Well, after this evening's little Jac/Jonny bombshell (which is I think only the very beginning of something seismic) couldn't resist updating. Apologies again for the delay - will hopefully have a bit more time soon (exam and 1 assignment will be out of the way by Friday), so should be able to update more regularly.

Monday Morning, Holby City Hospital

AAU

"What's in the tin?" Sacha, who could tell, by how intensely Jac was staring at the drawn curtain behind which Jil was currently getting changed, that she was itching to go and see her friend, tried to distract her by asking.

"What?" Jac replied, blankly.

"The tin," Sacha repeated, puzzled, pointing at the Roses' tin Jac was holding under her arm. "What's in it?"

Jac, who had actually forgotten that she had brought this in from the car along with Jil's bag looked down at it, and then said "Flapjacks."

"Oh right," Sacha said surprised.

"Do you want one?" Jac asked distractedly, holding the tin out, adding "Apparently they're legendary."

"Oh erm, well I'm not sure if I can have oats tod…"

"Fine!" Jac replied, returning the tin to its previous position under her arm.

"Although, I suppose" he continued, "just one can't hurt, can it? They're a bit like solid porridge anyway, aren't they? And everybody's always going on about how good that is to eat for breakfast." This comment garnered him the smallest hint of a smile from Jac, and she took the top off the tin and held it out for him. He took one of the flapjacks and bit into it, scattering crumbs onto the floor. "Mmm," he said after a few seconds, these are delicious. Are they homemade?" and continuing, between bites, when he saw Jac nod, "Who by?"

"Me," Jac replied. "or me and Jil actually. We had a huge cook-off yesterday and these were the last things we made. She assures me that people can't get enough of homemade treats, so they were meant to help people get through the Monday morning blues."

"I didn't know you could cook." Sacha said.

"No, not many people do." Jac replied, before her attention was caught by the sound of a curtain being drawn and she immediately turned to see Jil standing in her pyjamas beside her bed.

"What took you so long?" Jac asked Jil, approaching her bed space after putting the tin of flapjacks down on the nurse's station desk.

"Well, I have to look my best don't I?" Jil replied smiling. "We wouldn't want any of your colleagues thinking your best friend was a scruff bag now, would we?"

"Never mind what you look like, it's how you actually are that matters. Although I very much doubt anyone would ever think you looked like a scruff bag and, believe me, none of my colleagues would dare. So, how are you feeling?" she asked, bringing the topic of conversation back to the matter at hand.

"I'm fine," Jil replied and, noticing the sceptical look on Jac's face, continued. "No, really, I feel perfectly normal, or as normal as I ever do" she added smiling. "So what's the plan" she said, addressing Sacha, who had finished his flapjack and was standing beside Jac.

"Well I thought I'd start by doing a more detailed examination of you – you know, listen to your chest and things" he said, holding his stethoscope up, "and then maybe a blood test"

"What about an ECG?" Jac asked. "With her history I'd have thought that was a priority." Then, seeing the slightly blank look on Sacha's face, turned back to Jil and said, "You have told him about your heart problems haven't you?"

"No, not yet."

"Oh for god sake Jil," Jac said, sharply, "why not?"

"I don.."

"Honestly Jil for such an intelligent woman you can't half be stubbornly obtuse at times."

"That's rich coming from you!" Jil replied.

"Erm sorry," Sacha interrupted, desperately trying to avoid a repeat of their earlier disagreement, "what's all this about heart problems?"

"He would have seen when he examined me anyway." Jil continued, determined to have the last word, before, turning her attention to Sacha and answering. "I've had a bit of trouble with my heart in the past but.."

"A bit of trouble," Jac exclaimed

"but" Jil continued, raising her voice slightly and pointedly ignoring Jac's interruption "I've been fine for years now, and I don't feel anything like I did then, now."

"Right, ok." Sacha said, still trying to decrease the tension, "when you say a bit of trouble with your heart, what do you mean?"

"She means" Jac said, before Jil had a chance to answer, "three operations in nearly as many years, a three day stay on ITU , a place on the transplant list and finally an experimental assistive cardiac device which, miraculously, seemed to have worked really well."

"Ah well, in that case," Sacha said, "I think an ECG is probably a good idea."

"She's making it sound a lot more dramatic than it actually was," Jil said, "the first three operations weren't that serious at all."

"Any operation you have on your…." Jac began, before she was interrupted by her bleep going off. "Oh what now?" she asked irritably, continuing in the same vein once she had looked at it. "Darwin! I told them only to bleep if something urgent came up."

"Well then you'd better go," Jil said, "because I'm sure they wouldn't have if it hadn't. But if it makes you feel any better I promise I'll tell Sacha all about everything that has ever happened to my heart, OK?"

"OK, you make sure you do then," Jac replied, "because you do know that if you don't I will, when I get back."

"Yes Jac," Jil replied, "I do know that."

"Right," Jac said, "I'll be back as soon as I can, OK?"

"There's no rush – take your time." Jil said, adding quietly, "I could do with a bit of a break from you."

"What?" Jac asked, suspiciously.

"Nothing," Jil replied, smiling brightly. "I'll see you when you get back."

"Right, ok." Jac said unconvinced. "Phone me when you get any results?" she told Sacha, who nodded. Before, with one last questioning look at her friend she headed for the doors of AAU, picking up the tin of flapjacks on her way.

Darwin

"Good catch, St Trinian's." Jac said to Tara, as they came out of the side room, who beamed in response. "Although, I'm sure Miss Effanga could have dealt with it," she continued.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry about having to bleep you, it's just Mo, Miss Effanga," Tara corrected herself, noticing the look on Jac's face, "was doing a chest drain and I really didn't think it could wait."

"No well, you may have a point." Jac conceded. "And as a reward for your diligence you can have the privilege of getting me a latte," she continued, handing Tara a five pound note "before you and sonny Jim over there" she said, indicating Oli who was on the phone at the nurse's station, fill me in on everything else that has been going on with my patients. Go on" she said, shooing Tara towards the ward doors, "my coffee won't fetch itself." She watched Tara leave, thinking to herself 'we might make a cardiac surgeon out of her yet' before walking over to the nurse's station. She had decided that, as Jil was in Sacha's very safe hands and he had said he would let her know when any of her results came in, she might as well stay on Darwin for a while, and actually do what she was paid for. She waited for Oli to come off the phone before, starting as she meant to go on, suddenly throwing (figuratively speaking) Mrs Thele's symptoms, which Tara had correctly diagnosed, at him, to make sure that he was still at least as good as she was.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Right, so can you get a nurse to organise Mrs Phillips discharge paperwork and then go through her medication regime with her and her husband when he comes in to pick her up?" Jac asked Tara, adding another thing to the list of things to do Tara was frantically scribbling down. "And," she continued, "you'll need to arrange a CT for Mrs Thele too, an MRI would have been better but her pacemaker's put the kybosh on that. And I want someone to go down with her, so you and Valentine can fight that out amongst yourself. OK?"

"Yes, Miss Naylor," Tara replied, automatically. "What about Beth Hardew?"

"Has the chest X-Ray come back yet?"

"Yes, the chest drain's positioned correctly and her lung volume has increased."

"Fine, well keep her on 15 minute obs for now and if nothing's changed she can come off them at lunchtime."

"Where is Valentine?" Jac asked, looking round from her position at the nurse's station to try and spot her CT1.

"Speaking to Mr Percy," Tara replied, "he's trying to talk him out of making a complaint."

"What about?" Jac asked, suspiciously. Her tone of voice implying that if it was anything any of her team had done, they'd be sorry.

"Oh no, it's nothing any of the staff have done." Tara hurried to reassure her, marvelling yet again how much Miss Naylor was able to convey in so few words, and determined, as always, to try and find out how she did it. "Apparently, he's having trouble sleeping – Mr Jarrett snores" she explained further, "and he's very disappointed that he can't have a room of his own."

"But we don't have any side rooms available," Jac said.

"I know, and I think that's what Oli's trying to explain to him now."

"Honestly – this is a hospital not a hotel!" Jac exclaimed, exasperatedly. "I don't know what people expect – they come in, receive life-saving healthcare from the best people around, plus bed and board, all for free, and then they moan about having a bit of trouble sleeping! He'd have no problem sleeping if he was dead would he?!" she concluded, saving her best till last.

"Erm, no..no I don't sup…." Tara replied.

"That was a rhetorical question, Dr Lo," Jac said, wearily, shaking her head, at her F1's seeming lack of understanding. Before continuing, "Tell Valentine, if he hasn't sorted it out I'll have a word with our Mr Percy later – see if I can't persuade him not to complain. OK?" Tara nodded, hoping for Mr Percy's sake that Oli had managed to change his mind about that complaint, because she wouldn't want to be in his shoes, or more accurately his slippers, if he hadn't managed to. Miss Naylor's powers of 'persuasion' were legendary round the hospital and Tara really wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of them. "Right," Jac said, making a face as she drained the last of the, now cold, coffee Tara had got her from its cup, before throwing it unerringly into the bin situated just next to where Tara was standing a few yards away. "I'll be in my office" she announced standing up, "if anyone from AAU calls you let me know strai…". She was interrupted by her bleep, and looking at it said, "Never mind" reaching over for the phone "I think this is…". Then her bleep went off again, and then again and Tara saw a panicked look appear on Jac's face as she dropped the phone back on its cradle, said "Oh God" and turned and began to run down the corridor towards the ward doors, her bleep still sounding. Just managing to avoid a collision with Oli who had just left Bay 2, she called back as she approached the ward exit, "Oli, you're in charge until Mo gets back!" and was gone. Leaving a bewildered Oli and a concerned Tara in her wake.

"Where the hell's she going in such a hurry?" Oli demanded of Tara.

"I don't know," Tara answered, "but something's up – you should have seen her face when her bleep kept going off. Oh... I hope it's nothing too serious"….

Hope you enjoyed - as ever please, please review!