It was gone midnight by the time Beth finally made her way up the path and wearily stepped over the threshold of her own front door. As she closed it to the outside world she finally allowed herself to draw a long steadying breath, cupping her face in the palms of her hands. She divested herself of her coat, stripping it away like an extra layer of skin – it was cold outside but warm in here. She'd only meant for her visit to Will's to be fleeting, but she'd stayed with him for hours trying to console him whilst he'd unburdened himself to her, doing his upmost to convince her that he was alright whilst failing to contain bouts of fitful sobs. It was hard to see him struggle to conceal just how desperately unhappy he was, and looking so sad. He'd worked so hard to get himself back to health the first time.

Wracked with guilt over the fact that she'd almost missed the warning signs again she felt angry with herself for allowing her own arrogance and ego to blindside her. She'd promised herself the first time he'd fallen ill that she wouldn't let anything like that happen again – that she wouldn't let Will down like she had done the last time – and yet here they were. She'd missed the creeping bitterness and resentment which her enquiries into his wellbeing had been met with, his angry outbursts, going behind her back and throwing himself into his work. She'd never liked Sarah, and had hardly sparred it a second thought when Jack had first told her he thought it likely the couple might separate soon. Will's wife was selfish, self-centred and self-pitying, and she doubted whether she'd ever really loved her husband in the way the man deserved. Will wasn't perfect but he was kind and quiet and gentle, although no where near as strong as he liked to try and make out. Sarah just wanted someone rich enough to look after her and buy her nice things – she would sleep with anyone with a large enough bank account…

Beth suddenly stopped herself, realising that this train of thought wasn't helpful to anyone. Sarah may have been selfish, but so had she been too.

She was about to make her way into the sitting room – where the warmth of the fireside beckoned to her – when Jack appeared I the doorway, looking concerned. She'd had a missed call from him whilst she'd been at Will's but had forgotten to call him back – it hadn't occurred to her that he might decide to wait up – she was the one on call tonight after all.

"Have you been at Will's all this time love?" He frowned, observing her worried expression. "What happened? Did the two of you have a fight?" He asked her.

Beth felt the venom rise within her again at this remark, and her blood beginning to simmer, but she couldn't really blame him for jumping to this conclusion – she had after all been pretty angry when she'd gone around there. She shook her head, leaning into Jack as he approached her and feeling her tempers dampen as he put his arms around her – it was almost as if he were her anchor, helping to centre her with his warmth, and she smiled just slightly as she returned his embrace, before slowly pulling herself away.

"I've been with him for hours." She explained. "He's not very well Jack." She shook her head sadly.

Jack took a step back from her, leaning his head against the wall behind him. He looked suitably sombre and equally as concerned as she had been as he gazed up at the ceiling, but to Beth's dismay he didn't appear surprised. Could it be that he had once again spotted something in Will before she had?

He sighed.

"I thought he seemed a little off the other day." He explained in response to her enquiring glance in his direction. "After we all signed the fund holder agreement he just took himself off. I thought it was strange considering how important it had been to him."

Beth looked as though she may have been about to say something in response – her mouth opened and closed soundlessly a couple of times – but then she seemed to think better of it. "I didn't even notice." She sighed.

"I'm going to sign him off tomorrow, but then we're going to have to have a chat about reducing his workload. He needs to start taking things easy for a while." She explained.

Jack nodded in agreement – remembering the toll the illness had taken on Will the last time. He didn't think he would ever forget the look on his friend's face the evening he and Beth had discovered his fraud in the drugs trial – he'd looked so lost, so sad, the dark circles under his eyes a testament to just how exhausted he'd been.

Jack hadn't judged Sarah quite so harshly as Beth had – he had hardly been perfect himself after all – he had listened to her and counselled her. He'd tried to be kind, but he'd also witnessed how intentionally cruel she'd been to Will. She'd as much as confessed to him that she didn't love the man, and there was a part of Jack which suspected they would both now be happier for the separation, but to do it in the way she had, without warning, and to take the boys with her had been another deliberate and calculated attempt on her part to hurt him more than he already had been. There could be no justification for it, and it wasn't at all surprising that he was finding it hard to cope without them.

"Poor Will." Jack sighed sadly. "How's he doing physically?" He asked her.

"Probably very much how you might expect." She told him. "He was run down as it was just trying to keep the family together. He's exhausted."

"I'll pop in and see him whilst I'm on my rounds tomorrow." Jack told her. "See how he's doing. Perhaps we should ask him over here to stay with us for a few days. I don't think it does him any good to be on his own at the moment."

Beth half smiled.

"I'm not sure he would agree, but I was actually going to suggest it myself." She told him. "I hate to think of him rattling around in that house all by himself. I let him down once Jack, I don't want to let him down again."

"You didn't let him down Beth." Jack sighed sympathetically as he wrapped his warm arms around her again and held her close to him. "We'll get him through this. Now we know he's having a hard time we can do something to help him. Hopefully we've caught it early enough to prevent things getting as bad as they were last time."

She looked up into his eyes and smiled as Jack pecked her tenderly on the forehead, her sadness for Will swelling in her heart as she thought of him without anyone to hold him when he needed holding – although she didn't think he and Sarah had ever had that type of relationship. When Will had fallen ill the first time it wasn't a sympathetic ear he'd found in his wife, but she'd proceeded to drive the knife even deeper. In her heart Beth knew that Sarah wasn't really a bad woman, but she'd known what she'd been getting herself into when she'd married Will. He'd been able to provide for her and had made her feel safe. She'd convinced him to move to Cardale and take up the position at her father's practice because she'd liked the idea of being married to a country GP. Will's position had given her some status in the village – or at least that's the way she'd seen it – and public image had meant everything to Sarah. She'd systematically spent far beyond their means throughout their marriage, indirectly putting increasing pressure on Will to do the same in his erroneous attempt to make her happy – there'd been no protest from her when he'd first brought them the big house, or decided to put the boys through public school instead of sending them to the local comprehensive – but she'd been the first to throw this back in his face when the pressure of keeping up appearances had become too much for him, and he'd been broken down by the constant strain he felt under to provide her and his sons with nice things. There was no doubt in Beth's mind that Will loved Sarah and he'd done his best to try and make her happy even to his own detriment – but theirs was not a marriage rooted in love as far as his wife was concerned. Their marriage vows hadn't been enough to stop her fliting with other men, and in the case of Daniel, sleeping with them. Will deserved so much better.

"Come on love." Jack prompted her as he put his arm around her shoulders and started guiding her towards the sitting room. "You're freezing." He said, taking her by the hand and rubbing her cold fingers together in an attempt to warm them.

"I went for a walk." She explained. "After leaving Will's. I needed some time to think." The heat from the fire made her face tingle as she sat herself down in front of it, and snuggled into Jack as he joined her on the sofa. He reached across to pour her a glass of wine from a bottle on the coffee table.

"I'm on call." She smiled at him as he handed it to her, and he chuckled playfully. "You know that."

"Oh well, all the more for me then." He said as he took a swig. Beth held his gaze for a moment before turning away, letting her smile drop. Jack frowned, placing his glass back down on the table. Joking aside he sensed that there was more that she wanted to say. She sighed.

"I was so angry when I went round there tonight." She explained. "I went in all fired up, ready to tear shreds out of him. I didn't even give him chance to explain." She hesitated for a moment, reflecting on the evening's events, before continuing.

"It's what I do Jack." She said sadly. "I can't help myself. I bulldoze my way through situations, argue with anyone I don't agree with, whether they might be in the right or not. I'm always too ready to go on the defensive."

"Well, it's one of the reasons I fell in love with you pet." He grinned, and despite her heavy heart Beth had to allow herself a small smile. He didn't call her it very often, but she liked it when he reverted back to his native Geordie on occasion. "You may be infuriating Beth Glover, you drive me up the wall sometimes." He laughed. "But I love the way you don't let anyone push you around."

Beth turned to look up at him, and seeing him look down at her with love in his eyes made her feel worse somehow in that moment – worse to think of Will and of how long he might have been suffering, and because she didn't feel particularly good about the way she'd behaved.

"He's sinking Jack." She told him. "His words, not mine." She elaborated. "We're supposed to be his friends."

"We are Beth. We are his friends, and we'll get him through this." He assured her. "He's made of stronger stuff than you think."

Will was worn out at the moment, of course he was – tired and run down – but things wouldn't always be like this. They would get him through this, just as they had last time. Beth closed her eyes, and it wasn't long before she started to fall asleep, comforted by the warmth of Jack's body pressed up against her. He ran his fingers through her hair and hoped there wouldn't be any call outs tonight.