It was a few weeks later and Chloe was working the early shift but Evan wasn't working until later. He'd made her porridge, plain of corse, no sugar allowed, it was horrible and she'd thrown most of it away once he'd gone back to bed. She covered the porridge with cardboard in the bin so Evan wouldn't see. Chloe's boss Jac Naylor (the ice queen) wasn't working so she had the much more chilled out Kian working today.

"Morning." Her friend Nicky said as Chloe started her shift "Mr Flint bed 3 has a cabbage later you're down to do that. Mrs Lambert, bed 7 should be discharged later today. Oh hello, bed 6 please." Nicky said to a porter with a blonde lady on a trolly. "Miss Hall hello." Nicky said to the new addition to the ward. "I'm Dr McKendrick and this is Mis..."

"Mr Crowhurst...is he here?" The patient asked .

"No he's not working until later and he's not on this ward. Why do you know him?" Chloe asked.

"No, he just treated me once, that's all" the patient said visibly relaxing "and please call me Sophie"

"Well you can't have Mr Crowhurst I'm afraid, but you can have the next best thing this is Miss Goddard his girlfriend." Nicky smiled, passed Chloe the file and walked off."

"Hi." Chloe said, "can I examine you Sophie?"

"You're dating Evan?" The patient asked as Chloe started to listen to her chest.

"That's right. So your on this ward because you have chest pain. When did that start"

"Yesterday."

"Ok lean forward for me" Chloe said and saw bruises all over her back. "How did these bruises happen?"

"I fell down the stairs."

"Umm." Chloe mused and sat on the side of Sophie's bed. "Sophie..look." Chloe started. "Those bruises don't look like someone whose fallen down the stairs... Sophie is someone hurting you?"

"No.no" Sophie said starting to seem scared.

"Listen, if something is scaring you, you can tell us. This is a hospital and we're here to help you and we can protect you."

"Doctor can I ask you something?"

"Of course." Chloe answered.

"Is your name Chloe?" Sophie asked

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I used to date Evan?"

"Oh?" Chloe asked. She had known Evan had an old girlfriend called Sophie but he'd told her it was Sophie Taylor.

Sophie took a deep breath "We were married."

Chloe stayed silent shocked. "He never said."

"Chloe, there's a lot you don't know about him...he's not a good person." Sophie said.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out between the two of you, but we're doing okay. Evan is good for me."

"Do you know about Felix?"

"The dog." Chloe said.

"No our son." Sophie said.

"What?" Chloe asked confused.

"Listen Chloe, he's not a good person. He's abusive. He did this to me. The bruises, he does it so it doesn't show on my face. Anytime I did something I didn't like, he'd hit me or rape me. I mean we were married, but marital rape is a thing. This is Felix," she said showing Chloe a photo on her phone. Evan smiling with a toddler in his arms. "Thats why I had to leave, because of Felix. But he found me." Sophie said and Chloe felt her heart rate and breathing quicken and grabbed onto the side of the bed. Not here not now. This was not the time to have a panic attack. "It started slowly at first.." Sophie was saying. "Isolating me from my family and friends, telling me I didn't need them. Only him." Sophie said. "Chloe are you okay." She asked seeing the Doctor struggling to breathe. "Chloe?" Sophie asked again. Come on Chloe thought to herself, just breathe. "Can someone help?" Sophie shouted and Nicky popped her head in the bay. "Chloe are you okay?" She said shocked to see her friend so distressed "let's get you out of here Chlo." Nicky said "Chloe?" When Chloe didn't move or respond Nicky put an arm round her and let her away. "Chloe what's going on." Nicky was saying something, asking a question, Chloe felt like she was underwater. She couldn't get the oxygen into her body and Nicky sounded muffled distant but she must have been right there because she felt Nicky's arm around her back. Taking her somewhere. Nicky felt out of her depth she knew Chloe had anxiety but she thought that made her a bit worried. She didn't expect this. The worst panic attack she'd ever seen. She sat Chloe down in the staff room. "Mu" Chloe tried to say still gasping for air. "Do you want your mum?" Nicky asked and got no response. "Shall I page her?" Still no reply. "Cam." Nicky said seeing her friend waking past. "Chlo's having some kind of breakdown can you call Ange." She said and Cameron could hear the fear in Nicky voice. "You call Ange and I'll sit with Chloe." Cam said. "Chloe can you breathe for me?" He asked but Chloe was too far gone, she was in her own world of panic. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think straight. No coherent thought. Her pulse was too high. She was gasping for breath. "I called Keller and Essie is going to find Ange. I played it down but told her we need Ange now. Should we put her in a bed and give her Oxygen?" Nicky asked.

"I don't know." Cam said "is this a panic attack? Has she had them before?"

"I think so." Nicky replied "she told me she used to have anxiety. Chlo what can we do to help you?" Still no reply from Chloe. She couldn't breathe, tears streaming down her face, she was clawing at her arms.

"Shall I get a pulse oximeter and check her sats?"

"I don't know?" Nicky dithered

"I'll get one" Cam said. Nicky sat by Chloe but was completely powerless to help her best friend. She'd seen patients have panic attacks before, but never like this. She wondered how Chloe hadn't passed out due to lack of oxygen. "Hi Dr Dunn. I was told I was needed. Is..." Nicky heard Ange's voice. "In here, it's Chloe." She said breathlessly. Ange stepped in a smile on her face until she saw her daughter. She ran over to her "Chloe? Darling?" No reply "I need you to look at me.." She put her hands on Chloe's cheeks and tilted her head upward so she was looking at her mother. "Chloe I need you to focus and look right at me, that's right good girl. Keep focusing on me."

"Is there anything I can do?" Nicky asked.

"Can you just get us a glass of water and then leave us be." Ange said not taking her eyes off her daughter. She'd taken Chloe's hands to stop her clawing at herself. "Ok Chloe. I need you to try and breathe with me. Breathe in.2.3"

Chloe tried but she just couldn't. Her body had forgotten how. "It's okay Chloe, this is a bad one hey. Let's try again in.2.3" Ange was worried but tried not to let it show. Chloe hadn't had a panic attack this bad since she was a teenager and Ange felt guilty, she'd barely spoken to her daughter in weeks. "Good girl. And hold, keep trying, keep focusing on me and breathe out through your mouth, blow it away. Ok let's try again." Chloe was still gasping for breath "whatever you are feeling right now Chloe. You just need to keep focusing on me and we can calm down and sort whatever scared you. You're safe now. In.2.3 and hold 2.3 and blow it away. Better good girl. In.2.3 and hold.2.3 and let's breathe our for 5 .3.4.5. Good girl keep going. This is a bad one it might take a few more deep breaths until you feel in control. And that's okay." They went through the cycle a few more times. As Chloe began to calm down. Coherent thoughts began to enter her head again and she had to focus so hard to not let it send her back into a panic again. Chloe's breathing had began to slow but it was still irregular and Ange pushed the mug of water Nicky had put on the table beside them into her daughters hands. She put it to her lips and gratefully took a sip. "Mum, I'm scared." Chloe whispered and Ange went from crouched in front of her daughter and took a seat on the couch beside her and pulled her daughters shaking body into hers. "What's brought this on? She asked. Chloe told her mum what Sophie had said. It was jumbled but Ange was able to decipher the main points from her daughters confused thoughts. "She had pictures mum. Proof, and so many bruises, probably broken ribs, Evan went to the gym

Yesterday but he must have been not to the gym but to hurt Sophie." Chloe wasn't making much sense but Ange knew her daughter well enough to understand.

"Okay darling. I'm going to get Nicky or someone to come and sit with you and I'm going to get Sophie transferred before Evan comes on shift and then we're going to talk about what we're going to do. But you're safe now okay. I'm here."

"Hey is everything okay? I saw Cam in the lift and he told me you were upset." Chloe's brother Dom rushed into the staff room.

"You're doing okay now aren't you Chloe. Will you be okay if I go and sort a few things for ten minutes and you sit here with Dom?" Her daughter nodded weakly still breathing slightly irregularly. "Why doesn't Dom make you some sugary tea."

"N.no sugar." Chloe hiccuped.

"Dom put sugar in her tea and make sure she drinks it. I'm putting my foot down Chloe, you need it." Ange said firmly and Chloe didn't have any fight left in her.

Dom placed the tea in front of her. "Do you want to talk?" He asked and she weekly shook her head so they just sat. One of her hands in his. She looked so scared and so much younger than she was. He'd never seen her looking like this. He'd seen happy Chloe. Funny Chloe, tired Chloe and even angry Chloe but nothing like this. She just looked lost. And he knew then. That no matter that they'd not grown up together. She was his little sister and he loved her so much.