Tanith Panic, I'm afraid they are both silly! They both know each other well, so there's no excuse! I'm sure they'll sort it out before the end of the story. I'm glad you liked Robyn. Thank you for your review.

Gillian Kearney Fan, thank you for your review - I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

LudoJudo, thank you for your review. They're very different, but they do both have a stubborn side. Dylan wants everything done the right way (which means his way) and Lofty doesn't want to be the one who gives in all the time. I love them!

Ben arrived in the kitchen to find Robyn slumped at the kitchen table, propping her head up with her hand. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"No!" said Robyn. "I'm working Christmas!"

Ben reached across and squeezed her arm. "I know. Me too."

"I had so many plans for Christmas," said Robyn sadly.

"So did I."

"I just wanted to make it perfect," said Robyn.

Ben squeezed her arm again. He wondered if he should tell her Dylan was single, but that would come as no surprise to her as she thought Dylan was single already.

Also, Ben was almost sure Dylan wouldn't be interested. Dylan had had relationships with women before, but they had always ended in disaster because Dylan was unable to give them what they wanted.

Not that Dylan's relationship with Ben hadn't ended in disaster.

"I heard the most amazing piece of gossip too," said Robyn. "Seriously. The most amazing piece of gossip. But the only person I told was Louise. After the initial excitement had worn off, it didn't seem to matter very much."

Ben looked at her in concern. If Robyn didn't want to gossip, something was badly wrong – and he couldn't help thinking it was a bit more than working Christmas. "Robyn, if this is about Dylan..."

"I don't want to talk about Dylan!" said Robyn, turning her head away. "I've had it with romance. And Christmas."

Ben didn't know what to say.

Their depressed silence was interrupted when Jack ran over them and threw an arm around each of them. "Merry Christmas!" he shouted.

Neither Ben nor Robyn answered.

Ben stared gloomily ahead of him. Robyn hid her face in her hand. Jack took the hint and went away again, but they were soon disturbed for a second time.

"Here," said a voice behind them. They looked up without much interest. Jacob was holding out a coin.

"20p?" said Robyn without enthusiasm. She took it from him. "Are you my secret Santa?"

"Heads I take your shift; tails I take Lofty's," said Jacob. "And yes, I am your Secret Santa."

Robyn stared at him in amazement. She looked down at the coin in her hand, then she looked at Ben. A smile began to form on her face. Possibly the first real smile Ben had seen from her all day.

Jacob was smiling too as Robyn tossed the coin. Ben was glad she was doing it. He was far too clumsy. He was a clumsy idiot. Just like Dylan had told him.

He didn't know why he lifted his hand and moved it towards the coin. All he knew was that the coin was suddenly in his closed fist.

He'd caught it. Clumsy Lofty had caught a coin in mid-air.

He wished that Dylan had seen it.

He opened his hand.

It was tails.

Robyn walked out of the ED, her hands spread wide. "Merry Christmas, everybody!" she shouted and spun round a couple of times, her arms held aloft.

She got a few funny looks, but she didn't care. She ran to catch up with Louise.

"What's up with you?" said Louise. "Did you just win the lottery?"

"Kind of," said Robyn dreamily. "I won 20p!"

Louise gave her a funny look. "You can't win 20p on the lottery."

"Jacob decided to give his day off to me or Lofty," said Robyn. "He tossed the coin – which Lofty caught by the way: you should have seen it. Though he did drop it straight after that which did ruin the effect a little bit. But anyway, it was heads so I won the toss and I get the day off tomorrow!"

To her surprise, Louise gave her a hug. "I'm happy for you, babe."

"Really?" said Robyn.

"Of course!" said Louise. "I know how much Christmas means to you."

"Yeah, it does," said Robyn. "Even if I don't get to make all Dylan's wishes come true, it is still Christmas."

Louise put her arm through Robyn's. "Want to go to the pub?"

"Wouldn't miss it!" said Robyn.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," said Jacob.

Connie looked up. She was thinking of the mistake; of the life that had nearly been lost and it took her a moment to work out what was wrong with what Jacob had just said. "I thought you were seeing your friends."

"Well…" said Jacob, very matter-of-factly, "turns out I'd rather be here." His eyes locked with hers and his voice increased in intensity. "With you."

Connie stared at her, a suspicion growing in her mind. "Did you know about that this morning?"

Jacob made sounds of denial, but you had to get out of bed very early to fool Connie – and she didn't like it when Jacob got out of bed early.

A smile spread across her face. "You've been playing me all day!"

She kissed him.

She couldn't believe how well everything had turned out. When she'd asked Jacob to swap shifts with Lofty, she hadn't been sure he'd really do it. Jacob Masters usually got whatever he wanted – Connie was proof of that – but there had been doubts in her mind about whether he wanted to spend Christmas with her or not.

Now she knew she did.

"Merry Christmas, Mrs Beauchamp," said Jacob.

"Merry Christmas, Staff Nurse Masters," said Connie.

Jacob held her close and they kissed again. "I did have to tweak the plan just slightly, but I got the important part sorted out."

Connie pulled away from him. "What do you mean, you had to tweak it?"

"I'm Robyn's Secret Santa," said Jacob. "And it occurred to me that I hadn't got her anything."

Connie stared at him in disbelief. "Staff Nurse Masters, are you telling me you gave Nurse Miller the day off instead of Nurse Chiltern?"

Jacob grinned. "Wow, you really must be angry if you're calling us all 'nurse'."

"Yes, I am angry!" said Connie. "What were you thinking? Didn't you hear what Dylan and Lofty were doing in that cupboard?"

"Don't you mean what Dr Keogh and Staff Nurse Chiltern were doing in that cupboard?" teased Jacob.

"Oh, you're impossible!" snapped Connie and walked away, but Jacob followed her. "I can't believe you gave your day off to Robyn."

Jacob looked serious. "Well, technically, I didn't. I told them I was giving my day off to one of them and tossed a coin. Robyn won. So she gets her day off – and you know how much Robyn loves Christmas."

"Don't you know how much Dylan loves Lofty?" hissed Connie.

"Sorry, Sweet-Cheeks," said Jacob, looking annoyingly unrepentant and even more annoyingly sexy. "I suppose I thought our romance was more important to you than Dylan and Lofty's. I didn't think Mrs Beauchamp would ever put another couple's happiness above her own."

Connie glared at him. "Carry on like this, Staff Nurse Masters, and you'll be sleeping in your own bed tonight."

Jacob shrugged. "We can sleep in Charlie's bed for all I care. As long as we're both in it. And Charlie's not."

Connie wanted to hate him. She wanted to hit him. She wanted to… well, to go to bed with him as soon as possible. "If Lofty shows up tomorrow looking heartbroken, there's going to be trouble."

"I can't wait," said Jacob.

Dylan knew he'd messed up.

It was partly Ben's fault, of course. Some conversations were private and couldn't happen in the middle of the hospital. It would be unprofessional.

He'd broken his own rule when he'd explained about Ethan, but Ben had looked so hurt and upset. Dylan hadn't been able to stop himself from reassuring him, but then he'd regained control.

The discussion could not take place in the hospital and that was the end of the matter.

But it now looked like the discussion was unlikely to take place anywhere else. Ben had made it very clear he'd rather be with Robyn than Dylan.

That realisation hurt so much, it became imperative for Dylan to have some time alone. Unobserved. Away from prying eyes.

He stopped outside the staff room and looked in. It seemed to be empty. Everyone else whose shift had ended had already left. The hospital workers who'd just arrived were already at work.

Dylan went into the staff room and closed his eyes.

"Dylan, are you all right?" asked a diffident voice.

Dylan opened his eyes to see Ethan. "Are you talking to me?"

Ethan took a step backwards. He didn't look likely to dissolve into tears this time, but he seemed very tired. "I'm sorry, Dr Keogh. It's none of my business. I'll leave you in peace."

"Wait," said Dylan, and then wondered what he was saying. "Ethan. You were in a relationship with the girl who worked in the shop, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was," said Ethan. He looked confused.

"Did you have relationship problems?"

Ethan's mouth dropped open, but he was too shy and polite to tell Dylan to mind his own business. "Only at the end," he said at last, a shadow coming into his eyes.

"Did you ever discuss your relationship difficulties at work?"

"Yes, we did," said Ethan. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, though he looked more tired than tearful.

Dylan frowned. "Did you feel work was an appropriate venue for the conversation?"

Ethan put his glasses back on. "Not really," he said. "But sometimes something needs to be said. If there's something I need to know, I'd rather know as soon as possible. Not in the middle of seeing a patient, obviously. But perhaps outside or here in the staff room… when you're waiting for someone to say something and they avoid the subject or just say nothing… it's the worst feeling, Dylan."

"But if someone has a good reason…"

"I suppose sometimes it can't be helped," said Ethan sadly. "But it hurts, Dylan. It really hurts. It feels like Cal's pushing me away and I can't bear it."

Dylan heard the quiver in his voice and considered leaving the room very quickly, but it seemed unkind when Ethan had helped him. "Thank you, Ethan," he said.

"You're welcome," said Ethan, surprised. He paused, but his eyes didn't leave Dylan. "Is this about Lofty?"

Dylan stared at him in disbelief. "Is there anyone in this whole hospital who doesn't know about me and-"

He realised he was shouting and stopped.

"Oh my goodness!" gasped Ethan. "Are you and Lofty a couple?"

"Would it matter if we were?" said Dylan.

Ethan smiled. "Not in the least. I'd be really happy for you."

"Well, we're not," said Dylan. He sighed. "And that's my fault."

"You could always apologise," said Ethan. "That usually works with Lofty. He's very forgiving once you've got the apology out of the way. I'd like to think I am too… but the things Cal does sometimes…"

"Thank you," said Dylan. "I'll follow your advice. Now go home. You're exhausted and I seem to remember you're on shift tomorrow. Go home and speak to Cal."

Ethan nodded and smiled at someone over Dylan's shoulder. "Hey, Lofty," he said.

"How long have you been there?" demanded Dylan.