Connie had just arrived at work, early, when she got a message from Jacob to say he'd arrived. Determined not to seem like the clingy girlfriend, Connie decided not to reply, at least straight away, and instead slid her phone back into her pocket.

...

"The missus not replying?" Jacob's friend Tom asked, glancing over his friend's shoulder as they waited in receptions for their hotel rooms to be readied.

"Nope." Jacob replied, sliding his phone into his pocket with a sigh. "Bar?"

"Bar."

The shift seemed to go both quickly and excruciatingly slowly for Connie. She was used to having Jacob around, someone who would always be there with a smile whenever she glanced up, and it was unnerving her how much she missed him. Busying herself with patients, Connie managed to ignore her phone until the early hours of the morning, but although she'd been expecting several texts from Jacob, she found only the first. With a sigh, she pushed her phone back into her pocket.

"What is going on in here!?" She clicked quickly from resus on hearing the commotion in reception, to find Charlie, who stood speechless at the sight in front of him.

"Stag."

"Yes, I can see that. Get them out."

"I can't just-"

"OUT, Charlie!"

She stalked quickly from the waiting area, and slammed the door of her office shut behind her. This shift was a nightmare, there was absolutely no way she could do this for a fortnight. She took her phone from her pocket, still no new messages from Jacob. He had said he would call her this evening, and Spain was only one hour ahead. She doubted very much that he would have gone to bed already.

"Mrs Beauchamp?" Noel knocked and then stuck his head around the door.

"For goodness' sake, WHAT NOW?"

"I'm sorry but um, there's a call for you-"

"I'm not going out there, put them through to the phone in here."

Seconds after Noel had left, the button on the phone at her desk lit up, and she picked it up, irritated and lacking patience.

"Mrs Beauchamp."

"Hey, sexy." Connie's face widened into a smile on hearing his voice.

"What...why didn't you just ring my mobile?"

"Well you didn't answer my text, did you sweet cheeks? So I thought maybe a phone call at reception could divert your attention for a few minutes. And you sound like you need it, that was a very stroppy-"

"Oh, shut up." She laughed, settling back in her chair.

"Nice. I take time out of my holiday to call you and that's what you say to me?" Jacob laughed softly. Though it was dark outside, the stars were shining brightly and he sat beside the gently lapping ocean, imagining Connie was beside him. "How's everything going there?"

Connie just replied with a sigh, resting her head back against the chair.

"That bad? The new shoes not helping?"

Connie glanced down at them and gave a slight smile. "Well, they're helping a little. Are you having a nice time?"

"I'm wishing you were here with me," Jacob replied smoothly.

"Oh, very likely," Connie offered sarcastically. "I don't think I'd fit in very well on a stag holiday, frankly."

"I could keep you hidden in my hotel room and you could lie in bed all day until I get back?"

"That sounds perfect." Connie allowed her eyes to drift shut, forgetting where she was for the tiniest moment.

"And if you were wearing the same as you wore this morning..."

"I wasn't wearing anything this morning." Connie reminded him, smiling herself when she heard him laugh. "I'd better get back to work, but now I know you're going to check up on me I promise to answer your text unless I'm elbow deep in something."

...

"Or someone." She muttered to herself, blood spilling over onto her scrub top as she struggled to stem the flow of it from this man's arm. It was an absolute mess, yet still there had been no call from upstairs.

"What was that?" Dylan stood on the opposite side, assisting. She looked up quickly before turning her attention back to the patient.

"Nothing." Oblivious to Dylan's raised eyebrow and pointed look as if to suggest otherwise, she continued to pull out clots and glass from the arm, groaning as blood flicked from her fingers and onto her foot.

"Problem?"

She ignored him, and the machine next to the bed stopped bleeping quite so rapidly. She called over to a nurse, before stripping away her gloves and motioning to the patient.

"Upstairs, now."

"But-"

"Oh, tell them I don't care."

"You coming in, J?"

"Yeah, five minutes." He was still sat outside, having left the group in the bar of the hotel which sat quite a comfortable walk from the sea.

"Alright. Send her a goodnight kiss from me, yeah?"

Jacob rolled his eyes at Tom's teasing, looking out once again at the sky above him. He took his phone from where he had placed it next to him, smiling as he saw a notification from her, along with an image file. He opened it, and chuckled as he saw the shoes, along with calves crossed elegantly over each other under her desk.

Night, sweet cheeks.

Connie felt her phone vibrate in her pocket as she stripped off the soiled gloves, but she was forced to wait a few minutes to check it. Fresh clothes finally on, Connie finally unlocked her phone and smiled at the message.

Night, Muscles.