Less than an hour later, Zoe had discharged herself and was making her way slowly down to the ED. Max's shift finished in ten minutes, and if she times it right she could catch him as he was leaving. As she struggled to get down the stairs - she had no idea how patients coped with crutches - she caught sight of Max disappearing into the staff room. Before she could follow him however, Connie arrived in reception and saw her stranded in the middle of the stairs.

"Zoe, you should still be upstairs." Connie rushed over, holding a steadying hand on Zoe's back as they finally reached the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm fine, there's someone I have to talk to." Zoe was unsure about how much of her relationship with Max was public knowledge, and despite having become closer to Connie of late, she definitely would not have been the person Zoe chose to break the news to.

"I think he's talking to Charlie in the staff room." Connie smiled gently, giving Zoe's shoulders a light squeeze before heading off in the direction of cubicles. Zoe took a deep breath and made her way to the staff room, pausing only for a second before pushing open the door. Max and Charlie broke off from what seemed to be quite a heated debate and turned to look at her, and Zoe suddenly felt faint. Mentally shaking herself, she kept her eyes fixed on Max, who was looking everywhere except at her.

"Charlie, could you give us a minute?" Zoe smiled gratefully as Charlie nodded and left, closing the door quietly behind him. The following seconds dragged as Max continued to pace the length of the staff room and Zoe watched him, unsure of what to say.

"You shouldn't be here." Max broke the silence first, gesturing to the way Zoe was holding herself up against the wall.

"Yeah." Zoe inwardly cursed her sudden inability to form sentences, a wave of nausea washing over her as she did so.

"Jay seems nice." Max couldn't hide the jealously in his voice, and Zoe would have smiled had the comment taken place in any other conversation.

"He's just a friend. He knew me when I was a little more-" Zoe paused, unsure of what word to use "when I was younger." The longer the conversation went on for, the more unsteady she was becoming, and she gripped tightly onto the arm of the sofa.

"Like Nick did?" Max came to an abrupt halt, his voice laced with disdain. "Did Nick know you when you were younger? Was he just a friend?" Max slammed his fist against the lockers and Zoe flinched away from his sudden outburst.

"What happened with Nick is none of your business. It's finished, it doesn't matter any more." Zoe didn't understand why Max was bringing all this up now, what had happened with Nick had no bearing on her and Max.

"Of course it matters! Did you pretend not to care about him? Did you have to sneak around to be with him? Was he just a lowly porter?" Max had been moving closer and closer to Zoe throughout his tirade, and she was now pressed against the wall with him just centimetres away from her face. They stared at each other, both breathing heavily, Zoe almost in tears as she waited with baited breath to see what Max would do next. When he next spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper. "Did you love him?"

Zoe hesitated before nodding slowly, closing her eyes momentarily as Max clenched his jaw.

"Yes." Her voice was shaking but she had to make Max understand. "But Max, it all went wrong. Everything I care about seems to get messed up, even this place." She gestured to their surroundings. "I didn't want you to get hurt." Max turned away from her without another word and left the staff room, slamming the door behind him. Zoe felt herself slipping down the wall but forced herself to stay upright and follow Max - she couldn't let him go without him understanding first. Gritting her teeth, she abandoned her crutches and followed Max unsteadily out into reception. "Max, wait!" She grabbed onto the back of a chair for support, sensing the eyes of everybody in the area on her. Max turned around slowly, and Zoe took in his clenched fists as he spoke.

"That's pretty twisted Zoe. You think you're so special that people just throw themselves at you and not expect anything in return?" By now, most of the ED had heard the commotion and a crowd of staff members had gathered at the reception desk.

"No, that's not what I meant. I'm screwed up and I didn't want you involved in it because I-" she broke off, looking beseechingly at Max, willing him to understand what she was trying to say. Shaking his head, he turned away, and desperate not to see him go she ignored the voice in her head screaming about all the failed past relationships and attempts at love and whispered "because I love you."

As she did, several things happened at once. Max spun round and rushed towards her, Zoe finally gave into the faintness she had been feeling and collapsed and a tall figure in a suit appeared at the ED entrance, flowers in his hand and a look of amused confusion on his face.

Oooo! Who's the mystery man? I'll try and update again tonight to make up for yesterday, but please R&R y'all! X