Dancingwithmyshadow6: Me too :-)
Ltfl: Let's hope so :-)
CasualtyFanForever81: Thank you. More to come.
natzcool: I'm pleased to hear that it was worth it.
Chapter Twenty-One
Alicia couldn't help but worry about her mentor.
After working with Lily for the majority of her time at the ED, she'd learnt a few things about her. Lily struggled to deal with stress, especially in upsetting situations like the time her father passed away. The fact that Lily had disappeared from work for a couple of days, and the fact that Elle and Connie were having numerous secret meetings was pretty concerning. Not just to her but to everyone who worked with Lily.
"Mrs Beauchamp," Alicia whispered softly, as she walked over to the clinical lead. "Can I have a word?"
"Not right this minute, Doctor Munroe," Connie sighed. "Doctor Hardy is your mentor today. Speak to him if there's a problem."
"There isn't a problem," Alicia said, blocking her path so that she couldn't walk away from her. "Is Lily okay?" She asked anxiously, deciding that it was best to just come out with it. "I'm worried about her."
"She's fine," Connie answered quietly. "Get back to work, okay?"
"She's not though, is she?" Alicia carried on. "She came into work this morning and none of us have seen her all day. Something's going on."
"Look, Doctor Munroe," Connie said, clutching the notes that she was holding to her chest. "Lily is going through a rough time at the moment, okay? Now Doctor Gardner and myself will be talking to the rest of the staff about it, but we need to make sure that Lily is okay before we do anything."
"Is it to do with her dad?" Alicia asked.
She still felt guilty after the fancy dress party scenario. She'd just wanted to get back at Lily, for everything that she had done for her, but she didn't know that that day had been the anniversary of her father's death.
"No, Alicia," Connie said. "It isn't. Just get back to work for me please. I know you're worried and I understand that, but right now I need all of my doctors working harder than ever. We have a doctor down right now, remember?"
"Sure," Alicia said, forcing a smile. "Thank you."
Connie nodded and sighed wordlessly as the young doctor skipped back to cubicles. Elle had witnessed the conversation and gave Connie a comforting smile before making her way over to check if everything was okay.
"Archie's been abusing her," Connie whispered to Elle. Elle's eyes widened, unable to process what Connie had just said. "I know," the clinical lead sighed, gesturing to the notes. "I've currently got her in my office, and Iain is with her. Do me a favour and keep things settled out here please. Alicia has already been asking questions."
"Yes, of course," Elle promised. "Of course."
Connie thanked her and strolled away to her office. Lily was sat on the sofa, holding an ice pack to her sore cheek, whilst Iain sat next to her. He'd started some conversation about pizza toppings and although he was trying his hardest to make Lily laugh, she wasn't.
"Do you want me to hold that for you?" Iain offered, taking hold of the ice pack.
"No," Lily whined, shoving him away from her. She just wanted to go home.
"How's that looking?" Connie sighed, shutting the door behind her, before sitting down on the other side of Lily. "Can I see?" Lily clenched her teeth together and reluctantly removed the ice pack from her face, allowing Connie to examine her. "Okay, that still looks quite sore. Keep it on for a little while, yeah?"
Lily kept her teeth clenched, as she slapped the ice pack back onto her face.
"What happened?" Connie asked her gently. Lily didn't even answer her. "Archie needs to be reported, Lily, so it's important that you tell me what he's done to you. This isn't the first time that he's hit you, is it?" Lily shook her head, her gaze fixated on the carpet of the office. "What sort of things does he say to you?"
"Just tell her, Lily," Iain encouraged her, giving her back a comforting rub. "You told me."
"Y...You can't report it," Lily said, shaking her head in dispair. "You don't understand, do you? He only does these things because I deserve it. He loves me, I'm just not good enough for him."
"You don't deserve it," Connie said sympathetically, feeling at a complete loss. What was she supposed to do? Lily felt as if she deserved the hatred that Archie gave to her.
"I do," Lily replied in a choked up voice, a single tear rolling down the bridge of her nose and dropping onto her leg. "He says that I need to lose weight. I...I try, but it's never enough. I'm disgusting, and it...It makes him angry."
She paused before continuing.
"He doesn't hit me that much," she whispered. "Honestly. He hardly ever lays a hand on me."
"But the things that he says to you counts as abuse," Iain mentioned. "Emotional abuse."
"Iain's right," Connie said. "Come on, you're smart. I know it may seem as if he loves you, but you can't carry on living with someone like this Lily. It's hurting you, and the police need to be informed. What if he completely flips one day, huh? You could get seriously injured."
"Maybe that's the best thing for me," Lily said under her breath.
"It is not the best thing for you," Connie said. "We need to report this."
Lily sniffed and blinked back her tears. She dropped the ice pack into her lap and reached up to wipe at her watery eyes. Iain sighed wordlessly and placed an arm around her shoulder. This time, she didn't push him away.
"You need to remember something here, Lily," Iain said. "There isn't anything wrong with you. There's something wrong with him."
"I can't call the police though," Lily whispered. "He...He'll hate me."
"But they'll be able to do something," Connie said. "You can't let Archie control you like this."
"I know!" Lily shouted, eventually letting out the anger that she'd been keeping in for so long. "I know the things that he says are awful, I know that he shouldn't have hit me, and I know that the police will be able to help! I just can't though, I...I can't."
"Why not?" Connie asked.
"Why do you think?" Lily spat, as Iain rubbed at her shoulder to try and calm her. "I...I don't want to go back to being alone."
Iain hung his head and kept his arm around Lily, hating to hear her say such things. He wished that he could say something, but Connie was sat there, and Lily clearly wasn't in the right frame of mind.
"You're not going to be alone," Connie said. "You'll find someone one day, and you don't need to have a relationship to be happy. You have friends, you have a great job. You need to look at it this way Lily, isn't being alone better than being in a relationship that physically and emotionally hurts you every day?"
Lily shrugged her shoulders and said, "I guess. All I've ever wanted is marriage and kids though, it's on my five year plan."
"I think you need to try and forget about the five year plan," Connie said. "And just take things as they come."
"Why did he hit you earlier, Lily?" Iain asked.
"Iain," Connie warned and shook her head.
"No, I'm not saying that you did something to anger him," Iain said, trying to put Lily's mind at ease. "But...What brought it on?" He had a rough idea and he prayed that it wasn't true.
Lily gulped and glanced across at him, her chest tightening. "He found out that I wasn't working last night," she mentioned quietly.
"You shouldn't have to lie to him, Lily," Iain said. "A relationship is built on trust and honesty. You should be able to go whereever you want and see whoever you want."
"I'll tell you what I think we should do," Connie sighed, and gave Lily's arm a rub. "A lot of people in this department are worried about you at the moment, including your mentee. I know you'd rather this stay between us but they will need to know, darling."
Lily shook her head and whimpered, "no. What are they going to think of me?"
"Don't worry about that," Connie said. "They're not going to think any less of you, Lily. Of course they're going to feel sorry for you but..."
"I don't want that though," Lily said, clenching her teeth together once more.
"Come on, we can cross that bridge when we come to it," Connie sighed. "Just let me finish with what I was saying. Elle and myself will arrange a staff meeting and you don't necessarily need to be there, we'll contact the police and we'll report Archie. We also need to look at getting you some help and support as well though, because that's just as important."
"Like what?" Lily mumbled. "I don't want to talk to Ben."
"Is there any reason for that?" Connie asked. "Because Ben is a qualified counsellor and you spoke to me perfectly fine earlier on. So you can speak to people, Lily. You may not like it but you can do it." Lily just shrugged her shoulders. "What's the issue?"
"I just..." Lily let out a heavy sigh and stammered, "I just...I...I don't feel comfortable talking to a man."
"Well you're okay around me," Iain mentioned.
"You're different," Lily pointed out.
Iain exchanged glances with Connie over the top of Lily's head, and bit down on his lip. Connie gave a sympathetic smile and nodded, knowing that Archie was probably the reason for Lily running out of Ben's office. After everything that he'd done to her, being around the opposite sex obviously made her feel uncomfortable.
"Okay, so we can have a look around at counsellors," Connie suggested. "Female counsellors, and support workers. Does that sound like a good plan?"
Lily nodded reluctantly, knowing that she secretly didn't have much of a choice.
"I'll call the police for you," Connie said, stroking at her hair. "And we can try and arrange a visit for them to come and have a chat."
Just a bit of a filler chapter but the next one will have a bit more to it. Thanks for all the reads and comments guys, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I'm currently planning some more Lily and Iain stories as well :-) x