I Still don't own All Saints. It wouldn't be ending if I did.

This is the second in the Important Conversations story. Although it is a one-shot, it is related to the previous chapter, and following chapters may well be related to this one. This chapter begins following on from the line: "You could have had your pick of the doctors. So why choose a married one?" From Victoria Carleton to Terri.

TERRI AND VICTORIA

Terri Sullivan sighed, wondering exactly what she was going to say to the mother-in-law of one of her closest friends. Victoria Carleton, mother of Rose Carleton-Stevens, had just asked Terri a very tricky question, and Terri was unsure of what the best answer was.

"May I sit?" She asked, indicating the chair by the bed. Victoria nodded. "By all means." Terri sighed again. "Victoria, just what do you know of my relationship with Mitch? She finally asked. That seemed to be the best way to start this rather awkward conversation. "Very little. Rose seems absolutely certain that you two are having an affair, Mitch keeps trying to tell me that you're just really close friends, even though I'm sure there's more to the relationship than that, and I don't really know what to believe."

Terri smiled. "Well, that makes my task a lot easier, Victoria. Mitch and I are not having an affair, currently We are very close friends, and I hope that will never change, however we are not currently having an affair. We have not been having an affair since Mitch returned from Africa, although we were dating and actually engaged before he went." Victoria raised her eyebrows. "What happened to end the engagement, if I may ask?" "Haven't Rose of Mitch told you?" Terri replied, uneasily. "No. They haven't told me anything about a previous relationship."

Terri sighed. "Alright. Mitch and I were dating, and were planning to be married. Then one day, Mitch lost a young patient. Because of what happened to Lucy, Mitch often gets upset if he can't save a patient, and it's always worse if the patient is a child. When Mitch came home, he was really upset. He started drinking heavily, and something unusual happened." "Oh? What was that?" Victoria asked, interested now. "Mitch is normally a friendly drunk. When drunk, he dreams up stupid pranks to play on people, tells really horrible jokes, and is a general screwball. This time, however Mitch was so upset that the beers he was drinking only made him more upset, and eventually angry. Finally, he stuck his fist through a wall in the flat we shared."

Victoria looked shocked. "But...with Ryan..." "Exactly," Terri replied, shaking her head sadly. 'I panicked and ran. I wasn't going to end up like my mum and Margaret." "No. I can understand that. So that's why the relationship ended. But Mitch is still in love with you?" "Yes. Unfortunately." Terri replied, rubbing one hand over her eyes. "Before he proposed to Rose, he asked if there was ever any chance of us picking up our relationship, if there was any future for us. At the time, I was a devoted religious, and could not see myself leaving the community. I told him so. I also told Mitch that if it would ever be with any man, it would be with him."

Victoria nodded. "I understand. I wonder if Rose knew any of this?" "I think she must have. Mitch told me that before accepting his proposal, Rose asked if he was proposing to her because someone else wasn't available. He admitted that there had been someone else, but that they had taken themself out of the race a long time ago. Rose replied that the person was still in the picture, and Mitch agreed that his former flame was still around. With the way Mitch and I interacted at the time, and the way Mitch has always behaved in relation to me, Rose must have known that he was still in love with me. Hell, I avoided him so much when he first came back because I took one look at him and fell back in love with him."

Victoria laughed at that. "We liked him at first sight, too. He was sweet and courteous, and he obviously treated Rose very well. But we should have seen through all the hospital talk, should have known it meant something he was trying to tell us, but couldn't." Terri smiled, sadly. "Perhaps. Victoria, I feel I need to tell you this, because I can see that you value honesty, and so do I. Should Mitch and Rose break up, we may well explore the possibility of a relationship between us, but at this point in time, I am single, although I am close to Mitch. If you remember from the trial a couple of years ago, that mean cow of a prosecutor asked Mitch if he was still in love with me, and he replied in the affirmative. She then asked him if he would do anything to protect me, and once again replied in the affirmative, before she then triumphantly 'stated' that doing anything to protect me would include lying to the court. Mitch looked murderous."

Victoria nodded. "I can well imagine. I would do a lot to protect my friends too, but I wouldn't commit perjury for them, and I hope they wouldn't ask me to. I'm certain you didn't ask Mitch to." "Of course not," Terri replied. "Thank you for having faith in me, Victoria." Victoria just nodded. "I'm not sure it's faith in you, Terri. I'm currently being civil to you to humour Mitch, but the more we talk, the more I think I like you on your own merits." Terri smiled again. "I can't ask any more than that. Thanks again."

"Now, what happened with Lucy?" Victoria asked, looking concerned. "Lucy was Mitch's sister," Terri replied. "She like to play 'dead' in order to get Mitch into trouble with their parents. One day, she threw a tantrum over not getting her own way about something, and Mitch left her to cool down. When he went back, she appeared to be playing 'dead', so Mitch went away again. When he went back some time later, he found out she was still laying there. He called for an ambulance. It turned out Lucy had electrocuted herself. Mitch still feels he could have done something, and that he should have done something the first time he saw her, when he thought she was pretending. He still feel terrible guilt because he wasn't able to save Lucy, and that guilt colours his feelings over patients he loses, even now. Back then, his reaction to losing that boy was extreme, but it terrified me, and I ran, before I had even thought the situation through properly, or talked to Mitch. We have smoothed things out since then, but I spent some time encouraging Mitch in his shaky relationship with Rose. I know Rose can be difficult, but Mitch truly does love her, in his own strange way."

Victoria nodded. "Thank you for telling me all of this, Terri. A lot of conflicting pieces of information now make sense to me, and I'm grateful for that. Thank you also for clarifying your relationship with Mitch to me. I have no problem with it, however Rose is a different story. I fear their marriage may not have a future, especially if Rose continues to be irrational and unreasonable in relation to Mitch and you being friends, among other issues."

Terri nodded. "I know we're all trying to cut Rose some slack because of her bi-polar disorder," she said, softly. "But a lot of Rose's behaviour just can't be excused. Especially when it comes to emotionally blackmailing the people around her. Running away and kidnapping Lucy was a horrible experience for us all, and Mitch is still walking on eggshells around Rose, because he is desperately afraid that if he does something wrong, Rose will leave again, and take Lucy with her."

Victoria nodded. "Yes. We fear that too. We couldn't stand it if anything happened to Lucy, and we don't want anything to happen to Rose or Mitch. I can see that you don't either. Would you mind me asking you what, if any, relationship you have with Lucy?" "I don't really know. I may be Lucy's Godmother, unofficially. Mitch routinely refers to me as 'Auntie Terri', which I have to admit I very much enjoy. Lucy is a wonderful little girl, and I think everyone who's seen her so far has fallen in love with her."

Victoria smiled. "I wouldn't be surprised if they had. We certainly did," she replied, before adding, "And I'll support you being Lucy's Godmother. Mitch has told us a bit about how you handle Lucy, and I frankly think she couldn't find a better Godmother, although I'm never going to tell Rose that." "H'm. Indeed." Terri replied. "Rose would kill us all if she got any idea of this; you know how jealous and petty she's been about me and Mitch even being friends at all." "Yes, I know," Victoria replied. "I hope that won't stop you from being friends with Mitch, and me, if possible."

Terri smiled. "I can see no reason why Rose's behaviour should stop us from being friends. You may have to run a few of the things Rose says by me before you decide what to believe, especially if Mitch tells you a conflicting story about the same thing, but I can't see any real reason why we can't be friends. I'd like for us to be friends, but I don't want us being friends to damage your relationship with Rose." Victoria smiled. "Thanks, Terri, but if something is going to ruin my relationship with my daughter, then there's not much anyone can do about it. I really appreciate your concern, though. I'm starting to see that Mitch really knows more about you than Rose does. I find it hard to believe that you and Rose were sort of friends, before you introduced her to Mitch. Well, before Mitch proposed, anyway." "I know. I think Rose was on her lithium more consistently back then, no-one would have dreamed she had a mental disorder. But when she was pregnant with Lucy, she stopped taking it. Now she takes it on and off, and I guess that's what causes the sudden irrational periods, and frightening mood swings."

"That would make sense," Victoria replied, smiling. "Thanks for clearing that up, I had wondered what had caused her sudden mood swings and irrational behaviour. I'm glad there was actually a reason behind it, I was afraid that it was my fault that Rose was being so irrational or something." "OF course it's not your fault, Victoria," Terri replied, shaking her head. "Rose needs to be monitored until she gets back into the routine of taking her medication. Until then, she will have periods when she is the person you remember her as, and periods when it will seem like she's been possessed by aliens. I certainly thought that, the first time she was irrational. I kept wondering who she was and where Rose was. Then I found out she had bi-polar, but was off lithium because of the baby. It all made sense after that." Victoria nodded. "It made sense for me too, after I knew about that."

Terri smiled. "I'm glad we're talking this out, now, before the situation festered like it did with me and Mitch. And I'm glad me and Mitch talked our situation out. I want you to know that I will never do anything to undermine Mitch's relationship with Rose, and that I will do everything I can to help Mitch keep his relationship with Lucy. Family is sacred, even if it is stupid, or dysfunctional. But sometimes, nothing will keep a family together. And if Mitch and Rose separate on their own, then I need you to understand that Mitch is likely to try to pursue a relationship with me." Victoria nodded. "Yes, I understand that. Thank you once again for telling me all of this."

At this point, Mitch walked over. "Hello you two. You seem to be conspiring about something, do you mind me asking what you're talking so deeply about?" "Just girl talk," the women assured him, before Victoria added, "I'm sorry I've been so difficult for the last little while. I haven't known what or who to believe for some time, but Terri's been a great help to me. You are blessed to have such a good friend, don't ever do anything to damage that." "I don't intend to," Mitch replied, smiling. "I'm glad you feel the same way as I do about Terri, I know I'm blessed to have her as a friend." "And I'm blessed to have you two as friends," Terri added, smiling at both. "Now, I'm sorry, but I don't have any more time to gossip. There's a ward to run, you know."

"Go on, then Go run your ward. We'll be fine." Mitch laughed, taking the seat instead. Within seconds, Mitch and Victoria were talking avidly about something to do with Lucy, and the phone had rung, so Terri went to deal with whatever had come up now.