(Penultimate Chapter! I am very happy with all the positive feedback you guys have been giving me! If you have any ideas for a Holby Fic you'd like me to write...please let me know. I love a challenge! )

Chapter 14

As Serena was nearing the Hospital, Hanssen began shifting nervously.

"Would you like me to get out here and walk? Our arrival together may turn a few heads." he explained as she glanced over at him. She thought about it for a moment before realising she didn't really care what other people thought at this stage. Whatever was happening between her and Hanssen was clearly more than a string of physical encounters.

"No, Mr. Hanssen. If colleagues can't carpool to work together then the Earth really doesn't stand a chance." she said as she turned to smile at him briefly. He returned to facing the front as a smile played at his lips...he had been expecting her to order him from the car.

As she parked the car, Hanssen climbed out and retrieved his overnight bag from the boot of his car. "Clean clothes." he explained as she watched him.

"You're well prepared, aren't you?" she smiled dangerously as she led the way to the Wyvern Entrance and heading for ICU. Once they arrived, they saw Michael Spence leaving Ric's room, flicking through a chart and frowning.

"Mr. Spence." Hanssen said loudly, getting his attention. He smiled as he looked up, taking in their body language.

"Well good morning Seniors." he smirked as Serena gave him a deadly look. "I have good news! I am pleased to say that Mr. Griffin is awake...has been for almost..." he looked at his watch "...Thirteen minutes. I was just on my way to call you...he's been asking for you." he nodded at Serena as she felt Hanssen's gaze turn to her.

"I see." she answered, wishing Hanssen would stop staring at her like that. "Where's Mr. Levy?" Michael gave her a confused expression.

"Mr. Levy left over an hour ago, when I took over. His notes are here." he said handing her the file and turning to head back to Ric's room as they followed, Serena's nose in the file. As they entered the room, she looked up and was met with Ric's smile. She found herself smiling back as tears sprang into her eyes. She handed Hanssen the file as she made her way over to his bed, reaching for his hand and holding it tightly.

"Well, you've pulled some stunts in your time, but crashing your car just so I'd return a few hours earlier than planned is taking it to a whole new level." she laughed as her eyes began to water, looking at Ric's bruised and battered face.

"What can I say..." he croaked "...I missed you." She snorted as she stroked his forehead and sniffed back her tears.

"Ah Mr. Griffin." Hanssen had approached and was standing beside Serena. "I can't say how good it is to see you awake. How are you feeling?" Serena turned her head slowly and raised her eyebrows.

"I'm feeling...that's all I care about." he smiled as Serena looked back at him and rolled her eyes at Hanssen's silly question.

"Right..." interrupted Michael "...I need to do some obs on Ric here so if you wouldn't mind?" he gestured towards the door and Serena turned back to him.

"I'll pop down later." she said gently, squeezing his hand before turning to leave. Hanssen followed her, reaching the door when they heard...

"So...Pappa Ric...what the hell was that?" Ric asked as Michael laughed loudly and they began to chat. Serena grinned as Hanssen closed the door behind them, turning towards her.

"I knew he'd hear him." she smirked as she leant back against the wall.

"He seemed very happy to see you." Hanssen noted and Serena thought she detected a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"We've grown quite close, I suppose." she said warily, not wanting to get into an argument.

"Well he's clearly very fond of you." Serena exhaled sharply as she turned to walk down the corridor.

"Don't do this here and definitely not now." she said simply as she realised he was walking behind her. She headed for the stairwell as Hanssen followed her. When they reached the fourth floor, he went to reach for the door and was surprised when she continued walking.

"Where are you going?" She spun around a look of incredulity on her face.

"In case you hadn't noticed, we are at work, in a Hospital. I am currently one Consultant and one Nurse down so excuse me if I seem in a slight rush to get to my Ward but I have my job plus two others to do!" Her eyes were burning as she turned and continued up the steps, crashing through the door to Keller. Hanssen stood still, regretting his actions. He walked swiftly to his office and went in, heading for his laptop. He quickly and efficiently composed an e-mail and sent a copy to all Heads of Department, detailing where they could reach him today, before once again heading for the door and locking it behind him.

He found Serena examining a patient on Keller and he headed for the Nurses' Station, seeing Chantelle.

"Nurse Lane!" he exclaimed as she looked up and smiled brightly at him.

"Ah Mr. Hanssen! Are you helping out on Keller today?" she smiled hopefully up at him and he nodded stiffly.

"I'll be taking over Mr. Griffin's patients, please get me their files." he asked as he turned to see Serena approaching him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked dangerously, raising an eyebrow.

"Seeing as Keller Ward is a Consultant short and I managed to complete all of my paperwork last night...I decided to step in for Mr. Griffin today. I hope that is not a problem for you." he stated as she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

"No, it's not a problem. Thank you." She reached past him, picking up a patient file and heading towards a young woman lying awkwardly on the bed.

"Here you go Mr. Hanssen!" Chantelle chirped as she handed him an armful of files.

"Thank you Nurse Lane." Hanssen began to flick through them as he familiarised himself with the patients he would be treating today.

The hours flew by as Hanssen divided his time between being on the Ward and in the Operating Theatre. He was about to ask Chantelle to prepare his next patient when he heard an alarm sounding on a patient's machine. He spun around and heard Serena shouting over to him.

"Mr. Hanssen! A little help please!?" He hurried towards them and saw the patient was unconscious and there was blood in her oxygen mask.

"What happened?" he asked over the girl as he stood opposite Serena.

"Patient had a fall this morning, rupturing her spleen requiring a Splenectomy." Serena looked nervous as she watched Hanssen feel the patient's abdomen.

"Did you order a CT on her stomach?" he asked sharply as she nodded her head.

"Of course..." she went to the file at the foot of the bed and showed him the results.

"Right, Nurse Lane, call Theatre and warn them of our arrival." He took hold of Serena's hand and pulled her to the side, pointing at the CT results. "Did you even bother to look at these?" she looked up at him, ready to defend herself when he continued. "Look." She dropped her gaze and took hold of the results, groaning.

"Gastric Ulcer."

"Quite. My guess is the Ulcer has perforated the stomach wall and proceeded to burst. She needs surgery now." He headed back to the bed, removing the brakes and ordering the nurses to wheel her straight to Theatre. He began to follow as he looked back to where Serena was stood still, shocked in place. "MS. CAMPBELL." he roared loudly and she looked up, visibly shaking herself. "Scrub in." he ordered as she ran to catch them up.

They washed their hands silently side by side as Serena tried to figure out how she'd missed the signs. She sighed, drying her hands and they entered the Operating Theatre together.

"Suction!" Hanssen said as he attempted to stem the bleed. "Ms. Campbell, can you get at the stomach wall?" he asked as he made sure he didn't move his hands.

"Yes, just about...Suction!" she said as she reached out to attempt to repair the stomach lining. "Clamp...Damn!" She cursed. "It won't hold!" she said panicking slightly.

"Ms. Campbell, try again." Hanssen looked her in the eye and she shook her head.

"I can't, it won't hold." she repeated, her voice rising slightly.

"Ms. Campbell, unless you successfully repair the stomach wall this patient will die. Now try again." he said calmly. She took a deep breath and once again inserted her hands, desperately willing it to work. "Clamp." she said again. She held her breath as she watched the patient's stats on the monitor. Slowly the alarm silenced and they began to improve. She breathed a sigh of relief as she looked across into Hanssen's eyes. "Good work Ms. Campbell." he praised as he gently removed his hands and began to close up.

Serena was sat in the locker room trying to calm herself when she heard someone enter the room.

"I'll be out now." she sighed tiredly as she stood up and came face to face with Hanssen.

"Are you ok?" he asked quietly, she nodded.

"I am so sorry, I should have spotted it when I operated!" She rubbed her forehead and raised a hand to her mouth. "She could have died because of my incompetence." Hanssen pulled her into an embrace and felt her breathe out into his chest.

"I would associate many words with you, some of them rather unsavoury..." he smirked as she pulled back and hit him playfully on the chest "...However...Incompetent is definitely not one of them." He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, turning to leave. "She's back on the Ward, I suggest you tell her what happened when she wakes up." Serena nodded her head in agreement as he left the room.

She'd been sat in the chair beside the bed for over an hour when the young patient began to wake up. She leant forwards and smiled.

"Miss Smith? How are you feeling?" she asked as she saw the look of confusion cross her face.

"Call me Danny. I'm okay, what happened?" she asked as Serena swallowed before replying.

"Well, once you'd returned to the Ward following the Splenectomy, you became unconscious." she paused noticing the look of concern on Danny's face. "You had a Gastric Ulcer which, unbeknownst to us had perforated your stomach wall and then burst. It began to bleed into your abdomen and we had to operate." Danny nodded and sighed.

"I'm okay now though?" she asked and Serena smiled stiffly.

"We managed to repair the stomach wall, yes. I should, however, point out at this point that it was down to me the Gastric Ulcer wasn't picked up earlier. I failed to spot it on your scan." she looked down at her hands until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Danny smiling and rubbing her shoulder reassuringly.

"Hey...we're only human, there are bound to be times when we make mistakes. You're not a robot programmed to do a specific thing, I'm sure the pressures and job description change on a regular basis." she smiled and Serena relaxed.

"Thank you." she smiled as she patted her hand and stood up. "Nurse Lane will be over to do your obs in a few moments." Serena made her way to her office and flopped down in the chair, exhaling loudly.