"Florian didn't come down for breakfast again this morning," Agnes commented as she stood in accessories with Miss Mardle, her concern obvious as Josie nodded slowly. Agnes had only a short shift today and she had left after Josie and was finishing before her. "I've hardly seen him since he went out with Victor. He's been so quiet recently," she explained as Josie nodded, knowing that he had barely left his room in the last week and he had stopped playing his violin in the last two days. "I was going to see if he wanted to go for a walk this afternoon, see if I could get him to talk about what was wrong," Agnes suggested as Josie smiled and nodded again, knowing that Florian would probably be more open if she wasn't around. It was her, after all, who he was clearly trying to avoid.

"Thank you, I think he might talk to you," Josie smiled as Agnes nodded and finished buttoning up her coat. "I will see you this evening Miss Towler," she added before Agnes said goodbye and moved towards the exit, Josie watching as she disappeared before she turned around to serve a newly arrived customer. Hearing a familiar laugh as she finished serving the customer, Josie smiled before she turned to see Mr Selfridge approaching her, his usually large smile covering his face as he approached accessories.

"Miss Mardle," Mr Selfridge smiled as she quickly looked up at him, putting away the objects that she had been promoting earlier.

"Mr Selfridge," she responded, waiting to hear what he wanted to discuss with her.

"Miss Mardle, I wanted to inquire about your lodger," Mr Selfridge began as Miss Mardle nodded quickly, surprised that Mr Selfridge was visiting accessories just to discuss Florian. "Rose and I are actually organising a little get together in a few weeks and we were wondering if Mr Dupont would be interesting in performing for our guests. Rose did love him at the concert and we thought he might enjoy the chance to perform again," he explained as Miss Mardle nodded quickly, unable to remove the smile from her face at the available opportunity.

"I would have to ask Mr Dupont of course but I'm sure he would love the opportunity Mr Selfridge," Miss Mardle smiled.

"I would of course pay him Miss Mardle but Rose did love his performance," Mr Selfridge added as she nodded again, knowing that Florian would love the opportunity to play for an audience again.

"I shall ask him this evening Mr Selfridge, thank you. He is always happy to hear that people have enjoyed his music," Miss Mardle responded before Mr Selfridge excused himself and walked towards the lift.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Miss Mardle,a word," Mr Grove stated as he approached accessories, interrupting her conversation with a client.

"I'm serving a customer at the moment Mr Grove," she responded, forcing a smile onto her face as she continued to show the gloves to the young woman who was interested in purchasing a pair.

"It's important Miss Mardle, I'm sure one of the other members of staff would be able to serve this customer but it is rather urgent that I talk to you," Mr Grove explained as Josie nodded, calling over someone else before she excused herself and followed Mr Grove towards the corner of the shop, away from everyone else.

"What is it Mr Grove? I'm trying to work," she explained, her arms crossing as she stared up at him. "Roger what's going on?" she asked as he looked at her.

"Josie…" he began, concern covering her face as she watched him. He never called her Josie at work, even when they'd been together he hadn't called her Josie. They were always professional, she was always Miss Mardle. "Josie it's about Mr Dupont," he stated, watching the anger cover her face as she glared at him.

"Mr Grove, you don't need to concern yourself about Mr Dupont. He has nothing to do with you and there is nothing to our earlier conversation about him. You have no reason to be concerned about my lodger," she explained, turning her back on him to return to work but stopping when he took hold of her arm. "Let go of me," she warned as he shook his head.

"Josie someone just came to the shop to find you," he explained as confusion covered her face. "He was sent by Miss Towler," he continued as Josie listened, confused about what he was talking about. What did this have to do with Florian? "When Miss Towler arrived at your house this afternoon, she found Mr Dupont at the bottom of the stairs. The man who was sent to the shop didn't have any more information but apparently Mr Dupont was unconscious," he explained as Miss Mardle covered her mouth with her hand, trying to hide her shock while shaking her head. "You should sit down," he suggested as she continued to shake her head.

"I need to go home now," she muttered before turning around, trying to work out what to do. "I need to go home, I should be there, I should be there with Florian if he's not well. I should be there," she blurted out, still in shock. How had she not known that something was wrong? What was even wrong with Florian? What had happened to him?

"Miss Mardle," Mr Grove stated, stopping her for a moment as he approached her. "You are working, you can't just leave because your lodger is ill. Miss Towler is with him."

"He is not just my lodg…" she began before realising who she was talking to. She couldn't start saying things in front of him, he would twist it and make it seem even worse than it actually was. "He doesn't have any family in this country, I should be there if he isn't well. He is in my care as my lodger and I will be there to care for him. It is not fair to put all of this on Miss Towler," she stated before walking through the shop to collect her coat and hat.

"And what about you work?" he asked, following her as she pulled her coat on.

"Mr Selfridge will understand," Miss Mardle whispered, hoping that she was correct in her opinion, before she turned and walked towards the exit, even though she was desperate to run and get home as quickly as possible.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"Agnes," Josie shouted as she entered her house, pulling her coat off and throwing it onto the floor as she moved up the stairs and towards Florian's room. Hearing the door open, she watched as Agnes stepped out of the room. "How is he? Have you got a doctor to come and see him?" she panicked as Agnes nodded and moved towards her.

"The doctor is still with him," Agnes explained as Miss Mardle nodded. "He has influenza, it's apparently quite serious," she stated as Josie covered her mouth again with her hand. "He has a fever and he's not conscious, the Doctor thinks he must have fallen down the stairs and knocked his head this morning," she stated as Josie remained silent. She should have realised that something was wrong. His complete absence and the lack of the violin should have been clear signs that something was wrong. "Apparently he would have been feeling ill for a while and a lack of appetite would have been a symptom."

"I should have noticed that something..." Josie began as Agnes shook her head and rested her hand on the older woman's arm. "I thought he was just trying to avoid me and that was why he wasn't coming to meals," she explained, knowing that Agnes wouldn't understand why she would think that. "I should have realised that something was wrong."

"How could you have known? We've hardly seen him and Florian never complains," Agnes responded, trying to comfort her friend as Miss Mardle nodded and watched as an older man left Florian's room.

"How is he?" Josie asked as the doctor stared at her for a moment.

"He has influenza," the doctor stated as Josie nodded. "He needs plenty of rest and fluids, it's an extreme case and he's very sick," he explained as she continued to listen. "You need to try and bring his fever down. It's the knock to the head I'm concerned about, we won't know more until he wakes up," he added as Josie nodded. How could this have happened? "I will come back again in the morning to check on him," he stated as Josie forced a smile onto her face, trying to act strong in front of the stranger.

"Thank you doctor," she whispered before Agnes approached the older man.

"I'll show you out," Agnes smiled as Miss Mardle mouthed thank you and slowly approached Florian's room. Opening the door slowly, she sighed at the sight of the younger man lying in the bed, sweat covering his face as he remained perfectly still. How hadn't she realised that he was sick?

"Oh Florian," she whispered as she approached the bed and sat down on the edge, her hand finding his as she continued to watch him. "You should have said something but you never complain, you're always so grateful. You never moan about anything, you're always trying to be positive," Josie commented as she ran her fingers across her face, noticing how warm he was. "I thought you were trying to avoid me, I never guessed that you were sick," she whispered, clinging onto his hand as he continued to sleep. "Mr Selfridge came to see me today, he has an offer for you. An offer that you'll love," she whispered as she heard the door open again before Agnes stepped inside.

"I'm supposed to be going for dinner with Victor tonight," Agnes said quietly as Josie turned to look at her.

"There's no reason why you still can't. I'll be here," Josie stated, squeezing Florian's hand gently as Agnes watched the small action. "You should go out with your fiance, enjoy your dinner," she explained as Agnes nodded slowly, still concerned about leaving Miss Mardle to care for Florian alone.

"I'll watch him if you like, so you can change," Agnes suggested as Josie glanced down at Florian again. Did she really need to change out of her work clothes? Could she just sit here? Could she leave him for a moment? "I know you will sit here until he wakes up, even if I tried to persuade you not to, you should at least wear something reasonably comfortable," she explained as Josie nodded and stood up, still holding onto his hand. "You will barely be gone five minutes, if there's any change I will get you."

"Five minutes," Josie replied before letting go of Florian's hand and moving towards the door. "And you'll get me if anything changes?" she questioned, laughing at herself when Agnes nodded and moved to sit down before Josie left the room.

"You've got her worried Florian," Agnes whispered to the unconscious man as she watched him for a moment. "I know that something has happened between you two and you are barely talking but she does care about you, no matter what she's led you to believe," she explained as Florian continued to remain perfectly still. "And when you wake up she'll be disappointed that you didn't tell her that you were feeling unwell," she added before the door opened and Miss Mardle walked in again, pulling her cardigan tightly around her body as Agnes forced a smile onto her face. "Why was he avoiding you?" she asked.

"Because I made things awkward between us and he was trying, badly, to do what I had asked him to do," Josie explained as she approached the bed again. "He always seemed so well, I never thought this might happen."

"He has influenza, it's actually very common," Agnes stated. "He'll recover from it quickly and it'll be like it never happened," she explained as Josie nodded, still watching Florian's face for any changes. "I remember the first time George was really sick, I barely left him but he got better and was soon moaning because I had made such a fuss over him being unwell," she smiled as Josie laughed. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay tonight?" she asked.

"No, he doesn't need both of us looking after him," Josie smiled as she moved to sit down beside him again, her hand finding his once more as Agnes continued to watch the small actions. "Enjoy yourself Agnes, you're young and you're newly engaged. Enjoy every opportunity you have," Josie stated as Agnes continued to watch her, noticing the sad smile that covered her face as she glanced down at Florian, still clutching onto his hand.

"I'll go and make some tea," Agnes stated as Josie nodded, thanking her quietly before she walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Glancing at the shut door for a moment, Josie breathed out before looking down at Florian.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she ran her free hand across his cheek. "Wake up, wake up for me please," she begged, feeling the tears run down her cheeks as she continued to watch his still face. Bringing their hands to her lips, she quickly pressed a kiss to his knuckles before holding his hand tighter and shutting her eyes. "Wake up, let me know that you're going to be alright. Please just wake up."

It's awful I know, and terribly written, and the concept is kind of unexpected and dull but I needed something that would be a catalyst and I liked the idea.

Thank you for the reviews, I love them and I hope you continue to enjoy this story. It will improve.