Guest: Thank you so much. Cardiff was fantastic thank you. I met Charlotte Salt and Chelsea Halfpenny, which was awesome :-)

Captain Nut Nut: Thank you. I always try and make sure the characters stay in character, although that can be quite hard sometimes. I find Charlie quite easy to write for, just not as a main character lol. Thanks for the review.

Chapter Eleven

Lily woke up the next day, with the feeling that something was missing.

Her head was pounding, she felt sick, and her vision was blurred, but something was definitely missing. She couldn't work out what it was at first, until she saw the time and realised that it was 1:00pm. She was supposed to be at work.

"Shit," she cursed, throwing the covers off her.

She tripped over an empty alcohol bottle that lay on the floor, and raced across her room to her wardrobe. Her hair was a greasy mess but she made a mental note to shower later, and just chucked some clothes on. She grabbed her bag and her mobile phone and ran into the kitchen at full speed. She didn't have time to eat but she was glad that she'd stocked up on the alcohol last night. She may not have been hungry but she really needed a drink.

She chose one of the bottles and unscrewed the top before downing it in one huge gulp. She grabbed a few of the mini bottles, chucked them into her bag and left for work, praying that she wouldn't be in any trouble.

She was over four hours late.

"Lily?" Alicia looked confused to see her, when she arrived outside the ED. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for work, aren't I?" Lily rambled, her words mixing together. "I have to go. I'm already late and Mrs Beauchamp will be cross if she finds out. I bet she's already found out, hasn't she? Who am I kidding? Of course she has."

"Lily. You need to go home," Alicia told her. "Mrs Beauchamp suspended you, don't you remember? You shouldn't be here."

"Suspended?" Lily stepped away from the junior and ran a hand through her hair. "No, no. I...I'm a registrar here, Doctor Munroe. I'm one of the best so I suggest that you move out of my way."

Alicia flinched, as Lily attempted to push her to one side. She could smell the alcohol on her breath, and it scared her. This was someone who'd once bullied her out of a job, who'd once been so confident and together, and now she was slowly drinking her life away. No one had quite known the full story behind Lily's suspension, but Connie had briefly explained to them that she was undergoing some 'personal stuff,' and Alicia guessed that the stench of alcohol had something to do with it.

"Move, Doctor Munroe!" Lily shouted, getting up close and personal in her face.

"Lily!" Someone shouted from across the road.

Iain? Lily turned and saw her boyfriend storming over to her. She'd never been so pleased to see him.

"Iain." She beamed and threw herself into his arms, giving him a loving peck on the cheek. "Please inform Doctor Munroe that I have a duty of care and that I need to get on with my work!"

"No, Lily." Iain shook his head, pushing her away from him. "Alicia's right. Mrs Beauchamp suspended you, so you need to go home. You best do that before she finds out that you're here."

"Iain. Why...Why are you talking to me like that?" Lily backed off, confused and upset.

"Why am I talking to you like that?" Iain drew his brows and wrinkled his forehead. "Because you've been drinking, Lily! Mrs Beauchamp suspended you for drinking, and you don't even remember! Then you turn up at work, drunk again, and expecting to carry on as if nothing's happened?"

"I'm not drunk!" She argued, tears rolling down her face.

She turned to look at Alicia, who remained where she was, scared and upset by Lily's behaviour.

"We're just going round in circles here, Lily," Iain said. "I'm sorry but I am done here, until you realise that you have a serious problem. Just...Just go home, please."

Lily shook her head and her bag fell off of her shoulder. "I...I don't want to go home," she cried. "I want to be here, with you."

Iain was finding it extremely difficult to stay angry with her, but he remembered the conversation that he'd had with Connie, and he saw the mess that Lily was in. He had no choice.

"G...Go home, Lily," Iain said, his voice suddenly soft and quiet.

He turned and gently took Alicia by the shoulder, before leading her away from the scene.

Connie was walking down the corridor, a set of notes in hand, when she suddenly heard crying coming from the nearest supply cupboard. She frowned and took a few steps back, knowing that she couldn't possibly leave whoever it was alone. She drew nearer to the cupboard door and slowly turned the handle to open it.

Lily was sat on the floor of the cupboard, her back against the wall and her knees hugged to her chest, thick tears rolling down both sides of her face.

"Oh, for goodness sake," Connie exhaled, shaking her head at her. "What on earth are you doing in here?"

"I just wanted to be alone," Lily sobbed, wiping an escaped tear away from the side of her face.

"No, not here here," Connie emphasised. "Here! In the ED! Do you not know the meaning of suspension, Lily?"

Lily slowly lifted her eyes so that she was looking at Connie. More and more tears continued to fill and trickle down her cheeks and it was as if she was purposely trying to make Connie feel sorry for her.

"I'll call you a taxi," Connie told her, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. "You need to go home."

Lily hiccuped and whacked her head back against the wall, her tears falling harder than ever. Connie sighed and rolled her eyes. She rubbed at the vein that was forming in her forehead, as Lily tried to form a sentence that made sense.

"Lily," Connie tried to interrupt. "Lily. Lily, listen to me. I don't want to hear it. You've been drinking again."

"I haven't," Lily hiccuped in between sobs. "I just...I want to...To come back to work."

"Look," Connie sighed, leaning down to pick up Lily's bag.

Lily didn't even attempt to stop her, just gasped and stared at Connie with wide eyes. The clinical lead opened the top of her bag to reveal the mini bottles of alcohol, some empty and some full.

"I don't know what's happened to cause this downward spiral, but it needs to stop," Connie said, throwing the bag back down onto the floor. "Things have escalated all too quickly for my liking, Lily. The suspension isn't a punishment, more an opportunity for you to sort things out."

"Everyone hates me," Lily cried.

Clearly, she wasn't listening to a word that Connie was saying.

"Stop wallowing in self pity and pull yourself together," Connie snapped. "Get up and you can sit in my office until your taxi arrives."

"I can make my own way home," Lily slurred, stumbling as she struggled to stand up straight.

"I highly doubt that right now," Connie sighed, as Lily collapsed against her and took hold of her hand. "No, let go please. You're not a child." She picked up Lily's bag and shut the door, before turning back to her. "I realise that getting better on your own could be a struggle for you, so I'm going to dispose of these," she said, gesturing to the bag full of alcohol bottles. "I wouldn't be a very good boss now if I let you go home with a stash now, would I? Or friend for that matter."

"Friend?" Lily crinkled her forehead, as she tried to process Connie's words.

"People don't hate you," Connie sighed, removing the bottles one by one and gently dropping them into the nearby bin. "Come on, trouble. Make yourself comfortable in my office and I'll call you that taxi."

"Can I come back tomorrow?" Lily slurred, as they walked down the corridor towards Connie's office.

"No," Connie replied. "I said come and find me when you're ready to talk about getting help, and I don't think you've quite reached that stage just yet. Go home, get yourself better, and we'll see how things are at the end of your suspension."

Just come back from Cardiff. I met Charlotte Salt and Chelsea Halfpenny, and they are both so lovely! I was extremely pleased to meet Chelsea as I totally adore her. I hope you enjoyed the chapter x