As always I do not own the show, just wish I did!

Thank you as always to Debbie and Steph for editing this for me and to everyone who has taken the time to review.

I know nothing about the army or medicine or hospitals – call everything in this chapter creative licence!

Enjoy….

Chapter seven

She couldn't breathe, her chest was tightening, and the walls were starting to move. All she knew was that she needed to get of the theatre, the small enclosed space where her entire world was spinning on an axis. She needed to get out of there.

"Molly!"

Someone was talking to her, but their voice was distorted. All she could see was his happy smiling face as he kissed her during that one memorable night years ago. Now, here he was on an operating table fighting for his life after major surgery and there was nothing that she could do to help him.

What the hell was she going to tell Sam? Her beautiful, gorgeous, adventurous little boy who was starting to ask her about his father. Her mind was racing and the tightening in her chest was getting worse.

She was walking, running, down the corridor on autopilot and found the women's restrooms, burst through the door and into the first cubicle and vomited what little food was in her stomach.

"Molly," she heard Kate approach her and could sense her sitting down beside her.

"Who is with him?" Molly whispered as the tears streamed down her face.

"Dr Patel is reassessing his leg," Kate replied "Molly, talk to me."

"I always wanted to see him again, to tell him about Sam, but Christ not like this," Molly sniffed. "I can't breathe Kate!"

"You're having a panic attack Molly," Kate said as she squeezed her hand "I need you to breathe slowly, in through your nose and out via your mouth."

Molly nodded her head, even though she knew what to do she listened to Kate's instructions as she started to count to five slowly. Within a few minutes she had her breathing back under control and had returned to normal.

"I'm okay," she whispered as she carefully stood up and walked over to the sink and washed her face. "I mean, I'm not okay but you know what you mean."

"I do. Jesus Molly, I should be sending you home under the circumstances but you're the best nurse on my team and I really need you to be on your A game tonight."

"I will be, it was just a shock," Molly replied. She wanted to hold her son desperately right now but at the same time she didn't want to leave the hospital. She may have only spent a few short hours with him years ago but suddenly she didn't want to leave him and that feeling alone was confusing her. Kate stayed by her side as they left the toilets and made the short walk back to the recovery room where Charles was lying unconscious on a hospital bed, wired to many machines.

Molly could hear Kate talking in the background as she continued to try and calm herself down, her face never leaving his. "Is he stable?" she heard Kate ask one of the other nurses who replied that he was and they started the slow process of moving him up to the room set aside on their ward.

They arrived a few minutes later and Jac had successfully cleared and cleaned the side room and was standing waiting at the doors when they arrived. She took one look at Molly's face and knew instantly that something was wrong.

They carefully moved him into the room and set up all the equipment that was needed, not only to keep him alive but also to monitor his condition. When she finally left the room to get a chart started Jac pulled her aside.

"What's going on Molly?" Jac asked quietly.

"That's him," Molly whispered as they stared through the glass wall into the room.

"Who?"

"Sam's dad."

Jac looked back through the glass to the man lying in the bed. Her eyes narrowed and then widened in recognition, her mouth falling open in shock as she took in what Molly had just said. She looked back at Molly and pulled her friend in for a hug, her face falling "He will be okay Mols, he has the best people looking after him."

Molly smiled sadly "We don't know if he's gonna make it Jac, I need to call Dan and see how Sam is."

"He's fine, and they're both fast asleep," Jac replied "Dan text just before he went to bed, Sam fell asleep at the start of the football and has been out for the count since then. If you ring now you'll only wake him up."

Molly nodded her head, suddenly realising the time, as Kate came out of the room.

"While you're both here, we have another problem," Jac said quietly as she addressed both women.

"What now?" Kate asked as she leant against the doorframe and folded her arms.

"Your nurse that is supposed to be starting at 7am?"

"Carrie?" Molly replied cautiously.

"Another victim to the stomach bug, she's called in sick. Jasmin is still coming in at 5am to cover you Mols and I've organised more agency cover for tomorrow," Jac explained. "One of the agency nurses offered to stay on during the night until Jasmin comes in."

"That was good of her," Molly whispered. Everything Jac said went completely over her heard. Her only thoughts were of him. Her patient.

"Thanks, Jac, at least that nurse stayed on, this man needs constant observations," Kate fumed as she tried to think. "Molly go home."

"What, no… I can't," Molly frowned as she turned and looked at her friend and boss.

"Technically, you should not be anywhere near Major James with your history but you're the best nurse I have. I know tomorrow is supposed to be your day off but I'd rather you were looking after him than someone who's only been on the ward a few months," Kate said.

"I can stay on until after Jasmin arrives and you can take over from me," Jac offered "I'm used to twenty-four hour shifts when the shit hits the fan downstairs."

"Molly I know this is hard but please go home, cuddle Sam and at least try and get some sleep. It will give you a chance to get over the shock."

Molly listened to what they were saying and nodded her head. It made sense, what they were saying, but it was the little voice in her head telling her to stay that was confusing her the most. She needed to do something to help, she had too, she owed it to him and Sam to help him. She was supposed to be off tomorrow and taking Sam to the cinema, but she knew that wouldn't be happening now, all she wanted was to be here, beside him, beside Charles.

"I can drop Sam at nursery," Molly said as she turned and looked back into the room. "They owe me a day anyway."

"I can get Nick to pick Sam up when he's collecting Chloe at lunchtime," Kate offered.

"Okay," Molly replied still looking at Charles, in somewhat of a daze at everything that happened in the last hour. She would go home and hug Sam but she knew that sleep would be hard to come by.

Five hours later

She managed some sleep but not much. Every time she closed her eyes all she could see was Charles lying on the operating theatre. Her thoughts were consumed with the fact that she'd been staring straight into his brain and she hadn't even realised it was him. As soon as she got home, she went into Sam's bedroom and smiled at the light snores coming from him. He was sprawled out on his back, arms and legs out to the sides like a starfish lying stretched out on the bed. She carefully got into bed beside him and kissed him gently, falling asleep almost immediately with her sweet boy beside her. The adrenaline and shock of the last few hours finally kicking in. Although sleep had come in fits and starts. If it wasn't the nightmares that woke her it was Sam kicking her shins. She was almost glad when morning arrived.

As soon as she had dropped Sam at the nursery, she stopped for a bagel and coffees for herself, Jac and Kate. The ward was still relatively quiet when she walked through the doors as she walked straight towards the nurse's station where Jac was currently leaning, yawning and staring into Charles room.

"How is he?" Molly asked as she handed Jac her coffee.

"Morning Mols," Jac smiled "He's responding well to treatment, although that infection in his leg hasn't helped but the fever has peaked. He's still not out of the woods though," Jac replied as she took a long sip of coffee "You're a lifesaver."

Molly frowned as she saw Kate walking around Charles' bed. "Did she go home?"

"No, but she got a few hours' sleep in her office until the stupid cleaner dropped something, talk about scaring people to death! Literally, some of the heart monitors started going off!"

"If it's who I think it is that wouldn't surprise me," Molly smiled "Does it all the time. I'm going to leave my stuff in the locker room, I'll be right back."

"Okay," Jac smiled "Molly?" she watched as her friend turned and looked at her.

"Might not be the best time to say this, but go girl, you bagged yourself a hottie!" Jac said quietly as she pointed to Charles room.

Molly rolled her eyes in response as she walked into the locker room and dumped her bag and jacket. She quickly checked her phone and gently traced Sam's grinning face as he ate his cereal in nursery. He'd been upset at not going to the cinema, that was until he arrived at nursery and discovered that they would be painting today. He loved painting, well he loved everything that was messy! She put her phone away and took a deep breath before leaving the room.

She returned quickly to the ward just as Kate was leaving Charles' room.

"Hey, did you get any sleep?" Kate asked her.

"A few hours, what about you?"

"Same."

"Thank god I'm going home soon!" Jac smiled "Definitely been an interesting day."

"Jac, do you want to go through the board and where we are with the other patients with Molly while I devour this bagel and coffee," Kate asked as she sat down in one of the chairs. "Then Molly, Major James will need a bed bath, I was going to ask Jac to do it but since her shift is finished can you do it, I mean it's not like you haven't seen it before." She mocked.

Molly was actually speechless as she took in the smirks on her two friend's faces. "You two are unbelievable."

"At least it wasn't to insert a catheter," Jac whispered as she tried not to laugh.

"Well let's see how things go today but you could be changing his catheter later on Molly," Kate smirked.

"Go on, keep it coming," Molly laughed "Mock me in my misery."

"Sorry couldn't resist," Kate smiled "But take it as a good sign that we're cracking jokes, his condition is improving by the hour."

"But what about the infection?" Molly asked.

"The antibiotics are working. I'll give it another few hours and see how things are and look into reducing his sedation and see if he starts to wake up."

"Really?" Molly asked anxiously but starting to feel hopeful for the first time in hours.

"I'm still being cautious and at the moment we really don't know what's happening until he wakes up, only then can we truly know how he is. Speaking of which, the scanner broke down overnight, so there will be a delay before we can send him back down again for a follow up." Kate explained. "Oh, and his family will be here soon, just thought I'd give you a chance to prepare yourself."

"Thanks," Molly replied taking a deep breath "Better go and get this bed bath over and done with then."

She didn't see the smirks on their faces, but she knew they were there. She gathered everything she needed as she walked back into his room and closed the door and blinds. It was her to turn to smirk at Kate and Jac. Everyone deserves some privacy for what she was about to do.

She took a second before turning around but when she did, the sight still surprised her. In a way it was reminiscent to the morning after their night together, the sun was starting to come through his window illuminating him in a glow. He looked peaceful, in a deep sleep. A stranger would hardly believe just how close to death he had been.

Molly walked over to the bed, her eyes never leaving him. The only sound in the room came from the monitors. The oxygen mask had been removed which meant he was breathing on his own, another good sign, she thought to herself. His skin colour had also improved slightly from almost grey to pale.

Stop stalling she told herself, it wasn't like it was the first bed bath she ever had to do, it was just the first one that she'd had to do on someone she cared about deeply.

OGOGOGOGOG

"So, what do you think?" Molly asked carefully, her eyes never leaving Charles as Kate checked his chart.

"The army want to transfer him as soon as possible to their own hospital," Kate frowned.

"Is that wise?" Molly asked "I mean is it not too soon?"

"It is, and that's what I told them," Kate said as she finished writing in his chart "He's currently in one of the best head trauma units in the country and although his condition is improving and he's breathing on his own, I am not convinced he is out of the woods just yet."

Molly sighed and moved closer to the bed, taking a second to take in his appearance. Sam really did take his after his father, the dark brown hair and similar nose were a dead give away.

"How are you doing Molly?" Kate asked carefully.

"My head is fragged," Molly smiled softly. "I always wanted to see him again, to tell him about Sam obviously, but also, I don't know, maybe just get to know him better and now…no one has ever made me feel the way he made me feel that night. Needed. Wanted. Like I was the only person in the world."

"He's here now."

"I know. But this isn't how I imagined meeting him again. I'm scared, what if he wants nothing to do with Sam or me? All this time I thought we had a connection, what if I was wrong?"

"But what if he had the same feelings for you?" Kate asked.

"Come on" she scoffed. That's never going to happen, someone like him," Molly said as she nodded towards the bed "Does not fall for someone like me." She said pointedly.

"You never know," Kate said. "Stop putting yourself down Molly."

"After everything that's happened, I doubt he'll even remember me," Molly said quietly.

"You sure you're okay to look after him?" Kate asked, the concern evident in her voice. She knew she was breaking all kinds of rules letting Molly even within an inch of him but she really was the best nurse she had, and if anyone needed the best level of care right now it was Major James.

She knew it was a risk though. The rule about not treating your own family was there for a reason. You can't emotionally detach from family. It's to protect both the patient and doctor or nurse. But she was quietly confident Molly would be ok. She was a professional. She'd never let her down before. And this was a unique situation. There weren't really any hard and fast rules for someone you'd had a one night stand with and ended up pregnant by but hadn't seen ever again.

Molly nodded "I want to, I have too," she was interrupted by a knock on the door and one of the nursing assistants entered "Sorry Ms Devlin, his family have arrived, they are in the family room"

"Thanks, can you make some tea and coffee please, I'll be there in a few minutes," Kate replied as she took one further look at Charles who was still unconscious on the bed. "Are you sure you're ready to face them?"

"I have to meet them sometime, may as well be now," Molly replied as she straightened herself up and walked out the small room.

Kate smiled and patted Molly on the shoulder as a supportive gesture before leaving the room.

Kate spent the next twenty minutes meeting with Archie and Anna James and another man, who had been introduced as Charles' best friend, Elvis. She'd gone through with them everything that happened since Charles had arrived at the hospital the night before. She told them that he would need another operation on his leg and that she was constantly observing for any other bleeds on the brain. She had also prepared them for what they were going to see when they entered his hospital room. There would be a lot of machines monitoring him, but he was breathing by himself, a nurse was constantly checking on him and making sure he was comfortable.

She also warned them that the future was uncertain, and that they would not know anything until Charles regained consciousness, something which she, as his doctor, was confident he would. He could be fine, no side effects and make a complete recovery. Or there could be side effects from the both the injury and the operation, further bleeds on the brain, memory loss, problems with his speech and movement, all issues that she had raised with the army and insisted that he remained on her ward until she was happy to release him and help start the recovery and physio on his leg.

They all had walked slowly and carefully down the corridor to his hospital room and when they arrived, his best friend, Elvis, had decided to hold back and let Mr and Mrs James have a moment alone with their son.

When Kate opened the door to the room and led them in, she heard the short gasps of shock from his parents, as Molly walked over and led his mother into the chair by his bed.

"Mr and Mrs James, this is Nurse Dawes, she is the nurse in charge of your son's care," Kate explained. "Everything okay?" she asked as she caught Molly's attention.

"The dressing on his leg needed changing," Molly replied with a small smile, hoping that she didn't sound as nervous as she felt. "Let me get rid of this and I'll be right back. Can I get you both anything?" she asked the couple.

"No thank you," Mrs James smiled as she tried to take in what was happening. "I can't believe this has happened."

"Is there anyone else we can contact for you?" Kate asked them quietly "A wife, girlfriend perhaps?" A standard question but one she knew Molly would be desperate to know the answer too.

"He's divorced and please, do not under any circumstances contact that woman," Archie James stated calmly and clearly.

"There is no one else that we are aware of," Anna said, her gaze never leaving her son.

"I'll be right back," Molly smiled as she left the room and quickly headed to the small room they used to dispose of the old dressings and wash hands. Her head was spinning again. He was divorced. She remembered what he had told her that night they met about his fiancee, did he finally confront her about it she wondered and realised that now was not the time to be thinking such things. She just needed to remember that if a wife turned up not to let her in, his parents had been adamant about that. She took a deep breath and counted to ten before she headed back out into the corridor.

She could see the man standing outside the room dressed casually in t-shirt and jeans and thought no more about it as she walked over to the nurse's station and grabbed some antibacterial hand gel. As she rubbed it on her hand's she could feel the man staring at her. She turned to face him.

For Elvis, the minutes he stood outside that hospital room had felt like hours. He'd gotten the phone call from Archie to tell him about Charles late last night and as they'd been in London, he'd offered to drive them up to Bath, constantly ringing the army family liaison officer for any news.

He was probably as shocked as Archie and Anna had been when the doctor had gone through Charles' injuries and the prognosis. He knew he had to be strong for Anna and Archie, which was the reason why he let them go ahead into the room without him. He wanted to give them a few minutes alone with their son, but in fact, he needed a few minutes alone to simply process everything that had happened.

He had spotted her first. The small, thin nurse with the dark hair tied back in a braid. She looked familiar to him but he couldn't think from where. He saw her enter a small room carrying a bedpan and a few minutes later watched her leave the same room and head back in his direction. He knew he was staring but he couldn't help it. She looked so familiar it was starting to annoy him.

"Can I help you?" she had asked him matter of factly.

"Come to see my friend," Elvis replied as he pointed towards Charles' room. "Just giving his parents a few minutes alone with him."

"That's good of you," she replied as she turned towards the room and was about to speak when he interrupted her.

"Sorry, but do I know you?" Elvis asked, frowning, as he racked his brain, he was usually good at recognising names and faces.

"Sorry mate, never met you before," Molly replied, lying slightly. She remembered him as the man Jac had made a prat of herself in front of on the night she'd met Charles.

"You look really familiar, and I never forget a pretty face."

"Like I said never met you before," Molly replied more sharply than she intended. "Sorry."

Her heart was racing as she turned and walked into Charles' room with Elvis two steps behind her. She heard him mutter something like Jesus Christ when he saw Charles lying in the bed.

Molly cleared her throat as she lifted the IV bag on the table and started to change it. As she was doing it Charles' parents were asking her questions about the machines and what was happening. Explaining everything to them had helped Molly to settle the butterflies in her stomach.

"Thank you," Anna smiled "I'm sorry but I've forgotten your name again."

"You can call me Molly," she replied, as she smiled at the older woman and finished attaching the drip to Charles.

At the mention of her first name, Elvis frowned and slightly tilted his head, he could only think of one Molly that he had heard of and as he watched her, he thought back to the night of Charles' stag night and the brunette that he'd seen very briefly in the bar. He tried to picture her with long brown hair? Was it her? Then he caught the very slight look that Nurse Molly gave Charles and he knew instantly who she was.

The woman Charles had dreamt of and talked about none stop for the last three years, was one of the people keeping him alive.

So Charles made it through the night and Elvis recognises Molly. What will happen next?

Remember Charles is only on Molly's ward because ITU is full.

More coming soon!