"How's Maya?" Violet asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"She's good," replied Sam "I called the hospital on the way over and they said she had a good night"

"Great" smiled Violet as she leant against the kitchen counter. She looked around at the people sitting in front of her; her friends. They all had their troubles, had all been broken in the past, had hurt each other but, as the last 24 hours had shown, they were there, they cared. She knew clearing Dell's office would be hard but they had to do it, the longer they left it the harder it would become to admit he was gone, the more guilty they would feel for removing his stuff. She smiled to herself as she sipped her coffee, in his death Dell had bought them all together; Naomi and Pete had cleared their schedules and come up from downstairs, Addison and Naomi were in the same room and her and Pete had bathed their son together this morning.

"Right guys shall we..." Violet said, instantly changing the atmosphere of the room. She knew she would have to be the one to instigate this, to support them, to be strong.

With a several mutters of agreement they all made their way to Dell's office.

Dell's office seemed even smaller without him; as if he had bought it to life somehow. They all looked around; they didn't know where to start.

"We could put his books in the lobby" Naomi suggested "then we could all use them."

"Hmm, yeah, good idea" came a medley of voices from within the room.

"We could ask around, see if anyone could make use of his desk" Cooper suggested.

"I don't know" replied an unsure Sam "It would kind of feel weird offering his stuff to people…"

"It's better than wasting it Sam" Naomi's voice was friendly as she spoke.

Sam nodded as he considered her objection, she was right, Dell would want someone to do something to help other people.

The room fell silent as they all realised that this was going to be harder than they had imagined.

"Right," came Charlotte's authoritive voice "we all loved Dell, we all feel bad giving his stuff away but I think we all agree that we don't actually need all this furniture so why don't we sell things like the furniture, the fixtures and fittings and send the money to Betsy, I think Dell would approve."

Everyone in the room nodded quietly, it was useful having someone strong and in control of their emotions at times like this.

"Is everyone happy with that?" Violet asked the group. She met by a chorus of nods and agreement.

After an hour of virtually silent work all that remained in the small room that had once been Dell's office was a bookcase, desk, sofa, selection of lamps and pictures and two chairs. It seemed strange seeing the office slowly transform back into the lifeless cupboard it had been before Dell had moved into it, in fact they had all forgotten that it was ever anything other than Dell's office. Violet stood up and looked around the room, with a sigh she picked up a picture of Betsy and Dell that was still standing on the desk. She wondered how Betsy would grow up, how she would cope with losing her mother and father, whether it would make her stronger or if it would be something that would break her, not straight away but later, when she had children of her own, when she was old enough to realise what life had dealt her.

"We can finish up here" Pete said motioning to towards Sam and Cooper as he placed his hand soothingly on Violet's shoulder, you girls go and take a break.

"Yeah we can finish off here." Cooper agreed.

"If you're sure…."Naomi began.

"Go." Said Pete ushering them out of the door.

Violet, Naomi, Charlotte and Addison left the room and headed towards the kitchen.

"I'm just going to pop downstairs," Naomi said as she headed towards the elevator "just to check things aren't falling apart without me." She said jokingly.

Addison smiled as she saw straight through her best friend, Naomi was going downstairs to 'check' on Fife and there was little she could do to disguise the fact. Addison smiled to herself as she watched Naomi press the button and wait for elevator. Addison, also desperate for some time alone made her own excuses to head to the quiet sanctuary of her office.

"I'm just going to go check my emails and catch up with a few patients" she informed Charlotte and Violet as she headed towards her office.

Once inside the confines of her office she let out a huge sigh, she wasn't good at being strong, she could do it, she could hold herself together but inside she was lost, she was scared and she was hurting. She closed the blinds at the windows, creating sense of calm isolation. She kicked off her shoes and lay down on the sofa, she lay her head back against the arm of the and felt her body relax as she closed her eyes. Scenes from the last 24 hours flashed across her mind, Maya, Dell, Naomi, Sam. Sam. She saw his sleepy eyes, felt his warm hands caress her shoulders. She wished they could stop time around them, just for a few hours, just long enough for them to be together, to start their relationship properly, to give into the passion they'd both been fighting for months.

Sam took a last look around the corridor, to check that he remained undetected. Sure that no one was watching he quietly slipped into Addison's office.

He was taken by surprise as he saw her stretched out on the sofa, she looked stunning; peaceful. He took quiet, careful steps towards her, sure that she was unaware of his presence.

"You'd make a rubbish burglar" Addison smiled without opening her eyes.

A grin spread across Sam's face and he stopped mid-creep in the middle of her office. They both grinned at each other as Addison opened her eyes and Sam made his way over to the sofa. He perched on the coffee table and looked down at her.

"Are you ok? It's been a pretty hard morning." He asked as he smiled down at her.

"I'm fine," she replied with a smile "I was just thinking about…" she blushed as she remembered what she had been thinking about, them, together, his hands on her body.

He smiled as he read her face, "me too" he admitted.

They both smiled. Sam slid off the table and knelt on the floor next to her, bringing his face in line with hers.

"Tonight," he began "tonight I promise it will be just you and me, no phones, no work, no patients, just you and me."

She smiled as she thought of the prospect of spending an entire night alone with him, just the two of them together, exploring their new relationship.

"Sounds good" she smiled, her voice barely a whisper as she felt his warm breath on her cheek.

"Hmm," Sam agreed as he planted a small kiss on her lips. "I'd better get back before Cooper and Pete send out a search party." He smiled as he left her and headed towards the door.