'Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen' Delilah's shrill voice echoed around the large hall, assaulting the various hungover brains assembled there.

'Kill me now' Ric murmured, a hand clapped to his head with pain, his skin taking on a greenish pallor.

'No' Connie corrected dully 'kill her, then Michael, then we'll think about killing you'

'You won't get anywhere in life with that attitude' Delilah admonished lightly as Zubin's hand travelled involuntarily to his mouth, stifling the laugh that threatened to escape.

'Which is of course why I'm the top heart surgeon in the country and you're teaching sex education to a group of people who, to be perfectly honest, could probably teach you a thing or two'

'Well, I don't know about that' Delilah emitted a high-pitched laugh and glanced at the series of mutinous faces staring back at her nervously. They were clearly going to be harder to crack than she had anticipated and the handcuffs trick, her old failsafe, had only served to make the situation worse and turn six very irritated people to six people who were baying for blood.

'Can we get on with this? The sooner we start the sooner we can go home and I can murder my husband…' Connie snapped, rubbing the red ring on her wrist that the only sign remaining of her earlier incarceration.

'You must be Mrs Beauchamp. Your husband warned me about you…'

'Sadly he didn't think to warn me about you' Connie retorted sharply, catching sight of Zubin and Ric's shoulders shaking with silent mirth.

'Shall we begin?' Zubin asked eventually, the amusement still evident in his voice as Connie and Delilah turned to him, as if they had forgotten that there was anyone else in the room except the two of them.

'Yes, why don't we begin' Connie's voice dripped with sarcasm as she stood, strolling slowly past the table littered with various demonstration implements, a small smile playing across her face.

'Mrs Beauchamp, I'd appreciate it if…' Delilah began as Connie began to run her hand up and down the length of a large grey vibrator that sat on the table with various other erotic objects.

'Don't mind me' Connie murmured, her attention turned entirely on the vibrator as Mickie and Donna dissolved into helpless giggles and Zubin rolled his eyes in the manner of someone dealing with a troublesome child 'I'm just trying to think who this reminds me of'

'I'll tell you one thing' Chrissie intoned as Zubin muttered something that sounded a lot like "oh please, no" 'It isn't Michael'

'Oh no, I'm not thinking of Michael' she winked at Ric who slid lower into his seat and covered his face with his hands.

'Nothing to be ashamed of mate' Zubin spoke in a slightly strangled voice, almost entirely drowned out by Donna's crows of laughter.

'This is more like Michael' Connie finished triumphantly, selecting a much smaller vibrator and holding it out to the room 'Right, we've covered vibrators, what's next? The karma sutra?'

'This course isn't designed to improve your… prowess'

'I'll have you know my prowess needs no improvement thank you' Connie snapped, returning to her seat and folding her arms across her chest angrily 'And nor, for that matter, do certain other people in this room… Ric, you've gone bright red'

'I wonder why' Zubin drawled dryly, reaching for the carafe of water on the table in front of them and pouring a glass of water for Donna whose hysterics had given way to amused hiccups.

'Lets begin' Delilah spoke through gritted teeth and finally Connie remained silent, only expressing her pleasure in the other woman's irritation through a malicious smile spreading across her face.

'Thank God its over' Zubin announced vehemently, the sound of his chair being pushed back echoed by the sound of five more 'it did drag on a bit'

'Seven hours' Chrissie agreed, following Connie from the hall, noting how the other woman had already made a beeline for the one bottle of wine bestowed upon them in a moment of uncharacteristic generosity from Michael 'I thought I was going to die of boredom'

'Ours I think' Zubin relieved Connie of the bottle with a deft swipe of his hand, ignoring her indignant cries of protest 'think of it as penance for drinking all my Scotch yesterday'

'You shouldn't have had it in the first place' Connie retorted crossly, snatching back the bottle of wine and wrestling in vain with the cork.

'But you certainly shouldn't have taken it. Some might call that theft' he replied self-righteously as he took the bottle once more, popping the cork with a satisfying noise.

'Some might call it stupidity on your part for leaving it where I could find it' came the reply as she swiftly removed the glass of wine that he had poured and downed it in one large mouthful 'Anyway, my need is greater than yours'

'How did you work that out? I'd have thought you'd have sworn off alcohol for life after the hangover you had this morning' he added smugly, pouring a second glass and downing it before she had a chance to take it from him.

'Hair of the dog' she snarled irately 'anyway, you're the only person who didn't get drunk last night'

'Not bad for a place where alcohol is expressly forbidden' Delilah's voice cut though the conversation and she took the wine from a dumbfounded Zubin 'I want you all bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow and Archie really shouldn't have smuggled this in for you, regardless of what your boss told him'

'Is that wine I see?' Donna appeared over Zubin's shoulder, Mickie popping up behind Connie, both of them eying the bottle of wine keenly

'Apparently its just a mirage' Connie snarled with disgust 'If this is all that's going on in this Godforsaken dump, I'm going to bed'

'Me too' Ric added, rubbing his still slightly tender head and eyeing the bottle of wine that he hadn't tasted a drop of mournfully

'Well, isn't tonight just looking up' Connie smiled flirtatiously as a flush spread up Ric's face and Mickie and Donna dissolved once again into high pitched giggles.

'My own bed'

'Spoilsport' Connie admonished gently, tracing one finger down his chest seductively 'you know, I'm sure I'll be a better bed mate than Professor Kahn'

Once in bed she tossed and turned irately, planning all manner of unpleasant repercussions for her husband upon her return home. Not only was she stuck in a monastery with more rules, laws and bylaws than your average country but she had been turned down. By Ric Griffin, a man reputed to propose to every woman who spoke to him and yet when Connie had offered it to him on a plate, having earlier paid him what she considered to be the highest compliment it was possible to bestow upon a man, he turned her down flat. One thing was for sure – when they got back to Holby, she would make Ric Griffin regret his actions, but for today she had a more pressing concern. Contact with Michael had been a little thin on the ground of late and it had been a record amount of time since the last time she had slept with a man. That, combined with an afternoon discussing the finer points of sexual education had left her so turned on that Zubin was starting to seem like a good idea. In the knowledge that Ric had turned her down and Zubin would merely laugh at the very suggestion of sleeping with her, she contemplated breaking into the seminar room and stealing the rather large toy she had been examining earlier in the day but a noise outside the door stopped her.

'Are you awake?' a familiar voice hissed and she opened her eyes, eying him with curiosity.

'I am now. Are you drunk?' she replied suspiciously as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

'Chance would be a fine thing' he laughed quietly 'I felt a little bad about what happened earlier. Perhaps I could make it up to you'