A/N: Hey, apologies for the delay in updating but I've been away on location with work! Busy week or so, phew!
This chapter is more a sort of link into the next one which I hope to upload almost immediately as it's already been written.
Thank you to all who are reading and reviewing, hope you continue to enjoy the story :)
Chapter 26
"Well I believe that's everything that was on the agenda for today, thank you all for your input. Good morning." Serena closed the meeting as the various Heads of Department began pushing back their seats and gathering their papers together. Michael Spence seemed to be moving slower than everyone else and hung back at the end, heading towards Serena.
"So where's our illustrious leader today? Left him tied to the bed?" he smirked as Serena shot him a look of playful disgust.
"Maybe." she winked as she gathered her files and left the Conference room, heading to Hanssen's office to drop off the meeting's minutes.
"Hey wait up!" Michael called behind her, reaching her side and walking in-time down the corridor.
"What is it Michael?" she asked exasperatedly, tilting her head to look at him momentarily.
"You and Hanssen, you're going to this shin-dig tonight, right?" Serena nodded slowly, eyeing him warily.
"Why?"
"I just wanted to say I know I tease you both a lot, but I'll be on my best behaviour tonight...promise." Serena scoffed.
"I'll believe that when I see it!" Laughing, he patted her on the shoulder as he continued on down the hall and she entered Hanssen's office. Dumping the files on his desk, she noticed a memo alerting him to the fact that Amelia Nelson had called repeatedly. Frowning, she quickly glanced around the room to ensure she was alone and then decided to take a risk and dialled the number shown.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Amelia? This is Serena Campbell here...Holby City." she said unnecessarily.
"Of course, Serena! How are you? How are things over there? Your Mr. Hanssen sure is proving difficult to track down." she laughed as Serena flushed at the term "your Mr. Hanssen".
"Ah well I'm afraid Mr. Hanssen is unavailable this morning, but may I be of service? I notice you've tried to call numerous times." Amelia chuckled and took a sip of a drink on the other end of the line.
"Yes, nothing major, just trying to arrange a meeting with the Board. It has been a fair few weeks now since our last one and quite a lot has happened since, like your living situation." she explained, alluding to the fact that her and Hanssen had moved in together.
"Ah yes, well Mr. Cunningham usually just set a time and e-mailed it through...I'm sure it would be best if you did that? Preferably on a Monday." she finished, knowing that was the day when Hanssen had the least amount of work on.
"Right, I'll get back to you then. We must have a catch up soon, just as friends. I've got to go, speak soon." she hung up as Serena stared into space, replacing the receiver slowly. She didn't quite know how word had already reached the Board about her and Hanssen moving in together, but she supposed it would have had to happen sooner or later. Besides, maybe it showed how serious they really were about each other. She leant back in the chair, drumming her fingers on the arm and raising her arm to glance at her watch. It hadn't quite reached 9am yet and she sighed as she realised she'd be holding the fort on Keller along with Malick for the day. Getting to her feet, she made sure the folders were stacked neatly on the desk, the way Hanssen would like them, before heading for the door and up to Keller.
Stepping into the lift, she noticed Dr. Digby attempting to hide behind a couple of porters and she smiled to herself. Pressing the button for the 5th floor, she waited until the lift had landed before she spoke over her shoulder.
"Hurry up Dr. Digby...wouldn't want to be late." She almost laughed at the fear her voice instilled in him as he jumped to attention and rushed from the lift behind her. She watched as he scuttled off down the ward and into the locker room. Stepping into her office, she hung up her coat behind the door and dumped her bag on the desk. Glancing across at Ric's unoccupied side of the room brought a feeling of sadness to her as she turned and headed back to the ward, picking up her Theatre list. It seemed she had a rather full morning of Hernia repairs and she relaxed slightly at the thought of simply getting on with what she was good at. "Chantelle, prep my first patient Mr...Harvey, please." The young nurse nodded as Serena went to get changed into her scrubs. Entering Theatre and scrubbing in, she was soon working her way through the list swiftly and efficiently.
Removing her mask and gown and depositing them in the clinical waste bin, Serena headed back to the ward to check on the Theatre list. "Right Chantelle, where are we?" The nurse smiled broadly and shrugged her shoulders.
"All done, Ms. Campbell! Mrs. Baxter was your final elective for the day!" Serena smiled in surprise.
"Well that is good news!" Turning and heading towards the locker room, she heard Chantelle shout from behind her.
"Mr. Hanssen has been looking for you...shall I tell him you're out of Theatre?" Serena looked back over her shoulder and answered in the affirmative before entering the locker room and closing the door behind her. Heading towards her pile of clothes she first removed her scrubs trousers, replacing them with her own, followed by the top. Stood in only her bra, the door opened and Hanssen's face appeared, smiling as he located her. He stepped in and closed the door behind him, heading towards the lockers and leaning against them, watching her.
"To what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked him as she began to button up her shirt, glancing up at Hanssen as he continued to watch her. "How are you feeling now?" she asked him, when he didn't reply.
"I'm absolutely fine. How are you?" he asked as she regarded him suspiciously.
"I'm fine, look...I don't want to be rude, but what do you want?" she asked, grabbing her scrubs and heading for the door. Hanssen followed her and fell into step beside her as they headed for her office.
"I received an e-mail from Amelia Nelson, Acting Chair for the Board of Trustees, she has called a meeting on Monday morning for an 'update'."
"Has she indeed?" asked Serena distractedly as she was handed a form to sign by Chantelle before she continued towards her office, dumping her scrubs.
"Yes, Monday morning is convenient for both of us so I replied in the affirmative."
"Right, great." Serena mumbled as she rifled through the piles of folders on her desk, attempting to locate Mrs. Baxter's. Hanssen stood watching her, realising she wasn't listening to a word he said. "Yes, I told her the situation here was awful, that the staff no longer respect us, that we're constantly at each other's throats, that a senior Consultant has taken 'leave' as a way of getting away from us..." She continued flicking through files, until she found the one she was looking for. Glancing up quickly, she threw him a small smile before returning her attention to the file and mumbling.
"Good, good." Hanssen chuckled to himself as he watched her writing up her patient notes and decided now was not the best time to annoy her. Backing slowly towards the door, he turned and exited, heading over to Chantelle to check Serena's list for the rest of the day. As she continued writing in Mrs. Baxter's file, she suddenly registered what Hanssen had said and looked up in shock only to see a vacant office staring back at her. She smiled to herself at his apparent moment of humour and turned back to her work.
Sitting in his office, absently rubbing his chest, Hanssen startled as the door swung open and Serena stumbled through carrying two coffees and a mountain of paperwork. She stopped when she saw where his hand was and he could see the alarm enter her eyes.
"What's the matter? Are you having another attack!?" she asked as she rushed across the room, dumping her armful of items on the desk before moving around to kneel in front of him, looking up into his eyes.
"No...just a little tight from earlier." he explained as she exhaled and stood back up, heading back around the desk.
"Good. I don't relish the prospect of seeing you like that again." Reaching a coffee towards him, he gratefully took it before raising an eyebrow at the files smothering his desk.
"What are all these for?"
"Ah! Well...these are Ric's patients, recently discharged or recurring...and these..." she said, placing her hand on the second haphazardly stacked pile "...are my patients. All discharged, all up to date...just need your signature." He nodded as he removed his pen from his pocket and began to make his way through the files as Serena wandered around the office, sipping her coffee. "Have you spoken with Fredrik about tonight?"
"No." came his blunt reply from across the room as he continued wading through the files.
"Are you going to?" she asked again as she stood at the window, staring at the figure making his way swiftly towards the entrance.
"I hadn't thought about it. Why?" Turning her head over her shoulder she caught his gaze and inclined her head towards the window.
"Because he's currently making his way across the car park." Hanssen immediately stiffened as he stood up and moved quickly to stand beside Serena, seeing Fredrik reach the Wyvern entrance and disappear. Clearing his throat, he looked nervously at Serena.
"Why do you suppose he's here?" Taking a deep breath and resting her hand on his arm momentarily, Serena knew she had to explain.
"Now please don't be mad, but after this morning...well...I asked him to come." Hanssen stared at her in silence as he tried to process what she was saying.
"You called him and asked him to come here? Without my permission?" Stepping back and narrowing her eyes, Serena scoffed in shock.
"Excuse me, but I don't need your permission to invite somebody onto the premises."
"You do if that person is my son!" Hanssen said loudly as his eyes blazed and Serena huffed indignantly.
"Well if you stopped being such an insensitive sod, I wouldn't have to do these things on your behalf!" she shouted as he turned away from her.
"Well nobody asked you to! You can't just leave well enough alone can you!?" he growled as he reached his desk and began to re-stack the folders, popping his pager into his pocket, along with his phone.
"Not when I can see how much it's hurting you! All I tried to do, all I'm ever trying to do is help you!" She could feel the anger boiling away inside and also the disbelief that he could dismiss her actions so easily. "Where are you going?" she asked as he headed towards the door prompting her to follow. She reached the door before him and stood in front of it, blocking his way out.
"Move please." Serena crossed her arms and stood rooted to the spot.
"No. You have to face this, Henrik. Look what it did to you this morning! Just look how you ended up, a cowering mess on the bathroom floor!" Seeing him flinch and become embarrassed at her words, she lowered her voice and took a breath. "Look, I'm not trying to make life more difficult for you..." Hanssen's head snapped towards her and his eyes shone darkly.
"Really? Well you could have fooled me." They stood staring at each other as there was a tentative knock on the door. Serena, hurt by Hanssen's behaviour, turned and swung open the door, registering the look of unease on Fredrik's face. Giving him a pitying look, she said "Good luck." before marching down the corridor. Crashing through the door to the stairwell, Serena felt her breathing increase as did her anger at the audacity of the man. Heading back to Keller, she just couldn't believe he had reacted the way he had. Did he not respect her or feel grateful for her help over the past few weeks!? Slamming the door open to Keller, Chantelle looked up nervously, catching the look on the Consultant's face and quickly busied herself with shuffling files around.
"Chantelle! If anyone needs me, I'll be in my office." she barked as she entered the small room and kicked the door closed behind her with a loud bang. Of course, staff on Keller were used to the door banging whenever her and Ric had arguments, but Ric wasn't here right now. Dropping down into her seat, Serena covered her face with her hands before realising she'd left all her paperwork in Hanssen's office. "Bollocks." she muttered as she checked her watch. It was already 3pm and her and Hanssen had agreed to leave by 5pm in order to have enough time to get ready for tonight's dinner. Huffing to herself, she stood and headed back to the ward, supposing she'd better actually check on her patients. "Hello Mr. Bertholt, how are you feeling?" she asked, picking up his chart and reading through the Obs.
"Very well, Ms. Campbell." Serena smiled impatiently at him, god the man talked slowly.
"Excellent, well with a bit of luck we'll have you out of here in an hour or so. I would like to keep an eye on the wound, since you've already done yourself a mischief with it once." Mr. Bertholt smiled and frowned suddenly.
"Can I have my pipe? Just one little puff?" Serena smirked and shook her head.
"Nice try." Placing his chart back at the end of the bed, she moved on to her next patient, a young woman called Sally. "Ah hello Miss. Waters, how are you feeling?"
"Cold." she shivered as Serena frowned, looking up at the BP reading.
"Chantelle?" she said loudly, causing the nurse to come over. "When were Miss. Waters' Obs done last?" Chantelle leant over to check the chart and noticed a block was missing.
"Sorry Ms. Campbell...I was with another patient. I asked Nurse Billing to take over here." she explained as Serena nodded.
"Right, well get me some more blankets will you, she's hypotensive." As Chantelle went off down the ward, Serena stepped around to the side of the bed and raised the woman's arm, feeling her skin. She was incredibly cold to the touch and her face had become quite pale. Frowning as she looked up at the machine, she saw that the readings should have triggered the alarm...but it hadn't sounded. As Chantelle returned, Serena turned to her and gasped. "Where was this machine brought from?"
"Umm I think it was found in the side room...all the others were being used." Rolling her eyes, Serena hit the side of the screen and the alarm began to sound.
"This was tipped over the other day...it's faulty...hence why it was locked away in the side room. We need to raise Miss. Waters' BP." she demanded as they piled on the blankets and Serena rubbed her arm lightly. After a few minutes, they noticed a slight improvement and the colour was beginning to return to her cheeks. "Doing Obs isn't only listening for alarm bells Chantelle...it's fixing the problem before it even arises." she said, placing the woman's arm back under the blankets.
"I'm sorry Ms. Campbell, but like I said, I passed her care on." Pinching the bridge of her nose, Serena looked up and down the ward.
"And where is the delightful Nurse Billing?" Chantelle lowered her gaze as Serena rolled her eyes. "When she returns from whatever unprofessional activity she is indulging in, send her to my office please." Heading back across the ward, Serena closed the door to her office, dropping into her seat and began typing up an incident report.