Bonnie Sveen Fan, I liked Sebastian, but he really was an idiot at times! He's very lucky things turned out so well for him. I didn't know Big Mac wrote letters to Kelsey - that sounds quite creepy! Rita probably won't find it creepy that Iain did the same thing, but she probably won't be happy. Thank you for your review.
westlife4ever80, I think you like Dylan whatever he does! Not that I blame you at all. He's gorgeous! He was the answer to a crossword question I did yesterday. 'First name of the gruff but caring Dr Keogh'. It's always nice to see someone appreciating Dylan! Thank you for your review.
Tanith Panic, I'm not sure if Ethan had guts or if he was too upset to care what he was saying. I imagine Noel will tell everyone about Ethan's prescription pad and stethoscope! I'm afraid Cal did need to catch Taylor. If he hadn't, I'd have had to think up a replacement plot and I hate having to do that! Thank you for your review.
Lily sat outside in the cool air and told herself she was not going to cry.
The fact Ash wasn't interested in her wasn't a disaster. There were plenty more doctors in the ED.
But the truth was she'd always rather admired Ash. He was an excellent doctor and she secretly loved the way he always questioned her. It was a bit irritating at times, but she was beginning to think it was good for her. It helped her to question her own decisions too, rather than assuming she was always right. At medical school, she almost always had been right and she'd got used to that, but real life in the ED was very different from simulated role-play.
She heard footsteps and someone sat down beside her. "Are you all right, Lily?"
Lily turned and saw David. It was strange the way he was always there when she was upset, but it was nice. No-one else really bothered with her now. Alicia might have worried about her, but Lily wouldn't have appreciated that. As Alicia's mentor, she believed she should display no weakness whatsoever and she would be ashamed to let her mentee see her upset.
She would normally also have been ashamed for a nurse to see her upset, but it was different with David. She knew he sympathised, but there was something respectful in his sympathy. He certainly didn't pity her or think less of her for being sad.
David handed her a tissue and said: "The wind is stinging my eyes a bit too."
Lily dabbed her eyes. "Thank you."
They sat in silence for a while. A lot of people didn't like David's silences, but Lily didn't see the point of filling a silence when there was nothing to say.
"There are a lot of people in there," observed David. "When the ED is busy, it doesn't matter so much. I usually know what to do." He smiled slightly. "In a social situation, everything is less clear."
"I agree completely," said Lily. "Social interaction is not an exact science and is therefore extremely difficult to learn if you have no instinctive aptitude for it. I have none." She surprised them both again when she said: "I really thought Dr Ashford liked me."
"I thought he liked you too," said David.
"He asked me once if I'd consider dating an older man," said Lily. "Presumably, it was a general question. But I thought it meant he was interested in me."
"I would have made the same assumption," said David simply.
Lily smiled at him gratefully and thought what a shame it was David was only a nurse.
Louise finished making the call and knelt down beside Sebastian. "Have you had a response?"
Dylan shook his head. "None whatsoever. Do you know how soon the ambulance will arrive? He's already lost a lot of blood."
"ETA about ten minutes." Louise felt for his pulse. "He's tachycardic – his pulse is well over 100. It might be naturally fast, but I think Seb's probably in quite good shape physically – he does cycle to work."
Dylan looked at her curiously, but he said nothing.
"It is odd that he's showing signs of shock already though," said Louise, as she went to get a chair. "He must have suffered internal bleeding when he fell, or possibly even at the same time as he injured his head."
"What are you doing with that chair," said Dylan, as he continued to put pressure on Sebastian's head wound.
"I thought I'd put his legs up on it to help encourage bloodflow to the heart," said Louise. "Though we do need to examine his legs first. One of his legs was slightly buckled underneath him, so it's possible he has a fracture."
"Yes. Please do that," said Dylan. He gave her another look. "You obviously know what you're doing."
"I've… done first aid courses," said Louise awkwardly. "All receptionists do them."
"I think you've done a bit more than that," said Dylan.
Ethan felt silly for crying, especially when so many of his colleagues were here, but he really was gutted.
He couldn't have messed up more if he'd tried.
"Hey, Nibbles!" said a voice he really didn't want to hear.
Not that Ethan really wanted to hear anyone's voice at the moment.
"We won the dance contest!" said Cal happily. He was walking towards Ethan, Taylor at his side.
"Great," said Ethan, trying to keep his voice steady. "Well done."
Cal frowned down at him. "What are you sitting down there for?" He bent down to Ethan's level. "Are you crying?"
"No," said Ethan, and sniffed.
Taylor walked over and sat down beside Ethan. "You must be Ethan. Cal's told me a lot about you."
Ethan wiped his eyes. "I'm afraid most of it's probably true."
Taylor touched his knee. "He's only said nice things. He says you're younger than him, but you're a much better doctor and although he's jealous, he really admires you."
"Taylor!" said Cal, going red.
"I'm only trying to cheer him up," said Taylor.
"And it's working. Thank you," said Ethan, managing to smile.
Cal sighed. "Taylor, could you give me a minute with my brother, please?"
"Sure," said Taylor. "I'll go and network. Perhaps Mrs Beauchamp will be able to make a donation to my charity. I hope you'll feel better soon, Ethan."
"Thank you," said Ethan politely, but he was concerned. "What charity?" he asked when Taylor had gone.
Cal's face lit up. "Taylor's got her own charity. She helps disadvantaged kids. It sounds so amazing and I was really hoping you might…" He stopped with a visible effort. "But don't worry about that now. Why are you crying?"
"I'm not," said Ethan, sniffing again. "I mean… um… I hurt Honey. I tried to twirl her and I hurt her wrist. She was very upset and Noel took her home."
Cal started to laugh, but he stopped himself very quickly. "I'm sorry, Nibbles. But I'm sure it'll be okay. Honey's very forgiving."
Ethan looked sadly at his big brother. "But do I deserve to be forgiven? I'm supposed to treat injuries. Not cause them."
"Ethan, it was an accident!" said Cal, putting his arm around him. "Accidents happen. If they didn't, we wouldn't have a job. I'm sure Honey doesn't blame you."
"I think she might do," said Ethan.
"I'm sure she'll get over it," said Cal. "Honey really likes you. She's just shocked and upset and in pain. Wait and see how things are when you go back to work."
"But Honey doesn't work at the ED anymore," said Ethan. "She's got her own salon."
Cal looked embarrassed. "Oh. Yeah. I forgot about that."
"Everyone forgets things sometimes," said Ethan. Cal had been very kind to him, so he could afford to be generous. "Do you really think she'll forgive me?"
"I'm sure she already has," said Cal.
Zoe stared at Max in disbelief. "What?"
"Will you marry me?" said Max, reaching for her hands.
"Are you serious?" said Zoe.
"Of course I am!" said Max. "I'd never joke about something like this. I love you. There'll never be anyone else. I love you, Zoe, and I want to marry you."
"But I'm so much older than you," said Zoe.
Max shrugged. "I don't care about that. You're perfect for me."
"And you hate the fact I earn more money than you."
"But I'm also really proud of you," said Max.
Zoe smiled slightly when he said that, but then she continued: "And I can't have children."
"That doesn't matter," said Max. "You're enough, Zoe. More than enough."
"Max, I'm really not sure that's entirely complimentary."
Max was slightly confused. "It was supposed to be."
"Yes…" said Zoe.
Max looked at her in relief. "I'm glad I didn't offend you. I'd never want to do that."
"No… yes!" said Zoe.
"No yes what?"
"Yes, I'll marry you!" said Zoe.
Max took her in his arms and kissed her.
Iain had been feeling guilty about the Freddy deception for a while. When he saw the look of hurt and complete shock on Rita's face, he felt a million times worse.
Rita was shaking her head disbelievingly. "No. it can't be true. It can't."
"I'm sorry," said Iain, but he knew it wouldn't help. It wouldn't change the fact Rita genuinely loved the idea of Freddy he'd helped her to build up in her mind.
"That's it?" said Rita. "You're sorry?"
"I'm… really sorry," said Iain.
Rita made a sound of disbelief.
"I know that's not enough," said Iain. "I know there's nothing I could say that's enough. But I am sorry, Rita. I never intended for it to get this far or for your feelings to get this strong. It was just a joke."
"Why would you do that?" asked Rita, her eyes filling with tears.
Iain wanted to hug her, but he knew she'd probably hit him and he really wouldn't blame her. "It was a joke."
"Yeah, I bet you all had a good laugh over it!" said Rita.
"Maybe at first," admitted Iain. "But the more into it you seemed to be…"
"The funnier you found it!" snapped Rita.
"No, Rita. It wasn't like that. I felt awful about what I was doing."
"But not awful enough to stop it!" said Rita, swiping angrily at her eyes. "Not awful enough to tell me what was going on."
"But how could I have told you?" said Iain. "It would have broken your heart, Rita. I didn't want that."
"You don't think it breaks my heart even more this way?" said Rita.
Iain looked at her sadly and held out his arms, but Rita turned and hurried away.
Robyn felt awful. Lofty was being a gentleman as usual, happily blaming himself for the fact their dance hadn't gone well, but she knew the truth.
It was her fault because she was fat.
Lofty was so handsome. He had lovely, curly hair and the most amazing blue eyes. He could have any girl he wanted. He might think he wanted Robyn now, but he could do so much better.
She looked at Lofty, who was chatting to Jez, Jack and Jamie. Robyn found she was edging closer.
"Not that great, to be honest," said Lofty. "I really don't think it's going to work out."
"How come?" asked Jamie sympathetically.
"Too heavy," said Lofty.
Robyn left the venue in tears.