A/N thank you for all the reviews, comments, follows and favourites so far! Enjoy and please read and review! Xx
Max sat next to Zoe's bed, his fingers entwined with hers as they had been for the past couple of hours since she had come back from theatre for the second time that night. When she was fitting, she had hit her head hard against the back of the bed, rupturing an already unstable blood vessel in her brain from the impact. It had looked as though the bleed had been stemmed until about an hour after her first operation of the evening when her stats deteriorated rapidly and she was rushed back to theatre. During the second operation, they noticed a few small bleeds which they had cauterised in order to stop them from becoming a problem. So far, things were looking hopeful.
The young porter let out a long breath that he didn't realise he'd been holding as he looked at her; her pretty face was littered with cuts, bruises and small lacerations as well as scars that hadn't yet begun to fade. She had been lucky to survive at all, and deep down Max had known that it would have been very unlikely for her just to wake up and have no complications. He couldn't stop looking at the mouthpiece that was holding the intubation tube in place; although her lung had practically healed, she hadn't been able to maintain her own airway whilst she had been fitting and she needed to be kept sedated and intubated until the swelling in her brain had gone down.
It was silent in the room apart from the noise of various machines and monitors, Max felt as though he had poured his heart out to her when she came back from surgery two hours ago. He had been so scared that he was going to lose her and words couldn't have described the relief that he had felt when he heard the news that she was stable.
…
Connie walked outside of the ED with no particular direction, and found herself stood in Zoe's smoking spot. Her gaze wandered over to the other side of the busy car park until it settled on a small group of men walking towards the hospital. Actually, more specifically, they were walking towards her "Can I help you?" she asked, her tone strong and confident.
"You know a Zoe Hanna?" one of them asked her bluntly, moving closer towards her.
"Why?"
"Just answer the bloody question!" he snarled, grabbing her wrist tightly and twisting it.
Connie glared at him, attempting to pull her wrist away but not managing it "Yes" she answered simply. The man nodded to his friend who came up behind her, grabbing her other arm and then cuffing her hands together behind her back "What are you doing? Let go…" she was cut off as a firm hand was clamped over her mouth, silencing her as he injected her in her upper arm. As she fell unconscious, he dragged her over to the far side of the railings where the maintenance door was located and secured the handcuffs there with a piece of rope before the three of them ran away.
…
Max gently squeezed Zoe's hand, letting her know that he was there with her before he started to speak "You had better start getting better soon, y'know. You can't keep scaring me like you did earlier! When you wake up, I'll be right here with you and I'll help you as much as I can. I just need you to get better so that you can wake up, and I can see your beautiful eyes again" he paused for a moment, smiling and kissing her hand as he held it "I love you, Zoe, I really do. I just want you to be better again"
…
Connie opened her eyes as the effects of the drug started to wear off and she looked around her to see where she was. She scowled when she realised that her hands were restrained behind her back and she was stuck there. She noticed Rita walking outside on her break and hit the metal cuffs against the railings in order to attract her attention.
It worked, and Rita rushed over, kneeling down in front of her "Mrs. Beauchamp! Are you alright? What happened?" she said quickly, looking around she spotted what she was looking for. She picked up the silver key and frowned when she noticed a used needle lying on the ground. Rita quickly used the key to unlock the handcuffs, then gently eased them off of her wrists, apologising when she saw her wince in pain.
Connie cradled her injured wrist as she slowly stood up, smiling at the nurse "Thank you Rita"
"Do you want me to take a look at that wrist for you?" Rita offered quietly, not wanting to draw attention to the situation.
"Thank you but no, it's just sprained. I've got a support bandage in my bag…listen…"
"I won't say a word, not if you don't want me to, but if this could be anything to do with what happened to Zoe then you might want to let the police know about it on the quiet" Rita said, quickly placing the items in a small plastic bag and handing it to Connie who put it in her pocket "the gloves won't have left any fingerprints, so the evidence should still be there"
"Oh, I don't know. It might be, but I don't know. I'll let the police know and if they think there's any link then we'll have to warn the staff" Connie replied quietly "Thank you" she said before heading back inside and over to the lift.
Walking along the corridor of ICU, Connie sighed. The man had asked her if she knew Zoe, when she had said yes he had grabbed her. She shook her head, she would go to the police station later and fill them in, but right now she was going to see how Zoe was doing.
…
Max looked up when he heard the door click open and then shut again. He smiled at Connie as she walked over, then looked back to Zoe "What happened to your wrist?" he asked.
She shook her head slightly, indicating her colleague "Doesn't matter. I'll tell you later"
Max caught on to what she meant and nodded before kissing Zoe's hand and then exiting the room.
"Hello again. How are you doing miss?" Connie smiled, taking the woman's hand in hers, and then pulling away slightly "You're a bit cold Zoe" just then a nurse walked in to check on her and Connie called over to her "Excuse me? Zoe seems quite cold, her body temperature has dropped a little as well…"
"Oh okay, I'll set up some warmed saline…" whilst she got that, Connie grabbed another blanket from the cupboard and tucked it in around her. The nurse came back shortly afterwards and attached the bag of fluids "There, that should help to warm you up a bit, Zoe. I'll come back and see you later, okay? If you need anything else then just press the red button there" she smiled, leaving them alone.
"Thank you" Connie returned the smile briefly before turning her attention back to her colleague "That's better, you're starting to feel warmer already. The staff up here are doing a good job of looking after you since you've been here" she paused, swallowing hard and glancing down at her wrist "Whoever did this to you won't get away it, Zoe. I'll make sure of that. If the circumstances were different, I know you wouldn't stand for it either; that's what makes you such a good doctor, you care about your patients. Believe me, when we find out who is responsible, they will wish that they had never been born. There is absolutely no way they are going to get away with this"
Hearing a loud crash and cursing coming from outside, she walked swiftly over to the nurse who had come in "We need security, now" she said quietly, indicating the scene that was now unfolding in the corridor "I'll be right back, Zoe"
As she heard security approaching, she headed out into the corridor "Let go of him" she demanded, moving Max to one side as the man released his grip. Leaning back slightly, she coughed, he stank of alcohol.
"She's in there isn't she?" he yelled, staggering towards the door just as a security guard ran upto them, grabbing him "I don't think so, mate. I think the police would like a word with you, and you two as well. As it happens, they're here with me"
"You bitch!" he screamed "I'm not done with you! Just you wait, I'll track you down, finish what I should have started…"
Connie sighed, if Zoe could hear all this she would be frightened "Max, go and sit with her" raising her voice to be heard over the ranting she added "Make sure that she knows that this scum will be in custody, awaiting trial" as he headed into the room, she turned back towards the man that earlier attacked her "You won't be doing anything to her when you're locked in a police cell where you belong, the lot of you" Connie nodded at one police officer, it was the same woman who had taken her statement the night of the incident "You know where I am if you need anything…right now, can you just get them out of here before I do something I regret? Thank you"
"Thank you Connie, I don't think this lot will be walking free anytime soon, especially seeing as a member of staff has been assaulted. We'll be in touch"
Walking back into Zoe's room, Connie ran a hand through her hair, and went over to Max "Are you alright?" he nodded and she smiled "Sorry about all the noise, Zoe. The police have taken them away now. They won't get away with it"