Nothing Breaks Like A Heart
As always I do not own the show and a huge thanks to Debbie for reading and editing this for me.
This is not the sequel I had promised instead I give you an update on the lives of our favourite family during the pandemic.
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One Year Later
Charles sighed as he sat down at the bottom of the stairs. He glanced at his watch, he knew her shift was only just finishing now so it would be at least another thirty minutes until she got here but he was impatient; he missed her desperately. He ran his hand through his dark curly hair and glanced over into the main lounge of his parent's house in Royal Terrace. The sun was shining outside, its rays were shining into the room covering it with brightness and light that seemed to have been missing the past few months.
It was ironic he thought to himself. Everything seems brighter, cleaner, fresher, right even knowing that she was coming home today.
"Is she here yet?" Sam shouted as he all but flew down the stairs only stopping in time to stand beside his father.
"Not yet Scamp," Charles smiled up as his son's excited face. "Mummy is probably saying goodbye to everyone, I am just impatient."
Sam frowned as Charles phone beeped and he smiled as he read the text message, 'On my way!'
"That was from mummy, she is in her car now and will be here soon!" Charles said as he ruffled Sam's hair. His son's reaction to that piece of news was to run down the last few steps and all but skid his way into the kitchen where his grandparents were sitting drinking their coffees.
"Mummy is coming home!" Sam yelled as Charles smiled.
It had been a hell of a few months for them all, not only the James family but to everyone the world over.
He could remember hearing the news reports at the start of the year about a new virus being discovered in China. He had listened to the report and filed it in the back of his head, he was too preoccupied with how to keep Sam entertained until he returned to school after the Christmas and New Year break while Molly was in full blown wedding preparation mode.
The date had been set, the venue booked, and the outfits purchased. Their dream day was planned to perfection. Just Molly, Charles and Sam and twenty of their close family and friends. Everything was sorted they were literally counting down the days until their wedding at Easter at Malcesine Castle in Lake Garda, Italy.
It was February when the wheels started to fall apart. Coronavirus was now a major problem and it was becoming apparent that the cases in Italy were skyrocketing. The army captain in him, told Charles that it would not be long until UK would be as badly hit.
The excitement of their wedding was slowly evaporating and with it came worry. Could they really celebrate the joy of a wedding in a country that was suffering?
As March arrived the situation worldwide was getting worse, difficult decisions had to be made. Their dream wedding was cancelled or rather postponed to a safer time.
March 10th was the day that had changed everything for them. He came home to find Molly unpacking the wedding accessories from her suitcase and packing it with everyday items. When she saw him, she smiled sadly asking him to sit down.
Molly was in training to become ward sister at the local hospital but it just been confirmed that her training was on hold and she being redeployed to a specialist intensive care ward for Covid 19 patients.
Charles knew it was coming. His fiancée is one of the best nurses in the hospital so he had been mentally preparing himself for the fact that she would be in the front line of the incoming pandemic but to hear her say the words sent a chill through his heart.
"Why are you packing a suitcase then?" he asked her quietly and Molly explained that she had heard a few things on the hospital grapevine. The schools would be closed within the next week and the UK was heading to a full lockdown within ten to fourteen days. She knew she was walking headfirst into a disaster zone and wanted to protect her loved ones from the same fate. Jac and Dan, now happily married were going to be working in the same ward as her and offered her the use of their spare bedroom.
"I can't risk passing this on to you, all of you," Molly had sniffed as her head rested on his shoulder. "Its not fair! I should be packing for our wedding, not this."
"Then stay."
"I can't," she whispered. "Chances are I am going to catch this virus and I should be okay. Sam too. But what about you? You have had bloody brain surgery Charles and what about your parents? Your father has just been diagnosed as diabetic and…"
"I know Molly, I know," Charles had said as he came, knelt down facing her, cupping her face in his hands. "I've heard whispers at work too. Same as you about a lockdown. They are getting us training everyone on everything. From what I can tell, we are effectively going to be on call to assist whether at the hospitals, or with law and order."
"Never in my life did I ever think something like would happen?"
"Pandemic and panic shopping in the UK, fighting over loo roll," Charles sighed as he stood briefly to come and sit beside her. "It's going to be hard, but you are right. About moving out."
"I really don't want too…" she sobbed
"I don't want you to either, but hey, we have What's app, FaceTime, zoom and can video call each other every day," Charles said trying to reassure her. "Besides I think I'll pack a case for Sam and I too and move in with mum and dad. If the schools do close and I am called out at least we don't need to worry about childcare for Sam."
That was the last night he had held her, touched her, kissed her, made love to her. He had seen over the last few months, albeit with a two metres distance between them but he couldn't wait to actually hold her in his arms. Only then would he believe that she was back.
He smiled as he thought back to the many video calls over the past few weeks. Molly's aim had always been to make them happy and light when Sam was there, he would laugh and giggle when she appeared wearing her black face mask joking that she was so used to wearing them at work that she forgot to take it off. When Sam would leave the call and it was just the two of them, the mask was removed to reveal blemishes, cuts and bruises on her face. The first time he saw it Charles wanted to fight the patient who had harmed her, only for Molly to tell him that it was the affect of her PPE – personal protection equipment complete with the heat of the hospital had made her face look like a punch bag. She mentioned that her ears were red raw at the back due to the cord of the face masks and the eye goggles.
Anna, Charles mother upon hearing this had instantly started making something to ease Molly's discomfort. To Charles it looked like a small patch of cloth with two buttons on either end that Molly could hook the cord of her face mask around the buttons with the patch at the back of her head.
On the next video call Molly called Anna her hero and would get a massive hug and kiss from all the staff on the ward for saving their sanity.
It was surprising just how quickly they got into a routine, What's App and Zoom became their new best friends. When Molly was off during the day and not sleeping, she would help home schooling Sam by helping him with his reading and his early maths. When she was off at nights, she would join Charles in reading the traditional bedside story. Each night after Sam was fast asleep she tried to hide her tears at how much she missed everyone.
They told each other everything just like that always did only this time they also shared stories of how the pandemic had brought out the best and the worst in people. Molly was no stranger to receiving abuse from the general public. As a nurse it was more common than most people thought but this time it was different. It felt more personal, more vicious somehow.
She had stopped wearing her scrubs to and from work preferring to change at work and having her uniform cleaned in the hospital laundry, but some people didn't. She watched in horror online one afternoon as a care assistant received abuse in a store from another customer for bringing the virus into the shop and contaminating everyone. The girl had been out shopping for her client and the verbal abuse was every bit as bad as if it been physical.
Molly told Charles one evening how one of the other doctors on their ward had called into a supermarket to get some basics after work. On seeing his pass, he was allowed priority entry and then had been spat at by someone in the waiting queue. Every day they both heard and read about the abuse being received by key workers who were literally keeping the country running.
All that said, the generosity of the public had completely floored Molly. She often remarked to Charles that shop workers were often looked down by some members of the population and now they were being worshipped. She told him all about the disastrous day her and Jacs had with Dan's car when it broke down in the hospital car park and they ended up getting a taxi home. The driver being a friendly older man had been chatting to them throughout the short journey and when they arrived home and asked him how much the fare was, he replied that it was free. It was the least he could do in recognition of they what both were facing on a daily basis. Molly explained how she and Jacs had been mortified and had nearly cried in embarrassment but that was only the start of it.
Their neighbour's granddaughter made them rice crispy buns and left them in a small paper bag on their doorstep with a heart drawn it and a note thanking them.
Charles had smiled at that story and told Molly how his mother had started making buns and cakes for the staff in their local pharmacy as a thank you for what they were doing.
For Molly though, the most mortifying thing of the whole experience had been the clap for carers that was held every Thursday night at 8pm. She had missed the first one, in fact she only heard about the next day on the news and thought it was a nice thought but when it happened again and every week for the next few weeks, she appreciated the gesture but somehow she felt it embarrassing in getting all this praise for simply doing her job. Charles off course disagreed with her on this one. He was proud of her and was proud to show the world just how much.
He had her laughing on one call explaining that the first night of the clap a lot of curtain twitching was going on in Royal Crescent. He put it down to everyone looking outside to see if anyone else was standing on their doorstep and at 7:59pm he set down his cup of coffee and grabbed his jacket. He was going outside to stand and clap and support his fiancée, if the neighbours didn't like it, then tough! To his surprise nearly everyone joined him, he watched as one by one each neighbour came out and stood and clapped.
The second week the same thing happened. By week four a full blown social distanced event was planned with a bagpipe player standing in the centre of the green playing in tribute to all key workers. Charles was live streaming the event as Molly was watching from her own doorstep several miles away. To all their amusement, out came Anna with a frying pan and wooden spoon banging away with all her might telling everyone in the street that her daughter-in-law was nurse. Charles moved the phone so Molly could see Sam banging away on his own miniature drum kit that Anna had bought specially for the occasion.
The final clap for carers was probably the most emotional one for Molly. She was on duty and her break coincided with the event, so she, Jacs and Dan stood outside the main entrance of the hospital with several other members of staff and at eight started clapping. She could hear clapping and cheering in the distance along with car horns being blasted by those driving past. She saw the paramedics standing at their parking bay joining in. The police and fire brigade were parked at either ends of the car park and at the gates she saw him.
Charles and a small number of soldiers and officers from the training corps were standing on the pavement clapping and cheering their support for all emergency and key workers.
That had been a few weeks ago and now thankfully the peak of the pandemic was starting to pass. The number of infections and deaths were slowly on the decrease and some restrictions were being lifted, so Molly finally made the decision that it was safe to come home. She had been tested at the hospital and was showing no signs of the virus and was counting down the days until she could finally hug Sam and kiss Charles. Video calls were great for keeping in contact, but nothing would beat actually seeing them or holding them.
Charles smiled as the sound of Sam laughing in the kitchen which broke him from his thoughts. They had survived. If anyone had told him a year ago that they would be facing a global pandemic, he would have laughed at them and had them committed. Now, he, Molly, Sam, everyone had a new normal to get used too. This virus wouldn't disappear overnight so social distancing and wearing face coverings were all the new normal but, in that moment, as he sat on the stairs and heard the front door knock he knew that in that moment they had survived. They could adapt and change and they would always all be together.
He smiled as he stood up, jogged to the door to open it, knowing full well who was on the other side.
"Miss me?" Molly grinned back as he nodded his head indicating for her to come in. She was home, his Molly had come back to him.
"You have no idea," he smiled as the door closed and he pulled her in close for a kiss that lasted longer than it should have.
"Mummy!" Sam yelled as he flew down the hallway and into Molly's arms.
Their wedding may have been cancelled but in that moment it didn't matter. They knew that would be together no matter what happened or what life threw at them. They were a family and they were in love, and that would conquer everything.
Thank you all so much for reading this little one off continuation of this story. I had been thinking of how Coronavirus would impact this Molly and Charles since lockdown began but only having the time and confidence to share it now.
The pandemic has impacted everyone worldwide and everyone has a new normal to get too. This update is dedicated to everyone impacted by this virus.
As for Nothing Breaks Like a Heart, this is probably the closest I will get to a sequel. I had a plan. I did. I was supposed to go on holiday to Lake Garda and I was going to visit Malcesine Castle and use the trip to help plan for their wedding and the sequel but then Covid happened and the trip is on hold until next year.
Debbie did mention I just do a series of one shots like this one instead of a sequel and I will admit it is an option.
But if I am being honest my love of the television show has faded a little. I still absolutely love the first series and the whole Molly and Charles story but any ideas I have for future stories require me to watch the other series and if I am being honest, I simply cannot watch them. The magic is no longer there. (That and being distracted by another tv and book series - Outlander hasn't helped. I highly recommend it even though it is not my normal genre!)
I am not saying that this is my final Our Girl story who knows what the future holds but let's just imagine that Molly and Charles eventually marry and live happily ever after!
Thank you all so much for your love and support over the past few years!
Stay safe and stay well.