This chapter was almost finished before the last episode and I decided to rewrite bits afterwards because time wise this fic has caught up with the episodes. I am using some of the storylines as they really are in the show but I won't neccessarily be sticking to them. I had some knew little ideas come to me after chatting to MistyMae :) I'm not completely happy with this chapter because any time I do rewrites I feel like I've just muddled up the story. I hope it makes sense and isn't too all over the place. This chapter offers something of an explanation as to why Serena was a little off with him the morning after...
As always, thanks to everyone who reads this and reviews :)
Hanssen stood in Serena's office on AAU a week later and looked at her neatly arranged desk. She really was one of the most organised people he'd ever met and yet she avoided to appearance of being fastidious. He wondered how she managed it.
She had been called away unexpectedly to St James's and due to his own deliberate intervention which had insured she and Ric Griffin would share the same shifts as little as possible it meant that he would have to be the consultant on call for AAU.
Hanssen had considered Maconie's words about deciding what it was he wanted and realised the Scot was right.
As with any other situation in life he needed to set out his goal and a plan for how he proposed to achieve it. And he knew that casual sex was not what he wanted.
His father's death and all that he had discovered as a result had made him realise how much of his life he had wasted. He had nothing but his job and that wasn't enough anymore.
He was tired of going home to an empty house every evening and waking up alone every morning. One of the things he most enjoyed about the work arrangement with Serena was having someone to talk over the various little problems and or indeed successes that cropped up on a daily basis. He liked having someone to bounce ideas off and that for once they were on the same side. He had never truly felt as though he had an ally before, apart from Sahira. The idea of extending this to their personal lives appealed to him.
He wanted a proper relationship with Serena Campbell. But there was some groundwork to be done first. He had been keeping an eye on how much time she spent with Ric Griffin. He knew about Ric updating his skills and that Serena was supervising him, but he had found the whole thing bizarre from the moment Serena first informed him. Catching sight of them chatting playfully with one another one day he remembered that Monday morning and the way Griffin had gently smiled at Serena and touched her arm and felt a shot of jealousy. It was like Sahira and Rafi again. Sahira and Greg. He needed to buy himself some time and so he immediately set about subtly insuring their shifts didn't clash as much and much to Serena's chagrin even put her on a nightshift.
Suddenly Harry Tressler burst through the door waffling about truffles. Hanssen eyed the young man grumpily for a moment, resentful at having his thoughts interrupted but then amusement set in as he caught the look on the young doctor's face. It was later it he began to wonder if there was more to the truffles than Tressler simply trying to be teacher's pet. He told himself it was a ridiculous thought and brushed it aside.
When Tressler left the office for the second time that day after his failed attempt to convince Hanssen to prescribe medicinal marijuana, the thought popped back into his head.
Harry Tressler was bright, charming and good-looking. He was also clearly not above pandering to his superiors to get ahead. If casual sex was what Serena wanted then surely Tressler would be a more inviting prospect than either himself or Ric Griffin.
Hanssen was almost relieved to be paged to Keller again so he could distract himself from his absurd thoughts. Even being subjected to another barrage of stinging remarks from Michael Spence was better than imagining Serena with the virile young Dr Tressler.
Mr Spence had become overly involved with a terminally ill cancer patient. It was a difficult situation but he could not figure out what he had done to deserve the harsh comments directed at him every time he had spoken to Mr Spence that day. All he had tried to do was caution the man, for his own sake as much as that of the boy and his parents. He wished Serena had been there, she had a much better relationship with Michael and was better at reining him in. The last thing they needed was a scandal about a doctor losing his temper and being inappropriate towards the grieving parents of teenage cancer patient.
Hanssen sighed to himself as he made his way to Keller in the lift. Serena was currently investigating an incident on Darwin between Oliver Valentine and Gemma Wilde. Serena had been seething when he met with her after her nightshift a few days ago and once again he had to talk her out of wanting to discipline Valentine. Assuring her that all the boy needed was more time. He found it hard to believe the insinuation that Valentine would refuse to treat a patient but he could tell Serena believed Wilde's claims. However, understanding that Hanssen wanted to avoid adding to Valentine's troubles Serena said that she would "deal" with the situation and do her best to "make it go away". He hoped it would end well.
Bracing himself for more abuse from Michael Spence, Hanssen took a deep breath and stepped out of the lift.
Hanssen sat in his office at the end of the shift, quietly fuming.
Harry Tressler had turned out not to be as bright as he had thought him to be and stupidly helped a patient smoke an illegal substance on hospital grounds. He had come very close to reporting Tressler but instead had settled for giving the young man a warning and what he hoped was a severe enough dressing down to discourage any future stupidity.
The day had gone appallingly. Michael Spence's words had touched a nerve and had brought to mind other hurtful things said to him. Mostly notably when Sahira had called him "an emotionless freak". He knew that was how everyone saw him and he was sick of it. He was tired of having to pretend he felt nothing, that insults didn't penetrate the thick skin they all presumed he had.
Was that how Serena saw him too? Did she think that he hadn't felt anything when they slept together?
Was that why she had chosen him? Because she thought there was no risk of The Ice Man developing feelings?
He stood up from his desk abruptly.
Serena arrived back at Holby as most of the day shift were leaving. She bumped into Elliot Hope and Sharon Kozinski saying goodbye in the doorway.
'Ms Campbell.' Elliot nodded as he walked past.
Serena smiled in acknowledgement.
'You're back again?' Sharon asked. She had Serena had arrived at Holby at the same time that morning and walked in together.
'Yes. Just back from St James'.' Serena explained.
Sharon raised an eyebrow. 'And you've come back here? Do you have a home?'
Serena laughed. 'Sometimes I'm not sure!' she joked.
'What is it with people here being unable to take time out?' Sharon mused, half to herself. 'Hanssen's still here too.' She added with a sly look at Serena.
Serena shrugged in a too obvious attempt to look disinterested. Sharon grinned.
'Maybe you can convince each other to go home and relax for a while.' Sharon said with a small smirk as she began to walk away.
Serena watched after her wondering what she had meant by that. She couldn't know, could she? Not that there was much to know. A half-hearted drunken fumble and a one night stand.
Not that she had intended for it to be a one night stand, Serena thought as she made her way inside and headed to AAU. Admittedly, she hadn't handled the morning after very well. But between being struck when she woke up by the monumental mistake they had made the night before and trying to figure out what to do about it and then discovering Eleanor was home and had heard them, she hadn't known how to deal with an awkward Henrik Hanssen.
She had thought at the very least he would have called her sometime during the weekend or if not that they could have spoken about it on Monday. Instead she was treated to the old Mr Hanssen giving her sour looks. He had made her feel like a bold child that morning being frog marched into the classroom. She'd been too angry to talk to him the rest of the day and then before she knew it a week had gone by and he hadn't said anything and it felt too strange to bring it up whilst they were working.
Serena sighed as she made her way to the office on AAU. She saw Ric in the distance dealing with a patient. She opened the door to the darkened office and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Hanssen sitting behind the desk.
'Bloody hell Henrik!' she exclaimed. She took a deep breath and closed the door. Hanssen didn't react. 'What are you doing here?'
'I could ask you the same, Ms Campbell. You're shift is over.' Hanssen replied.
'I wanted to check next week's roster.' Serena put her bag down on the desk and moved to the side, waiting for Hanssen to vacate her chair.
Instead he remained seated and raised an eyebrow at her questioningly.
'Eleanor wants us to do something together and I can't remember what days I'm off.' She gave him a pointed look. 'It's been a little difficult to remember my shifts lately as they've been a bit all over the place.' She suspected he had something to do with that.
Once again Hanssen didn't react. He sat there looking at her intently, an unreadable expression on his face.
'Are we never going to refer to it?' he asked suddenly.
Serena scrunched her face in confusion. 'To me going between AAU and Keller like a yo-yo?' she guessed facetiously.
Hanssen jaw clenched slightly and he looked away. Serena realised what he was getting at.
'Oh. That.' She didn't know what to say. 'I thought you didn't want to talk about it.' She sat down on the desk.
Hanssen glanced up at her sharply. 'You were the one rushing me out the door and avoiding me.' He hated the petulant tone to his voice when he said that.
Serena winced. 'I know I didn't handle things very well that morning. Eleanor being home threw me a little.'
'So it was not simply because you were ashamed of what we had done?' he asked timidly.
'No.' she shook her head and debated whether or not to tell him the real reason for her panic that morning. She bit her lip.
'What is it?' he asked, noticing her reticence.
'We… made a mistake that night.' She began. 'Rather a ridiculous one considering we're both doctors.' She paused, waiting for him to think back, she had thought that he had probably realised it himself since then.
But Hanssen looked at her questioningly.
'You can't think of anything we forgot that night?' she asked.
He shook his head, he wished she would just get on with it.
'Contraception.' She said.
Serena almost giggled at his audible intake of breath and the look on his face. Before he could get any words out she saw his eyes flick subconsciously to her stomach.
'I'm not – don't panic!' she said hurriedly.
'I'm sorry Serena.' He looked genuinely remorseful. 'I didn't think.'
'Neither did I.' she said ruefully. 'But, no harm done.'
'You should have told me.' He said. 'Instead of worrying about it on your own.'
'It was fine. I was just a bit flustered that morning. Once I'd been to see Ric it wa…'
'Ric Griffin?' Hanssen cut her off.
'Yes.' Serena nodded. 'He wrote me a prescription for the morning after pill. Well, I could hardly write one for myself!'
'I could have done it.' He said.
If she didn't know better she'd think he was hurt that she had gone to Ric instead of him.
'I thought that might have been a bit… strange.' She said.
'Does this mean Mr Griffin knows about us?'
'No!' she shook her head. 'I didn't tell him who… To be fair, he didn't ask. I still felt like an idiot though.'
'I'm sorry.' He apologised again.
She smiled gently at him. 'It's fine.' Standing up with a sigh, she said, 'Come on, let me check my shifts so I can go home!'
Hanssen stood up slowly and took a step closer to her. Serena felt her breath catch at his proximity.
The door burst open and Sacha appeared.
'Oh! Ah. Sorry!' he mumbled. 'I just need to…' he gestured to a file on the desk, grabbed it and left, seemingly oblivious to anything else.
Hanssen had stepped away and straightened his posture again. 'Goodnight Ms Campbell.' he said.
'Goodnight Mr Hanssen.' She replied as he walked away.
'