A/N Thank you for all the lovely reviews from the last chapter! I hope you all enjoy this one. Enjoy and please read and review! Xx

Sitting in the reception area of the ED, Connie ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. This wasn't exactly how she had planned to spend her Saturday evening. Then again, she highly doubted that it was how Zoe had planned to spend it, either. She glanced over to the young porter who was pacing up and down the nearby corridor; he'd been at it since Zoe had been brought in and he wasn't showing any signs of stopping anytime soon.

After what seemed like hours but in reality was only 20 minutes had passed, Tess came out of resus and almost simultaneously, both Max and Connie turned to look at her, knowing that she would have news about Zoe "How is she?" their voices spoke at exactly the same time, and even to a total stranger concern could easily be heard.

Tess took a seat next to them and placed her hands in her lap "Honestly, it's too soon to tell. They're taking up to theatre then. We'll know more after her surgery. It's lucky that you were there, Connie" this had to be the hardest part of her job by far, without a doubt; breaking bad news to colleagues, relatives or friends, and it didn't get any easier no matter how much practice she had had at it.

Whilst Max looked like he was about to punch the next dodgy looking bloke that came through the ED doors just in case it had been them who had hurt Zoe, Connie was calmer although the worry for her colleague showed clearly in her features. Sometimes having advanced medical knowledge could have its downfalls as well as advantages; she had seen Zoe's injuries and knew how serious they were.

Tess spoke again after Zoe had been taken to theatre and the pair had had a chance to speak to her briefly "I should warn you of this now, and I'm so sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but Zoe showed clear signs of having been assaulted sexually as well as physically…" she didn't get chance to say anything else as Max stood up abruptly, cutting her off "No! You must have got it wrong, mistaken it for something else…" the normally so confident and, at times, arrogant porter suddenly appeared to the two women as someone much younger, almost like a teenager.

As Max turned away from them and towards the wall, Connie shot Tess a look as she called over to him "Max? Max, come on, I know you're upset but this won't help. Zoe's going to need you now more than ever, and you can't help her if security ban you for smashing something, or someone, up, can you?" she knew that her words might have sounded a little harsh given the situation, but she needed to get through to him before he did something that would get him into trouble and that he would later come to regret. She waited for a moment, hoping that he would see sense and make the right descision, and she was relieved when he turned around and walked back towards them, looking at the ground. When he flung his arms around her and began to cry, Connie was shocked to say the least. This certainly wasn't what she had expected, and it took a couple of seconds for her maternal, caring instincts to take the place of the shock and hug him back, sensing that she was providing a source of comfort to the young man.

Connie nodded towards Tess as Max pulled away but remained sitting near her and she continued "…so there will need to be a full physical examination at a later date, and the police have already been informed. I'm so sorry. I'll leave you to it"

"Thank you Tess" Connie half smiled at her as the older nurse nodded and made her way back into resus. She glanced over towards Max and smiled softly at him "She'll be okay, you know. She's a fighter" she said quietly, receiving only a returned glance and a neutral expression that gave nothing away from the young porter before he turned away from her once more and began to walk in the direction of the staffroom. Something told her that he would be here until there was news of Zoe and how she was doing.

…

Sat on a hard plastic chair in the corridor of the ICU ward, Connie allowed her thoughts to wander as the events of the night hit her. No matter how many cases she had been given that involved people who had been assaulted or raped could have prepared her for finding Zoe in the alleyway. She had never seen her like that before; she had looked so broken and vulnerable. Vulnerable. That was one word that Connie never thought she would say about Zoe, she had always come across as being fearless, but now she realised that that was a front. So many people did it, including herself, and it shocked and horrified her to see her colleague look so broken, the layers of bravado stripped away as she lay on the ground fearing for her life.

…

Max took a seat next to Zoe's bed, retching as he saw the intubation tube and the ventilator. Although he knew that it was helping her, and it was keeping her there with him, it just looked so, foreign. The whole situation seemed so surreal, almost like he was living in a nightmare and any minute now he would wake up.

He took her hand in his, kissing it lightly he ran his fingers through her hair, inwardly cursing as he felt tears building up in his eyes "I hope you can hear me, Zoe. It's Max, Connie's outside, she wanted to see how you were before she went. You had better get better, I don't know what I'd do without you, what anyone would do without you. You mean the world to me, don't you dare leave me"

Smiling at her for a few moments, he looked at her properly, noticing all the scars, stitches and dressings and was amazed at how she could still look so flawless. The lead surgeon had come to speak to them after her operation; she was in a bad way, they didn't know if she would make it through the night. Her body had gone into a natural coma in an attempt to heal itself. If she did, her chances of survival and recovery were greatly increased although she would inevitably be in hospital for a very long time. He had reeled off a long list of injuries, many of which Max had never heard of before but he knew were extremely serious; fractures to the base of the skull and facial bones, including eye sockets, a bleed in the brain which they had stemmed, multiple fractured ribs, punctured left lung that they had repaired, fractured pelvis…the list of injuries had seemed to be endless, and after a while he had stopped listening.

Squeezing her hand ever so gently to let her know that he was still there with her and that he wasn't going anywhere he began to speak again before he was interrupted by a knock at the door "I love you Zoe Hanna, I want you to know that…" he looked up to see Connie stood at the entrance to the room.

…

"Can I come in?" she asked quietly, looking over to her colleague. Max nodded slowly and kissed Zoe on the forehead before standing up and exiting the room.

"Honestly, Zoe. I knew that I would have to keep an eye on you, but this wasn't exactly what I had in mind!" Connie smiled, mimicking Max's earlier actions and taking the woman's hand in hers "Max is completely smitten with you, you know. He really loves you, he was devastated when we brought you in. He's scared of losing you, we all are" she paused for a moment, thinking carefully about what to say next "You had better wake up, we need you in the ED. You're one of the best consultants I have ever worked with and I need you downstairs where you belong. Don't you worry, I'll make sure that you get the best treatment there is, you have to come back to us Zoe" Connie took a deep breath and swallowed the lump that she felt forming in her throat as she looked at her colleague. The next 24 hours would determine if she would survive, as well as to what extent if she did. She made the descision there and then that she wouldn't leave the hospital until she had more of an idea of what was happening, she wanted Zoe to know that she had people there with her, and she was sure that she wouldn't be short of visitors if she pulled through.