Zoe had been feeling under the weather and felt sick, she'd put it down to the stress of the wedding and her dad being so ill, the wedding was next week and she couldn't wait. She lay awake and felt a sudden urge
to be sick. The nerves are starting already, she thought to herself.
On her return from the bathroom she found Max lying awake. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." She said.
"It's ok, are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, just felt a bit queasy, I think the stress and nerves are starting to get to me." Zoe told him.
"Worried about tonight?!" Max asked.
"Should I be?" Zoe replied. Tonight was their joint stag and hen do. They'd decided with the wedding being so small they wouldn't do proper nights out so they were going out after work for a meal with their closest friends.
"I can't imagine it being too raucous, can you? I can't see Charlie leading us astray into a strip club!"
Max laughed.
"Are you sure you're alright with this Max? I'm sure you'd have preferred a
full on night on the lash!" Zoe asked him.
"Zoe, we've been through this, I can do that anytime, I've grown up a lot, I can do civilised too!"
"Are you saying I'm dull?!" Zoe asked.
"I would never say you were dull Dr Hanna." Max winked.
"Ha ha, come on we'd better get ready for work, don't forget your stuff for tonight." Zoe said.
"I won't, I've even bought a new shirt just for the occasion!" Max told her.
"Wow, you have gone all out, will you be combing your hair too?!" Zoe teased.
"I'll have you know, the bed head look is in." Max laughed.
The shift at work was pretty uneventful, a number of fractured bones keeping Max busy to and from
X-ray, a child with a popcorn kernel stuck in his ear, the usual minor injuries. The staff were more looking forward to this evenings night out.
They'd all agreed to head into town together.
Max, Lofty, Cal, Ethan, Mac and Noel were in reception.
"Come on lads, let's get this party started, pint before we head into town, the girls are gonna be ages getting ready?" Cal encouraged.
"I dunno." Max hesitated.
"Max! You've got one week of freedom left, use it wisely my man!" Cal said.
"Go on then! Someone better let the girls know." Max said.
"I'll text Robyn." Lofty offered.
"Hey, Charlie," Cal shouted, seeing Charlie come into reception, "fancy a quick pint before heading into town?"
"Er, yeah why not." He replied.
"Excellent, first round on Ethan!" Cal put his arm round his younger brother, Ethan rolled his eyes as they walked out of the hospital.
Zoe, Robyn, Tess, Lily and Rita were
all in the toilets getting ready, Zoe was doing her makeup in the mirror when she felt dizzy and felt herself begin to fall.
"Woah, Zoe are you ok?" Tess asked as she rushed to her side, foreseeing what was happening.
Zoe looked at her and laughed, "yeah, sorry Tess! I haven't eaten anything all day, I missed lunch so just feeling a bit lightheaded."
"Well make sure you eat before you have anything to drink tonight." Tess told her.
"I will, thank you." Zoe said, "right I'm going to get changed and then I'm ready." She told the group.
Zoe went into the cubicle, she couldn't believe she'd nearly fainted in front of her friends, what was that about? She came out wearing a deep purple, one shoulder, knee length dress, she'd bought it especially for tonight and it had cost her a small fortune.
"Aw Zoe, you look stunning!" Rita told her.
"You really do," Robyn said, "just one thing missing!"
"What?" Zoe asked.
"This!" Robyn said as she pulled out a pink sash with 'Bride to be' written on it.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Zoe exclaimed. "Do you know how much this dress cost me? I can't wear that over it!"
"Come on Zo..!" Dixie had entered the room to see what was taking so long, "you only do it once, it's gotta be done properly!"
Zoe glared at Dixie, "I thought you'd be on my side!" Dixie laughed before unzipping her jacket to reveal her own sash with 'Hen Party' on.
Zoe had to laugh, they'd all got their own sash, she'd do it seeing as they'd put in the effort.
They all left the toilets and left the hospital, they bumped into Connie on the way out. "Have fun." She told them.
"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Zoe asked.
"Thank you, but no, I have paperwork to catch up on." Connie replied.
The girls made their way to the pub, the lads were doing shots at the bar.
"I thought this was meant to be civilised?!" Zoe asked.
"Come on Zoe, let your hair down! You've had a lot to deal with, just try and forget for one night." Tess told her and they both went towards the bar. Max turned around to see them.
"Wow..." He looked at Zoe. "You look...,wow." He was speechless, she looked amazing, he was the luckiest guy alive.
"Put your tongue away Max!" Cal told him.
"I can't!" Max replied. "I'm stood in front of the most beautiful woman in the room, and, she's marrying me!"
"Aw.." Came a chorus of admiration from the women that had surrounded the bar.
"Look what you've done Max, you've got women falling at your feet!" Zoe said smiling.
"There's only one woman for me!" Max kissed Zoe.
"Ok I think it's time we made a move!" Charlie shouted, leading them all from the pub, "the taxis are here!"
They all split into taxis and made their way to the restaurant. Max took Zoe's hand helping her out of the taxi.
"Thank you kind sir." She smiled.
"You are absolutely more than welcome!" Max said. "By the way, I don't know how long I'm going to be able to keep my hands off you, that dress is mind blowing."
Zoe had a glint in her eye and leant in towards him, "play your cards right,
Mr Walker." She walked towards the restaurant.
"Ooh you tease!" Max told her.
They approached the restaurant, Zoe headed towards the bar. "Hi, I've got a reservation under the name of Zoe Hanna?" she asked.
"Ok, I'll just have a look." The girl behind the bar told her. She looked at the reservation list, "I'm afraid there's no booking under that name."
"What do you mean no booking?"
Zoe asked, "I've called three times to confirm this table!"
"I'm sorry madam, I don't know what to say. How many was it for?" The girl asked apologetically.
"It was for 15." Zoe told her.
"Ok, I'll have to see what I can do, as there's a few of you you won't be able to stay around this bar, there's a private room, just to your right, if you want to wait in there until a table becomes available?" The girl said.
Zoe turned around. "Unbelievable!" She said agitated, this was the last thing she needed.
"Come on babe, we'll go where she said, I'm sure it won't be long." Max said taking her hand.
Max and Zoe led the others to the private room and opened the door.
"SUPRISE!" Linda was stood in the room by herself. The room was decorated and food on the tables around the room, a dance floor in the middle.
"You didn't think we'd let you get away without a proper send off into married life did you?!" Linda asked them both.
"I'm going to kill you!" Zoe laughed, she turned to the people behind her, "did you all know about this?!"
Everyone nodded. Max laughed, "I guess we'd better make the most of it!"