Chapter 4

The restaurant had grown increasingly busy since they had arrived as it was evidently known for its' cocktails. Serena and Hanssen had chosen to stick to one bottle of wine, attempting to wade through the day's paperwork.

"Well surely he can be discharged first thing tomorrow...I'd have discharged him today!" she said loudly, over the din of the restaurant. Hanssen looked at his notes and felt compelled to agree with her. There was no real medical reason why the patient had needed an overnight stay, it was simply Ric Griffin being over-cautious. He reached out and picked up the wine bottle, topping up her glass as he continued to read. She watched him thoughtfully and found she was glad she'd decided to come here with him tonight. The food had been wonderful and the atmosphere had become more fun as the night had worn on. She noticed even Hanssen had begun to relax as he'd removed his suit jacket and loosened his tie. She watched his throat as he swallowed a sip of wine and found her eyes drifting to his shirt opening. She looked up and saw him scrutinising her, tilting his head questioningly. She dropped her gaze, picking up her refreshed wine glass and taking a sip.

"I believe that's everything, Ms. Campbell." he said tiredly as he closed the file and leant back in his seat, rubbing his eyes.

"This was a good choice." she gestured around her as the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

"Yes. The food was very good." he stated, finishing his wine and gathering the file together.

"You don't fancy trying their famous cocktails then?" she asked mischievously as he threw her an unimpressed look.

"No, Ms. Campbell...I do not." She shrugged her shoulders as she finished her wine and stood up, reaching for her coat and bag. Waving to the owner, he made his way over to her and scooped her up in his arms.

"Now you come back again, yes!? It has been very lovely to have such a beautiful woman brighten up the place!" he said jovially as Serena laughed and blushed furiously, removing herself from his embrace. She turned and looked up at Hanssen, embarrassed, and saw he was smiling and looking down at her with an almost sense of pride. He shook the owner's hand and followed her from the restaurant, both promising they'd be back. Stepping out into the cool night air Serena inhaled deeply and stopped to pull on her coat, Hanssen, she noticed, was doing the same. They walked slowly back to the car, feeling more comfortable in each other's presence than they had for a while. Nearing the pub from earlier, she noticed a few of the same men outside, considerably more drunk than they'd been earlier.

"Ooh come 'ere darlin', give us a kiss! Look at the body on that!" one of them coaxed as he began to laugh with his friend. Serena felt Hanssen stiffen beside her and draw himself up to his full height, evidently about to confront them. She reached out a hand and grabbed hold of his arm, pulling him back firmly, looking up at him.

"Don't." she said simply as he threw them a furious glare before acquiescing to her request. Not wanting to put Serena anywhere near them, he swapped sides with her and took hold of her hand, leading her past them quickly. As they reached the end of the street, the laughter began to die away and they continued walking hand in hand to the car.

"I'm sorry, comments like that make me very mad." he explained. "Simply looking at you as if you were a piece of meat." he spat, tightening his grip on her hand protectively.

"I know. It shouldn't happen, but it does unfortunately. You have to learn to pick your battles. They were drunk, there was no way we were going to make them see the error in their ways." she reasoned as he exhaled.

"I suppose not. I suppose being attractive has it's down-sides, no matter what other attributes you posses." he allowed, keeping his gaze forwards. She looked sideways at him, in shock.

"Did you just say I'm attractive?" He slowed his pace, suddenly becoming nervous as he turned his head slightly.

"Well, I'm sure you already knew that." he stated. Her eyes were wide with surprise as they continued walking in silence.

Hanssen pulled over his car at Serena's house and turned to face her.

"I'll see you Monday." he said formally, as she reached for the door handle and opened it with great effort.

"Yes, thank you for the dinner. I had a good time." she smiled as she climbed out of the car, slamming the door. As she stood on the pavement, watching his car disappear, she realised that she had actually had a good time. She had enjoyed the way he had been so protective of her, it had made her feel wanted and cared-about. She turned and headed to her house, taking out her keys and opening the front door. She took off her shoes and headed through to the living room to find the place in darkness, empty food wrappers littered across the sofa. Sighing, she decided to leave it until tomorrow and headed up to bed. She headed to Eleanor's room and poked her head around the doorway, trying to make out the shape in the bed. She assumed her daughter was there as she gently closed the door and headed to her own room. She undressed in the darkness, pulling on her pyjamas and climbed into bed, leaping out of her skin as she felt a body move next to her.

"It's only me!" Eleanor laughed as Serena swore loudly, turning on the bedside lamp.

"You nearly gave me a heart-attack!" she breathed, frowning at her daughter. "What are you doing?" Eleanor looked down sheepishly and Serena reached forward to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I couldn't sleep. I just wanted to see you." she said quietly as Serena chuckled and pulled her into an embrace. "Sorry I hung up on you earlier, I felt awful afterwards." she confessed, holding her mother close to her.

"That's okay." Serena soothed, stroking Eleanor's hair.

"I love you."

"I love you more." Serena replied, kissing her head. Reaching out with one arm, she switched the lamp off as she snuggled down under the duvet, holding her daughter tightly.

"How many more, Chantelle? Are we running on schedule?" Serena asked as she rifled through the pile of folders placed on the Nurses' Station.

"Yes Ms. Campbell. You've got two Hernia repairs left." She nodded in response as she filled out a document and handed it to the young nurse.

"Good. Prep my next patient then please." she said as Chantelle rushed off to do as she was asked. Serena pushed a hand through her hair as she read through the file, making notes along the way, trying to go as quickly as possible. She heard the doors to the ward open and Michael Spence came in with a patient being pushed on a trolley.

"Ah Serena! Have no fear, the Spence is here!" he laughed as she rolled her eyes.

"Good to see you back. Is this how we're going to begin the week? You referring patients up here all day?" He stood in front of her, motioning to the young girl on the trolley.

"Malory Rogers. 23 years of age, severe abdo pains. I will tell you that she has Secondary breast cancer in the liver. This was diagnosed a little over a month ago over at St. James's." he said quietly, glancing over at the young girl, growing paler. He turned back to Serena, a look of sadness in his eyes. "I don't think she has very long to be honest." He touched her arm, handing her the patient file and left the ward. Serena gazed at the girl, ushering the porters to wheel her over to a free bed. Once she'd been settled in, she approached her and introduced herself.

"Hi, my name is Serena Campbell, I am a Consultant and General Surgeon here at Holby City Hospital. You are Malory Rogers, age 23, yes?" she asked as the girl nodded her head. "Well Malory, we are going to do everything we can to try and treat the pain, okay?" The girl nodded and grimaced, reaching for her abdomen. "Now, can you tell me exactly where the pain is?"

"It's near my stomach and my lower back. I can't get comfy at all." she cried, as she wriggled around trying desperately to find some solace from the pain.

"Hey, it's okay, we'll get you some morphine now. Try not to panic." She looked over at Chantelle and indicated the drip being inserted. "10mg of Morphine please Nurse Lane." Chantelle nodded and moved off to fetch the drug.

"This is it, isn't it?" asked Malory, meeting Serena's eyes. "This is the end." Serena stared into her eyes and noticed the strength and age beyond her years which shouldn't be there. Smiling reassuringly, she took hold of the girl's hand and held it tight.

"We...I am going to do whatever I can to ensure that's not the case. But it does look as though your Cancer has progressed rapidly." she said truthfully, Malory nodding in understanding.

"I didn't think I'd mind. I thought I'd prepared myself but now it's come to it, I don't want to go...I can't go yet." she protested, shaking her head, tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey hey, just try and relax. We're going to get some morphine into you for the pain and then we'll take a closer look at what's really going on, okay?" Malory smiled.

"Okay, thank you." Serena nodded and headed back to the Nurses' Station with her file. She decided she'd need to send Malory for a CT scan, followed by an Ultrasound. She needed to know exactly what was going on and how far advanced the Cancer had become. Sighing, she turned to look at the young girl, not much older than Eleanor, and felt a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.