Oh lordy - can't believe its been over a month since I last updated this - sorry! Hope it was worth the wait for anyone who is still reading this - as ever enjoy, and please review.
Wednesday afternoon, Darwin
Jonny looked up from the computer to see Arthur wheeling Jil back into the side room closely followed by Daniel. He stood up intending to let them know that her parents had arrived but was stopped by the call bell going off. After settling Mr Gillies back in to bed after taking him for a comfort break he saw Daniel leave Jil's room and head off the ward. He set off for Jil's room once again, before, remembering her earlier request, returning to the nurse's station and picking up a pile of paper before finally making his way over to the side room. The door was half open but he knocked and waited anyway.
"Come in," Jil said, looking expectantly towards the door and when Jonny walked in smiling over at him.
Once again finding her smile irresistible Jonny returned it before saying, "I just thought I'd tell you, your parents have arrived. They're in with Jac and Elliott at the moment, but I'll let them know you're back as soon as they're done.
"Oh right, thanks," Jil replied, worry clouding her face.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Jonny asked concerned.
"Oh, they're going to be so worried Jonny," she answered. "I mean, I know they have to know but…..it's just not fair! They've done all this so many times before and I just wish it wasn't happening again."
"It's not your fault," Jonny said, "and they'll only worry so much because they love you so much – which has got to be a good thing, right?" And noticing a small smile appear on Jil's face as she nodded in agreement, he continued. "And speaking of people who love you so much – where'd Daniel go?"
"Phone call," Jil replied, "some work thing or other. Just between you and me I'm not that convinced he was being entirely truthful when he said that he wouldn't be their go-to man anymore. Cos they still seem to be coming to him a lot at the moment."
"So you mean," Jonny said, "we might all be treated to some more of your leftovers at some point in the future."
"Well, that's one way of looking at it I suppose," Jil replied. "Although at the moment I'm a bit more concerned that he'll be getting out of getting up in the middle of the night. But I suppose I can always make him do two nights on the trot when he's back, if he goes anywhere at all that is."
"Ouch," Jonny said, "that's a bit harsh isn't it?"
"You think?" Jil asked, raising her eyebrows in a way that reminded him so much of Jac. "He gets to sleep in a comfy hotel bed for a whole weekend, if not more, of blissfully uninterrupted sleep, whilst I'm doing all the night time feeds on my own, or at least whilst he's not there."
"Well, when you put it like that I suppose you may have a point," Jonny conceded. "I best get back, but I've got that paper you asked for," he said, putting down the wodge of paper he'd been holding. "I wasn't sure how much you needed, but I can get more if you want it."
"Oh no," Jil said glancing at the pile, "that should be plenty, thanks." Then, after looking at it more closely, she asked uncertainly. "Are you sure it's ok for me to use this?"
"Oh yeah, it's fine" Jonny replied confidently.
"But" Jil persisted, picking up the top sheet from the pile to show him, "it's headed."
"Oh yes, but we're a foundation trust now, so that header isn't valid anymore. We've got a stack of that to use up in the store cupboard – they never seem to think about things like that when they do these things."
"Tell me about it," Jil agreed. "I've got a huge pack of compliment slips that were useless to us when our service moved. Although they're great for shopping lists," she continued "so maybe it's not all bad. Thanks for this though."
"Nay bother," Jonny replied preparing to leave before asking, his curiosity getting the better of him, "What do you need it for anyway? What are you writing?"
There was a pause as Jil seemed to consider her answer, as if deciding how much to reveal to him. Before, with an almost imperceptible nod of her head, she answered "Letters."
"Letters?" Jonny repeated.
"Mmm," Jil replied, continuing very quietly so that Jonny had to strain to hear her. "You know 'just in case' letters for everyone – Daniel, my parents, Jac….everyone - you know." And Jonny saw tears glistening in her eyes before she blinked them away, and smiled determinedly up at him. "Letters and instructions," she continued, "telling them what I want if, if…"
"Oh Jil," Jonny exclaimed, crossing the room again and grabbing her hand. "I'm sorry I asked now. I didn't mean to upset you."
"It's fine," Jil said, "I mean, let's face it, it's the last thing they're going to want to think about isn't it? And besides," she continued, "I know exactly what I want, right down to my preferred epitaph, and it's only right that I should get what I want isn't it?"
"You know what you want on your gravestone?" Jonny asked
"Of course," Jil replied. Before continuing, " 'Well loved. Much missed.' Because realistically who could ever want more than that?"
"Well no," Jonny replied, "I suppose it does pretty much sum up what most people would want." ('And' as he reflected later when he thought about this particular exchange on his way home that night, 'that she'd want that for her epitaph, sums up Jil pretty well too.')
"But" Jil said hurriedly, hearing her parent's voices through the half open door, "you mustn't tell anyone what I'm doing. I don't want them worrying….Sorry," she said smiling apologetically at him, "another secret for you to keep."
"Hey, it's fine," Jonny said, giving her hand one final squeeze before standing up and heading over to the door. He opened it fully just as Jil's parents, with Jac following closely behind, reached it. He stood back to let them pass and glancing back at Jil saw her put her finger to her lips as she looked back at him before turning on one of her 1000 watt beams as her parents reached her.
"Skiving again Maconie?" Jac asked as he waited for her to enter the room.
"Just on my way Miss Naylor," he replied smiling before, as she passed him, catching her hand in his and raising it to his lips, kissing it gently before releasing it and walking back on to the ward. He didn't need to look back to know what Jac's expression would be, but did so anyway. And was rewarded with one of her looks which as he watched he saw transformed by a tiny smile, before she turned into the room and disappeared from view.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Late Wednesday afternoon, Darwin Side Room 1
There was a knock on Jil's door and, as she broke off her conversation with her mum, Elliott bustled in. "I'm sorry" he said to the people surrounding her bed, "but I just need to do some routine checks with Jil before I leave for the day."
"Would it be easier if we left then?" Daniel asked, standing up as he did so.
"Erm….yes, probably. I've got some students who I'd like to come in, if that's ok with you?" he said addressing Jil
"Oh yes, of course," she answered
"So it might get a bit crowded in here," he continued. "But I wouldn't want to chase you away, obviously."
"No, no it's ok," Daniel said, helping Rosa from her seat, "I'll go and show your mum and dad the peace garden and then you can text me when you're done. Ok?"
"Ok," Jil said smiling as she inclined her head slightly to receive the kiss he placed gently on her forehead. She watched as Daniel and her parents left the room before directing her attention at Elliott who looked at her appraisingly before saying
"I should have known there was more to your knowledge of the workings of the human heart than you just having absorbed it all from Jac."
"Yes, sorry about that," Jil said. "I wasn't trying to intentionally mislead you, it's just I wasn't all that keen on going in to all that, well this," she explained, indicating her heart, "then. Sorry."
"Oh no, it's quite alright," Elliott said. "I can imagine it wouldn't really be something you'd want to dwell on too much."
"No, not really," Jil agreed, continuing with a wry smile "but sometimes the universe just seems determined to shout your secrets out to the world with a loud hailer. And, in my defence, I was Jac's study buddy for the majority of her exams, and I used to sit with her for hours when she was practicing on pig hearts in the wet lab, so some of my knowledge definitely comes from that."
"Study buddies, eh?" Elliott said. "You must be brave – I can't say I'd fancy that job."
"Ah, it was ok really. I just had to read the text books and make sure she got everything right, which she invariably did. And she did the same for me when I had my exams – she's probably forgotten more about qualitative research methods than most psychology students know. Speaking of which, is there anything specific you want me to do with these students of yours?"
"Well, I do want to test their diagnostic abilities so, if you could just answer the questions they ask without adding any helpful details, that'd be great."
"Right, got it – short and sweet," Jil said smiling.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Elliott and his medical students had just left (one of them, Barbara, having, to what Jil suspected was Elliott's delight, correctly diagnosed her) and she was preparing to send an 'all clear' text to Daniel when there was another gentle knock at her door. 'Wow, you are popular today,' she thought to herself, before calling out once again "Come in," and turning her attention to the door saw Tara come through it. "Hey" she said smiling.
"Hey," Tara answered, "sorry to disturb you. I just wondered if you'd mind me having a word with you."
"No, not at all" Jil replied, still smiling. "What would you like to talk about?"
"Well, it's just I'm involved in Professor Hope's Hertzig trial and so obviously I've done lots of research on it."
'Obviously,' though Jil to herself, remembering Jac's description of and all she had told her about her F1.
"and I think, from looking through your notes that I've read about you?"
"Well, it's a distinct possibility," Jil answered. " 'Spontaneous recovery of cardiac function after temporary insertion of the Holtmann 360-O Assistive Device: A case study'. British Journal of Cardiac Surgery. Yes, that's me. S.A.J. – they just reversed my initials to anonymize me. I was still a Sanitni then you see."
"I can't believe it," Tara said. "I can't believe that I've actually met you."
"Well," Jil said, beginning to see what Jac meant, "I suppose it is a claim to fame. Although, I think I'd rather be well known for being Mrs Clooney, but beggars can't be choosers I don't suppose, right?
"Right," Tara replied, although she didn't sound too sure. "So, do you mind if I ask you a few questions about it? It'd be really helpful."
"No, of course not," Jil replied, "a few questions will be fine." And so saying she put her phone down and prepared herself for 'Miss Eager Beaver's' interrogation.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Wednesday evening, Darwin Side Room 1
"What are you doing?" Jac asked as she came into Jil's room.
"Eating my tea," Jil replied.
"Hah, ha," Jac said, "I can see that. I was talking about that," she continued, pointing at the headphones that were placed over Jil's bump.
"Oh these," Jil said fingering the wire that led to an I-pod, "they're for the bump music."
"Bump music?" Jac repeated.
"Yes, you play the baby music in the womb with the idea being that it will make an association between the two things and you can then use it to calm them when they're born."
"Right."
No, really," Jil said earnestly. "I saw it on 'Child of Our Time' and it really worked for some of them. And it doesn't matter what music you use either, it doesn't have to be all quiet and lullaby like. I think one of the mums on there used a 5 song – you know one of their upbeat ones."
"And it really worked?" Jac asked the disbelief still evident in her voice.
"Mm hmm – calmed the baby down when he, or it might have been a she, was crying ever so quickly. And it kept working too."
"Ok, so assuming this isn't just something you've made up, what song have you chosen then?"
"Guess!" Jil replied, continuing "remembering that it has to be something I've got to be happy to listen to a lot as well, and Daniel too."
There was a pause as Jac thought and then she said, "Oh it's not….oh no I think I'm going to need a sick bowl. It is, isn't it?"
"Of course it is!" Jil asserted, "what else was it going to be?"
"I can't believe you" Jac said, shuddering theatrically.
"Oh," Jil said amused, "but that's not the best bit!"
"You mean it gets worse?"
"We had to have something in case we couldn't actually access anything to play the music on, so there's a recording of us singing on here too."
"Ughh, ughh now that is really too much" Jac said, her face a picture of mock disgust. "You and Daniel singing your first dance song together – I really do need that sick bowl now."
"Oh, no, no no – we're not singing that! We couldn't possibly hope to even begin to compare to good old Ben E. No, we're singing different songs."
"Dare I ask what?"
"Well there's the first verse of 'You are my sunshine' which we both each sing once and then together. And then there's another song – you probably won't have heard of it and we had to change the words a bit but its called 'Father and Daughter' by Paul Simon. We both sing the whole song and then repeat the chorus a few times" and she began to very quietly sing "I'm gonna watch you shine, gonna watch you grow, gonna paint a sign so you'll always know as long as one and one is two there could never be a mother loves her child more than I love you". Although obviously the words of the actual song are father loves his daughter, but because we don't know what Robin is we had to change it to fit."
"I'd forgotten how well you can sing when you put your mind to it" Jac said.
"All those years in the school choir paid off you see – told you they'd come in handy one day didn't I?" Jil replied
"Yep – I'm not sure they'll ever be particularly useful to me but...And anyway what happens when the baby's born – are you going to just change to the right gender or what?"
"Well yes obviously when we're singing it ourselves we will, but we've got the recordings sorted too."
"Oh yeah?" Jac asked curiously.
"Yes, you know Daniel's friend James, from uni. The one whose dad's…"
"got more money than sense." Jac finished for her.
"Yeah – him. Well, because he's a musician and because his dad's got more money than sense, he's got a studio in his back garden. A proper studio – with a recording booth and everything – you know all those little buttons you push up and down. And we recorded us singing there, so we were able to do different versions, so when Robin's born we can just switch the one we're using at the moment for the one which says the right thing – son or daughter. Nifty, eh"
"Mmm, but what if Robin notices the difference and won't settle down because it's not what he or she is used to hearing. Then all your schemes will be for nothing" Jac teased.
"Jac, I know you're expecting any baby of mine to be highly intelligent like its mother" Jil said, playing along "and father" she added quickly "but I'm sure not even our baby will be able to pick up on one word that's changed in a whole song."
"I wouldn't be so sure" Jac said.
"Well if that is the case, we'll just have to make sure we're never without some way of playing 'Stand By Me' and rely on Ben E. to do all the work for us. See," she added triumphantly, "all bases covered!"
"Yeah, until there's a power cut and your i-pod's out of battery." Jac said smirking.
"Trust you to think of something li…"
"Hey what's going on here?" a voice interrupted them. "Miss Naylor, this is a protected mealtime and you know patients aren't allowed visitors at these times."
"Ha, ha Jonny, very f.."
"You're not meant to be sitting on the bed either. And it's Nurse Maconie." Jonny continued
"I'll give you Nurse Maconie" Jac replied, glaring at Jonny and resolutely refusing to move off the bed. But Jonny returned her look and, very unusually, it was Jac whose resolve broke first, and she sulkily exclaimed. "Fine, I'll go then" and exaggeratedly stood up, before turning her back on Jonny she continued. "I've got to get home soon anyway – sort everything out before your parents arrive"
"Are you sure it's alright for them to stay with you?" Jil asked, "I mean, you've got Daniel there already, are you sure your flat's big enough?"
"Of course it is," Jac said, "and even if it wasn't, I'd make room. I'm not having your parents stay in a hotel and that's an end to it." She finished in a tone that brooked no argument. Jonny cleared his throat. "Yes, Nurse Maconie," Jac said dangerously, still deliberately not looking at him. "I'm going. I'll see you tomorrow," she continued addressing Jil before bending down to give her a hug, "you take care of yourself till them, do you hear me?"
"Yes boss, loud and clear" Jil said smiling.
"OK then, bye" she said smiling down at her friend before turning and fixing Jonny with a look which made him wonder if he might have misjudged the situation and gone a wee bit too far.
"Yeah, bye" Jil said, desperately trying to suppress a smile as she watched Jonny's changing expression, determined as she was not to spoil what she knew Jac was doing. She watched as Jac stalked towards Jonny and saw him edging ever so slightly towards the door the closer she got, and actually flinch when she drew level with him. And then she saw Jac quickly lean over and kiss him ever so gently before she walked through the doorway, calling out
"Bye Jonny" as she did so. And Jil didn't need to see her best friend's face to know that she would be wearing a triumphant smile on it.
"She got you good!" she remarked to an obviously relieved and rather bemused Jonny.
"Oh yes," he agreed, watching Jac as she walked down the corridor to her office, "she did that, she did that."
Also, am still trying to find out which episode it was that Jac won mentor of the year in for the reviewer who asked. It's annoying because I've watched it recently on you tube but can't for the life of me remember what it was called - am still working on it though.