Love in the Air- Literally!

Hi guys, so as we all know, Zoe had planned a hot air balloon ride for Max, and I had a little idea about that, so decided to write a post ep for episode 21/29, hope you enjoy! :)

Issy xx

It was 5 am, Zoe dragged her bag from the passenger seat of her car and swung her legs onto the frosty ground. The sun was just rising and casting long dark shadows along the ground. As Zoe got out, she saw a figure walk around the corner into the car park.

'Max!' Zoe shouted over. He spun around and caught sight of Zoe, both their faces breaking out into grins.

'Happy day after valentines day!' Max said, handing Zoe a red rose.

'Hmm, better than a squashed cake, that's for sure!' Zoe said, smiling to herself. She leant into Max and kissed him, pulling away as they heard a truck enter the deserted field in front of them.

Max looked down at Zoe's feet as they entered the field, and was surprised to see she was wearing trainers. Typical Zoe, couldn't resist wearing makeup to a balloon ride, even though she had put on jeans and a hoodie, as well as ditching the trainers.

'Nice to see the trainers again.' Came the sarcastic comment from Max.

'Actually they are pretty comfortable!' Zoe exclaimed.

Max looked over to see two guys getting out of the truck and waving over. He pulled Zoe by the hand over to where the guys were standing.

'Hiya guys, I'm Mark, and this is John. I'll be taking you in the balloon,' Mark told them. 'And John here will be driving the truck to whichever location it is that the balloon decides to land.' He smiled at the two and started to unload the huge balloon and basket that were wedged into the back of the truck.

After about half an hour, the balloon was fully assembled, and some fans were blowing hot air into the balloon. The ballon was pink, and much to Max's delight, a heart shape, which Zoe did not remember seeing when she was booking the trip.

'Ok guys, do you wanna step into the basket please?' Mark asked them as John started to fasten the door of the basket closed. The two sat down on the wooden wicker bench inside the balloon, the sides of the balloon were high, and as the balloon started to rise into the air, Max pulled Zoe from where she was sitting and directed her to the edge of the basket, from which she could see the ground getting further and further away, the truck and John getting smaller and smaller. Zoe gripped Max's hand and he slipped a hand around her waist.

'Winds blowing west, we'll be passing over the hospital soon.' Mark said.

'Maybe we'll see everyone arriving for their shift!' Zoe said, glancing down at her watch: 6:45. The morning shift started at 7:00, exactly the time they would be passing over Holby City Hospital.

They both watched as the houses passed by, the streets getting more and more familiar as they reached the familiar landscape of the hospital car park. The balloon was low down in the air, but all you could see from the ground was the three silhouettes inside of he basket. Lofty and Robyn were walking into the hospital when suddenly Lofty noticed out of the corner of his eye, the heart shaped balloon in the sky. He stopped Robyn and stepped back to see it better. The other members of staff that were arriving, saw Lofty look up, and copied, smiling at the sight if the air balloon.

'Hey, those figures look kind of familiar...' Rita said, trailing off as Lofty squinted to see better.

'I know that figure, it's Max!' Robyn opened her mouth,

'And I know the other figure, it's Zoe!' At first people just stared, not quite believing the two could be together, but after a while, Cal, who had just turned up, started a cheer.

Up in the sky, Zoe heard the sound of a cheer, and looked down to see a crowd of people bunched together in the car park.

'Max, they've seen us!' Zoe said.

'Good or bad? We've been revealed like Tess and Fletch, only on a better way.'

'I dunno, I guess they might not know we are an item?' Zoe said.

'Well, I'd better prove that we are then.' Max whisked in her ear before pulling her in for a kiss.

Down in the car park, the silhouettes pulled in to an embrace, and Robyn whipped out her phone and took a picture. The shot was beautiful, a morning sky with a heart shaped balloon silhouetted against the sky, with zoe and Max embraced in the basket.

'Do you know what?' Zoe told Max, 'we are now public, and I don't even care, in fact I think I like it better.' Max smiled and pulled out a purple box, I got you another cake, to make up for yesterday. Zoe smiled and they both took a bite out of the cake at the same time.

'Love is in the air, literally!' Max joked, sending Zoe into fits of the giggles, spraying cake crumbs down her front and onto Max's face.

'Mmm, already chewed cake, delicious. I guess it's ok, because it's chewed by my favourite woman!'