Chapter 12

It was Friday morning and Sam was standing in the staffroom on his own thinking about the weekend ahead of him. Emily had organised dinner for several of them tomorrow night and he couldn't wait for it to be over.

As Connie sat in her office gently massaging her temples there was a gentle knock at the door. Already this morning chaos had descended on the department and she was beginning to get a migraine. "Come in…" Looking towards the door when nobody spoke she realised who was standing there. "Emily…" she was momentarily stumped for what to say before quickly recovering. "Sam should be-" "I'm not here to see him. I came to find you, I need your help with something."

Sitting down opposite the desk Emily began to explain herself. "I know Sam hates the idea of celebrating his birthday and tomorrow night is probably the worst thing I could do. You're the one person who knows him better than anyone else, what could I do?" Connie sat back wandering whether she should help or just make excuses that she's busy here. "Please Connie? I could really use the help." She sighed before nodding slightly "Okay, leave it to me."

Cal wandered into the staffroom to see Sam standing there. "So how does your girlfriend know Mrs Beauchamp?" Sam turned and stared at Cal who was opening up his locker. "What? They don't know each other, well not really-" "Seemed like they knew each other out there." Before Cal could speak again Sam was out the door and walking towards Connie's office. Finding it empty he looked around before heading outside.

Instead of finding Connie he was greeted by Iain climbing out the back of the ambulance with a patient. Getting to work he worried about what Emily had been doing at the hospital, especially talking to Connie.

All afternoon Connie rushed around juggling her patients with paperwork and arranging something for Sam's birthday. He was spending the day with Grace tomorrow which meant she would be able to sort out tomorrow night properly. Wandering through the department she stopped at the nurses' station where Robyn was. "Staff Nurse Miller, I need you to get everyone to the pub tomorrow evening- But don't let Mr Strachan know about it." She smiled nodding and rushing away to begin informing everyone.

Connie made her way around everyone who had originally been invited for a meal and told them of what was happening. By the time Connie made it back to her office she was exhausted. She pushed the door open into the darkened room and rested her forehead against the cold wood for a moment.

"You should really take more time out-" "Jesus Christ Sam are you trying to kill me?" Connie turned around to see him sitting in her chair watching her. Pushing off from the door she crossed the room to put down the folders she was holding and picked up her bag from the floor. Taking something out that Sam couldn't quite see she put it into her mouth before taking a few mouthfuls of water. "Are you okay?" Connie brushed him off before putting the bag back down. "I'd appreciate it if you could do some work today instead of moping about."

Connie went to pick up the folders again and walk away but Sam caught her wrist causing her to look at him. "You would tell me if something had happened wouldn't you?" She looked down at him confused as to what he was on about. Putting the folders back down she carefully rested forward, leaning against Sam's legs. "Course I would, what's bought on all the questions?" He shrugged before she closed the space and kissed him. She felt his warm hands hold onto her around her waist while her hands rested on his shoulders.

He moved his legs apart so he could pull Connie even closer. She sat across his lap as she continued kissing him. Moving apart gently she looked at him with a small smile on her face. "Make the most of this, tomorrow you're another year older and everything goes downhill from that point… Especially your-" "Hey! That will never go downhill." He winked as she pulled apart from him and gathered up the folders.

Sam followed and they both left the office walking towards cubicles. "I was thinking… Would you mind if I didn't take Grace out tomorrow?" Connie rested against the desk looking towards him with one hand on her hip. "You can't just decide not to see your daughter because you've changed your mind." He pulled her to one side away from the listening ears of nursing staff. When they were around the corner and alone he looked down at her. "I didn't say that I didn't want to see her. I wanted to know if you'd mind me coming over to spend time with her… and you." Connie closed her eyes automatically feeling guilty for blaming him again.

Sam smiled bending down to kiss her before he felt her hand against his chest pushing back gently. "I know… We're at work. So is that a yes?" Connie couldn't help but smile as he stood there watching. He leaned forward and whispered into her ear. "And I'll be able to prove that not everything goes downhill tomorrow-" Connie sighed in disbelief "You are so-" "Sexy? Charming? Amazing-" "Big headed and arrogant." Laughing she pushed him to one side and walked back towards resus leaving Sam smiling to himself before returning to his patients.

As Sam walked out of the staffroom for the final time that night he noticed Emily walking into reception. "Em, I didn't realise you were coming here tonight-" "Actually I'm here to speak to Connie about something..." He watched her disappear in the direction of her office as he was pulled aside by Max and Cal.

"Emily, everything's sorted. Robyn's got everyone to be there for 7 tomorrow so you just need to get him there a little later. I'll sort everything out tomorrow afternoon once he's taken Grace out for the afternoon." Emily smiled nodding before heading back to the door with Connie following. As they stepped out Sam was standing directly in front of them. Emily smiled taking her place next to him as Connie dropped her head quickly. "Everything okay?" he asked sceptically. Emily nodded enthusiastically before Connie finally looked back up towards them. "Why wouldn't it be?"

She forced a smile as they began walking towards the exit of the hospital. Connie kept her distance from the pair before slowly drifting away from them and towards her car. "Connie! Thank you…" She looked up to see Emily hand in hand with Sam smiling and waving at her. Connie couldn't help the jealous feeling inside her as she watched them both turn and walk away. She also couldn't get rid of the pain in her stomach and how sick it made her feel to think about what they were doing to her. As she looked once more towards them she noticed Sam looking back over his shoulder to Connie who caught his gaze before quickly climbing into the car and driving away for the night.