Monday Morning
It had only been two days since her first scan, but Zosia was over the moon about the baby. She thought of the little boy or girl, to be the first addition to her family that she could create. Before, it had just been her. No one else, except her estranged father, but now she could create her own family.
It was 8:50am and Zosia had arrived said bit early for her shift as usual so she could get changed, put her things in her locker and then look over the theatre list to see where she could attempt to get the most time in theatre as possible throughout the day. Just as she arrived in the locker room, she found a note stuck on her locker:
F1 Office now.
Zosia decided that she could get changed after the meeting so she put her bag on top of the lockers and left the locker room. On her way to the consultants office, her heart skipped a beat when she realised that I could possibly be a meeting to discuss her career choices for the future with her three mentors. But then, she supposed, it would make it easier for her rather than for her to have to go and ask them.
She knocked on the door, before she entered the office to find Mo Effanga laughing as she looked at Jac Naylor's phone. Elliot Hope was nowhere to be seen.
"What's so funny?" Zosia queried as she closed the door behind her.
"Look what Jonny Mac bought for the baby." Mo smiled as she took Jac's phone and showed her a picture of three baby suits.
One said: 'All Daddy wanted was a blowjob!', the second said: 'I'm with the MILF.', and the third one said: 'If you think I'm cute, you should see my mummy.'
"You're not actually going to dress your daughter in those are you?" Zosia queried as she tried not to laugh.
"Trust me, I'm not dressing my daughter in anything, that Jonny buys." Jac stated as she took her phone back from Mo. "Right, what are your career plans?" Jac asked bluntly.
"My career plans?" Zosia questioned.
"Yeah, when you're waddling around like me and then once you've had the baby because you've only got a rotation here on Darwin for the next 4 and a half months." Jac explained.
"Oh um... I hadn't really, planned it yet." Zosia admitted.
"Good job we've got an idea for you then eh?" Jac said smugly as he she rubbed her hands on her massive 39 week bump.
"What?" Zosia said confusedly.
"Right, for your F2 year, you're required to do 3 months on one speciality, 3 months on another, and 6 months." Mo began. "And there aren't a lot of wards in the country that you would be able to have a baby, and still pass your F2 year because you wouldn't be able to bring the baby to work with you, and you'd probably be forced on maternity leave."
"Right, so what's your idea?" Zosia asked sheepishly.
"How would you like to spend the next 16 and a half months on Darwin?" Mo smiled.
"How? I can't, can I?" Zosia replied.
"Well, you could do the rest of your rotation on here for your F1 year, then for your F2 year, you're allowed to do things in the same speciality, so how about, you do 3 months working on transplant, 3 months working on cardiothoracics, and 6 months working on cardiovascular?" Mo suggested. "That way you'd be staying on Darwin the whole time."
"And you'd be able to bring your baby to work, and as long as he or she isn't a toerag, they could stay in here and I could look after it with my one when you're busy." Jac explained. Zosia was gobsmacked. Surely it wasn't possible for everything to be going right in her life? She'd be able to have a family, no travel expenses so she'd have more money to buy her own flat, along with keeping her career on track.
"Really?" Zosia choked eventually.
"Well as long as Elliot's okay with it, and I'm sure he will be, it's a done deal." Jac replied smugly. "But you'll have to tell him about the pregnancy sooner rather than later." Jac added.
"And I you will have to put up with her for a long time." Mo added as she pointed to Jac who smiled sarcastically.
"That would be amazing, thank you so much." Zosia said as she hugged Mo.
"Your welcome." Mo smiled as she rubbed her hand up and down Zosia's back. They soon pulled away and Zosia looked at Jac.
"Don't even think about hugging me." Jac stated.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Zosia smiled. "Why're you being so kind to me?" Zosia asked.
"Well you've been good to me-" Jac began before being interrupted.
"What she means is, you always got her cravings for her." Mo laughed. "So, think you can bare spending more time with us?" Mo joked. Then the door knocked and Elliot entered, he was slightly confused as to why the three women were gathered in the office but he sat down as his desk. Mo and Jac both glanced at Zosia and she knew what they wanted her to do.
"Um... Professor." Zosia said as she approached her desk. "I need to tell you something." She began.
"Right." He said but Zosia didn't continue. "What is it?" He queried softly, sensing that the subject she intended to speak about wasn't one she was confident about.
"Um, I'm... I'm pregnant." She stated eventually.
"Oh... Right." Elliot couldn't think of what to say.
"Did you read the email from Guy?" Jac asked. She of course meant the one where he had told them that Zosia was going to be doing overtime from now on, and that now Elliot, Jac and Mo were her mentors, rather than just her previous one.
"Yes, yes." Elliot replied.
"Well, I'm going to be organising her rotations for the her F2 year so she can spend it on Darwin." Jac stated.
"Oh..." Elliot said awkwardly. He couldn't understand why she was being nice to the F1 for once, but maybe pregnancy was making her go soft.
"So you're okay with that?" Mo queried.
"Yes yes of course, as long as it all played by the books that's no problem." Elliot replied.
"Well that's that sorted." Jac concluded. "You, go and start the ward round." Jac ordered to Mo. "And you, go and get two hot chocolates with cream." Jac ordered as she waved a ten pound note at Zosia. She smiled before she took the money and then left the office.
Happily, Zosia headed down in the lift to the cafe on the ground floor but unfortunately, her father got in the lift with her.
"Morning." Guy smiled.
"Morning." Zosia said civilly. Thankfully the lift soon arrived and she went straight up to the cafe because there wasn't a queue. Annoyingly, her father joined behind her.
"Two hot chocolates with cream, to go, please." Zosia ordered one of the workers.
"Double expresso to go." Guy ordered to the second woman. Zosia shot a glance at her father, she could only hope that her hot chocolates came first but unfortunately, the coffee was handed straight to him. The smell of it hit her nostrils and immediately, Zosia ran to the toilets just next to the stair well. Worriedly, Guy placed his coffee on the counter before he chased after her.
He opened the bathroom door and poked his head around to check that there weren't any other women in there and he heard his daughter vomiting. He went to the cubicle with an open door and saw her bending over with both hands on her stomach as she retched. As soon as she felt a hand on her back, she tensed up even more.
"Guy, go away." She ordered as she caught her breath back. She flushed the toilet and then pushed past him to the sinks so she could look at herself in the mirror.
"Are you pregnant?" He asked and Zosia hung her face in her hands. "Zosia?" He queried, but in a softer tone as he put a hand on her back.
"I'm not getting rid of it if that's what you want." Zosia stated.
"No, no." He laughed slightly. "Of course I don't want you to get rid of it. Sweetheart, I'm happy for you." He said as he pulled Zosia into a hug. She enjoyed his comfort for mere seconds before she pulled away from him.
"This doesn't change anything that's happened." Zosia stated before she stormed out of the toilets towards the lift. Unfortunately, it was on the top floor of the building so she couldn't yet get in it.
"Zosia, let me get you that hot chocolate yeah, we can sit down a have a chat. Please?" He begged.
"No, I need to get a hot chocolate for Miss Naylor." Zosia remembered as she went away from the lift an into the small queue. Guy turned around and saw Harry Tressler walking in the entrance.
"Dr Tressler." He announced and Harry quickly, and eagerly approached his boss.
"Yes Mr self.
"Get a hot chocolate with cream, and take it up to Darwin for Jac Naylor. Tell her it's from Zosia and she's on a break, and you can keep the change." He ordered as he handed Harry a fiver from his blazer pocket. Harry nodded before he got the hot chocolate from the cafe and then queued for the lift. "Go and sit at one of the tables, I'll get your drink for you." He smiled. Reluctantly, Zosia turned around and sat at the table for two that was furthest away from the cafe so she didn't accidentally get a whiff of coffee.
Guy placed a hot chocolate with whipped cream in front of Zosia, and then sat down opposite her with a cup of sweet tea. He had intended to get the coffee for a well needed caffeine boost, but instead, he settled for a sugary tea to give him a bit of extra energy.
"So, how far gone are you?" He asked.
"I'll be 9 weeks tomorrow." Zosia stated as she licked the cream off of the stirrer.
"And does anyone else know?" He queried.
"Mr T, Jac Naylor and Mo Effanga." Zosia stated.
"Right Zosia, I know I've made a hell of a lot of mistakes but surely now is a better time than any, for me and you to start again? No?" He queried. "Zosia, your mother would be so proud of you." He added.
"What, even though the father isn't going to be involved and I was drunk?" She queried.
"Zosia, to be perfectly honest, you weren't planned either. But you were the best thing that ever happened to me and Mama." He explained. "The one regret I have, is not spending enough time with you." He admitted. "And I can't apologise enough of how sincerely I feel about that Zosia. But I want to change that now. Please? Can we just start again?" He queried as he held his hand out to her.
"It's going to take a lot more than a little chat and a hot chocolate to earn forgiveness." Zosia stated as she stirred the cream around and stared at her drink, rather than her father.
"I know that Zosia. But look, and I promise I'm not bribing you, you can keep this whether you forgive me or not. But to help with your student loan, and so that you don't have to do overtime." He said as he took out his cheque book from his briefcase.
"Guy-" Zosia said sternly.
"I mean it Zosia, you'll need financial help, I know you will." He stated as he wrote the cheque. "Here." He said as he handed her the slip of paper. She gasped at the cheque's amount: £100,000.
"Dad I-" she began
"Dad?" He smiled, finally, she wasn't calling him by his first name. She smiled and she blushed a little from embarrassment. "Take it Zosia, it's only sitting in the bank. You'll need it." He smiled.
"Are you sure?" She queried. She wanted more than anything to take that money because as he said, she would definitely need it to raise her son or daughter and pay the bills at the same time.
"Of course I am." He laughed softly. Zosia looked at the cheque once more before she folded it in half and then put it in her coat pocket. "Why don't you move back into our home?" He suggested.
"You still have it?" She queried. He of course meant the 5 bedroom home, well it was more of a mansion, that they had in Holby. Zosia had been born in that house in her mother and father's bedroom, and she had loved there until she went to uni, after which she moved out once her mother had died.
"Course I do. I'd never sell it. Look you could have the entire 1st floor for you and your baby. There's your old bedroom, the spare bedroom and the ensuite bedroom so you could have a nursery, a playroom, and a bedroom for you." He explained. "Zosia please, this could be great for us, you wouldn't have to worry about paying rent and I'd be able to look after your little one when you want to go out. There'd be plenty of space for you to be by yourself." Guy begged.
"Can I think about it?" Zosia asked.
"Yes, of course you can. Just give me a ring when you want to meet up or whatever." Guy said as he pulled one of his business cards out and gave it to her so she'd have his number.
"Thanks for the cheque and the drink." Zosia smiled as she stood up and took the rest of her hot chocolate with her, she made her way to the lift and was surprised when her father came up behind her.
"Oh did I forget to tell you? I'm on Darwin today." He smiled.
Later on in the day, Zosia was in theatre with Elliot so Guy decided to make use of the opportunity. "Miss Effanga, could you come with me to the consultants office please?" He asked.
"Sure." Mo replied and she headed to the consultants office where she opened the door to find Jac putting on black leather heels whilst sitting on the sofa. "Pfft, you're having a laugh ain't you?" Mo laughed as she and Guy entered the dark room.
"Shut up, as long as they're only 2 inches tall, they're meant to help my back according to the internet." Jac grumbled as she stood up.
"Miss Naylor, why are we in the dark?" Guy asked.
"Because pregnancy has turned her into a vampire." Mo stated. "She hates bright lights." Mo translated.
"Right..." Guy smirked. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you two ladies if you- well it's kind of awkward, I'd like you to do something for me, but I don't want Zosia to find out that I asked you to do it." Guy explained and Jac and Mo both looked at each other like he was asking them to so something dirty.
"Mr Self, I'm in my third trimester so anything of that sort-"
"Don't be ridiculous." Guy ordered. "I meant a baby shower for Zosia." He stated.
"Ohhhh." Jac said awkwardly. She stood up off of the sofa and groaned as she pressed her hands into her spine.
"You okay?" Mo asked.
"Oh yeah just fine. Not like I'm carrying an extra 40lbs on my stomach. Oh look who put that there?" Jac said sarcastically as she gestured her bump which made Guy and Mo smirk as she groaned once she sat down in her office chair.
"We'd be happy to do it." Mo smiled, though she and Jac were a little surprised that Zosia had told him.
"Would we now?" Jac said sarcastically.
"Yes we would." Mo said sternly.
"Well it wouldn't be for another few weeks or maybe even a few months. I want to wait until she's told people but I know she hasn't got any particular best friends because she's just, that sort of person." Guy explained. "And there is one thing, I'm sure her mother, would want to keep the Polish tradition that it's bad luck to buy anything for the baby so all gifts would either have to be for Zosia, or money." He stated.
"Okay. Leave it in the capable hands of me and Jac. Well, leave it with me." Mo corrected as she knew that Jac would do little to help.
"Thank you. Oh and I want it to take place in my home, in the living room. So don't worry about venue and there's plenty of space. Actually there is one more thing. Zosia kind of lost touch with all of her friends when her mother died because she didn't want to be reminded of anything from her past, but I'm sure she'd like a few of her friends to come. I've got a list of names and I was hoping, that maybe you'd be able to track them down?" He queried as he took out a small scrap bit of paper with three names on.
"Sure." Mo smiled as she took the bit of paper.
"Oh and, for the invites, here's... My... Address." Guy said as he wrote it down on Jac's notepad on her desk. Guy's pager went off suddenly. "Right, I've got to go but keep me informed." He said quickly before he ran off.
"Why did you say yes?" Jac moaned.
"Because no one else will throw it for her will they?" Mo stated. "Besides, by the time we have the baby shower, you'll be able to bring your daughter and everyone will be aawwing and cooing at her." Mo smiled.
"Like hell is anyone touching my baby." Jac stated.
"Jonny?" Mo queried.
"Depends." Jac replied sheepishly.
"So... Any signs of labour yet?" Mo queried curiously.
"Like?"
"Shows?"
"Maybe." Jac said sheepishly.
"And have you told Jonny that?"
"Course I bloody haven't, if I told him he'd just say that I'm disgusting and he didn't need to know that." Jac stated.
"You do realised that your bump has dropped right?"
"What?" Jac said as she looked down self consciously at her bump.
"It's dropped. Which is probably why your back is worse, and that means she's almost here." Mo smiled.
"Don't remind me." Jac moaned. Mo laughed before she realised she was due in theatre and excused herself.