'What are you doing?' she asked, her voice cold and steady even though every fibre in her body was screaming

'I worked out where I recognised you from' he said shortly

'Give the guy a coconut' she snapped 'is there a point to this little visit or are you here to gloat?'

'Gloat?' he frowned slightly, her obvious bitterness confusing him slightly 'Why would I gloat? You seem pretty together to me'

'I'm doing just fine' she snapped, trying to push past him but not putting much effort into it 'will you please let me past?' she hissed angrily

'No' he gave a small smile 'you and I need to talk to Connie'

'What do you mean?' she barked, a look of terror creeping into her eyes

'I really like Chrissie' he shrugged 'Fraserbourgh is a tiny place – she's bound to realise that we have met before'

'Do you honestly think my staff know that I spent most of my teenage years in a tiny fishing village in Scotland?' she snapped 'Just how stupid are you?'

'What about Michael?' he stared at her again 'Surely he knows that your family moved to Scotland… he doesn't know?'

'As far as he is concerned I grew up in a nice middle class part of Essex' she snapped 'my father was an accountant, my mother was a teacher'

'Has he met your father?' Phil couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the idea – Connie's father was a fisherman with a foul mouth and constant smell of fish that followed him around. No one on earth would believe that he was an accountant. Connie's mother was a different sort of lie. She had indeed been a teacher until she died when Connie was five

'No' Connie replied coldly 'I'm surprised you didn't hear. Dad's boat went down twenty years ago and he was never found…' she trailed off, her voice emotionless 'It wasn't long after you left and it was all the push I needed to get out of Fraserbourgh and live my life'

'I'm sorry. What about your brothers?' he asked quietly, amazed that he hadn't heard about Connie's father. It was the sort of thing that would normally have his mother on the phone insisting he went straight to church to pray

'Still floating around off the coast of Scotland trying to catch enough salmon to make a living' she replied bitterly 'I haven't spoken them since the day I told them where they could shove their plans to turn me into their keeper and left for London'

'Really?' he was stunned that Connie had just upped and left. It didn't seem possible. It wasn't something the Connie he knew would have done; she would have been too frightened that they would track her down and drag her back.

'Honestly' she nodded slowly 'so there is no one here who will associate us which means you can just crawl back under your rock'

'You really have made something of yourself haven't you' he watched her with fascination as she tried once again to push past him without much success

'Yes' she asserted coldly 'please move. I have to get back to work'

'Can we go for a drink?' he tried, desperately

'I don't think so' she replied coldly 'in fact, probably best all round if you stay right away from the hospital'

'What if I don't want to' he tried and watched her freeze, fury imprinted on every part of her body as she turned to him with a stare designed to turn men to stone. She'd spent years practicing it with him in mind and was thrilled at the chance to use it on the victim she had always intended it for

'Tough' she snapped bitterly 'do something for someone else for once Phil; you might surprise yourself. If you must stay around Holby, keep out of my way. Is that absolutely clear'

'Crystal' he sighed heavily as she finally succeeded in passing him and stormed back towards the hospital, brushing past Chrissie who had emerged from the hospital for her break

'Phil' she spotted him instantly and her face broke into a broad grin 'what are you doing here?'

'Surprise' he smiled lamely as she gave him a brief hug and a peck on the cheek 'lunch?'

'I only have half an hour' she sighed apologetically

'We'll get sandwiches and eat them in the park' he smiled and led her gently inside, watching as Connie disappeared into the lift, firing one last cold look in his direction as the lift closed