Jac

Jac didn't need the coffee. She'd pulled three all-nighters this week and she'd relied on a heavy intake of coffee to sustain her. That was the secret behind the great Jac Naylor- coffee. Yet, she did need the coffee. She needed the caffeine. Who knew, maybe it would calm her jittering hand and stuttering speech. So she drank the coffee too quickly and burned her throat, shuddering slightly as the hot liquid ran down into her stomach. As she put her coffee down, Jac prepared to fall to bits in front of her former boss. She didn't need Fletch worrying about her though, and she was hesitant to divulge her worst thoughts to Connie. She took a shaky breath and began to speak. Tears pricked her eyes, shining like pearls in the warm light emitting from the light bulb in the centre of the ceiling. Preparing for the worst, she fixed her eyes on a spot just behind Connie's shoulder, avoiding any eye contact.

Just as she had formed a coherent thought, the door flew open and the light shut off.

'Who's there? Get on the floor, now. I have a gun. NOW!' a gruff voice barked into the darkness. Connie's head snapped to the door and she lay down onto the floor.

Jac froze in fear. Her heart thundered again and her hands shook where they sat on her thighs.

'I said get down!' the voice growled again

'Jac? Jac, look at me. Come on, it's fine. Just get down and it will be fine, I promise.' Connie tried to keep her voice calm and even for Jac's sake, and it seemed to work. Without moving her eyes from the spot on which she had focussed on seconds before, she laid down on the floor and turned her head slowly to face the doorway.

The dark silhouette shifted, and the gleam of something metal glinted at his waist.

'Now, I don't care which one of you, but someone is going to come out here and help my friend. There doesn't need to be any fuss, just put her back together and I'll be long gone before anyone knows what happened. Or,' he paused, as if he were smiling, 'things could get ugly.'

Jac, who was slowly regaining her strength, stood up cautiously. She held out a hand in front of her, trying to calm the man with the gun down.

'If you think for one minute that we respond well to threats, then think again. I threaten other people, not the other way round. Why don't you put the gun down, and take your friend down to the ED, where they can help you?'

The man laughed for a few minutes before abruptly stopping and taking a deep breath.

'Well, aren't you feisty.' Within a split second, he lunged for Jac and grabbed her by her hair, pulling her towards himself. She felt the cool metal of the gun against her throat, heard the click of the safety catch.

'Now, I don't like to repeat myself- but I'll make an exception seeing as it's you two. I don't care which one of you, but SOMEONE IS GOING TO COME HERE AND HELP MY FRIEND.'

His face came close to Jac's- too close. She could smell his hot, bitter breath and his closeness made her want to throw up. He smiled eerily in the half-light that came from the corridor behind him. The unknown man came closer still, tightening his grip on the mass of red hair he held in his hand. Struggling against him, she lashed out against his face. She slapped him again and again, which had little effect. He pulled on her hair and Jac cried out in pain. Still, she tried to free herself but he was too strong. He hit her against the wall and she stopped, deadly still in his arms.

Head pounding, Jac saw Connie flinch at the sound, and she remembered how Connie had been held hostage in Resus earlier that month and assaulted the year before. Three years ago, she'd been kidnapped by a convicted murderer, so there was no wonder that this was affecting her. Filled with a sudden protective instinct, Jac kicked her leg up and felt the impact. She heard him groan and felt him loosen his grip on her. Trying to find anything she could use to defend herself, she scanned the office.

There was nothing.

She couldn't find her phone to call for help, and with Nicky, Fletch and the rest of the nurses at home, no one would hear them. Their attacker had recovered now, and it would be a matter of seconds before he made his next move. Connie shifted on the ground, put her hand into her pocket and something slipped out. She slid the knife along the floor to Jac. Too late, he realised what had happened as he pulled Connie off the floor and held her in a headlock.