CBloom2, thank you for your review - I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Maybe two Ethans are even better than one!

Gillian Kearney Fan, I've already replied in a pm, but I hope you were able to watch the episode. George is very good! Thank you for your review.

LittleBritishPerson, I sent you a pm too - I hope you were able to watch the episode. Thank you for your review - I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

Tanith Panic, thank you for your review. I'm really happy you like the idea! I hope you weren't too offended by the sexist comments.

TheAtomicCheesepuff, thank you for your review - I'm really happy you enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy Chapter 2 too.

ETWentHome, I love that song too. Even if it is supposed to be about LSD! Thank you for your review - I'm so happy you enjoyed it.

Thank you for the follows and favourites too.

I hope the ending isn't disappointing. It might not be quite what you're expecting.

Xander awoke to find himself in a strange bed. This happened to him quite a lot and he was usually very disappointed to discover whose bed. Drugs were fun and everything, but they did sometimes alter your perceptions. He quite often went to bed with complete stunners, only to wake up the next morning and discover they were actually quite average.

His latest girl had has face half-hidden by the duvet and he was almost afraid to look, but curiosity got the better of him. He gently pushed the bedclothes back to reveal… a goddess!

She really was stunning. She had lustrous dark hair, a sweet little nose and full red lips which, to his delight, he could remember kissing. He could remember all sorts of things he'd done with her.

He could remember her name too. Lily.

Dr Lily Chao.

Xander eased out of bed carefully so he wouldn't disturb her and checked his phone. There were about ten missed calls from Shakira (his flatmate, John Shakir, not the singer, unfortunately), as well as several texts and a couple of voice mails. Apparently, Xander forgotten to switch off the incense burners he'd been trying to get high on, and this had caused a small fire in the flat. It wasn't the first time and Xander doubted it was the last, but he decided he'd better go home and help clear up the mess.

He looked at Lily. It seemed cruel to wake her. Doctors probably never got enough sleep.

He searched the room as quietly as he could and found a pen and some paper.

Dear Lilly

sry I had 2 go, set fire to my flat again lol

u look so butiful cant bare 2 wake u up

u r amazin cant wait 2 c again

rly hope u want 2 c me

plz call me

love

Xander xxxx

He added his phone number and left the note on the bed.

Lily awoke with strange images in her mind. Lovely images, but strange.

Herself and Ethan in bed, naked.

Lily smiled. He'd said so many beautiful things to her. Some of them had been clichés, like I've been looking for you my whole life and the one about seeing her properly for the first time, but it had seemed to Lily as though he'd meant every word.

It wasn't the first time she'd had dreams like this, but this time seemed different. This time seemed more real.

She sat up in bed and looked around, not noticing the piece of paper that fluttered to the floor.

There was no sign of Ethan. No sign that he'd even been there.

Lily closed her eyes for a moment and remembered everything Ethan had said to her last night. It had been wonderful, but it couldn't be real. Ethan would never disappear in the middle of a shift like that – particularly not for this kind of activity. For that matter, neither would Lily.

And the things he'd said to her… Lily could imagine Ethan telling a girl she was beautiful, but not that she was hot, fit, sexy, a 'total babe', or any of the other, less polite terms he'd used. Ethan would never tell her, right in the middle of reception, that he wanted to 'ride' her. He also wouldn't be seen dead in that ridiculous t-shirt.

So it must have been a dream.

Lily sighed sadly, then she got out of bed and dressed. She made the bed and had a quick glance around the room before leaving, but she didn't notice the piece of paper on the floor.

It lay there, unread, until one of the cleaners arrived a couple of hours later. English was not her first language and even if it had been, she probably couldn't have made sense of Xander's scrawl. She screwed up the piece of paper and put it in the bin.

Ethan had never been so glad to see anyone. He hurried up to Lily and spoke quietly so nobody would overhear. "Lily, where have you been? Mrs Beauchamp is looking for you."

A guilty look passed across Lily's face. "I fell asleep in the on-call room."

If Cal had said something like that, Ethan would not have been happy. but this was Lily. "Oh, don't worry. We've all done that – though perhaps you should think of something different to tell Mrs Beauchamp." Ethan looked at Lily, his heart clenching. He didn't know what it was, but she seemed vulnerable. "Are you okay? You're not ill, are you?"

"No, I don't think so," said Lily. "No, I'm fine. I just need to wake up."

"I'll make you some coffee," said Ethan. "Mrs Beauchamp's in Resus so you should have time. I've seen a couple of your patients for you. I'm sorry I couldn't do more, but Cal's ill so I'm already doing more work than usual."

"Cal is ill?" Lily's voice was sharp; perhaps a little disbelieving.

Ethan nodded. He could understand her scepticism. "No, he really is ill this time. Some kind of bug, I think. He's got a temperature and a headache. He seemed quite upset too. Something to do with stethoscopes and drugs? He wasn't making a lot of sense." Cal had said a couple of other things, of course, but Ethan definitely wasn't going to tell Lily about that.

He wasn't even going to think about it.

Though it would be nice if, one day, in a completely different venue, at a far more appropriate time, and only when his relationship with Lily had progressed significantly...

Lily's voice broke into his thoughts. "What was Cal saying about stethoscopes and drugs?"

Ethan shrugged. "I really have no idea. He was just mumbling to himself. I think he was talking about one of his patients: trying to prescribe them something. I would think he'd been working too hard, but then again, this is Cal!"

Lily giggled and flicked her hair. She was doing that quite a lot now. Ethan thought it was sweet.

When they reached the staff room, Ethan told Lily to sit down while he made her coffee. Wistfully, he added: "I wish I could sit with you and have a coffee too, but I need to get back to work."

Just as the kettle boiled, Lily appeared in the kitchen. "Ethan, you... you haven't been up to the on-call room today, have you?"

"No, I don't think anyone has," said Ethan. "Apart from you, of course. Don't worry: I quite often wake up and think someone's been in my room. Sometimes I'm right and Cal has ben sneaking around, looking for something, but most of the time, it's just a dream." He smiled. "I can always tell if Cal's been in there because he makes such a mess."

"Oh, I see," said Lily. "Did anyone else notice I was missing?"

Ethan shook his head. "Mrs Beauchamp is the only person who mentioned you, and she's been in Resus most of the day so she doesn't know you were missing for a couple of hours. I just told her you were on your break."

"Thank you, Ethan," said Lily gratefully. "I really am sorry. It was unprofessional."

Ethan smiled. "It's all right. I've done it a couple of times. Had a lie-down for five minutes, only to discover an hour or two had passed. I avoid lying down now: it's the only way. I'm sorry, Lily, but I really must get back to work now. Enjoy your coffee, but don't push yourself if you're not well. You might have the same bug as Cal. I'll see you later."

He smiled at Lily again and left the room. Not for the first time, he was thinking about how beautiful she was. If only he was the kind of man who had the courage to do something about it.

Xander awoke to a pounding headache, a churning stomach, and the lingering smell of burning. He had various images mixed up in his mind: some exquisite memories involving a goddess called Lily and some excruciating ones involving a lecture from Shakira and a fireman.

He thought the lecture was probably real as he could smell that something had been burning, but he didn't have much hope that Lily was real. She was too perfect – and Xander was fairly sure it was impossible to walk into a hospital and get off with one of the doctors. No, she had to be a drug-induced hallucination.

Xander lay back on his pillow, a smile on his face despite the pain and nausea.

As hallucinations went, he'd had a hell of a lot worse.