Ltfl: They are good for her :-)

Guest: Thank you so much. I absolutely love Lily and Iain. Lily is my favourite character and they're definitely my favourite couple. Thanks for saying I'm talented, that means a lot :-)

Dancingwithmyshadow6: Thank you. I have changed it.

Chapter Twenty-Four

"What do you mean you're not going into work today?" Gem shouted, as she followed Iain into the kitchen.

They were both already showered and dressed but Gem had been shocked to hear that Iain wasn't actually going into work at all. It had been a rough night and whilst Lily had stayed with Iain in his room, neither of them had slept at all. Lily had been in quite a bad way and Iain felt too scared to go to sleep, in case she went and did something again.

"I gave Mrs Beauchamp a ring this morning and explained what had happened with Lily," Iain told her. "She told me to keep her at home today and that I am more than welcome to stay and keep an eye on her. She's vulnerable right now Gem, gods know what she'll do if she's left alone."

"So I have to go into work on my own?" Gem suddenly looked petrified. "What am I going to do?"

"You've been working there for a while now, Gemma," Iain said. "You don't need me to hold your hand. Besides, it isn't as if we even have the same job role. I'm a paramedic, you serve tea and coffee."

"Thanks for bringing me down," Gem scoffed sarcastically.

"I wasn't," Iain said. "Grab some breakfast and head off to work. You'll be fine, I promise you."

Gem just nodded at him, moodily grabbing the box of cereal from one of the cupboards. She slammed the box down onto the table and sat down with her arms folded across her chest, watching as her brother put the kettle on.

"Is Lily okay?" She mumbled, giving a small shrug of the shoulders.

"Who knows?" He sighed, without looking her in the eyes. "I've been trying to help her. She just got angry and started throwing things." He glanced across at her and said, "she's really not well, Gem."

"She...She was making herself throw up?" Gem asked in a choked up voice. "I don't get it."

"Lily thinks that she needs to lose weight," Iain told his sister. "And her brain is thinking that binging and throwing up is the best way to do that. It's Bulimia, a dangerous illness that could kill someone one day."

"What?" Gem whispered, as small tears shone in her eyes.

"She isn't going to die though," Iain said. "Hey. We're getting her help, aren't we? I just...I...I bloody hate what this stupid man has done to her." He opened one of the cupboards and slammed it shut with a pained scream. Gem flinched in her chair and gulped nervously. "Sorry," he apologised, noticing her scared expression.

"It's okay," Gem said. "I hate him too."

"Are you okay?" He asked her. "You...You looked pretty upset last night."

"Well it's Lily, isn't it?" Gem shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not used to seeing her like that."

Iain sighed wordlessly and chewed on his lip, him and Gem just sitting in silence for a little while. Gem reached into the open box of cereal and grabbed a handful, shovelling the food straight into her mouth.

"Classy," Iain joked, chuckling to himself. "Have a good day at work, yeah? You'll be okay. I'll text you around lunchtime and give you an update on Lily."

"Thank you," Gem whispered, helping herself to another handful of cereal.

"She's not left the bedroom all morning," Iain informed Connie, as the two of them headed into the living room. Connie shot him a concerned look, sitting down on the sofa but Iain quickly spoke before she could question anything. "Relax," he calmed her, holding his hands up. "I made sure that there wasn't anything sharp in the room, and I've kept watch all morning. She's not once gone into the bathroom."

"I know it's ridiculous," Connie sighed, shaking her head. "We can't keep an eye on her all the time. Then again, we can't allow her to hurt herself."

"She was in a really bad way last night, Mrs Beauchamp," Iain mentioned. "She kept crying and screaming, and she wouldn't let me help in any way. She just kept punching me and telling me to leave her alone, she tried to throw things as well."

"Well, you know why that is don't you?" Connie sighed. "She's struggling, Iain. A lot. I've been in contact with a few people, including a lovely lady called Mary who's going to come and talk to her at work. I haven't arranged a date yet but she works with a lot of people who have eating disorders and other mental heath issues, and basically what she does is go to different employers and assess whether someone is fit for work or not."

"Well, clearly she isn't," Iain said.

"Not necessarily true actually," Connie said. "A lot of people who have an eating disorder and who may self harm in another way can still carry out their normal occupation. In Lily's case, she's bulimia and she's cutting. Archie may be arrested, she had to speak to the police yesterday, so this behaviour could just be temporary. It may not but that's what Mary is going to look at. She'll be able to help Lily a little bit more than we can."

"So what's Mary's job then?" Iain questioned.

"She is a psychiatric nurse," Connie told him. "She used to work as a healthcare assistant at the local mental hospital, and she's recently gone self employed. Now she works at home and sees many people of all ages with various mental health issues. I think she said that her youngest patient is eleven, and her oldest is eighty three who's struggled with anorexia for years."

"Okay," Iain said, interested. "And she's willing to see Lily, is she?"

"Yes, she's more than happy to," Connie said. "She's going to check her diary, see when she's free, and arrange a date to come and see Lily at work. She'll then consider whether she is fit to be working or if she should be booked off, and she'll arrange some counselling sessions with her as well. I think Lily will be fine with her. She needs the help and if she isn't comfortable with Ben..."

"Yeah, I know," Iain sighed.

"Let me have a chat with trouble first," Connie said. "Is she in your room?"

Iain nodded and moved to one side, as Connie got up and made her way across to Iain's bedroom. She knocked lightly and walked in to see Lily lying under the covers in Iain's bed, the sunlight shining through the window and filling the room.

"Lily," Iain said, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. "Connie's come to see you."

"Hello, my lovely," Connie said, crouching at the side of Lily's bed and stroking the hair out of her face.

Lily's hair was a tangled mess. She wore an old pyjama top with a baggy jacket over the top, jogging bottoms, and a pair of slippers.

"Iain told me that you'd had a rough night," Connie mentioned.

"What are you doing here?" Lily mumbled.

"I'm working, aren't I?" Connie sighed. "Let's just say I'm doing a home visit for my best patient. Do you want to come into the living room with us?" Lily shook her head, groaned and rubbed at her eyes. "How about you at least have a bath? You'll feel a lot better once you get dressed."

"I don't want to," Lily whispered.

"Well, am I allowed to stay here?" Connie asked gently. "I have some things that I need to discuss with you."

"Sure," Lily agreed.

"Okay well, you are quite a worry for everyone at the moment," Connie began. "And you know how we said that we were going to get you someone to talk to?"

Lily nodded, hating where this was going already. She listened though as Connie told her everything that she'd just told Iain. Tears stung her eyes and the tight feeling in her chest returned and by the time Connie had finished, she had tears rolling down both sides of her face.

"What's wrong?" Connie questioned, glancing across at Iain who remained leaning against the wall.

"I...I...I'm not crazy," she sobbed out.

"I know you're not," Connie said, continuing to give her hair a comforting stroke.

"We're not saying that you are, Chuckles," Iain said, walking over and perching on the bed, a gentle hand resting on her hip. "Loads of people have counselling, it doesn't mean that they're crazy. I've had anger management before, haven't I?"

"But I can still work," Lily said, trying to push Connie away.

"Please, don't," Connie pleaded, taking hold of her hands. "I know that you want to get back to work, and I know that you are very dedicated to your job. However, we cannot have this level of lashing out and upset in an Emergency Department."

Lily sniffed and began to scratch at her wrist, determined to draw blood.

"Can I have a look at your arms, please?" Connie asked, noticing the scratching and guessing that she may have cut again.

"No!" Lily shouted, violently thrashing around in the bed.

Connie grabbed her arm and noticed a fairly new cut that she'd made the other day. She said nothing and wrapped an arm around Lily's shoulder, hugging her. Lily tensed up and tried to elbow her but soon relaxed and just began to cry into Connie's shirt.

"Can you try and eat something for me?" Connie asked, wiping away Lily's tears with her thumb.

"No!" Lily cried, the sudden panic setting in again.

"Okay, okay." Connie gave her a pat on the back and nodded. "I'm going to make Iain and myself something. Why doesn't Iain help you get dressed? You'll be safe with him. You trust him, don't you?"

Lily nodded as Connie stood up and cupped her face in her hands before leaving the bedroom. Iain sighed heavily and stood up from the bed, walking round to face Lily. He held his arms out and she nodded, slowly and anxiously slipping her jacket off of her shoulders. She locked eyes with him and he tried not to stare at the scars and cuts that covered her arms.

"Okay?" He whispered, as she folded her arms across her stomach.

"Yeah," she whispered back.

"Are you going to put a clean shirt on?" He asked.

Lily took a deep breath and faintly nodded. She turned her head to avoid eye contact and went to slip her shirt off. Iain's eyes widened when he spotted her back though; bruises covered her skin, and rage filled him when he realised how badly Archie had actually hurt her.

"I...I know you've seen them," she said quietly, slipping her shirt back down quickly.

"Him?" Iain asked slowly, and she gave him a nod. "Oh my god," he sighed, going to sit on the edge of the bed beside her.

"I didn't want Mrs Beauchamp to see," Lily told him.

"It's okay," he said, wiping a loose tear away from her cheek with his thumb. "I understand."

She forced a smile, which he soon returned. The two of them sat in silence, eyes meeting, until Iain slowly leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.

The moment I know you've all been waiting for. I hope you enjoyed it ;-) x

Also the character of Mary is based off of my aunt. She's a psychiatric nurse and goes round to peoples workplaces to see if they're fit to work or not. I find her job pretty interesting to be honest.