Fifty minutes later, Connie and Grace sat on the plane, anxious to take off. Connie sat at the window, her nails tapping nervously against the glass, next to her daughter whose head rested gently against her shoulder. She had been assured, before she left the ED, that Jacob had been taken to theatre and would probably be in recovery upon their arrival. She had looked up the distance from the airport to the hospital, thankfully it was all relatively central so transport wouldn't be a problem. She hoped.

"He'll be okay, Mum." Grace turned her head to her mum, and Connie gently stroked Grace's head in response. She then decided she simply couldn't keep quiet any longer, she was too excited and they needed something happy to talk about. "Mum, do you think it was a ring?"

"What, darling?"

"In the box! I think it was a ring..."

"Oh Grace, I highly doubt... We've not talked about it at all-"

"We have." At this, Connie's head turned sharply to her daughter.

"You've what?"

Grace gave a shrug, a little embarrassed now. "I asked him what his intentions were."

Despite the feelings currently swirling around inside her mind, Connie managed a smile at this. "I think you've been watching too many movies."

"That's what Jacob said. Then he teased me, asking if I wanted to be called Grace Beauchamp-Strachan-Masters. Then I got cross with him, and he said that he'd never met anyone like you before. I asked him if he wanted to marry you, and he said he'd never be able to afford thing sort of ring you deserve."

Connie found that her heart did a strange flip then. She'd never even considered getting married again, not even when she'd started dating Jacob, but the thought that he'd considered it-

"I told him I thought you'd be happy with whatever ring he chose. You would be, wouldn't you mum?" Grace questioned, turning to look at her mother.

Connie was saved from answering by the beginning of the safety demonstration, and spent the rest of the flight trying not to think of Grace's words.

"Where's Jacob Masters?" Connie snapped at the receptionist as soon as they arrived at the hospital, but she was only met with a blank stare. "Where is the recovery ward?" Connie tried to speak slower, frustrated, but was again met by a blank stare.

As soon as the plane had landed, Connie's phone was back on, but she'd received nothing. No update. This scared her more than anything.

Grace had tried to reassure her, saying that no news was probably good news rather than bad. She had said that the doctors wouldn't dare to expect her to arrive and find him worse than he had been when she had spoken to him in England.

The receptionist at the desk continued to stare at her, and she looked around her to see if there were any signs she could follow herself. There were, except she couldn't read them.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, Grace can you-"

"Grace?!"

The two of them turned around from the desk to see a man, who Connie recognised immediately as Tom.

"Connie. We're just waiting for a call from the theatre, they took him straight away as soon as he agreed to the anaesthetic. He refused to do anything until he saw you-"

"Right, unless you stop talking, you can leave. I don't want you anywhere near him."

"That's-" He immediately fell quiet at her expression, and led her from reception to the lift. Grace took her mother's hand, and squeezed it, looking up to her when she didn't squeeze back.

Her mother finally offered her a distracted smile as Tom them silently led her towards the recovery ward.

"He'll be okay, mum. I promise. Jacob is always okay." Grace tried to reassure her again, but knew that it fell on deaf ears. Her mother's mind was now so focused on Jacob that nothing anyone else said could get through.

"He'll be in there soon." Tom finally stopped and indicated to a large door. "He-"

"You can leave now, you're no longer needed." Connie snapped, ushering Grace towards a seat, though she herself stayed standing. "No, actually, you can go to your hotel and pack Jacob's things then bring them back here. Unless you're still too drunk to do that."

Grace attempted to offer Tom an apologetic grin as he lowered his head and walked away. "It's not his fault, mum."

"Who's fault is it, then?" Connie snapped, regretting it immediately as she saw the tears shine in her daughter's eyes. Sighing, she moved forward and pulled the girl from her seat and into her arms. "I'm sorry, Gracie. I'm just.." She went silent, struggling to find the right word.

"Scared?" Grace asked softly.

Connie finally nodded in response.

"Let's sit here, then we'll see him right when he comes out." Grace pointed to some plastic chairs that lined the walls of the ward, taking her mother's hand to lead her over. They sat down, Connie staring straight ahead except from whenever she heard a door swing open; her head would turn sharply to the side and Grace would forget to let out her breath. Half an hour later, there was still no sign of Jacob, or any other doctor on the ward for that matter.

"Grace Beauchamp-Strachan-Masters." Connie talked quietly, and laughed softly as the name rolled from her lips. Absolutely not; it was a list of men, some of whom she did love or had loved, and Grace didn't deserve the raised eyebrows and knowing looks that would pass between people. She hated the fact Grace was affiliated with Michael, but that was something that she could change... Maybe. If Grace wanted.

"It's awful, isn't it Mum? It takes me long enough to write Beauchamp-Strachan. Not to mention the silly spellings."

"Come here." Connie wrapped her arms around her daughter and rested her head on hers. She closed her eyes momentarily, she was scared as Grace had rightly judged, but also confused, and upset. Just then, a door opened and she heard the intense rattle of a bed being wheeled down the ward, and felt how her daughter leapt from her arms to stand, eyeing her mother in confusion as she stayed put.

"I don't-" Connie began, but before she could finish, though she wasn't sure what she'd intended to say, a harried looking nurse rushed through the doors.

"Mrs Beauchamp?" She questioned. When Connie gave no reply, Grace nodded for her.

"Is Jacob okay?" She asked, trying to sound confident and strong for her mother. Connie heard the wobble in her voice though, and reached out an arm to put it around her daughter's shoulders.

"You wait out here for a minute, sweetheart, while I go in and see how he is." Connie pulled Grace close and dropped a kiss to her head. Grace wanted to object, but knew now wasn't the time, so she just stood where she was and watched her mother's hesitant steps towards the recovery ward.