"So we have to navigate and drive our way to a special meeting point?" Dillon looked at the instructions the course leader had handed them doubtfully.

"Yeah!" the course leader, Jim, nodded enthusiastically. He handed them maps. "In pairs. One map reads, the other drives. And the first team home wins!"

"I fail to see how this is team building," Lara remarked dryly. "A competition in pairs."

"Who picks the teams?" Anna, a last minute replacement for Chloe, asked.

"Oh, we've already paired you up," Jim explained. "Lara, you'll be with Dillon, Chloe with Jack…"

"Anna, actually," Anna corrected him. "Chloe's not coming."

"Ah right," Jim adjusted his notes. "Anna with Jack and Lucy with Patrick. It's up to you who drives or whatever. Breaking speed limits or dangerous driving will not be tolerated. We've timed how long the journey should take you, and anyone wildly under that time will be dealt with severely." He looked at his watch. "Okay, here's your car keys… I make it one o'clock, so we'll start… NOW!"

Lucy looked at Patrick doubtfully as the others walked off, Jack even managing to seem interested.

Patrick shoved his instructions into his back pocket. "I'll drive," he said, taking the keys out of her hand. "You can map read I assume?"

Lucy glared at him. "Of course. But if you're worried about it, maybe you should do the navigating."

"And let you drive?" Patrick looked at her disdainfully. "I've seen your car… more bumps than I've had hot dinners. Just make sure you don't get us lost and we'll be fine."


"Out of petrol?" Lucy looked at the dial disbelievingly. "What do you mean we're out of petrol? How the hell could you not notice that?"

"It passed me by, okay?" Patrick snapped back. "If you'd spoken up more clearly giving me the sodding directions, I could have paid more attention to other things."

"I was saying them clearly enough!" Lucy retorted angrily. "You were driving, you should have been aware of those kind of things! Are you sure it won't start?"

Patrick turned the key in the ignition and it made a hideous choking sound. He looked at her. "Quite sure."

Lucy slumped back into her seat. "Well, what are we going to do now? We can't just sit here!" She looked up and down the desolate country road she'd taken them onto. Why couldn't they have broken down on the bloody motorway? At least they'd have been near some civilisation. "Call for some help."

"No signal." Patrick tossed his phone onto the back seat in irritation. He hit the steering wheel, hoping for some inspiration, but all he could conjure up was annoyance. "If you'd stuck to main roads, like I suggested…"

"It was you that decided to take a random turning!" Lucy shouted back. "I was trying to get us back to somewhere vaguely civilised!"

They both fell silent, fuming inwardly. How the hell had they ended up in the middle of nowhere, stuck in a car with each other?

"This is stupid," Patrick said finally. "I'm going to find someone."

"Who?" Lucy demanded. "Patrick, it's freezing outside, and it's getting dark. You have no idea where we are! You can't just go wandering off…"

Patrick glared at her. "Well what do you suggest we do? Stay here all night?"

Lucy shrugged. "I don't know. But no point us freezing to death."

"Once is enough for one year," Patrick said flippantly.

Lucy winced. "Sorry. I didn't mean that. I just meant…"

"Forget it." Patrick sighed. "But what the hell are we going to do? We haven't got any food or water or…"

"Lucky I brought some then." Lucy produced some crisps and a bottle of water from her bag.

Patrick looked at her, a faint smile on his lips. "Ever prepared. Going to share the goods?"

Lucy handed him the packet of crisps. "I'm not hungry."

Patrick frowned. "It's cold, you need to eat. We could be stuck here for god knows how long."

Lucy shook her head. "Really. You can have them."

Patrick opened them and ate one. "We'll share them," he said firmly. He looked at his watch. "Five o'clock. I bet the others have nearly reached the place by now. What was it called again?"

"Hunter's Green," Lucy replied. "Could they have picked anywhere more remote?" She traced the route on the map. "Middle of nowhere."

"Rather like this," Patrick remarked. He turned the heating on the car up. Lucy instantly slammed it off.

"You'll drain the battery," she said in explanation. "And we might need the heating later if it gets really cold." She looked in the back seat. "There're some blankets in the back anyway. Use one of them if you're cold."

Patrick nodded. "Okay. You know about draining the battery. Not many women I know would think of that."

"My husband, Jamie, was a mechanic," Lucy said before she could stop herself. Then she wanted to bite the words back; she'd never mentioned Jamie to anyone in Holby. She'd moved down here to get away from it all.

"And couldn't bear to have an illiterate wife," Patrick nodded. "Good man."

Lucy waited for him to remark on some element of her statement but he went back to looking out the window at the rapidly darkening sky.

After a long time, Lucy ventured to say, "I'm sorry about Rachel, by the way."

Patrick turned his head to look at her so quickly that Lucy was sure he'd have hurt his neck. "What about her?"

"Well, her…" Lucy hesitated before saying, "her accident and everything. It must be awful for you."

"It's no big deal" Patrick returned his gaze to the now twinkling stars.

"Of course it is! You can't say it isn't, she was your girlfriend, she…"

"I don't want to talk about it," Patrick said firmly.

Lucy respected his decision. "Okay. But if you do ever want to talk about it…" She knew she was behaving stupidly; keep your head down and don't make any sudden movements was practically her mantra. Why mess things up now?

Patrick looked at her incredulously. "What? You mean I should talk to you?"

"If you want."

"Some nurse who I've never spoken to in my life before?" Patrick remained amazed at her offer. "Why the hell would I want to do that?"

"Don't exaggerate!" Lucy glowered at him. "I came to see you in hospital! You spoke to me then!"

"Yeah, why did you come that day?" Patrick demanded. He wasn't sure why he was so angry, it was stupid. "To have a good look at the bloke who nearly died? Technically did die for a few minutes?"

"No!"

"Then why?"

Lucy looked away from him, and down at her cold hands. "Because I had to," she said quietly.

Patrick continued looking at her dubiously.

"I needed to see you," Lucy continued. "Because… I thought I could help. I knew how you were feeling."

"Why, you've had some guy knock seven bells out of you too?" Patrick said sarcastically.

"No, not about that. About Rachel."

"How could you possibly know how I'm feeling?" Patrick shook his head.

"Because…" Lucy gulped. She couldn't believe she was telling anybody this, let alone Patrick Spiller. "Because I've been there. Because… Jamie died."