"James, please, don't." Her light whisper was a tone Sam had never heard from her before, she sounded desperate and it immediately pulled at his smitten heartstrings. Regardless, he felt as though he was in shock watching all of this unfold before him. Ten minutes ago he'd assumed she was an only child and both her parents were dead, yet here he was meeting her very angry and confronting family.
"What?" James asked with a fake sense of confusion. "You don't want to share your big news with Dad? Because now would be the perfect time, don't you think? Especially before he has surgery."
"Unless it's news of a time machine that'll allow me to go back and undo my mistakes, I don't want to hear about it." He intercepted, oblivious to their battling as he panted tiredly before slipping the oxygen back over his mouth and nose. The siblings continued to hold eye contact, Connie silently pleading with James to keep his mouth shut but to him, her pregnancy was a beacon of hope to try and convince their father to opt for life instead of death.
"Actually, I think it's quite exciting so I'm not sure why she wants to keep it quiet?"
"James, I mean it, don't." She furrowed her brow deeply, a curl in her lip as her breathing quickened. Her sense of urgency had caused an increase in the volume of her voice which grabbed her father's attention. Poor Sam took it upon himself to try and diffuse the situation and steer it in a different direction upon sensing how uncomfortable Connie was right now. She obviously didn't want her father knowing.
"How about we get Mr Hope in here to come take a look at you so we can move things along a bit faster, I can organise a Do Not Resuscitate form for you as well-"
"Connie's pregnant." Growing tired of the argument and interruptions, James ignored his sister's pleas and uttered the words icily.
The silence around them was so stark following the blurted news, a pin dropping would have sounded like a clap of thunder.
"You're pregnant?" Her dad wheezed, pulling his oxygen mask down in order to let his aged eyes roll over her facial response. "I'm gonna be a grandad?" His emotional questions went unnoticed and unanswered as she remained stood staring at her spiteful brother in utter shock. "Con?"
"It's Connie." She growled, diverting the topic in another direction as if he would just let the announcement slip away.
"You are, aren't you?" He breathed slowly, the most comfortable breath he'd let out so far. Almost as if his body had relaxed with the realisation that his daughter was having a baby, he was going to be a grandfather.
"The matter doesn't concern you." She spoke lowly, a deep anger starting to boil within her core. "Either of you." Looking down, she only glanced up to give her brother a furious scowl before avoiding her dad's gaze completely and swiftly walking away. She made sure to tear the door open so violently that it swung back and hit the wall with force before slowly closing in her wake.
"Well, that went about as well as I thought it would." James smiled in an unfavourable manner, clearly impressed with how he'd crawled under her skin and upset her. "She was always easy to piss off with the temper she has."
"That was shameful." Sam finally opened his mouth, the shock still lingering. He couldn't believe this was her family.
"This has nothing to do with you, it's a family matter." James stood up straight, emphasising his height.
"Would you shut up, for once in you're bleeding life." William finally offered his two cents, clearly siding with Sam on the topic. "What did you go and do that for?"
"What?" His brows sank angrily, obviously taken aback by his father's reaction. "If I hadn't exposed her like that, we'd have been none the wiser! You'd have a grandchild out in the world and not even know about it." He wiped at his mouth ferociously. "She don't want us involved, dad, her own family and she's cutting us out again!"
"Yeah, well, maybe that's for the best." He started coughing in between his sentences, taking a moment before trying to continue. "Look at her, look at how well she's done and then look at us. Tell me who got it right?" Shaking his head, he took a few breaths in his mask before pulling it away again to talk. "Her and that baby are better off without us, James."
"Don't talk like that, dad-"
"It's the bloody truth." He fought for air uncomfortably. "I don't want to hear no more about it." The last of his sentence was starkly more fragile than the previous as he struggled to fix his oxygen mask back over his face. Sam could instantly see this is where Connie got her stoic nature from. The words he was speaking were upsetting him yet he masked it so incredibly well that Sam almost felt sorry for him. Not her brother though, he was a different story altogether. There was an anger radiating from him that unnerved Sam deeply.
"She needs us, what's she gonna do when her and that high-flying husband of hers are both working and nobody can watch the little one? Hm? Chuck it into childcare? Family is what she needs-"
"James!" His croaked bellow bounced off each of the walls, stunning Sam slightly in the process. He honestly wasn't quite sure why he was still in here but he felt as though he should make a move and try to find Connie. "I mean it, son. Just leave her be, you know what she's like, you'll only push her away the more you try to box her in." He sighed exhaustedly, taking the mask on and off was interfering with his breathing. "You're both as bloody stubborn as each other, I know you ain't gonna listen to me so at least just give her some space, let her come to us." His last words were rolled over with some horribly chesty coughs, shaking his whole body.
"Alright, alright." Sam eased, immediately stepping forward to secure the mask again. "Perhaps some rest wouldn't go amiss now?" He looked from William and back to James. "This isn't helping your father's condition, we need to let him rest and take it easy."
"Aye aye, captain." He smirked. "Whatever you say." The pair locked eyes for a good five seconds as Sam desperately tried to weigh up the man before him. There was a strange air about him, that was for sure.
"I'll send Mr Hope in as soon as he's got a moment to see you, I think maybe it's best if Mrs Beauchamp avoids you both for the time being." He spoke his words clearly as he made a move for the door, praying that no more argumentative words would be spoken back to him and to his surprise, there was only silence.
She wasn't where he thought she'd be. He'd made his way straight to her office, sensing she'd retreat there after the scene he'd just witnessed with her estranged family. But the room was empty.
"She's about to head into theatre."
"Sorry?" He jumped at the voice behind him in the doorway, turning to face a bemused Chrissie.
"I assume it is Connie you're looking for? It seems to me that any time I need to find you I just need to look behind Connie to see you trailing behind her like a little puppy."
"Chrissie, not now, please." He wrinkled his brow irately before brushing past her. "I'm starting to get really fed-up with this topic." He referred back to her numerous comments she'd made in regards to him following Connie's every move. "She's my boss, alright? I am her registrar, I operate with her." He walked and talked, causing her to follow him, continuing the argument.
"Oh come on, I wasn't born yesterday, Sam." She hissed behind him, no longer caring who could hear them. "It's more than that-"
"Look!" He halted instantly and turned to face her, he looked vexed to say the least. "I can't keep replaying the same argument with you, I don't know what else you want me to say." He somehow managed to tone his anger down, not wishing to draw attention to their quarrelling.
"More than this! This is the most conversation I get out of you! You don't converse, I'm starting to think this is just sex to you." She waved her hand between them both emphatically. But she was soon wishing she hadn't opened her mouth. His face looked utterly confused before she clearly witnessed a waterfall of dread rush over his expression as soon as he realised she felt more deeply about their nights of passion. This was just sex to him, nothing more and nothing less.
"Chrissie-"
"No, don't bother." She spat, cutting him off sharply. "You've made that clear enough." She shoved past him angrily, leaving him stood in a bewildered fashion. He knew he could have handled that better but in all honesty, that was his way out. He wasn't looking for things to progress with Chrissie but it appeared she'd had her sights set a little higher than him.
"Well, that was handled splendidly." Elliot's soft voice brought him back to the moment. "I suppose she'll recover from the heartbreak and you'll no longer have to find excuses not to spend time with her."
"Honestly, Elliot, the end of today couldn't come any sooner." He sighed with a tired smile.
"Yes, I heard you'd had a run-in with an angry patient relative." They picked up the walking again, Sam now just following the way in which Elliot had been heading.
"Not just any patient relative." He remained facing forward whilst he spoke and Elliot immediately felt a sense of doom in his words. Although Connie had explicitly stated that she wanted nobody knowing her family was here, they were about to be hand-balled over to Elliot so he was bound to hear it from their own mouths anyway. "Connie's brother."
"What?" He gasped in a shocked manner, understandably. His eyelids fluttered quickly as if processing the informtion. "I had no idea she even had a brother, so the patient he's here with-"
"Their father." He completed the sentence in a collected manner. "Connie hasn't responded well to them being here, I don't think she can be near them. They're quite hostile, they're not impressed with my approach and are demanding somebody see them today."
"And that would be me, I imagine." He nodded to himself, already knowing the answer to his own statement.
"They're all yours." His attention was quickly pulled from his current conversation when he saw Connie down a corridor, standing in front of an X-Ray light board. "Thanks Elliot." Patting his arm swiftly, he made a diverted dash toward the dimly lit hallway.
"Connie-"
"I need Mr Thompson prepped for theatre as soon as you can, a slot just freed up for him." Sliding another X-Ray image under the clips, she continued to study them obliviously.
"You're just going to ignore what happened back there?"
"With all due respect, Mr Strachan, it's none of your business so please try to refrain from further involving yourself if you can." She snatched the images down aggressively and hit the light switch before facing him. Her hardened expression softened almost instantly as she stared up at him. He could feel her eyes dancing over the mark on his brow, it wasn't a bad wound but he had been nicked in an unfortunate place that tends to bleed endlessly. "I'm sorry he hit you, he always did have an awful temper."
"I'm starting to sense that's a shared inheritance." The small snipe was intended to come across angrily at first but he couldn't help himself from smiling partway through his sentence, inviting her to mimic the expression if only for a fraction of a second before her mind cruelly reminded her of the current situation.
"Regardless, you should get that looked at." Her attempt at seeming unbothered about his welfare was slightly humorous to him, only because it was so obvious that she was concerned.
"What's his deal anyway? Why is he so angry at the world and everyone in it?" His eyes followed her frame as she began walking back out towards the nurses station, her green scrubs glowing under the fluorescent hospital lighting.
"He's got a hero complex going on." Her words weren't angry, at least not at him but they did hold a frustrated tone. "He always has, even from being younger he always had to be the one saving the day even if he was the one who'd caused the catastrophic events in the first place." She licked her upper lip, growing aware of her apparent ease at sharing such information with him. At any point of feeling to close, too comfortable with him a stabbing of guilt would hit her and force her to clam up again. It was as if her body wouldn't let her feel that way with anyone, it was an instant betrayal to Will if she did. "I need to go and get scrubbed up, if you can organise Mr Thompson please, I won't ask again. I have a busy day today." She grabbed a file and squeezed past him, for once in his life he was learning to read her and understand when to shut his mouth and when it was safe to speak. This was definitely a shut your mouth moment.
"We've been here for hours and still nothing has been done." He stared expectantly at the rather chubby surgeon stood on the other side of his father's bedside. "My wife will be on her way back with car soon, under the impression he'll have had surgery and be recovering by now."
"Mr Chase, please, I know this is all very frustrating, I honestly do." He tried to simmer the tension quickly, not exactly wanting to be belted in the face the same way poor Sam had. "I have assessed your father, I think he is viable for surgery, alright? I just need to talk you both through the procedure, organise the requested DNR form and then we can get you a theatre slot this evening." His soothing words seemed to do the trick quite admirably.
"Thank you." He exclaimed. "That is all we've been asking for since we got here." He sat down, the relief almost radiating off him whilst Elliot shuffled with his papers to get organised. "And my sister, Connie, will she be operating as well?"
"No, no unfortunately rules and regulations don't allow us to operate on our own relatives. The operation will be done by myself, I can assure you I have done this procedure numerous times-"
"It's fine, doc. We trust you, don't we dad?" The older man nodded tiredly in the bed, he was looking more sickly by the hour. "I just thought Connie might've put more sway on things, you know? Maybe rushed us up the line or something."
"Ah, yes, as good as our NHS is, there are always waiting times on these things." He smiled comfortingly. "That's out of our hands unfortunately, otherwise I'm sure she would have done something." Trying to keep the situation from escalating, he wasn't quite sure how she was with her family and thus didn't want to cause any avoidable dramas.
"Yeah, yeah." He nodded. "I bet she's busy, being head honcho I'm sure she's got a lot on her mind in this place." He smiled. "And then of course she'll have motherhood to look forward to ahead of all of this." He exhaled exasperatedly.
"Oh absolutely." He gushed, shoving his pen back into his shirt pocket. "Becoming a mother is a huge turning point, saying that, I feel she'll still be far more organised than myself even juggling newborn twins." Laughing heartily, he looked down at his papers on the side table before turning them to face the London-born men. "Let me walk you through the procedure before I set everything in motion." His words sounded far away to James, almost as if they were underwater. His brain focused solely on the words he'd just heard.
"Come in." She sighed heavily after signalling the door-knocker to enter. Surprisingly, it was Sam. "Oh good, you've learnt how to knock." The sarcastic comment more or less bounced off of hime without effect.
"I didn't want to interrupt, I wasn't sure if you were alone." Closing the door delicately behind himself, he stared at her cautiously from across the room. It was darkening outside now, the street lights starting to come on one-by-one and the headlights of cars lighting up the roadways beneath her tall office window.
"What is it, Sam? I've had a long day." She wrapped her palm around the back of her neck, rubbing at it roughly. Her short hair brushing over her fingers as she did so. Re-opening her eyes, she looked up at him tiredly. The way she was sat in her desk chair, her delicate bump was just visible to his eye beneath her blouse. It was strange to him how different she could appear in scrubs versus her structured black trousers and silk shirts. An authoritative figure in both but there was always something a little more vulnerable about her when she was in scrubs, he just couldn't explain it. Nevertheless, she was clothed ready to leave and her tired expression was a good indicator that she wasn't to be hassled this evening.
"Elliot's taken your dad into theatre, I wanted to let you know just in case." His words were soft and thoughtful, hitting her in a sensitive spot. There was a short silence as she processed the information.
"Right, well, thanks for letting me know." She nodded with a forced smile before glancing down at her lap and speaking again. "Did he, uh, did he sign the DNR?"
"Yes, against your brother's wishes, he signed it before being prepped." Folding his lips together, he watched her reaction knowing how awful that feeling was. Despite her not getting along with her father, he was still her dad and the possibility of him dying on the table or shortly after the operation was extremely high. A thought that was clearly plaguing her mind. "He's in good hands, Elliot seemed confident there'd be no complications." He continued speaking, trying to reassure her as best he could.
"And I'm assuming James is still loitering about the place."
"Yeah, he's sat outside the theatre waiting. I think his wife just got here too, Alison?"
"Alyssa." She corrected with a blank expression. "I've never had the pleasure but I can imagine exactly how she is." Sighing heavily, she leant forward. "Anyway, I won't keep you any longer."
"You said he has a hero complex?" His brow furrowed with intrigue, ignoring her cue for him to leave. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean exactly that." She scoffed thinking about all the gas-lighting her brother had done to her in her younger years. "He likes to swoop in and save the day, be the big hero that everyone loves." Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by another knock on the door, this time it was Chrissie. As soon as her head popped through the door she shot Sam a cold look before addressing Connie.
"Sorry to interrupt, Mrs Beauchamp, there's a man at the nurses station asking to speak to you."
"Fine, thank you, I'll be out in a minute." Their warm bubble had been popped the second Chrissie opened the door, nevertheless she left as quickly as she'd arrived. His attention moved to Connie as she got to her feet, her hand momentarily brushed across her bump sweetly. "Listen, if you see Elliot can you-"
"I'll get him to update you as soon as he's out." He smiled, already knowing what she was going to ask. It warmed him but she continually felt the stabbing guilt pangs in her heart for having enjoyed his presence. She kept telling herself it was just gratitude towards him for being there despite her horrible behaviour sometimes. But her mind kept spinning it into something else and she wasn't sure how to feel about it. He exited ahead of her, telling her goodnight before making his way to the locker room and she towards the nurses station.
"Chrissie?" She looked at the blonde nurse before scanning the surrounding area. "You said there was someone asking for me?"
"Uh, yes, he went back to waiting chairs outside the theatre room." She had her hands full of files whilst a patient shouted at her for assistance with something minor.
"That's fine, thanks." She held her hand up, seeing she was busy. "I already know where to find him." She growled as she turned, making a bee-line for the theatre Elliot was in with her father. Her assumption was correct in thinking it was James asking for her, she wanted to express to him once and for all to leave her alone. She could feel a coolness coming off of the windows to her left, the whole left wall was windows whilst the right hand side were theatre rooms. Only one of which was currently being used. And there, at the end of the corridor was her wretched brother and his wife.
"Finally." He exclaimed, standing up as soon as he'd turned his head and clocked her heading their way. "She's decided to show her face."
"What do you want James?" Huffing slightly, she just wanted this over with quickly, like ripping off a plaster.
"What do I want?" He repeated for dramatic effect. "I want you to show some concern for our father!" He grizzled, stepping closer to her. "You always were a heartless bitch, but this? This is a new low for you." Behind him, his wife stood quickly attempting to settle him and his yelling.
"Jamie, just drop it, yeah? We're here with him, that's all that matters." She soothed over his shoulder, her hand rubbing at his upper arm softly.
"You'd have never told him, would you?" He pressed on, still stepping closer to her. "If I hadn't said anything, you were just gonna let him go in there thinking he had nothing to live for."
"I already told you, I don't want either of you involved with me or this baby-"
"See." He laughed, cutting her off mid-sentence causing her to roll her eyes. "Even now, you're still bullshitting to my face." The cold laugh disappeared. "Twins, isn't it?" His sickly smile intensified when he clocked the shock in her face. "Boys? Girls? Or maybe one of each just to complete your perfect little life?" His quick attack was like a snake striking, he'd left her feeling stunned and speechless. Her breath hitched when he stepped closer once more. "You're gonna end up just like her you know? An empty husk, driven to-" He couldn't get the last of his words out before her palm swiped across his face with a force he never would have guessed came from her. As soon as she'd struck him, his wife had stepped around, yelling hysterically as James reacted to what had just happened. It's almost as if Alyssa could sense what the next step would be as she immediately tried to grab his forearms but he was too quick. Grabbing at Connie's arms and losing his grip on the right one as she offered him yet another hard slap, this time in the form of self-defence, he still had a tight hold on her left wrist and was moving to strike her back until another body slid between them.
"Hey! Hey!" The scent of this particular person told her it was Sam. "Stop!" He yelled loudly, his left arm simultaneously shielding her and pushing her back and away from the altercation. "Stop it! Let go of her arm!" Her wrist was still tight in his grip as Sam fully placed himself between the two, using his right forearm to shove him away aggressively. He knew he was supposed to be diffusing the situation but the anger washing over him was almost too intense to contain. Alyssa was still trying her best to wrestle her husband back too, oblivious to the blow she'd received to the face in the process. Finally with Sam's forearm pressing into his throat and neck he lost his grip on Connie's wrist, she instantly grabbed it with her free hand, her skin burning. She hadn't noticed but up until now, her right hand had been gripping desperately on to the back of Sam's suit jacket.
"What the hell is going on?!" Chrissie was alerted by the yells and immediately headed towards the kerfuffle, shocked to see Sam in a stand off.
"Call security, now!" He instructed without hesitation, his cool well and truly lost with this guy. He'd already had one too many chances and this was the final straw. Attacking a pregnant woman and his own sister no less? He just bought his own ticket out of here.
"No, I'll calm down-"
"I don't care." Sam breathed harshly, the adrenaline still pumping through him despite the heated exchange having ended, he stayed stood where he was, Connie behind him safely and his right arm still engaged and ready to go if he arced up again. "You assaulted me this morning and now you've just assaulted another member of staff. You're lucky it's not the police we're calling."
"Please." Alyssa panted, now aware of her bleeding lip as she dabbed at it breathlessly. "She hit him first, she started it. We need to be here when William comes out!"
"And that justifies his actions does it?" His brows pulled together in the middle, staring at her expectantly. "Fine. I'll tell you what, you can stay, but he's out. Problem solved." Just as he finalised his orders, Chrissie appeared behind them with two large security guards in tow.
"Do you want me to call the police?" Chrissie asked gently, looking at Connie. She looked a little shaken but not injured.
"No." Her answer came out as a whisper, causing her to quickly clear her throat and turn her emotions off. "No, no you don't need to call the police, it's fine." She swallowed, looking over at her brother as security grabbed his arms. Her view was obscured as Sam was still stood between them, his arm not quite as outstretched anymore but still shielding her slightly. She looked back to Nurse Williams, whose eyes were assessing the situation before locking her gaze with Connie again. Sam was too busy making sure that James was removed quickly whilst still offering back and forth snipes with him in the process. Admittedly, that wasn't helping but he was so fired up, he couldn't stop himself.
"What even happened?" She probed, not quite sure what in God's name had led to this. That question was quickly forgotten as she looked at Connie's hand cradling her bump. "Are you alright? Maybe I should get someone down from Obs and Gynae?" Those words caught Sam's ear instantly as he finally turned to face the two women.
"No, no I'm fine, it was only my wrist he grabbed. It was nothing, really." She glanced at Alyssa, finding the perfect distraction. "She's not looking too good though." Chrissie's attention followed, setting eyes upon the bloodied face of this poor woman and swiftly moving over to help her.
"Here, follow me to a cubicle and we can get that cleaned up."
"No, I need to stay here-"
"I promise you, once he's out he'll still be recovering from the anaesthetic for a few hours and this will only take ten minutes. You don't want to give him a fright with all that blood on your face when he wakes, do you?" She enveloped the fellow blonde haired woman, guiding her back towards the ward, leaving Sam and Connie alone.
"Are you sure you're alright?" He questioned immediately, not caring if he was suffocating her. "What the hell happened?"
"You just couldn't leave it, could you?" She propped her hands on her hips, trying to look anywhere but his eyes.
"What?" He scoffed in utter disbelief not entirely sure what was going on right now. "What exactly did you want me to do? Just leave you both to it and see who came out on top? I don't want to sound presumptuous but I don't think you were in with a shout of winning-"
"You told him I was having twins, you just cannot help yourself and I am sick to death of you disregarding my privacy-"
"Woah! Hold on a minute!-"
"No, that's it!" She barked savagely. Despite her obvious fury, her voice was shaking slightly. "I give you an inch and you take a mile, Sam! It's exhausting-"
"It wasn't him." They both jolted slightly, surprised to hear another voice join in on the fiery exchange. It was Elliot, standing gingerly in the theatre room doorway and looking mightily hurt. "I'm sorry."
"I don't believe it." She whispered the words in a outward breath, tired of repeating herself time and time and time again. How hard was it to keep her private life out of their mouths? What on Earth was possessing these men to continuously be talking about her with anyone and everyone they bumped into? She leant back on one foot, her whole posture changing with the utter frustration she was feeling.
"I thought they already knew-"
"No." She silenced him immediately, her hand signalling for him to shush as well. "I don't want to hear it, Elliot. It's not even about that anymore, it's the non-stop meddling, I can't cope with it! Every single day it's something new you've stuck your nose into!" She growled emotionally, it was at this point Sam could sense this apparent breakdown had been weeks in the making and it was all coming to a head now. She was unhinged and over something so seemingly minor. "You know, I often wonder how Gina could have done what she did, what was going through her mind when she decided not to tell you that she was going to a suicide clinic without you knowing but now I get it." The last of her sentence was hissed venomously. "And I don't blame her. I would have done exactly the same thing just to get away from you." Her voice had lowered considerably but her words were ice cold and barbaric in nature.
"Connie, stop, you're upset-"
"Stop telling me what I'm feeling, Sam! You don't know me, you don't have a clue how I'm feeling and you never will!" Her fury was now being unleashed on Sam again, his concern growing as he continued to watch her crumble before them. He knew what was good for the situation, he was sure she'd argue otherwise but he didn't bite back. He watched her worriedly before taking a step back. Her chest was rising and falling quickly, the events of the evening catching up to her rapidly.
"You really are one of the cruelest people I think I've ever met, Connie." Elliot's voice was subdued, perfectly portraying his heavily injured feelings. His grey wiry brows drooped at the outer edges, his sadness conveyed with one small expression before he looked down and turned to walk back into theatre. The only reason he'd stepped out was because he'd heard a ruckus in the hallway and now he was beginning to wish he hadn't bothered. Sam honestly felt his own heart breaking for the older surgeon, he only ever meant well and Connie knew that too, she was just extremely upset and speaking out of anger. He glanced at her briefly, her eyes were closing with regret as if her words had just been echoed back to her and she felt disgustingly awful already.
"Elliot, wait, I didn't mean-" The door swung closed behind him, halting her mid sentence. She turned away, licking her upper lip as her chin quivered slightly. Now she was battling another kind of emotion trying to claw it's way out of her. She was purposely avoiding Sam's stare, wondering why he was still stood before her. "Well, come on, I'm sure you've got something." She spoke shakily, tears brimming on her bottom lids. "Hit me with it." To her slight surprise, he indulged.
"For someone going through something as awful as you are, you really know how to push everyone away don't you? It's almost like you want to be alone in the world." He blinked sadly, keeping his voice soft and calm. As if she couldn't feel any worse, he was laying it on her thickly. "And you're right." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't know what you're going through and I never will. It'd honestly kill me." Pausing to get back to his point, he stepped closer to her and placed his right palm cautiously on her left shoulder. She was avoiding his gaze desperately. Partially due to her blood-thirsty rant she'd just cast over him but partly because she was on the verge of crying now too and that was something she'd always try to conceal. "But I do know you, despite what you think. And I know you didn't mean any of the things you just said to Elliot. You're hurt, upset, angry and grieving." Looking down at her, he watched her nodding sadly as she stared to her right, all the way down the corridor. As soon as one tear fought it's way to freedom and rolled down her cheek, the rest followed on quickly. Weirdly, she hadn't pushed him away or stepped back yet, causing his brow to twitch with slight confusion. Her hand came up to her chest, clutching at it delicately. The pain of holding in her cries was forcing her breathing to become laboured and unbearable, this sight alone was enough to force his hand. He took a gamble and smoothed his hand from her shoulder down the middle of her back and pulled her into him gently. She moved in willingly, inviting him to wrap his other arm around her too, enveloping her securely. He could feel her body sobbing into him before her small arms looped around him under his suit jacket, her hands gripping at his shirt desperately seeking the comfort she'd been denying herself for months. "It's okay." He soothed gently, his chin resting atop her head, the side of her face nestled neatly against his chest as the tears continued to roll down her tired face.
She thought she was already climbing her way back up from rock bottom but it turns out she hadn't even hit it yet.
She had now though.
