Me again – sorry about the length of time between updates but they're proving to be quite long chapters so take some time to write. Hi-World there's news of Jac and Jil's last hurrah in this chapter, and a bit more to come too. These are really just to set the scene – there will be some more emotional stuff to come (and lots of Jac/Jonny interactions too, which I fear we're going to be sadly lacking in 'real' Holby at least for a little while). Hope everyone enjoys this – as ever please review.
Late Saturday Afternoon, Darwin
"Shouldn't you be in surgery?" a voice Jonny, who was writing up some patient notes, vaguely recognised, asked. As he span round in his chair, the voice continued, "Or was that phone call just a ploy to get Jac here so you could see her? That's it, isn't it? You tricked her into coming in because you've been missing her, and now you've got her locked in one of the store cupboards so you can have your wicked way with her, haven't you?!"
"Jil." Jonny exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"I think you'll find," Jil replied, leaning on the desk and grinning, "that I asked you that first. Sooo"
"So?" Jonny asked, confusion evident in his voice before the penny dropped. "Oh, right. Why am I not in surgery with Jac?"
"Yep."
"Because today I'm not appearing in my role as a theatre co-ordinator, but as a senior charge nurse, so I'm ward, rather than theatre based."
"Oh right." Jil replied, before continuing, still smiling "So you definitely haven't got Jac in a cupboard somewhere then?"
"Nope, I don't think she'd like it, and believe me, I'm sure you'd be able to hear her if I had." 'Although' he thought, but didn't add, 'the bit about me having my wicked way with her isn't so very far from the truth – in fact you couldn't be more right about that!'
"Oh, bang goes that theory then." Jil said. "Is it alright if I sit down?" she asked, indicating the chairs behind the nurse's station."
"Oh yeah, yeah of course" Jonny said hurriedly, standing up and pushing one towards her as she walked round. "Wow." He exclaimed, as he saw her full length for the first time, "Jac was not wrong!"
"What?" Jil said, as she sat down. "What's she been saying?"
"Erm, she erm" Jonny struggled to find the words to translate Jac's comments into something even remotely approaching acceptable, "erm, she said you'd erm….grown" was what he finally came up with.
"She called me fat didn't she?" Jil translated back into Jac-speak. "Cheeky mare! Just you wait till she's having a baby – I'm going to love getting my own back on her! Although, to be honest my bump does seem to have grown an extraordinary amount in the last two weeks – it's like I've been using a bicycle pump through my tummy button."
"So how are you otherwise" Jonny asked.
"Oh fine really – a bit of breathlessness every now and again, and I feel a bit dizzy sometimes if I stand up too quickly, but other than that everything's been fine. I didn't even really get morning sickness, although I tend to keep that to myself when I go to my ante-natal clinics – I've been so lucky compared to some of the women there. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine." Jonny replied. "Actually I'm much better than fine, which reminds me" he said standing up and walking the short distance to Jil's chair before bending down, taking her face in his hands and planting a large and noisy kiss on her forehead. Before saying, now crouching down in front of her chair, "Thank you so much!"
"Wow," Jil exclaimed, "what was that for? Not that I'm complaining, you understand – I always welcome kisses from tall, dark, handsome men, especially ones with Scottish accents, but...why?"
"I promised myself I would," Jonny answered, standing up, explaining further. "Jac told me it was your idea for us to go on that date, and well, you know how well that turned out for me. So a thank you kiss is the very least I think I owe you."
"Aww, Jonny – that's so cute! But I'm just glad everything's worked out so well – I haven't seen Jac this happy in ages, and she sooo deserves it. I can't tell you how pleased I am!"
"You don't really have to." Jonny replied, sitting down again. "The huge smile kind of gives it away"
"I know" Jil said, smiling even more, "but it's just so exciting. I'm a hopeless romantic me – Jac will tell you – and I've been waiting for her to meet a keeper again for ages. And now she has," she concluded simply, "it's just brilliant!"
"Mmm, it is a bit." Jonny agreed.
"Although, I do have a bone to pick with you," Jil said. "Football last time, TWO long days this weekend, if you're not careful I'm going to start to think you're trying to avoid me."
"Oh no, no, it's not that I promise you – it's just we're short-staffed this weekend and the trust is trying to cut the agency nurse bill, so I agreed to.."
"To play your resident role as Darwin's knight in shining armour" Jil interrupted, smiling. "I know, I was only joking. Jac explained that you were in KISA mode again this weekend."
"KISA?"
"Oh Jonny get with the programme - knight in shining armour!" Jil answered, shaking her head. "Which reminds me, I need you to don the glittery stuff for me at some point."
"Oh?"
"Yep, I need you to carry my bag in for me."
"But you've got your bag." Jonny objected, pointing at Jil's handbag, which she'd put down by her chair."
"No, my other bag," Jil explained. "Well it's more of a case really and I couldn't bring it down here, well I could have, but it's one of those wheelie ones and it's got a squeak and I didn't think your patients would appreciate it. And, well there's no way I can carry it at the moment," she said, stroking her bump, "so if you could get it, that'd be brilliant. Please."
"Of course," Jonny replied, standing up, "any problem you might have and I'm your KISA. Where did you leave it?"
"It's just by the inside of the ward doors," Jil answered, pointing down the corridor. "I did put it to one side, out of the way though, so nobody should have fallen over it," she called out as Jonny set off down the corridor.
"Flipping heck!" he said when he returned a short while later, "what've you got in here? The kitchen sink?" putting down the case on front of Jil.
"Not quite," Jil answered. "It's everything I need to take Jac away from all this" she said, indicating Darwin. "Well barring the taxi, obviously" she added as an afterthought.
"And are posh frocks part of this whole whisking her away from it all thing" Jonny asked, indicating the full length suit covers he had also brought down and draped over one of the empty chairs.
"Yep, actually they're an integral part of the plan." Jil answered, opening the canvas bag that had been hooked over the handles of the case and taking out a cool bag. "Supplies," she said, by way of explanation when she saw the curious look on Jonny's face. "Actually, could you do me another favour? Could you take this" she said, pointing at the case, "into Jac's office for me please. I don't need it anymore yet, and it might be a bit in the way stuck here."
"Of course," Jonny said, bending down to pick the case up again.
"It's alright, I'll take the dresses." Jil said, standing up as Jonny moved to pick them up from the back of the chair. "Wouldn't want you peeking. It might spoil the surprise."
"Surprise?" Jonny asked. "What surprise might that be?"
"Well," Jil said considering, as she followed Jonny, carrying the dresses, towards Jac's office. "It's probably not so much a surprise, more a treat. You haven't seen Jac's 'Bond-girl' impression yet, have you?... Not the bikini-clad version" she hurried to add, "the ball gown and diamonds one"
"Erm, no." Jonny said, suddenly finding it hard to get a picture of Jac in a cream bikini out of his mind. "No, I can't say as I have…..but I think I'd like to." Thinking to himself 'and the bikini-clad version sounds pretty good to me too."
"Oh," Jil assured him, as she walked through the door to Jac's office he was holding open for her "you'll definitely like to. I don't have a shadow of a doubt about that….Oh, I see Jac was right about Professor Hope's desk" she continued, gazing at Elliott's desk which was covered, once again, with papers and patient notes and chocolate bar wrappers.
"Oh yes" Jonny said, "he told me how you'd organised everything for him last time you were here – he was really grateful and he did try to keep it up but…well I don't know, guess it was too hard for him. I mean, it was still relatively tidy the Wednesday before last (which Jonny remembered because that was the day he and Jac had had a very stimulating 'discussion' about the proposed changes to the funding structure of the NHS, and afterwards had recovered on the couch opposite Elliott's desk, and whilst Jac was sitting contentedly with her head on his chest he'd had quite some time to notice how tidy it was) but then well I don't know – he always blames it on the 'mess monkeys' and who am I to argue?"
"Mmm, probably best not to," Jil agreed, hanging the suit covers on the coat hooks by the door. "I suppose you can't fight Mother Nature, Elliott's obviously just a naturally disorganised person, so I suppose you just have to embrace the mess. Although, I have to say," she said, looking over at the clear expanse of Jac's desk, broken only by a brightly coloured, slightly misshapen bowl, that she saw now contained a collection of equally brightly coloured paper-clips, "I do sometimes wonder how Jac stands it. She's not normally very good with disorder and mess, likes everything just so."
"Tell me about it!" Jonny replied with feeling, adding. "How's your cleaning-itis now?"
"Oh, it's not quite so bad, thanks." Jil replied. "I can now walk past the odd teaspoon or mug without having to wash them up. But I'm not completely cured yet – found myself replacing all the linings in my kitchen cupboards yesterday, 10 minutes before my taxi was due. And I would dearly love to do something about that," she said, pointing at Elliott's desk, "again too. So, perhaps we'd better leave now, before the temptation gets too much for me." And she walked towards the door, pausing to smooth down the suit covers one last time, and making a mental note to let Nicholas know that Auntie Jac had found a very important job for his bowl to do.
Jonny who saw Jil's actions with the suit covers was reminded that she still hadn't really answered the question he had asked when he first saw here, so, as she walked back to the nurse's station with him following, called after her. "So, am I allowed to ask where you and Jac are going tonight?"
Jil stopped and turning her head to face him answered, "Of course you're allowed to ask Jonny?" before continuing on her way and taking a seat again behind the nurse's station once more.
Jonny, who had expected her to answer by now, joined her in the nurse's station and after a few more moments of silence, said "Sooo?"
"So?" Jil repeated, into the pregnant pause, smiling pleasantly at him
"Oh, right," Jonny said, as the penny finally dropped and he became aware of another reason that Jac and Jil were best friends – that was just the sort of thing she'd delight in doing to him too. "Where are you going tonight?"
"Speed-dating" Jil said, without missing a beat. "Jac's going to try to hook a millionaire sugar daddy and I'm going along to scare them all witless by saying I'm after a daddy for my unborn baby." She looked up at Jonny for a few moments, expressionless, before her face suddenly broke into a grin. "Your face.." she said, "I'm joking, stupid! Aww, that's so cute though – you were really worried weren't you? Although," she added, "you're really easy to wind-up when it comes to Jac you know, I reckon you're going to have to work on that or she'll have you for breakfast."
And Jonny, who had experienced a momentary pang of worry at Jil's joke, even though he could see now how idiotic that was, realised that, as with so many things, Jil was right about this too. "So" he asked, trying to wrest some control over the conversation back, "where are you actually going to tonight?"
"We're going to paint the town red, and dance the night away at the Wyvern and Somerby Hunt Ball."
"But Jac doesn't dance." Jonny objected.
"She does when she's with me" Jil replied simply, "we revert back to being 16 again when we used to get suited and booted and go clubbing with our fake ID's"
"You did that?" Jonny asked, incredulously.
"Of course!" Jil said, before going on to admit, "well, actually, only a couple of times really. I mean, don't get me wrong, Jac was always sneaking out but normally it was to help me with my chemistry homework. We were both far too sensible to stand around outside in the cold trying to impress drunk boys who were only ever after one thing! Mind you, we made up for it at university"
"Really?" Jonny said.
"Mmhmm, really. I mean, not the boys who only wanted one thing, obviously – we're still too sensible to bother with them – well, except when we're on training courses for work at any rate!" she said, smiling pointedly at Jonny, who, knowing exactly what she meant, felt himself blush accordingly. "But we used to get dressed up to the nines and gate-crash parties. Well, gate-crash is probably stretching it a bit – you'd be amazed the places you can get into if you've got a posh frock on and a confident air about you – all the big banks Christmas parties, Lloyds of London's garden party, a post-BAFTA award bash. We even got into a reception at the Bolivian Consulate once – that was really posh – no pyramids of Ferrero Rocher though, which was slightly disappointing, I mean, not that I like them, but well you just expect it don't you?"
"Yeah, yeah, I suppose you would." said Jonny, distractedly, still trying to get his head round this unexpected information. "What, so you'd just dress up and go to places that were holding parties and they'd let you in?"
"Yep," Jil said nodding, "I mean you couldn't do it now obviously, with all the security they have, but when we were at uni the terrorists they were worried about weren't suicide bombers, well not intentionally anyway, and like I said you'd be amazed the doors a posh frock, killer smile and a 'nobody better mess with me' attitude can open, and needless to say Jac had all those attributes in spades. And," she said, struggling to suppress a giggle, "you wouldn't believe the stir two women holding hands all night and slow dancing would cause back then. I don't suppose it'd be such a big thing in most places now but, well, let's just say we were quite often the centre of attention at the events we went to"
"Wow." Jonny said, "I had no idea Jac was so…so…I don't even know what the word is"
"Daring, mischevious, brazen." Jil offered.
"Yeah, those'll do" Jonny said, still trying to integrate this new information into his idea of who Jac was.
"And there's no 'was' about it!" Jil added, definitely, "she's exactly the same now."
"What you're not going to…not tonight surely?"
"What?" Jil said, before realisation dawned. "Oh no, no we're not gate-crashing the Hunt Ball – I couldn't risk our last hurrah being ruined by some over-zealous security guard not letting us in. No I've bought tickets, got them in there," she said, pointing at her handbag, "but I still reckon Jac could get us in without them, even with a jobsworth security guard."
"Yep," Jonny agreed, "he wouldn't stand a chance."
"Or she," Jil said.
"What?"
"You get female security guards, and bouncers now – something about them making it less likely things will kick off on a Friday night." Jil said. "Although, thinking about it, I'd bet that'd make it harder for Jac - she wouldn't be able to use her feminine wiles for a start, but I still reckon she'd get us in there."
"Feminine wiles," Jonny said.
"Oh yes," Jil exclaimed, "every woman's got them, and Jac is no exception. In fact, she's a past master at using some of them"
"Any ones in particular?" Jonny asked, hopefully.
"Sorry," Jil replied, "I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you – rules of the sisterhood I'm afraid. And I really don't want to do that, Jac'd be ever so upset for a start, and then there's the mess it would make – my cleaning-itis would go into overdrive. So no" she concluded, smiling, "no clues from me I'm afraid, although there's a fair chance you've experienced most of them yourself already. Although Jac's so good you probably didn't notice!"
"Right, so I've probably seem them all and just not realised" Jonny clairifed.
"I'd say so, yes."
"So all I need to do is work out when she might have used them on me and then work out what…" Jonny's machinations were interrupted by a beep which emanated from the call bell system at the nurse's station. He looked over at the panel and said, getting up "Ahh, Mrs Phillips – she's probably dropped her knitting needles again. I keep telling her the only people who should have sharp, pointy things in here are the surgeons, but will she listen?" And so saying Jonny started to walk off down the corridor towards Bay 3, before turning round to say. "But don't think this gets you off the hook about those feminine wiles, I WILL be back to talk some more about them!"
"Well, as long as you realise you won't get anything out of me." Jil called out after his retreating back. "I'm the graveyard of her secrets remember," she concluded, smiling, which earned her a smile from Jonny in return, just before he went through the door of Bay 3. "You've got NO chance," she said quietly to herself, "with finding out about what Jac's feminine wiles are or being able to resist them – not a snowball's chance in hell!"