Hey all,

Thank you for all your lovely reviews! FREECHAUMP is possibly my favourite thing right now, I think this may end up all fluffy because let's face it, they both deserve some happiness!

Please review, I love reading your thoughts! SKB x

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Exhaustion was something all too familiar to Charlie. If he wasn't worrying about his son Louis, it was the department, but playing on his mind most recently was the department's clinical lead, Connie. The last few months had taken its toll on her fragile body and mentality, the death of her Father, Grace leaving for America, Alfred, prison, Bucharest and the final straw, the pregnancy. The problem he had, the thing that had most concerned him was the fact that she was like a locked vault. Very rarely opened up.

But Rita… Rita, although she had caused unnecessary upset for the clinical lead, she had somehow managed to heal the vulnerable woman. Connie had seemed more together, happier, although was sure he had never witnessed a happy Connie. He had never expected such a strong bond to form between them, but it had, and it partly put his mind at rest.

Charlie felt relief fill him as he looked up to the clock that hung just above the nursing station. The end of the night shift had arrived, and it really couldn't have come any sooner. Through the night there had been a large influx of patients due to a coach crash on the motorway. It had been a constant stream of patients, running form cubicle to cubicle, not even pausing for a loo break.

The older nurse yawned as his feet carried him to the dimly lit staffroom. The door was shut, but with a push, soon opened. Charlie carried on inside, despite the darkness. All he wanted was to grab his possessions and go home so he could check on Louis and finally jump into bed.

As he turned the key in his locker, a sound behind him from the sofa's alerted him to someone else's presence. He turned and slowly moved to get a better look, finding a body wrapped in sheets lying on the sofa. The person was clearly sound asleep, but being in the staffroom, it was clearly a member of staff.

"Urm, hello…" He said awkwardly as he placed a hand on the body and gave it a quick prod. The body suddenly jumped and sat bolt right, the blankets falling from the body. Charlie raised an eyebrow as the person before him became familiar.

"Rita?" He said surprised. Rita groaned as she rubbed her eyes.

"Charlie… this isn't what you think" Rita started to explain.

"I thought you were staying with Connie…" He questioned suspiciously.

"It's a long story" Rita sighed.

"Which ended with you sleeping on a sofa in the staffroom"

"It's not what you think" Rita replied quickly.

"Then explain it to me, remember I know Connie better than most" Rita sighed, realising she was going to have to share all.

"She asked me to move in"

"And you said no?" Charlie said slightly perplexed.

"I said yes, but then she started talking about the baby, and how she wants me to help bring it up, because she wants it to be serious. The thing is, this is exactly what I want! This is like a dream, but when she asked me I just froze in shock, good shock, it was just a surprise because this is Connie Beauchamp! She's like the dream woman! I can't believe she'd think I'd ever refuse a life with her because I love her Charlie, and I mean really love her, I just need to know this is what she really wants" Rita admitted as Charlie sat down beside her, a sympathetic look on his face. He knew all too well what Connie was like, she didn't like giving out her heart and feeling rejected. It was a defence mechanism.

"Prove yourself to her. Make her see that this is what you want because she's more than likely feeling scared, she won't let on, but she needs reassurance"

"Connie Beauchamp needing reassurance, this is something quite unfamiliar!" Rita allowed a cackle fall from her lips.

"We all do from time to time, if you love her as much as you say then I know that you will do exactly what you say, and I can vouch for that" Charlie gave Rita's shoulder a squeeze" Now why don't you grab a quick shower and bite to eat and I'll meet you in our office" Charlie stood up and held out a hand to Rita who smiled at him.

"Thank you Charlie"

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"Right, this is Connie Beauchamp, 44, a neighbour found her this morning sat on her doorstep and described her as disorientated and confused. She also has a deep laceration to the wrist which is thought to be a result as some form of self-harm. GCS is fine, BP is 120 over 280 and resps are normal" Dixie reeled off as she pushed a trolley through to resus. Connie lay under a blanket, her skin pale, her eyes red and her wrist wrapped in bloodied bandages. Tess too paled slightly when she realised it was the clinical lead.

"Lofty, will you go and find Charlie and inform him Mrs Beauchamp has been admitted" Tess requested. The young curly haired nurse immediately did as he was instructed and dashed out of resus, weaved his way through a clutter of patients and sprinted till he was knocking on Charlie and Rita's office door.

"Come in" He heard Charlie call. The young nurse pushed open the door, slightly out of breath from his sprint. Both Charlie and Rita were sat at their desks, both their eyes focused on Lofty who was bright red and sweating.

"Tess asked me to inform you that Mrs Beauchamp has just been admitted" He informed the two nurses. Rita's eyes immediately widened, she all but leapt from her seat and dashed to the door.

"Thank you for letting me know… RITA!" Charlie shouted after the nurse who had pushed past Lofty and was now running through the ED faster than an Olympic athlete.

Lofty remained in the doorway awkwardly wondering why Rita was suddenly showing the consultant such compassion.