She had left the hospital long before him, unable to bear the whispers and told him that she would see him at home. It was the only remotely civil thing she had managed to say to him since the scene with Zubin. What concerned him was that the house was utterly deserted with the exception of two cases packed to capacity and sitting in the hall. In his limited experience packed cases were rarely a good sign. For a moment he looked around for any sign of his wife but found only her beige coat hanging in the hall. Considering it was pouring outside he chose to take this a positive indication that she was still in the vicinity and began to slowly move around the house, not wanting to scare her by creeping up on her. He wondered only briefly whether the cases contained his belongings or hers.

Eventually he found her in the garage stacking her car with the two smaller cases that came as a set with the luggage in the hall. He cleared his throat loudly, still acutely wary of scaring her. When she didn't respond he placed a hand on her shoulder and she whipped around, more angry than frightened which would have been a good sign except that her anger seemed to be entirely directed at him.

'What are you doing?' he finally managed to ask as she stormed past him and returned moments later dragging one of the cases from the hall behind her. She never had grasped the concept of travelling light and now she was paying for it.

'Leaving' she said slowly as if she was talking to a complete idiot. It took him a while to remember that idiot was a generous assessment of her feelings for him. She was livid with him and on one of her many controlled but furious phone calls to him over the course of the day, she had informed him that she no longer trusted him. Fortunately that didn't stop her having the presence of mind to ask their lawyers to politely persuade Zubin not to press charges for the assault in the lift, something that hadn't occurred to Michael. To do that he knew she had to tell the lawyer about the rape and he knew what that had cost her – the lawyer was an old friend of her father and while he promised confidentiality they both knew that at best, half of her parents' circle of friends would know by the time the evening was out. It was another humiliation that she blamed upon him as much as Zubin. As she had repeatedly told him, Zubin attacking her was bad, Michael making it common knowledge was worse.

'Why?' he asked slowly, wondering if she wanted to get away from Holby and Zubin or from him as well. After today he wouldn't be surprised, nor would he blame her. Increasingly he felt that he didn't deserve to be married to someone like Connie.

'Nothing to stay for' she replied with a shrug 'I have staff who aren't sure whether to laugh at me or pity me, Zubin still working for me and a hospital I can't set foot in without my skin crawling. I think I need a new start'

'Possibly' he admitted doubtfully, relieved that she hadn't mentioned him in her list of reasons 'but you have to give 6 weeks notice…'

'In light of today Joanna agreed I could take 6 weeks extended holiday and then resign officially' she told him dully 'I'll get myself a new job once I'm settled'

'Isn't this what you were desperate to avoid? Him driving you out of your job, your home and your life' he asked slowly and she stared at him, once again giving a look of astonishment that he was quite so stupid.

'It's you who has made it impossible for me to stay' she snapped and shame washed over him as he realised once again that she was right. That he had made a bad situation a million times worse when all he had wanted was to make it better for her.

'But it isn't impossible for you to stay' he protested quietly, willing to say anything to keep her with him. There was nothing he could say to make the situation worse now – it was about as bad as it could possibly get 'if you run away then he really will have taken everything from you – from us. Is that what you want?'

'No Michael, I didn't want any of this' she sighed and a solitary tear escaped her eye and made slow progress down her cheek until, almost instinctively, Michael reached out and wiped it away with his thumb.

'Stay' he said with a faint note of pleading in his voice 'running isn't the answer. You know that as well as I do and the Connie I married would never run away from anything'

'Well maybe I'm not the person you married Michael. Maybe I never will be again' her voice was suddenly cold but he knew that it was just a front. That even though he had seen her at her most vulnerable she still felt unable to show her true feelings in his presence.

'I don't mind' he told her, throwing caution to the wind and putting his arms around her. To his relief she didn't push him away so he held her a little closer and she leaned her head on his chest, breathing in the comforting scent of his cologne 'you'll always be my Connie, nothing can change that'

'So come with me' she looked up at him, her tearful eyes pleading with him to agree but he knew that he couldn't. Despite what she had told him he still believed that running away wasn't the answer. That in the long run it would be better for Connie if they stayed in Holby and faced what had happened together. It was a conclusion he had taken far too long to reach but he knew now that it was the right one.

'Or we could stay in Holby' he took a deep breath 'show that we're too strong to be driven away by one pathetic little man's aggression. That he can't destroy our lives and break us like this…' he trailed off as an expression of surprise crossed her face. This wasn't how she had expected him to react and she wasn't entirely sure how to deal with it.

'You want us to go back there tomorrow and…' she pulled a face that was etched with disgust and surprise 'face him?'

'Yes' he agreed with a small smile 'You said it yourself; that would be the best punishment of all' he finished and watched her face as she processed his suggestion, thinking every possible outcome through to it's eventual conclusion. Eventually she came out of the almost trance-like state that she had entered and walked towards the car, her left hand toying with her keys as she moved forward. For a horrible moment he thought that she was going to get in and drive away but she didn't. Instead she opened the boot and pulled out one case, then the other and locked the car again, turning to him with a nervous smile, a look of uncertainty in her eyes that he hadn't seen for years. As she walked past him, pressing a case into his hand as she passed, he knew that they were going to be alright.