A/N: Thank you all for the reviews, both on this and the other two stories. I've got a few more ideas lined up for some different fics, so keep an eye out for some new things coming up! Xx
It was 7am, and the 6 medics were stood on the cold concrete platform of Holby City train station. The sun was beginning to burn through the clouds, but the temperature was still far from comfortable and Jac, who was shivering slightly in black leggings and a long sleeved black top was grateful to discover a small kiosk advertising 'hot drinks', magazines, confectionary and travel supplies, along the platform.
"I'm going to get a coffee. Any of you want anything?" Jac questioned, looking around at the group of doctors.
"Coffee please Jac, no milk, two sugars." Serena replied, nodding gratefully. She'd come a little better prepared, with her thick Holby city hospital hoodie draped around her, but she was still looking forward to the warmth of the train.
"Same please, Jac." Bernie agreed.
"Oh, can I have a hot chocolate please Miss Naylor?" Morven asked, shivering in her thin top and jeans.
"Jasmine?" Jac encouraged, their relationship had not got off to the best of starts but both were trying to make more of an effort at work, and this conference could provide the perfect opportunity for them to begin to get to know each other.
"Urm, no thank you Jac, I'm ok." Jasmine replied timidly. In reality she was freezing, but she didn't want to hassle her sister.
Jac nodded, and with a tilt of her head nodded for Zosia to come and help her. They walked over to the kiosk, Jac placing the orders from the others before asking Zosia what she was having.
"Um, caramel latte please." Zosia asked, thanking her mentor.
"Yes, two of those please. And another hot chocolate." Jac asked, before taking her purse out of her handbag and pulling out her card.
The barista who was making the drinks placed them into cardboard cup holders, passing them over the counter with a smile as Jac tapped her card against the machine.
"I'm really looking forward to this week Jac, I really am." Zosia smiled sincerely. It was true, she was looking forward to getting to spend time with Jac, the two of them had been getting on extremely well since they had started their research projects together, and had really grown to enjoy each other's company.
"Mmm, me too. And we have a fair bit of free time, apparently." Jac murmured, quietly, so only Zosia could hear.
The pair exchanged a look, walking back towards the platform where everyone was stood.
Moments later, they were back with the rest of the group, and Jac started to distribute the coffees. Handing over Bernie and Serena's, she then passed one of the hot chocolates to Jasmine and one to Morven.
"Oh Jac, I didn't need anything. Thank you, though." She smiled gratefully, inhaling the warm chocolaty aroma rising from the cup.
Taking her own drink, she held on to Zosia's as well whilst she deposited the cardboard trays into the bin, before passing it back to her.
"Train shouldn't be long now, and it looks like it's going to be a decent day – sunny in London, apparently." Bernie supplied, her arm around Serena as they looked up at the departure board.
"I hope so! It's not too bad, as long as it's not raining, but we've got the whole day today to do as we please so we may as well make the most of it. We should be in London by 9:30." Jac agreed, sipping her drink as she looked out towards the tracks. They were right – the sun was beginning to melt away the clouds and it was looking very much like it was going to be a nice day.
"I was thinking, maybe when we get to London we should check into the hotel, then go and get breakfast somewhere together? The hotel we're staying in is 5*, and apparently it has a spa and a gym which should be pretty good." Serena suggested, draining the last of her drink as the train approached the platform.
"Yeah, sounds good to me." Jac agreed, looking forward to the prospect of a luxurious hotel and a spa.
The group boarded the train, sitting separately in the same carriage. Serena, Bernie, Morven and Jas all occupied one table, and three rows of seats back, Jac and Zosia sat together. The train was packed, and everyone was just relieved to get a seat.
The train journey passed largely uneventfully – Jasmine and Morven sat chatting about their experiences of medical school with Serena and Bernie, who recounted some of the things that had happened in the army. Jac and Zosia were sat looking at their brightly highlighted speaking notes, sharing stories about their time on Darwin and different procedures that they both wanted to speak about at the conference.
However, after a little while, Jac and Zosia were becoming bored. They still had an hour left of their journey, and although they were dedicated to their research they decided that there would be no harm in stopping there with it for the day.
"I'm really looking forward to going to London. It's childish I know, but I just love it, going somewhere else. Like, it's so busy and there's always so much going on. I've always loved London." Zosia smiled, putting her research away into her bag.
"Yes, it's a lovely city, I love going to all of the posh places… I always wanted to be able to do that. Like, go into a shop or a restaurant and just buy something without really having to think about it." Jac revealed, smiling slightly as she remembered their first time she'd come down to London as a consultant – having the money to buy exactly what she wanted, she'd brought a whole new wardrobe and a brand new phone.
"I wish I could do that. I can barely afford my rent, and that's on a crappy little one bed flat… It's not even nice, the landlord is horrible though, he won't fix the boiler so it's been a fairly cold winter." Zosia sighed. She knew that one day she would become a registrar, and hopefully a consultant, and she'd be able to buy a flat or house, but it was hard on a junior's salary to afford a flat in Holby, and leaving wasn't an option.
"Jesus Zosh, you should have said. Renting round here, it's an absolute nightmare, but no heating or hot water? You can't stay there." Jac considered, absolutely disgusted to hear about Zosia's living conditions. Really, landlords like that were absolutely disgusting.
"I've got no choice, Jac. I have to stay, there's nowhere else available that I can afford that isn't exactly the same. I was fine when I shared with Dom and Arthur, we had a lovely flat. I don't know, I'm struggling enough as it is. I've got to find the money for a new laptop, and my phone is smashed beyond recognition, and the oven stopped working ages ago so I need to get that fixed." Zosia sighed, rolling her eyes. It was sad really – when she'd lived with Dom and Arthur the flat was always lovely, with fresh flowers and cooking and lovely decoration. It'd been easy to afford between the three of them, and although Zosia wanted to do the same with her flat, the budgets she had set herself unfortunately didn't stretch that far.
"Ok, I get that you can't afford a flat. But there must be some other option, can't you rent a room? Or stay with someone until you have the deposit for somewhere decent, a better rental or a house?" Jac asked, taking off her glasses. It was obvious that Zosia's living conditions were in a bit of a state, and although she was her boss the two were very close, and Jac was pained to think of Zosia suffering.
"I've looked, but the rooms are either in student houses, which is no good with my shifts, in a worse condition than my flat, or rented by creepy old men, and I'd rather not be part of that." Zosia sighed uncomfortably.
"Zosia, this can't carry on. You must have been absolutely freezing in the winter, Jesus, why didn't you tell me? I could have sorted something." Jac questioned, her voice full of concern.
"Well, there's nothing you could have done. It's my own fault, I signed a contract and I'm tied in for 18 months, and there's still 9 months to go. It's fine, it'll be summer soon and hopefully by about December I'll be out. I've slept in the oncall room when it's been really cold, or taken on extra night shifts." Zosia said with a sad smile, she did hate her situation but there was so little she could do to change it.
"Ok. Well, when you get back, I want you to pack your stuff up. I don't want you staying there, and I've got a perfectly good house, which is much too big for me and Emma. Come and stay with us." Jac offered. Really, it made perfect sense, the two were often working together until god knows when in the morning on their research, and there was no way she was going to let Zosia carry on the way she had been doing.
"Jac, I can't. It wouldn't be fair on you, and I have the contract. I can't just leave, he's a nasty man, there's not a chance he would let me go." Zosia smiled sadly. It was so lovely for Jac to think of her like that, she really was so thoughtful.
"So?" Jac snorted, laughing. "I'll sort that, do you really think he'll argue with me?" She questioned, her face showing how unlikely she thought that would be.
"Jac, it's not that I don't appreciate it, but I can't do that – really, I can't. You've got Emma to think of, the last thing you need is me hanging around and getting in the way." Zosia sighed.
"Honestly, I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want you there. And come on, it's bound to make things easier for me, another pair of hands and all that. I wouldn't need to worry about you then, and we'd spend less nights working late in the hospital if we could do it from home." Jac reasoned, it was true, she really did want Zosia to come and stay.
"Ok, well I'll think about it – at least for this week I don't have to worry about a thing." Zosia laughed, smiling at Jac. Really, it was a relief she might have a way out of her flat, but even if she did not she had a week to enjoy herself, learn some things and hopefully make a name for herself and the hospital at the conference.
Further down the carriage, Bernie and Serena were laughing to themselves. They too had grown bored, and at Bernie's insistence had begun to play a game with Morven and Jas.
"Bernie darling, you know I love you, but don't you think we're a little old to be playing would you rather?" Serena drawled, laughing as she spoke.
"Maybe. Probably. But we used to play it all the time on the front and it was always a good laugh." Bernie replied, taking Serena's hand in her own.
"Ok then, Jasmine, you start." Serena commanded, settling back down in her seat as she opened a bag of chocolate buttons, passing them around.
"Would you rather be able to read minds or be able to teleport?" Jasmine asked, looking around the group.
"Read minds, no question." Serena decided, Morven nodding in agreement.
"No, teleport. It would make life so easy!" Bernie smiled – maybe then she would actually manage to be on time to things, although it was unlikely.
"Ok, Serena, your go!" Morven laughed, it was always fun playing these sorts of games and especially with people she worked with.
"Ok. Would you rather have Henrik Hansen see you naked, or you see him naked?" Serena asked, with what could only be described as a giggle.
"Oh no. Serena, that's awful, neither is good!" Jasmine laughed; she was ever so slightly traumatised by the mental images that came to mind.
"Well, I never said it was going to be nice!" Serena laughed, interested to see what the answers would be.
"Well, if we saw him naked it would always be awkward, because like, he'd be speaking to us about really important things or cases and we'd just be trying not to laugh, he'd be so embarrassed bless him. But then again, I don't think he'd ever be able to treat us the same way if he saw us naked either." Bernie laughed, attempting to apply logic to the situation.
"Yeah, but… I… Oh God, I think if either of those situations ever happened I'd have to leave and never return." Morven laughed, head in hands.
They continued to laugh, creating even more scenarios, each one worse than the first, for the rest of the journey, until an announcement came over the tannoy.
"The next station is London Waterloo. This train terminates here. Please collect all luggage, thank you for traveling with the first great western trains service."
Standing up, the Holby group of medics took their luggage, queuing up to leave the busy train and find the taxi to their hotel.
To be continued…