Max woke the next day, his head banging and the other half of his bed empty. Zoe had taken the spare room, and not wanting to upset her anymore than was needed he had left her there, tears still staining her cheeks and her hand bleeding - she'd lashed out at a glass while they'd been having dinner and she'd gone to bed without eating or dressing the cut. Sighing, Max heaved himself out of bed, resting his head in his hands. He didn't want to call Charlie, but the prospect of dealing with a angry, grieving Zoe was not a pleasant one. He stood up and padded down the corridor to the room where Zoe was sleeping and pushed the door open, frowning when he saw the empty bed.

"Zoe?" He called down the stairs, briefly checking the bathroom before going to down to the kitchen. As he continued searching the house, a wave of apprehension rose inside him - Zoe was no where to be seen.

"Zoe?" He grabbed a t-shirt and headed out into the street, a couple of passerbys looking at him oddly. He frantically dialled her number, hugging himself against the cold morning air as he waited for her to pick up. "Come on, come on." He muttered, cursing as it went through to voicemail. "She's just gone to hers. Calm down." Max muttered to himself, jumping in his car and heading to Zoe's apartment. Grabbing the spare key from under the mat, he let himself in, making a point of being loud in case she was asleep. "Zoe? Zoe, this isn't funny." He took the stairs two at a time, checking every room twice. Once it became clear the apartment was empty, he rang Charlie, desperately praying Zoe had gone to work or round to Charlie's, somewhere people could look after her and stop her doing something stupid.

"Hello?" After several long seconds, Charlie's voice came through the phone and Max nearly cried in relief.

"Charlie! It's Max, Zoe's car's missing, she's not at her apartment, I can't find her anywhere." Max had locked the door and hastily jumped in his car, still only dressed in boxers and a t-shirt, and was now driving towards the ED while frantically surveying the surroundings for Zoe.

"What do you mean? When did you last see her?" Charlie beckoned Tess over, mouthing "Zoe's missing", before turning back to the phone. "Max?"

"Yeah, it was last night, she cut her hand and went to bed but she wasn't there this morning." Max hung up as he pulled into the hospital car park, checking the bench, Zoe's smoking spot, the gardens, anywhere he thought she could be holed up before heading inside. He was met by a frantic Charlie and a reassuring Tess, who was attempting to keep Charlie from calling the police.

"Charlie, Zoe's an adult, she's probably just gone to clear her head. I think we should all just calm-"

"She's Zoe, who knows what she's done." Charlie turned round as he caught sight of Max at the entrance. "What the hell were you thinking, leaving her on her own?" He was practically spitting as he passed a stunned Max on his way out. Max turned to look at Tess, arms spread wide in disbelief at Charlie's uncharacteristic outburst.

"How was I meant to know she'd do this?" His raised voice was beginning to attract attention and Tess quickly ushered him into the relatives room, shutting the door behind them quickly.

"Ignore Charlie. He's just very protective of her, I think he feels partly responsible for her, especially now Nick's gone." Tess' voice caught momentarily, and Max looked away as she composed herself. "She'll just be getting her head together, that's all." Tess paused, smiling at him. "I'm glad she's got you." Max looked up confused, hastily wiping his eyes. "Things got messy with Nick, and before that, and I think she just needs someone to rely on."

"How do you mean, messy?" Max knew there had been problems with Nick and with - Matt, that was his name - but Zoe had been very vague about the details.

"I'm not sure it's my place to say. But I think, I hope, it'll be different with you." Tess rested a comforting hand on his back before leaving him to his thoughts and heading back out to the department. Despite being incredibly worried for her younger colleague, she didn't want the entire ED knowing that Zoe was verging on what was, as far as Tess could see, a breakdown. It wasn't surprising really - the helicopter crash, quitting, Max, Nick returning, Nick dying - everything in Zoe's life appeared to have exploded in just a short space of time. She glanced over to Resus and saw Connie watching her closely through the glass doors, her eyes slightly narrowed. Sighing, she turned back - if Connie knew something was wrong, it wouldn't be long until others started noticing. Distracted for a minute, she didn't notice her phone ringing until it was almost to late.

"Tess, finally." Charlie's voice came through, crackling slightly. "I can't find her anywhere. She's not in any of the usual places, Sharice doesn't know where she is, I don't know who else to ask."

Tess bit her lip, trying to keep calm for both of them. "She's only been gone two or three hours Charlie. Have you -" she took a deep breath," have you checked the bridge?" When Zoe and Nick had split for the second time, Zoe had gone AWOL, and Tess had found her swinging her legs off the bridge leading out of Holby. Tess didn't think she'd meant anything by it, she'd just wanted to escape everyone for a bit, but it had given Nick in particular a huge shock.

"No, I didn't think about it. Tess, you don't think-"

"No, I don't. Last time she was there she wasn't going to- she wasn't going to do anything stupid. She just wanted a break. It's the same thing." Tess lowered her voice as Connie approached her. "We'll be there in twenty."

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I think I'm going to finish this one in a chapter or two, I can't really put poor Zoe through anymore! R&R would be lovely y'all x