A/N thank you for all the reviews, comments, follows and favourites so far! I promise the story will get more positive in the next couple of chapters, but I needed this one to build upto something. Enjoy and please read and review! Xx
Max looked over to Zoe who was now, finally, fast asleep. She had fallen asleep earlier on the evening, but had woken up screaming and drenched in a cold sweat only minutes later having had another nightmare. He couldn't forget how scared she had looked, how vulnerable, as she could only lie in the hospital bed and re-live the experience over and over.
Physically, she was starting to make small improvements but her body had taken several horrific beatings when she was attacked. Max knew that it would take her much longer to recover emotionally than it would for her physical injuries to heal; she had barely spoken since she woke up, except for occasionally in flashbacks or nightmares but he didn't mind. He would be there for her no matter what. He glanced over at her when he heard her whimper quietly at first, then louder; he could see her starting to get agitated so he gently shook her shoulder to wake her up. It worked and she immediately opened her eyes, looking around the small room that she was currently occupying in alarm, forgetting for a moment where she was before seeing Max and relaxing a little.
He noticed a tear rolling down her cheek and he smiled softly at her, wiping it away "Hey, ssh, ssh, its okay, I'm here. I'm right here" he soothed her "You're alright, you're safe" he said, stroking her hair "Good girl" he smiled as she started to calm herself but still keeping a tight grip on his hand.
Zoe quickly fell asleep again and soon after Connie came into the room, beckoning for him to follow her into the corridor when she noticed that she was sleeping "How is she?" she asked, glancing through the glass panel momentarily before turning her attention back to Max.
"Not great. She's woken up screaming and crying 4 or 5 times in the night, and again just now. She seems so different, she hasn't spoken yet either" he informed her; there hadn't really been that much of a change so there wasn't much to say.
Connie looked at him, a small yet sympathetic smile crossing her features as she spoke "Listen, Max, why don't you take some time out for a while? Go home, get a shower, something to eat?" she spoke quietly so as not to awaken her colleague.
"What if something happens?" he queried, if something did happen he wanted to know. She was still in ICU as she had only been awake for less than 8 hours and she needed to be monitored carefully.
"Then I'll call you and let you know" she said quickly "Oh, and if you see Cal on your travels, tell him I want a word with him next time I see him"
Max looked at her and smiled, her voice still had the usual stern and professional edge to it, and from the way she had raised her eyebrows and sighed he guessed that it wouldn't be for a friendly chat "Will do" he paused for a moment before adding "Connie?" before, he would have never have called her by her first name, but the circumstances were completely different.
"Mmm?"
"Thank you for everything you did, when…erm, you know…" his voice trailed off, not wanting to mention the incident itself.
Connie looked at him and nodded "My pleasure. I couldn't just leave her there, Max" she stopped momentarily before continuing "I know Zoe and I didn't exactly see eye to eye, but she's a colleague, and a brilliant doctor. I really hope that we can get along" she cut off abruptly, running a hand through her hair.
…
"Hi Zoe" Connie greeted her colleague as she entered the small room and took her usual seat next to her bed. Zoe opened her eyes briefly to acknowledge her presence then blinked rapidly several times, trying to keep her eyes open. Connie noticed this and half smiled at her "Its okay, you don't have to stay awake if you're tired. Max said that you didn't get much sleep last night"
Zoe looked at her, squinting a little as she tried to focus on her. Although she was lying down, she felt dizzy and had a headache as well. All she wanted to do was shut her eyes and try to get some sleep but every time that she closed her eyes she would see their faces and inevitably wake up crying or screaming moments later, alarming whoever happened to be with her at the time.
Connie saw that she was squinting and frowned "You got a headache?" Zoe gave a tiny nod and she glanced over to the monitor "Your pulse is a little high" she put the back of her hand on her forehead "and you're burning up. Right, I'll be back in a minute" she said, standing up and going out of the room to find a member of staff.
Zoe sighed; shutting her eyes to see if that would help to rid of her headache. She began to mutter something incomprehensible over and over as her mind took her back to a place and a time that she would rather forget.
*Flashback*
"P-please, n-no. Stop, s-stop…" Zoe pleaded, thinking momentarily about how different her voice sounded, how much quieter and scared.
One man looked her in the eyes and grinned evilly at her, taking a piece of her hair and roughly twisted it through his fingers "I thought I told you to be quiet!" he hissed, punching her hard so that her head jolted backwards sharply, hitting the wall behind her from the force of his blow and making her feel dizzy and nauseous.
She attempted to move away from him, but another man was holding her down so that she couldn't escape. She was stuck. Zoe felt him run his hand over her body, pulling her dress up until it caught on a piece of broken glass on the ground, ripping it and then pulling her underwear down and rubbing his hand over his thigh, making her shudder. Suddenly she felt her head being pulled back by her hair before it once again made contact with the wall and knocking her unconscious as she fell into the blackness.
*End flashback*
She woke up crying and struggling to breathe. As the memory came back to her again, she retched, vomiting all over the pillows and the bedsheets. She started to cough harshly and turned her head to the side as she was sick again, tears running down her face as she realised that she was alone and there was no-one to help her. Knowing that she needed help, Zoe tried to shout but as soon as she opened her mouth she was sick again. The headache that she had increased and she felt herself getting hot as she fell into the blackness once more.
Connie walked back towards Zoe's room, a doctor and nurse following close behind her. Opening the door, the smell of vomit hit her straight away and she rushed over to the bed, quickly moving her into the recovery position and held her as still as she could to prevent her from injuring herself as she had started to fit uncontrollably "I need some help in here please!" she shouted down the corridor "Okay, Zoe, its okay" she said quietly "I don't know what happened, I came back into the room and she was fitting. She's been sick as well, and her breathing isn't good"
"Okay, thank you. We'll take over from here. Zoe? Can you hear me?" the doctor asked, shining a light into her eyes.
Connie spotted Max walking back towards the room and she quickly walked outside, guiding him away as she didn't want him to see Zoe in such a state "Max, you need to wait out here. Let them help her" she said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder although she was shaking herself.
"W-what happened?" Max stuttered, looking desperately through the glass panel on the door to try and see what was happening.
"I don't know. She had a fever, I went to get a nurse and when I came back she was fitting and unconscious" Connie explained, as calmly as she could, watching as the young porter sank further down the wall until he was sat on the floor, staring at the pattern on it.
…
While Max had gone to the toilet and to clean himself up a bit, Connie sat with Zoe, being careful not to dislodge any of the wires "What are we going to do with you, eh?" she said softly, moving her hair out of her eyes "You gave me quite a fright when I came back into see you" the doctor's earlier speculation for keeping Zoe in ICU had been proved right; she had been awake for just less than 8 hours when her condition had started to deteriorate again, and they had had to sedate and intubate her again when she had been fitting as she had been unable to maintain her own airway. Her condition was once again critical, not quite as bleak as it had looked when she had first been brought in but still very serious "I'm sorry I left you, you shouldn't have had to be on your own"
Zoe had had another bleed on the brain and she'd had emergency surgery to stem it. It had been successful, but she needed to be kept sedated and intubated until the swelling had gone down. Hopefully that wouldn't take too long, Connie thought. She's been through enough already "Max should be here in a bit, in the meantime you're stuck with me. He really cares about you, Zoe. I do too, I'd really like us to get along. We'll both be here for you, and everyone in the ED will be too"