Zoe woke up, she'd fallen asleep next to Max's bed, her neck ached from the position she'd been in.
She took Max's hand, he still hadn't woken up.
"Zoe, why don't you go home?" Robyn said. She'd been waiting alongside her for Max to wake up.
"What if he wakes up and I'm not here? And what about you? You need to get some sleep too?" Zoe asked.
"The doctors said it could be some time before he wakes up. You heard them. Go home, get some sleep and a shower, I know you, you don't want to look like you do now when he wakes up! No offence." Robyn smiled.
Zoe smiled back, "do I look as bad as you?"
"Worse! Seriously, I'll go when you come back, I'll call you if anything happens." Robyn assured her.
"Ok, I won't be long." Zoe told her before leaving.
"Hey, Max. It's me. Listen, you really need to wake up. Everyone is worried about you, Zoe especially. She really loves you Max and you deserve to be genuinely happy. Lofty is lost without you, it's like he's missing a limb. Sorry, probably not the best thing to say. I'm missing you too, I'll even take the annoying Max as long as you get better soon. I've called your mum, she's on holiday in Spain. I've told her not to come back, I'll keep her informed." Robyn was talking to Max watching him hoping he would wake up before drifting off to sleep.
"Robyn, hey." Zoe was nudging her to wake her up.
"What time is it?" Robyn asked.
"It's 6.30am." Zoe told her.
"Why you back so early?" Robyn asked.
"I couldn't sleep. I wanted to be here with Max. It sounds ridiculous but I missed him." Zoe said.
"It's not ridiculous. I'll leave you to it, I need to go and shower, I've got a shift later." Robyn said.
"You don't have to work Robyn, everyone knows the situation." Zoe said.
"I know, I'd rather keep busy, I can't help Max but I can help others. I can still keep an eye on him if I'm here." Robyn explained.
"Oh I forgot to ask, do you know what happened to the driver?"
"Yeah, he was drunk, fell asleep at the wheel. He was unhurt, which is unbelievable. He's been arrested."
"Bastard." Robyn said, shocked by her own language.
"That's putting it mildly." Zoe replied.
Robyn left, kissing Max on the forehead. "Remember what I said." She whispered. She gave Zoe a hug before leaving.
"Hi, I'm back." Zoe said to Max. "I couldn't sleep without you. I see you're having no trouble sleeping without me." She joked.
"Tell you what, this is a bit extreme to get out of my cooking. I couldn't be that bad surely? Just been looking at some emails, Connie's arranging some cover for you, and you thought what you did wasn't important. You'll be on full pay until you're ready to come back so that's one thing you don't need to worry about although you wouldn't anyway, I'd support you. I know you hate that but why does it matter who earns the most? It's not an issue for me, I'd do anything for you, never forget that Max.
After this I'm never going to miss another date with you. If I'd been there for a break, this would never have happened. I can't get that out of my head Max, work has always been my life, I've never had this before, well, not anything like this, I was putting it first then, trying to sort out that paperwork instead of meeting you. I promise you now, I'm going to put you first, I'll take as much time off as I need to get you back to full fitness. You're lucky, you've got youth on your side, I expect a full recovery from you, you have no excuses with your girlfriend being a doctor. Am I too old to use the term girlfriend? I'm not sure what else I'd be classed as?
Partner? Maybe not. This is confusing. I'm rambling now. Robyn's going to pop back later and Lofty will come too, he needs you back for the bromance.
I need you back Max, I know it's only been a few hours but I'm lost without you, that smile, that constant glint in your eye. I've never loved anyone like I love you, even if you do leave your clothes on the bedroom floor and I'm picking them up after you. Or you're stealing my chocolate, you think I don't notice but I do, you should never steal a woman's emergency stash, it's not worth it!
I've bought you some pyjamas, I know you hate them but I don't think your boxers would go down too well in here, besides we wouldn't want any nurses checking you out would we? I don't want you running off with a younger model. Can you believe the first thing I did when you went into theatre was go and buy pyjamas? I've never been organised in my life and here I am worrying you didn't have pyjamas? How crazy is that? I've got you some toiletries too and some towels, we don't know how long you'll be in here, you won't be able to have a shower for a while I'm afraid. I'll tell you now, you've got both legs in plaster, I don't want that to be a shock. Although you'll love being wheeled about for a change I imagine, let someone else do your job whilst you sit back and relax? Actually, maybe take your time waking up, you'll be a nightmare patient!"
Zoe laughed, Max would be a terrible patient, he couldn't sit still for ten minutes without wanting to be up, he was like a kid at Christmas most days, she loved his outlook on life, he'd changed since the breakup with Laura, Robyn had said it was like having the old Max back. He had a new lease of life.
She took out a pair of the pyjamas, taking the tags off, looking at them she could see why he hated them so much, he liked to be free at night he'd told her, and less clothes to remove for you know what should the occasion arise, no pun intended.
Zoe got out her phone, she checked her emails, checked the local news, the crash had been headline news in the Holby Times. She was soon getting restless and started to fall asleep. Just as she was about to fall into a deep slumber, she heard his voice.
"You better not have spent a fortune on those pyjamas, they're horrendous!"