Connie awoke the next morning to the sound of the ward beyond the closed door of the little side room that she had been allocated.
She could hear the buzz of the door, the incessant bleeping of the phone and the sharp squeak of rubber soled shoes on the cold tiled floors.
She opened her eyes tentatively, expecting the wave and rush of pain which never came. Instead she found herself able to look about the room, the light pleating in through the closed slatted blind only making her eyes ache the tiniest bit.
She raised a hand to her head, feeling the bandage and raising her eyebrow, still no pain, though she could feel the faint wooziness of the painkillers still within her system.
A tap at the door caught her attention, and Tess opened the door, slipping inside, smiling as she noticed Connie was awake.
"I bought you some lunch."
She said, gesturing to the tray that she held.
"Lunch?"
Connie asked, squinting at the clock above the door but her eyes failed to focus.
"It's 1:00."
Tess said, catching her gaze toward the clock.
"You obviously needed the rest."
She added quietly as she began arranging the tray onto the pull out table that she wheeled and secured above Connie's lap.
"What is it?"
Connie asked, attempting to hoist herself up into a sitting position. Tess rushed to help her, arranging the pillow behind her back despite Connie's insisting that she was fine.
"Shepherds pie."
Tess said, glancing at the tray that she had placed in front of her.
"I think."
She added, looking at the grey matter that was placed in the middle of the white plastic plate.
Connie raised an eyebrow at her.
"You've got to eat!"
Tess said firmly, nodding down at the food.
"I'll come back and make sure you're ok in an hours time."
She added, double checking that the table was secured before moving to the door.
"To check that I've eaten it, you mean."
Connie murmured, reaching out for the knife and fork that lay next to the plate, rolled inside a frail white napkin.
Tess pursed her lips against a smile.
"I'll be back soon."
She said with a nod of her head and exited, closing the door with a soft click behind her.
Connie looked down at the plate of food as she unwrapped the cutlery, the knife falling into her lap.
She picked up the fork and poked at the food with it's blunt metal prongs. She hadn't eaten mashed potato since she was at school, but she was pretty sure that it shouldn't be that solid. And the gravy looked like coloured yellow water that pooled about the shrivelled grey meat.
She sighed and pushed a less suspicious looking pea onto the fork, raising it and peering at it as the door opened again and Tristan poked his head in.
"I wouldn't if I were you."
He whispered, leaning against the door frame, holding the door open with the toe of his shoe.
She smiled and lowered the fork back down to the plate with a soft clatter.
"I'm not."
She said, watching him as he propelled his body into the room, the door swinging closed behind him. He held out a plastic carrier bag.
"What's that?"
She asked as he made his way over to her and placed the carrier bag on the small bedside table.
"A picnic."
He said matter of factly, taking the tray of shepherds pie and carrying it into the small bathroom attached to her cubicle. She heard the scrape of cutlery against plastic and then the flush of the toilet before he reappeared again, placing the now empty tray down onto the chair next to the door.
"I want you better. Not worse."
He said, moving back over to her. She looked up at him, he looked tired, there were dark circles beneath his eyes and he hadn't shaved.
"So..."
He picked up the carrier bag again and peered down into it.
"I've got smoked salmon...bread rolls, which by the way I made this morning, grapes... you're supposed to have grapes in hospital..."
"I love you."
She whispered, her words nearly unheard over the rustle of the plastic bag.
"Sorry?"
He asked, pausing, a paper bag full of warm bread rolls in one hand.
"I love you."
She said again, feeling her cheeks flush as he looked down at her, his eyes wide, his lips parted.

More soon! By the way, I apologise for the sudden strange formatting of my updates. I've noticed that parts keep appearing in bold etc despite them not being in bold when I actually write them up in Word. Not sure what's going on there, but I thought I had better mention that I'm not trying to emphasise certain parts or anything, it's just my laptop having a funny turn! xxx