that he was mad for Eddi, and he didn't do sickbed visits and he didn't do attachment. Eddi immediately stepped over and pulled her into a careful cuddle. She noticed Luc's uncomfortable expression over Eddi's shoulder and smiled slightly.
"I don't bite," she grinned at him. He returned the gesture with a tiny smirk. When Eddi finally released her, she beckoned for him to come to her, and pulled him into her arms. She felt a great debt to Michael, Luc and Eddi for finding her. "Thank you, both of you," she said sincerely. She patted his back gently and let him free.
"I'm going to have to go," Ric announced. "I have to be in theatre in twenty minutes. I'll come and see you later, Serena," he promised her before he slipped out. This all felt very surreal for some reason. There was no doubt in her mind that everything she remembered was real, but still it felt rather strange.
"I brought you chocolate," Luc said unexpectedly. "I didn't know if you'd want it, but Eddi insists it's a woman's miracle cure for everything from a cold to the day from hell."
"That and wine," Serena replied.
"I prefer tequila," Eddi chuckled. "But I think Ric might bang our heads together if he caught us with drink, don't you?"
"Hmmm, just," Serena said thoughtfully. Ric's words and actions were bugging her now. She could remember him pulling her from the floor as she struggled to breathe in the darkness as it swallowed her up. She could still hear him growing frustrated with the lack of information after Serena lost her temper with Fraser when he swore at Chantelle.
Eddi looked at Serena's arm questioningly. She wasn't staring at the wound there. She was staring at the message written there. "Chantelle. Need I say any more?" Serena asked her.
"Well, that sounds about right," Luc said. "I hate to say it, but I think some people might enjoy the peace and quiet while she can't speak. She's lovely and everything, but she does go on a bit," he said.
Serena couldn't stop herself from chuckling. Eddi looked at her watch, and her face fell. "We have to get back to AAU, Serena," she groaned. "Michael's all uptight, so I don't think I want to annoy him today. We'll see you later," she promised, just as Ric had.
"OK, then. Thank Michael for me, will you?" she requested.
"Of course," answered Luc. The poor guy looked like he couldn't get out of there fast enough. She didn't take offence to it at all. In fact, she knew it was a rare thing for Luc to show any level of care. Everyone had said he was aloof in the extreme, but she knew that, beneath that, he really did care for others. For Eddi. For Sacha and Chrissie, probably. For Chantelle and Michael. Maybe even for Serena.
And as they left, Serena realised that Eddi had gone in against what she was told to do. She had to have known the risk, and yet she did it anyway. She must have known a nurse would be needed, and that Chantelle was hurt, and she was the most qualified nurse on AAU. She knew she could help so, regardless of Serena's solemn warning, she stepped up and helped to save her. And for that, Serena was immensely proud of the nurse.
Just as she began to lose herself in thought, there was a soft knock at the door and Henrik Hanssen entered, quietly shutting the door behind him. "I know you ought to be resting, so I will make this a quick visit," he said. Well, he didn't seem angry with her. But then, when did anyone really know what he was thinking about them? Answer: never.
He handed her a large envelope, which she opened to find a massive card with one of those grey teddies with the patches all over him. She opened it and found signatures and messages from many, many people. Michael. Ric. Chantelle. Eddi and Luc. Chrissie and Sacha. Jac Naylor. Mo and Jonny. Elliot Hope. Even Oliver Valentine and Tara Lo. And Hanssen, of course. Somehow, even Malick's name was on here, with a printed email. Someone must have phoned and told him, she guessed.
"Thank you," she whispered, slightly overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness of people she rarely spoke to. Some she had even messed around or made their lives difficult. She found it odd how one incident could remind a group of people how to be there for each other. She looked up at Hanssen and moaned tiredly. "Get on with it, then. I know I said I was just heading up to Keller. I know I lied to you, for which I apologise. Though I still think it was a better option than leaving Chantelle in the hands of that," she mused as an afterthought.
"Actually," he replied very calmly, "I was intending on saying something entirely different. I planned to tell you that, even though it was sheer stupidity to do it, you showed great courage in lying to me and seeking out the person who attacked you to save another from the same ordeal. And now you must keep that courage with you," he added.
Well. She hadn't been expecting that. But she knew what he was getting at; he was telling her that Eleanor needed to know now. It wasn't fair on her to let her see her mother in a hospital bed and not let her know that she was the man's daughter. "I'm going to have to tell her, aren't I? Eleanor. She'll want to know exactly why this happened."
"I suspect that will be the case, yes," he said, again very calm. "But if she is anything like her mother, she'll manage her emotions well." He gave her a rare smile. "The other thing is that, naturally, the police will want to speak with you. I believe they plan on charging Mr. Pickering with actual bodily harm, attempted murder and rape."
Now, that was something predictable, at least. "Mr. Hanssen, who operated on me?" she asked curiously.
"There was a slight complication in that you suffered such blood loss that your heart struggled, so Jac Naylor was the one helping with that. Eddi McKee insisted on scrubbing in, and Michael Spence completed the surgery," he explained to her. "Between them, they managed to save you."
He smiled slightly at her, and touched her shoulder lightly. "Stay strong," he told her, nodding at the green writing on her arm. "I'm beginning to believe that our Miss Lane is far wiser than many give her credit for."
"Oh, believe me, Mr. Hanssen, she's not stupid. She was the first to work out the truth."
He patted her shoulder again and left the room. She was left alone with her thoughts, and realised that the sooner she told Eleanor the truth, the better.
Hope this is alright!
Please leave a review and tell what you think!
Sarah x
