Several Months later:

The fresh stench of vomit, a dry mouth, and questionable stains on the couch. Hair dripping in her own sick, a very hungover Marina dragged herself up on the couch, and stared around at the mess around her. Did she manage to make that mark on the ceiling? The ceiling – whose ceiling even was it? It certainly wasn't that of the flat she shared with Nicky, Chloe and Cameron. Not that she particularly enjoyed living there anymore, Cameron was just plain weird and manipulative, and it was luck of the draw over whether he was publicly swooning over Nicky or Chloe that particular week. She heard some footsteps trudging up the stairs, and a figure sauntered into the room looking triumphant.

'Wake up you lightweight,' Marty Kirkby jeered as he flung open his baby blue curtains and blinding sunlight came pouring in. 'Honestly, your acting as if you've never had a proper night out before.'

Marina squinted at Marty, confused. She was pretty sure he was a nurse on the ED, and was Kian's cousin. Amnesia of the past 8 hours or so meant she had no recollection of how she ended up joining him on a night out in Holby city centre, or how she'd even got out. All she could remember was it was fresher's night out on the town, and she'd definitely blew a significant amount of money on alcohol. But isn't that what freshers was all about? Getting so blinding drunk and trying to outcompete others.

'You're a nurse on the ED right,' she croaked. Her voice was sore from drunkenly screaming out trashy club tunes. "What were you doing out on Fresher's events?'

'Just reliving my university youth,' Marty smirked, 'and its cheap alcohol isn't it. And freshers always bring a good party, even if they aren't all as good as partying hard as they claim. ' Marty raised an eyebrow at Marina, his smirk further widening, 'anyway – if I remember correctly, you very drunkenly insisted when we threw you in the taxi home that you were going to be in hot water with Ange Godard if you didn't make it in time to your university placement induction on AAU at 10am this morning...'

Marina cursed as she realised it was quarter past nine. Her head was pounding from a combination of hangover and loud music, and her dehydration wasn't helping. There was no chance she'd make it on time to the placement induction, let alone presentable. Sighing, she went to lay back down on the couch, but before she could Marty had pulled her back up. She had failed to notice that Marty's friend Jade Lovall had entered the room.

'Here, I brought you some paracetamol and a glass of water,' she said sympathetically. 'I also have a 'hangover cure' bacon and eggs planned, and I can put some coffee in a flask for you whilst you jump in the shower. We'll make sure you get to your placement on time, it's first step to being a successful student at medical school. Everyone will be hanging as much or if not much worse than you are.'

"Yeah, pretty sure all the medics used to steal saline drips I think when on placement. I mean, you could try that-' Marty suggested before getting a stern look off Jade.

'Thanks, you're both being so kind,' Marina croaked, ' How come neither of you are hanging though.'

'I'm hanging badly. But I also tolerant to high levels of alcohol, and I'm also very good at pretending to be sober,' Marty boasted. 'You'll get there one day don't worry.'

Dabbing her wet jet black hair dry, Marina stared at herself in the mirror. The bags under her eyes were exceptional, and her face was flushed. Hopefully, nothing that an extreme makeup application couldn't fix. Marty had text Kian, who in turn had text Chloe who was driving by to bring some makeup, mouthwash and a fresh set of clothes for Marina to change into before she would quickly drive Marina to the hospital, hopefully deceiving her mother Ange in the process. Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Fumbling, she took it out. She had five missed calls from Nicky, some guy called Sam had text her, insisting he really enjoyed their night last night- yikes. But she felt sick at the latest message to appear on her phone screen. She had hoped, almost prayed she'd finally got wound up so deep in her lies she'd escaped it. But she hadn't. This sickness wasn't the hangover, she wasn't sure how it was. Heart pounding, she lingered over the message a minute, contemplating whether it was time to bite the bullet and reply.

'Hey, Nicky said it's your first day on your Medicine degree today. Good luck, I'm not one to often say this, but I'm proud of you xxx'

It was from Frieda. Again. Nicky must have been talking about her again on her, Meena and Frieda's occasional catch up video calls. She heard one the other night, and it went on for about six hours, with about four of those hours consisting of Meena's ramblings over her latest boyfriend. Some things never change... After vomiting into the toilet, washing her face and lightly applying some of Jade's moisturiser under her eyes, Marina vowed that from today, it was no longer the time to hold grudges.

'So basically, one minute he's in the kitchen telling me he loves me and I'm the only love of his life, and the next minute he's railing Nicky in the bedroom, before she comes out and insists I'm just being jealous and that they're relationship is real. Real? Seriously. Santa is more real than this fantasy she's living in. And it doesn't help that he's a complete fraud. Even you have more medical knowledge and you've not even started the joys of med school yet.' Chloe was angrily ranting again as she drove Marina to Holby, clearly she'd missed out on some more Nicky/Chloe/Cam drama the previous night. Half paying attention, Marina tried to offer advice to Chloe. But her taste in men was equally as questionable as Chloe- and presumably Nicky's.

'What makes you say he's a fraud though, yeah he's a bit weird and all, but he probably just lacks confidence because of Bernie-'

'No.' Chloe scoffed before descending into a list of errors that she'd noticed Cam perform in the past few weeks. Nearly asleep, Marina nodded and made a notable reaction whenever one was needed from Chloe. She was bored of it. This life in medicine and prestige she'd dreamed off already was losing its silver lining, she was young, naive and stupid to have ever thought coming back to Holby was a good idea. After all, it was the profession that killed Penny. Penny – Marina hadn't thought about her in a while. She felt a pang of guilt, she'd been so wrapped up in her life and 'adulting,' she hadn't spared a thought for her in a while, she hadn't really spoken much to Ollie either. Following her ex's death, and Jess' threats, she had had a shift in character. Some people commented she rarely smiled anymore, and one joked she had an icy, emo nature that could rival Frieda's. 'A shift in character'- there was no shift in character, she'd just grown sick of this 'girly, happy' facade she'd put on, like the pink obsession – what was that all about? She was so obsessed in trying to hide who she was, she'd became someone she wasn't. And that, she promised herself as she thanked Chloe for the lift as they both headed for the Wyvern Wing entrance, was something she was not going to repeat throughout her degree. Draining the last coffee dregs from the coffee flask Jade had leant her, she decided enough was enough and replied to Frieda's text.

'Thanks, miss you. Long time no see! I'm sorry for everything I've done, and said. Can we talk some point soon, there's some stuff I really need to talk to you about x.'

Deciding the one 'x' was enough to sound pleasant enough whilst still indicative of her hostility towards Frieda, she turned her phone on silent. She refused to let her life get in the way of her induction.

After being hurdled into a room by Ange, Marina and six other Medicine first years nervously shuffled to their seats. Because Marina was last in, she reluctantly had to sit closest to Ange's desk. Ange eyed them all, she was surprisingly intimidating, despite her previous kindness towards Marina over the year, presumably, there was to be no special treatment just because they knew each other.

'Welcome all' Ange began. She cast a stern stare over at Marina – did she realise the circumstances of the morning? ' I hope you're fresher's week hasn't been too much party and not enough academics.' Another stern look at Marina. She definitely knew. 'As you are aware, the University of Holby prides itself in giving its Medical students placements from day 1. You lucky, or unlucky lot, depends on whether you get in my good books or not, have been placed on AAU for semester 1. You will spend your Thursdays, and every other Saturday on my ward for the next 12 weeks. You will have the privilege of being mentored by the likes of myself or Ms McGerry in the upcoming weeks, and I hope by the end I'll be able to give you all glowing reports for your academics. However,' another stern glance, this time at the 'gym lad' student in the far right corner, ' AAU is a dangerous environment to be working in within the hospital. Things often get heated between patients, and you will see sights that you will find distressing. If you feel now like this is an issue, I'd suggest you reconsider your choices, or your placement this term, and secondly, I need you all to be on the ball, if there's any reason why you are not 100% up to it today, I would suggest you consider your choices the night before a shift on AAU in the future if you care about yourself and your patients' safety.'

There it was, definitely a raised eyebrow in Marina's direction. How on earth did she know?

'That being said,' Ange's voice softened. 'There will be days you will find hard, you might become distressed at some things you see unexpectedly. Just let me know and we can have a chat. I'm fairly approachable and I want you all to succeed. I also like a good gin so if you all impress me, we can definitely try a Karaoke night at Albie's maybe towards Christmas. My rendition of Alexandra Burke's 'Hallelujah' was so groundbreaking, everyone left the room apart from my partner at the time. But that being said, don't bribe me with gin, don't cut corners, just be honest and try your best and you'll be fine.'

Ange nodded at them all. 'Shall we find you all some scrubs and get your name badges on so patients don't mistakenly think you're qualified. Although we could do with more staffing, the NHS is on its knees here' she muttered.

Following a safety briefing from Ange, and a lot of forms being thrown at them by herself and Max McGerry, seven nervous first year medical students stood at the entrance of AAU, dressed in the signature blue AAU scrubs, ready for their first experience of medicine. Ange paired them all off with staff members on the ward to shadow for the day, indicating that they'd follow aorund fdifferent staff members of different levels in the career ladder each week. One student, Tasnim had been paired with an F1 Marina didn't recognise called Jeongsoo, the student in the far right corner, Harvey, who Ange clearly had worked out had questionable whereabouts the night before had been paired with another F1 called Skylar. The F1s were not responsible for any mentoring, Ange was sharply observing any student who had been paired with an F1 since she thought it was just so they could get an idea of exactly what they'd be thrown into following graduation. Marina was left until last.

'Marina, you'll be paired with Dr Dunn, he's currently doing goodness knows what elsewhere. ' Ange sighed. She walked closer to Marina so no one else could hear her. 'Don't screw this up. I've put you with him as he has a – questionable reputation and I think you could both learn from each other. That and the fact that I was a little disappointed to smell the distinct smell of my favourite pink gin, impeccable taste by the way, in your wake. Oh that and your little cameo on the news. I hope next time you're sober enough to dodge the cameras.'

Marina rolled her eyes when Ange left. Clearly, she'd been photographed doing something by the newspaper, she forgot that the Holby Med School's fancy dress fresher's party was always reported on every year due to the questionable events that happen in it.

'Right Morticia, lets get going then,' Cam had creepily appeared from nowhere, and he had a smugness in his expression that filled Marina with a dread. Then she saw the newspaper he was holding under his arm.

'Oh yeah,' Cam acted surprised as he saw Marina looking apprehensively at it. 'I hope you don't let your newfound celebrity status get in the way of your medical judgements. That would be dangerous to do. Especially since Ms Godard isn't best impressed with you making it on the front page. Bet you were wondering how she knew about your activities last night.'

Cam triumphantly unfolded the newspaper and thrust it in Marina's direction, but she'd already seen it. There on the front page, under the headline of 'On the road to be YOUR next doctors – Holby Medical School Fresher's hit the town on boozy fancy dress night out,' was a large blown up image of her dressed up as Morticia Addams standing in the middle of a main road with a traffic cone on her head. She cringed internally at the image, she was never drinking again.

'You can keep it, frame it even to remember fondly,' Cam sneered, revelling in her discomfort. He then furiously beckoned at her to follow him to the desk. He carelessly flicked through medical files. 'Anyway, I thought, why don't you spend today making your first medical diag-'

They were interrupted by the crashing of a patient in bay 1. Ange screamed at Cam to get over there as it was his patient. Ange began administering CPR on the patient, 'we need to get her to theatre now.' Her eyes glinted fiercely at Cam, 'honestly, can I trust you with anything Dr Dunn? Marina, you come to theatre too since you're shadowing this clown.'

Marina felt a surge of adrenaline as she got to assist in her first theatre as a medical student. She was so overcome with excitement, she hadn't taken in her surroundings properly. The surgery was a success, and just as was leaving as she had been called into a separate surgery, the fire alarm began blaring. Dropping all his instruments, Cam tried to leave.

'No,' Ange shouted. 'She needs closing up quickly, hopefully its a false alarm. But if it's not and the alarm keeps ringing, close her up and evacuate immediately. Marina, you evacuate with the rest of the ward now, I need to perform an emergency surgery next door.'

Ange ran out next door. Just as Marina was taking off her gown, the patient's monitors began to beep again.

'Look what you've done, you've messed this up' Cam shouted at her. 'Ange should never have let someone as hungover and as strung up on her new fame as you take part in this surgery. You stay here now and help sort out this mess. If there is a fire, we both go down in this fire together saving our patient.'

'No Cam, this is your fault. I barely did anything in this surgery. You are now her primary doctor. You cared for her, I have been told to leave. I'm sorry.'

Marina threw her gloves in the bin and went to leave.

'Fine,' Cam said, a note of threat in his voice. 'But this patient here. She's been pretty talkative before she declined, she's said a lot of interesting stuff. About you and your disdain for Frieda. In fact, she's told me exactly why you two fell out. And I must say – it's very dramatic. Would make a fine story if I ever told anyone else. Which I will if you don't stay and help me.'

Horrified, Marina turned. Turns out the patient who was hit crossing the road was none other than her arch enemy, Jess. Despite her earlier promises to herself, she couldn't let Cam start spreading true rumours about her. It had to come from her and her alone.

'Fine,' Marina agreed reluctantly. 'I will help you on the promise you keep your stupid mouth shut. But, I will also stop living this stupid lie, you promise not to tell anyone, but I will. When they're in a good mood perhaps.' They locked eyes, she wasn't sure by the glint in Cam's eyes whether she could trust him or not, but it was a risk worth taking. 'But first, I'm making it known that we are both here with Jess.'

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she noticed Frieda had replied.

'Sure, I can call you at 6pm GMT'

Hesitating for a minute, Marina decided it might be now or never, the alarm was still ringing, it clearly wasn't a drill.

'Mum, I'm stuck in a fire at the hospital. I don't want to die. I just want to say, I still love you. Hopefully, talk to you later.'

She was about to frantically call Max when she was interrupted by Cam's panicked shouting. Jess had flat lined. Cam was completely out of his depth. Even though she despised her, she wasn't going to let her die. Throwing her phone out of the way whilst unaware to her, it began to ring, she decided it was time to take action.

'Okay,' she said, leaning over the table, instruments in hand ready to make her incision. 'I think I know what we're dealing with here.'

'I sure hope so,' Cam mocked. 'For one, this evident rule breaking runs in the family...'

'Cam, please... stop...'

'No I won't' Cam breathed, enjoying every moment. 'Rule breaking for one runs in the family, but I hope her extensive cardiothoracic medical knowledge also runs in the family, and you'd been paying attention to her all your life. After all, I think the birth name of Marina Frieda Petrenko explains all we need to know doesn't it?'

Briefly, he locked eyes with her, triumphant, mocking. And from the pain in her eyes as she icily stared back at him, he knew – he was right.