Sorry about the delay in updating this, hopefully new chapters will be a bit more regular from now on. Hope you enjoy and as ever please review – I really love reading everybody's comments!

Monday Afternoon, Holby City Hospital

Lift

Jonny held the cups of coffee he had bought at the café downstairs carefully, keen not to spill any of the contents. As the lift continued its slow journey upwards, stopping at every floor to let people in and out he thought, as he nearly always did, that he really should have used the stairs. As the lift got closer to its final destination, the 6th floor and Darwin, Jonny reflected on the effect one phone call could have. He had been called in early for his late shift, by an exasperated and increasingly desperate Mo to, in her words, 'do something about Jac'. Apparently, Elliott was still at the university and would be for some time and no-one else on the ward seemed capable of coping with her, so Mo had called the only other person who might stand half a chance.

Up to that point Jonny's morning had been progressing fairly normally – his internal 'Jac-watch' alarm had woken him, as usual around six, but he had managed to go back to sleep for a couple of hours, a fact he was mightily relieved about, because he couldn't see himself getting through his shift without a bit more sleep. Jonny was finding that even total exhaustion wasn't able to negate the 'Jac-effect' – despite feeling like death warmed up when he finally arrived home on Saturday, and if anything, slightly worse on Sunday, he had still found it hard to sleep on both nights. He had found himself wondering, whilst he was lying in bed, what she was doing, and particularly on Saturday night found it hard to switch off the image of her as she'd appeared before the ball – just so, so….so exquisite. And he had also realised that he missed Jac's physical presence next to him in bed – it occurred to him that, up until this weekend, for the last couple of weeks he had slept better than he had for ages, and he knew it was because she was there with him. And although he was prepared to admit that what they did before going to sleep probably played a part in this, he knew that wasn't the main reason. Just her being there, near him, in his arms, was enough as he'd found when Jac had arrived at his one night last week, after performing a particularly long and intricate operation had left her so exhausted that she'd fallen asleep in bed whilst he was brushing his teeth and before they'd done anything more than enjoy a couple of their 'deep and meaningful' kisses, whilst they were sitting on his sofa waiting for their dinner to cook. He had idly wondered, when he was lying in bed that morning, whether it was the same for her – if she'd had trouble sleeping in her own bed on those three nights he'd been working, and had almost made up his mind to ask her that night. Not that he expected her to tell him, even if it was the case for her. But he reasoned that if he told her it was like that for him – that he missed her when she wasn't there – it might help her to feel more secure about his feelings for her. 'And you never know' he had thought to himself 'she might just surprise you and admit that she missed you too'. Because you never could tell with Jac – she had a habit of surprising him, which was he knew one of the things he loved about her - one of the many things. He had been looking forward to catching up with her properly tonight because the phone call yesterday hadn't really hit the spot. He had somehow managed to resist the temptation to call both when he got up and in his morning break, and had then been incredibly disappointed when there was no answer on either Jac's home or mobile number when he eventually called in his lunch break. So when she had phoned him back a little while later, explaining that she and Jil had been at the supermarket and hadn't heard her mobile over the noise in there, just hearing her voice had been enough, but in truth he couldn't wait to actually see her, to touch her again. However, since Mo's phone call he had realised that it was unlikely this would happen for quite some time – knowing as he did that if Jil was sick (and from what Mo had said it definitely sounded like there was something wrong with her) then spending time with him wasn't likely to be top of Jac's priority list. Actually, he was slightly worried about how Jac would cope if there was something seriously wrong with Jil. From what Mo had said she seemed to have gone into her best (or worst) 'Miss Naylor' mode, but he was aware that this was one of her many defences, and that, in reality, she was probably terrified and he wondered how long this facade of hers would last. The lift had finally reached the 6th floor and Jonny stepped out and, after the briefest of pauses outside the door whilst he took a deep breath, entered Darwin…..

He paused inside the ward doors and scanned the ward looking for Jac – normally her flame-coloured hair made her easy to spot but he couldn't see her on his first visual sweep. He continued down the corridor looking in to the bays on either side, but could still no sign of her. He heard the unmistakeable sound of a curtain being drawn back from a bed behind him and before he had turned round was accosted by Mo. "Thank God you're here!" she said, hugging him round his neck, "Oh, is one of them for me?" she asked, indicating the cups in Jonny's hands, and before he had a chance to answer, took one of them from his hands and had a sip, "Urrghh," she said, making a face, "no sugar!"

"Well it wasn't meant for you," Jonny explained, rather peeved, "I bought it for Jac – to help with the whole Jil thing.

"It's going to take more than a coffee to 'help with the whole Jil thing'," Mo countered, "I'm not sure even a ketamine injection would be enough to calm her down." She saw the disbelieving expression on Jonny's face and continued, "No, I'm serious Jonny – she's been manic since she came up with Jil from AAU."

"So, where is she now?" Jonny asked.

"Oh, she got fed up of shouting at the lab rats down the phone," Mo replied, "so she's gone to shout at them in person. I really wouldn't want to be in that lab at the moment – I'm betting there'll be even more tears"

"Even more?" Jonny asked.

"Oh yes" Mo said, "she's already reduced Sylvie to tears, and she almost managed to do the same with Vanya."

"Vanya?" Jonny asked incredulously, "Vanya, Vanya?"

"Yes, Jonny!" Mo answered, as if she was talking to a small child "Vanya, Vanya! Honestly, how many people do you think we have working here called Vanya?"

"Oh," Jonny said, thinking of how Vanya would have been one of the last people he would have thought anyone would ever nearly make cry, "has she been that bad then?"

"Worse mate" Mo declared. "Imagine her in the worst mood you've ever seen her in, times it by ten and then add a bit more irritation to the mix and you'll probably be picturing her half as bad as she's been today!"

Jonny gulped, and then, dreading the answer but feeling compelled to ask the question said. "And you've called me in early to do what exactly?"

"Something!" Mo stated simply. "I don't know what but you've got to do something, cos if this carries on I don't think there'll be anybody willing to come in to work tomorrow. And she's got a list this afternoon."

Jonny's 'spider-senses' were kicked into play at this comment, and he said suspiciously "So?"

"So," Mo replied, trying to sound nonchalant, but failing spectacularly, "so, someone's got to find out if she's up to it."

"Oh no, no, no" Jonny said hurriedly, "I'm not doing that."

"Come on Jonny," Mo replied, "we can't have her operating if her mind's not on the job, and I'm not sure it is"

"Well you ask her then" Jonny countered.

"I can't ask a surgeon who's senior to me if she's fit to practice?" Mo explained.

"But I can?" Jonny asked "Me – a nurse can ask a senior consultant cardio-thoracic surgeon if she feels focussed enough to perform the operations on her afternoon theatre list? Because I suppose I don't need my head!" he concluded bitterly.

"Jonny – you're the only person apart from Elliott and maybe Hanssen who could ask, AND YOU KNOW IT" Mo exclaimed

"So get Elliott or Hanssen to do it then"

"Elliott's in some meeting at the university till at least three and Hanssen's at a conference in Birmingham, and I'm not sure Jac would want him to know that we have concerns about her ability to complete her theatre list anyway."

"Oh, alright then," Jonny, realising how much worse Jac would feel if Hanssen knew, reluctantly agreed, "but you better be on hand with tea and sympathy" he demanded, and after a moment's further thought, added, "And the first aid box might come in handy too."

"Good man" Mo said, thanking her lucky stars that Jonny cared as much as he did about Jac. She would never have contacted Hanssen in reality but had guessed that by suggesting that it would be bad for Jac if she had to he would acquiesce to her demand, thereby saving her from having to question Jac's current competence. She felt slightly guilty about her subtle mind games, but any guilt was vastly outweighed by the relief she felt that it wouldn't be her doing the asking. And, she reasoned Jonny was far better placed than anyone to ask such a sensitive question of Jac, particularly in the state she was in at the moment. Her musings were interrupted by Jonny, who had, from his tone of voice been asking her a question, and receiving no response, for some time. "Sorry, what?" she asked.

"I said," Jonny asked, sounding more than a little annoyed "how is Jil anyway?" desperately hoping that her answer would reassure him that there was actually no real reason for him to worry about either her or Jac.

"Well, she's fairly stable at the moment – but her blood pressure has been all over the place and she's definitely fluid overloaded. And the ECG didn't look too promising either – decelerations all over the shop, and her T-waves were really variable too."

"Imaging?" Jonny asked, hoping against hope for some better news.

"The ultrasound was inconclusive, obviously a C.T's out of the question and the M.R.I.'s booked up with an out-patient list and even Jac at her most Miss Naylorish wasn't able to get Jil in, although she did manage to 'persuade' the staff to stay on at the end of their shift to scan her at the end of the list."

"And how's Jil doing?"

"Better than Jac I'd say." Mo replied, "She was obviously a bit shaken by what happened down on AAU but she managed to stand her ground against Jac about the CT, and I'm not sure I'd have been able to." Mo said, remembering the discussion she'd witnessed between the two friends – Jac trying to persuade Jil that they'd take all the precautions necessary to make a CT scan safe for her unborn baby, and Jil's polite but firm refusal to go down for one, even when Jac pulled out the emotional blackmail big guns. "You should ask her how she's doing yourself though," Mo continued, "she's in Bay 1 and I'm sure she'd love to see you. And I don't think Jac will be back till she's got the lab results physically in her hands, so you've got time before you need to speak to her, and your shift doesn't start for a while, so nobody else could complain either."

"OK" Jonny said.

"And don't worry," Mo added, smiling sweetly, "I'll come and get you as soon as Jac gets back."

"Thanks." Jonny said sarcastically back, "you're too kind!"

"That's me," Mo replied "kindness personified." Before, taking another sip of what was now her coffee, she made another face and said "Sugar, need to get some sugar" and headed off towards the staff room.

"Kindness personified my eye" Jonny muttered to himself, wondering how the devil he had got into this mess in the first place. Although he had to, grudgingly, agree with Mo that in Elliott's absence he probably was the best person to try and talk to Jac, actually maybe even if Elliott had been here he'd still have been the best person. Of course, this knowledge didn't make him feel any happier or confident about actually having to talk to her. He'd need to plan what he was going to say to her really carefully - he knew how much she hated being questioned about her work, but also knew that in this situation it was an absolute necessity. 'She'll see that won't she?' he thought to himself. 'Of course she won't' the unhelpful voice in his head replied, "she'll be furious! But it does need to be done." And Jonny knew that the unhelpful voice was right on all three counts, he'd just have to hope that she would at least understand why he was asking her. He could feel his stress levels rising as he continued to think about it and realising that this wouldn't be particularly conducive to formulating a plan of attack decided to follow Mo's advice and go and see Jil – figuring it would at the very least take his mind off the upcoming ordeal. He walked down the ward to Bay 1, spotting Jil straight away, she was sitting up in bed, surrounded by monitors and attached to a drip, but otherwise looking fairly healthy, although he thought as he walked towards her maybe she did look a little bit paler than normal.

Jil was flicking through a magazine but as Jonny approached looked up and seeing him exclaimed, "Jonny" before breaking into a smile which lit up her whole face. Then, after a quick look at her watch, her smile faded slightly to be replaced by an expression of uncertainty, as she asked. "What are you doing here already? I thought you were on a late today?"

Jonny, who had by this time arrived at her bedside, and knew that the whole truth probably wasn't the best option at the moment, used the premise of moving the chair by Jil's bed to a better position to think of an answer that might satisfy her. "Well," he said, finally sitting down, "a little bird told me that you'd been admitted and I thought you'd probably appreciate a bit of my company. Plus," he added, smiling, "it'll give me a chance to pump you for more information about Saturday night cos Jac didn't really say much yesterday when she phoned, and I still know nothing about those feminine wiles you were talking about either"

"Well, you can ask about those," Jil said, returning his smile, "but like I said you've no chance of getting anything about them from me. I may not be 100% but it'd take more than a bit of heart trouble to make me reveal those!" She saw Jonny's smile falter as she mentioned being ill and said, "I am OK you know – really I feel fine, well maybe not fine fine, but OK. All this" she added, indicating the bed and all the equipment surrounding it, "it's just a precaution. Just Jac being Jac – hopelessly and annoyingly overprotective." And the mention of Jac's protectiveness seemed to trigger something in her mind, and Jonny noticed her expression change to one of vague suspicion as she said, "You've not been completely honest with me have you? You're not come in early just to keep me company have you?" And, just by looking at Jonny's face, without him saying a word, she knew that her suspicions were well-founded. "Oh no," she said, "it's Jac isn't it? She's gone all psycho-doctor hasn't she?"