Tanith Panic, I miss Connie and Rita's tension too. I can't promise any tension of the Freechamp variety, but there will definitely be tension. I think David will be very good for Lily. He's lovely and he'd keep her away from hearses too. Lofty will feel even worse when he finds out what Robyn thought he'd said! Thank you for your review.

Bonnie Sveen Fan, thank you for your review. Connie might not have anything good planned for Rita yet, but I'm sure she'll think of something. I think you're right about David liking Lily! She is beautiful and she's behaving so much better than she has in Casualty recently.

Thank you to Tanith Panic for the follow and favourite.

Honey sat outside the hospital with a milkshake in her lap that wasn't nearly as nice as the milkshakes she'd made when she'd been the barista. Iain's little sister Gem had her job now and she wasn't nearly as good as Honey. She was always charging people the wrong amount or giving the wrong change. The only thing she could do better than Honey was resisting the urge to read all the interesting magazines.

It was fair to say Honey's beauty salon wasn't going to plan. She'd tried asking for more money, but Noel said he didn't have any. He'd sold his last action figure to buy Big Mac a bike. Honey still couldn't quite believe he'd done that. Big Mac was a liar and a thief and Honey didn't know what her dad saw in him, but she couldn't bear to break Noel's heart by telling him the truth about Big Mac.

But Honey knew she'd hardly been an example of shining honesty, herself. She'd told Noel has beauty salon was up and running, but that was only true in that she'd visited most of her ED friends at their homes and given various treatments at a significant discount because she felt guilty about charging her friends the full amount. As for Noel's money, she'd spent it on a massage bed, tanning equipment and paying for storage space to put it in. Oh, and lots of clothes. She'd told herself she needed a few new clothes to wear to the salon, but it had turned out to be a lot more than a few.

When someone sat beside Honey, she barely glanced at him. He wasn't Ethan, after all, and no man but Ethan was worth a look. Not that she'd spent much time looking at Ethan since he'd hurt her. She'd forgiven him by the next day, but whenever she saw him, he was always in a hurry.

"What's up?" said a voice Honey recognised straight away.

Honey tried to smile at Jack. "Nothing."

"Come on. You can tell me," said Jack. "I'm your guardian angel and I'm going to make all your dreams come true."

Honey knew that telling Jack her problems wasn't the best idea. He was almost certain to tell someone and the fact he worked on reception with Noel meant he found out most of Jack's secrets.

But Honey really needed to talk to someone and she found herself saying: "I wish I didn't have to worry about money. I wish I had a big, shiny, successful beauty salon. I wish I was booked up for months in advance and had queues going out the doors."

Just for a moment, it seemed to be true. Honey saw her friends all around her, all with three-inch false nails, elaborate hairstyles and skin so deeply tanned, you'd have thought they came from Brazil.

Either that or Essex.

"But are you sure that's what you want?" said Jack, as the images faded away. "No offence, but Big Mac's been on tramadol ever since you massaged his back. I know you didn't really cut Louise's hair for her: that was the only way the real salon could cover up the mess you made when you tried to put layers in her hair. And Dylan thought Tamzin had an exotic skin disease, which he was really excited about, till it turned out to be just a dodgy spray tan you'd given her."

"I did tell Tamzin not to touch her face!" said Honey indignantly. "It's not my fault if she doesn't follow instructions."

"Yeah, but can you see what I'm getting at?" said Jack. "You're not cut out to be a beautician, Honey. Go and get your barista job back. Trust me. You know I'm right."

Lily walked over to Alicia, trying not to be aware of the fact David was in earshot. "You're back. I am… very pleased."

Alicia beamed at her. "Thank you, Lily. I'm pleased to be back too."

"I hope you're feeling better now," said Lily. The words felt alien in her mouth. She wouldn't normally have bothered to say them, but she knew that was what David would say. Lily seemed to be paying unprecedented attention to everything David said.

"I'm feeling much better, thank you!" said Alicia, clearly delighted to be asked. "How are you, Lily?"

"I am very well. Thank you," said Lily. She tried to think what else to say, but she couldn't. "Shall we begin our work now?"

Alicia smiled. "I can't wait! I've missed working with you."

Lily couldn't help smiling back. When she and Alicia went to collect a file from David, she noticed he was smiling too.

She was surprised by how good it made her feel.

Ethan looked at Lofty doubtfully. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"It can't hurt," said Lofty. "Honey really likes you and she hasn't been looking very happy recently."

"Perhaps that's because she has a sprained wrist – which I caused," said Ethan wretchedly.

"I'm sure she knows it was an accident," said Lofty.

Ethan shook his head sadly. "I went to see her the day after I did it and Noel said she didn't want to see me. I phoned her the day after that, but Noel said she didn't want to speak to me."

Lofty looked at him expectantly. "What happened on the third day?"

"Well… nothing," admitted Ethan. "It was clear to me she didn't want to see me, so I didn't try speaking to her again."

"And you haven't seen her?" said Lofty sympathetically.

"Yes, I've seen her briefly," said Ethan. "But I always hide when I see Honey. If she doesn't want to see me, I can only respect that."

"Ethan, are you sure she doesn't want to see you?" said Lofty gently. "She's never said anything to you about it herself, after all."

Ethan felt his lip wobble. "I think that's the strongest proof there is: the fact Honey won't speak to me." Tears stung his eyes and quickly changed the subject. "How's it going with Robyn?"

Lofty sighed. "About as well as it's going for you and Honey. She won't speak to me. If I enter a room, she leaves it. Obviously, she'll work with me if she has to, but she won't speak to me otherwise. Max is a bit off with me too."

"Have you tried talking to her?" asked Ethan.

"I try every day," said Lofty, his eyes clouded. "But she won't tell me what I've done and I really have no idea. We danced together at the awards dinner and everything seemed great. But then something changed and I have no idea what it is."

Connie spoke peremptorily to Jacob as he passed. "Jacob, there's some vomit on the floor of Cubicle 2. Deal with it, please."

"I'm not your skivvy!" said Jacob, his eyes flashing with anger. "Not anymore." He turned and walked away, leaving Connie open-mouthed.

"Are you all right, Connie?" asked Rita.

Connie turned to glare at her. "I just asked your boyfriend to clean some vomit from the floor of a cubicle and he refused."

"It's not really a nurse's job," said Rita. "But I will find a cleaner for you."

"You don't need a cleaner," said Connie, trying not to enjoy the thought of Rita on her hands and knees with a sponge or however cleaners dealt with these matters. Connie had no idea: it was beneath her notice. "It's just a wipe-down."

"No," said Rita. "It's not my job."

"Jacob wasn't your boyfriend but that didn't stop you!" hissed Connie.

Rita spoke evenly. "I wasn't aware he was yours either. Excuse me, Connie." She walked away.

Connie was about to follow her, but a voice stopped her.

"Mum!" said Grace.

"What are you doing here?" said Connie.

"I came to see Jacob," said Grace. "Can't you just tell him you're sorry and try to work it out? I miss him."

Cal finished printing off the forms and wrote his name on the top one. "Jacob, you're into fitness and all that, aren't you?"

"It's one of the ways I like to burn off energy," said Jacob, flexing his muscles and leering in Rita's direction.

"How would you feel about signing up for a fun run?" said Cal. "My girlfriend Taylor has her own charity, providing medical care for children in disadvantaged countries."

"Running?" said Jacob.

"Yeah. Running," said Cal. "I bet Rita would love to see you running around in a vest and shorts."

Jacob looked tempted, but then he shook his head. "I think Rita would prefer to see me lying down and not in a vest and shorts."

"Come on, Jacob. It's for charity," said Cal.

"Do sponsored press-ups and then I might be interested," said Jacob. "But running… not really my thing."

I'm excited, Zoe told herself as she prepared to treat a faecal impaction.

I'm excited about marrying Max.

"Have you sorted out your bridesmaids yet?" asked Robyn, who was helping her.

Zoe knew it was a hint. "Not yet. I suppose I need to do that."

"Are you okay?" asked Robyn. She looked concerned.

Zoe gave her quick smile. "Yeah. Yeah, of course. Sorry. I need to concentrate for this bit."

"Of course," said Robyn.

Dylan had known going to visit Sebastian was a bad idea. He didn't see any particular reason to visit him, but Louise had said he should and Dylan was developing a unexpected habit of listening to everything Louise said. She was actually very articulate and she could deliver a sarcastic put-down with aplomb. Both qualities which Dylan appreciated in a person.

But he was even more sure it was a bad idea when Sebastian smiled at him.

"Sebastian," said Dylan awkwardly. "I just thought I should… see how you are."

Sebastian smiled even more widely. "Come in!" He put his hand on Dylan's arm and let it linger for longer than he needed to as he showed Dylan into the flat. "Sit down, Dylan. Can I get you a drink?"

"You're supposed to be resting," said Dylan. "You've only just got out of hospital. Perhaps I could make drinks."

Sebastian gazed at him. "You really care about me, Dylan, don't you?"