Chapter 12

She closed the last file of the day, satisfied that she had cleared the bulk of paperwork which had littered her desk for the majority of the week. As she sat there in the silence which dominated her office, she contemplated what to do next. She knew what she wanted to do. She just wasn't quite sure if she had the confidence to carry it through. She shut down her computer and took the car keys out of her bag. She gave a sigh as she tried to make a decision on what to do. Should she follow her heart – or follow her head? Either option may take her to the same place. As she got in the car and drove, she tried to block out the thoughts she had of being pushed away.

Once again, she stood on the doorstep – taking a deep breath before pressing the doorbell to the right of her. Through the glass of the front door, Connie could see that the hall light was off. She wondered where Rita was. Maybe she was sleeping and wouldn't answer the door. Connie half hoped that was the case so she didn't have to face Rita after she'd sent her away this morning. As much as she wanted to see her, she was slightly apprehensive about what Rita's reaction might be to finding her on her doorstep once more. She pressed the bell once, telling herself this would be last time she'd ring it before giving up and going home. She couldn't, after all, make Rita open the door to her. The hallway beyond the door stayed stubbornly dark with no signs of life inside. Connie sighed. Perhaps Rita was sleeping, no one could deny that she needed the rest. Just before turning away and making her way down the steps back towards her car, she gently pushed open the letter box and held her breath as she listened for any noise inside the house. As she listened intently, she was sure that she could hear the sound of someone sobbing. She pressed her ear closer to the opening of the letter box flap, trying to listen as hard as she could. She quietened her own breathing as much as possible to enable her to focus on listening for any sounds that might mean that Rita was in need of her help. She knocked on the door loudly before ringing the bell once more. The sobbing stopped suddenly, before starting again with more intensity than before.

Connie looked around, desperate to find a way into the house. It was obvious that Rita needed help and she needed to get inside the house as soon as she could. She scrabbled around looking under the door mat which lay outside the front door. Finding nothing there, she began hastily looking through the plant pots that were scattered about Rita's door step.

"You alright love?" came the voice from across the small fence that separated Rita's garden from her next door neighbours.

"I was just hoping to get inside to check on Rita," Connie began explaining, "I work with her at the hospital and just wanted to make sure she was OK." She didn't want to alarm the older looking guy who stood on the other side of the fence so didn't mention the fact that she could hear her crying and was desperate to get inside the house as soon as she could.

"I've got a key for emergencies," the neighbour began, "but I'm not sure about letting you in though as I've never met you before." Connie face visibly dropped as he finished his sentence.

"I'm Connie Beauchamp, clinical lead at Holby City Emergency department," she said as she reached her hand out to shake his. "Rita's my clinical nurse manager. I looked after when she was in hospital recently and just really need to check that she's ok." Connie spoke calmly and with an even tone, despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to shout and scream about why she needed to get into Rita's house immediately.

"I'll let you in," the man replied as he set off down his garden path before turning through Rita's small garden gate and joining Connie on the doorstep.

"Thank you, thank you so much," Connie said as he unlocked the door and let Connie push through the door ahead of him. The eerie silence of the hallway was suddenly interrupted with loud uncontrolled sobs.

"I'll leave you to it," he said to Connie, starting the close the door behind her. He'd found Rita when she'd taken her last overdose and he wasn't sure he was ready to face whatever mess she'd got herself into now. After shutting the door firmly, he made his way back next door hoping he'd done the right thing by letting the rather formidable, but strikingly beautiful, women into his lonely neighbour's house.

Hope you like the update - it's a bit short but the next chapter is one of my favourites.