Author's Note: Hello everyone! Now my MA work has slowed down a little, I have a bit more time on my hands so I have decided to try and get some writing done. I have noticed there's a major lack of stories featuring Jade so I am attempting to fix that. This is a one-shot following that night out and Jade once she got home as I can't believe that she would not have told Marty or that he would not have noticed that something was seriously wrong. I hope this is okay, it's the first one I've written in a while so I'm not 100% happy with it but reviews are always appreciated and if there are any other Jade one-shots you would like me to write then let me know and I'll have a crack at it! I am also going to try and get some of my Holby stories updated because they've been abandoned for well over a year - sorry! Anyway, I hope you are all doing well in these crazy times and if anyone needs a listening ear or even just a chat then my DMs are always open :)

P.S: Can we please talk about how amazing Gabriella is?! She really does not get enough credit but she is an absolutely outstanding actress.

Jade stepped out of the bathroom, rubbing her hair between her palms with a towel as she did so and flinching when she felt the floorboards creak underneath her feet, hoping that it was not loud enough to wake Marty. She looked at the clock when she got back to her room. 1:31am it read. Jade sighed and sat down on her bed. There was no way she would be getting any sleep any time soon but thankfully she was not on shift the following day, or later that day, as technically it would be. Her phone flashed abruptly and she felt the vibration ripple across the bed. Turning it over, she saw Faith's name flash up on the screen but could not bring herself to read the message. She just wanted rid of everything that reminded her of the past few hours. Pushing her phone away in frustration, it slid a few inches across the duvet and knocked the cracked case containing her broken hearing aid on the floor. Feeling a sudden wave of rage, she stood up and picked up the case, launching it across the room where it hit the wall and split into two pieces with the tiny shards from its previous breakage shattering across the carpet. A sob caught in Jade's throat as she covered her mouth in shock - shock at what she had just done and shock at how what was supposed to be a fun night out to try and cheer up her colleague had ended so horrifically. Her throat felt like it was closing up even though the sobs continued, getting more and more intense and she fell to her knees as the memories flooded her mind. She was back there again, back in that alleyway with him looming over her, taunting her but she could not hear what he was saying, not clearly, anyway, she could just about hear the sounds but not the words. It played over and over in her head until eventually, she became aware of somebody by her side but this time, it was not Faith.

"Jade?" Marty said in concern as he knelt down next to his friend. "Jade, can you hear me?" It was clear that she could not so he moved in front of her, gently taking her shoulders and squeezing them to try and get her to look at him.

Jade was in too much of a state to see who was in front of her but somehow, instinctively, she knew it was Marty and she leant into him and in response, he held her close, rocking ever so slightly until her sobs became sniffles and silent tears. As soon as she became aware of what had just happened, she hastily pulled away from Marty, drawing her knees up and leaning against her bed, avoiding eye contact.

"What is it?" Marty asked, persisting with trying to get his friend to look at him so that she could see what he was saying.

Jade glanced up, quickly reverting her attention to Marty's lips so he knew she was paying attention. "Nothing." She replied in an almost-whisper, simultaneously signing her response as if to reinforce it.

"If it's nothing then why did I just stand on a chunk of your hearing aid case?" He questioned.

Jade shook her head. "Don't want to talk about it." She mumbled, still signing.

Her phone must have gone off again because she was aware of Marty moving to get it. She wanted to tell him to leave it but did not have the energy.

"You have four missed calls and six texts from Faith." He informed her.

"Why are you even looking? It's none of your business." She said coldly.

"Here." Marty offered it to her but she pushed his hand away. "Well, I'm not listening to it ring all night so I'm going to look." He said stubbornly. "Can I?"

"Oh just do what you want!" Jade retaliated in annoyance, standing up and folding her arms protectively across her body as she made for the window and stood in front of it, staring out into the darkness of the late hour as she braced herself for Marty's next reaction. She did not know how she was going to get out of this one. Her throat still felt tight but at least now she could breathe properly, it just hurt.

Marty opened up Jade's phone and his stomach dropped as he read the messages on the screen.

'I'm so sorry about what happened xxx'
'Please let me know you've got home safely xxx'
'If you want to talk then you can call me, anytime xxx'
'Did you get home okay? xxx'
'Please let me know you're home xxx'
'Jade I'm worried, let me know you're okay xxx'

"Jade." He went up to her, putting a hand on her arm to let her know he was there. She turned to him, quickly rubbing her eyes and hoping he had not seen the tears in them. "We need to talk. Let's go downstairs and get a cup of tea. Come on." He encouraged.

"Okay." Jade responded defeatedly. As she followed him out of the room, she picked up her working hearing aid from the ceramic lilac dish next to her bed.

"I texted Faith to let her know you got home. I hope that was okay." Marty spoke whilst judging the best way to approach the topic in his own head.

Jade was vaguely aware of Marty speaking but was too focused on turning her hearing aid over and over in her hands, debating whether to put it in or not. If she did not, she would not be able to hear her friend's questions, though she knew he was just as stubborn as she could be and would not let it go. In fact, he was likely to keep them sat there until the morning if he had to. Taking a breath, she put her hearing aid in, closing her eyes at the sudden overload of sound - the crackling, the hissing and Marty's voice. She looked up at him, putting on a brave face and attempted a smile.

"So what did Faith mean? When she said she's sorry about what happened?" He started now he had her attention.

"Nothing. Nothing happened." Jade insisted. Marty gave her a knowing look. "I'm not lying Marty!" She started to panic once again. "Nothing happened." She repeated firmly. In agitation, she put her head in one hand. "Well, not...not really." She admitted, looking up again.

"What do you mean? 'Not really'."

"My drink got spiked." She wished that was all she had to say but knew deep down that he would not let her get away with that one detail.

"No..." Marty said in disbelief. Not because he did not believe her but because he did not want to think of such an awful thing happening to his friend.

Jade nodded frantically and her voice shook as she tried to maintain her composure. "I started to feel funny but Faith wasn't there, she was getting drinks." She wiped the tears from her face. "I don't...I don't remember how I got there but he pushed me in the rubbish." She spat bitterly. "I'd taken my hearing aids out because it was so loud in the bar but he was standing over me, taunting me and I couldn't move." She descended back into sobs again. "I couldn't move and I couldn't scream or...next thing I knew he was gone and Faith was there. He didn't do anything but he could've. He could've done anything, Marty, he could've done anything." She placed her elbows on the table and rubbed her face with both hands.

Marty carefully prised Jade's hands away from her face and lowered them back down to the table where he rubbed the backs gently with his thumbs. "It's okay." He reassured her. "You're safe now, you're okay."

Jade shook her head frantically. "Faith called the ambulance. I've been at the hospital for the last few hours. How could I have been so stupid?" She looked straight at Marty, as if pleading him for answers. "And now I've only got one hearing aid that works but even that's all fuzzy and I'm just confused and all over the place. He did it because of who I am, didn't he?"

"Not at all..." Marty started, shaking his head.

"Yes, yes he did! I hate myself for it. I don't want to be me anymore!" She finished, devastated.

"Don't, don't you dare even think that." Marty pleaded. "You are brilliant, funny, wonderful, even when you're being super annoying." The latter part being an attempt to make her smile. "Don't go changing who you are just because of some low-life. Look how far you've come and what you've achieved. I am so, so proud of you and so is everyone in the ED."

"I feel like I'm nothing."

The way that she spoke made Marty's heart shatter. They had been through so much together in the last three years. They had started out as rivals, qualified together, then became frenemies and now they were friends. Best friends and there was no way he would let her think that she was nothing. To him, she was everything. She had stuck by him through difficult times and now it was his turn to do the same for her.

"If someone came into the ED having had their drink spiked and been assaulted with exactly the same background and life challenges as you, would you have said they were stupid? Would you think they deserved to feel like they were nothing?"

Jade thought for a moment. "No, but that's different, isn't it?"

"Why is it?"

"Because they're not me." She shrugged. "I've done bad things in my life. This was a punishment."

"You haven't done bad things. You've made mistakes, that's all. We all have. What that man did to you was a bad thing, not anything you've done. Don't you forget that. You're worth a million of him."

Lacking the energy to protest anymore, Jade sighed defeatedly. "I'm so tired."

"You should get some sleep. We both should."

"You go. I'm going to stay down here because I know I won't sleep. If I close my eyes it'll be like it's happening all over again, I just know it." She told him sadly.

"Duvet and sofa?" Marty suggested. That was usually reserved for their Friday night takeaway and movie but these were exceptional circumstances.

"No, I'll be fine."

"That wasn't supposed to be a question actually. It was me telling you to get on the sofa whilst I get my duvet. Go on." He said, standing up after a few moment's pause as Jade tried to think up an argument. "Shoo." He nodded towards the door. Knowing that there was no point in trying to protest, Jade gave Marty a small smile and did as he said.

"Marty?" Jade asked a little while later, once they were both curled up on the sofa together, with Marty's arm wrapped protectively around his best friend.

"Jade?" He responded.

"You don't think anyone would say anything, do you? Only Faith, Dr Keogh and Leon know. I don't think anyone else saw me. They wouldn't tell, would they?" This thought had been playing on her mind for a while now.

"No, no of course they wouldn't. They all have a duty to patient confidentiality but first and foremost as your friends. You don't need to worry about that."

"Okay." Jade was reassured by this, she knew deep down that this would be the case but needed to hear it from Marty to fully believe it. "How am I going to manage at work? I'll hardly be able to hear a thing with just one hearing aid. It's like...it's like I'm trapped with no way to communicate with anyone or for anyone to be able to communicate with me, especially when it's busy, or we're in resus or the masks or..." The panic quickly rose in her voice at the realisation of how hard, if not impossible, it was going to be to keep things normal without telling anyone else.

"Just...don't worry about that now." Marty cut her off, trying to convince her. "You've got spare hearing aids, haven't you?

"I do but they're not as good as these ones. Well, when these ones worked the others weren't as good."

"Better than nothing, though."

"I suppose." Jade sighed. "I don't know where they are."

"We'll have a look together in the morning, okay?"

"Thanks, Marty." She said, relieved of her friend's logical thinking when her head was thinking anything but logically. "I don't know what I'd do without you."