Thank you to all those who been reading, and those who reviewed the last chapter.

I think all this chapter does is provide more questions, but I promise thing start getting explained soon.

She knew that Zoe had sent Tess, there was no other way about it, yet for the time being she was happy to accept the support that Tess was providing. "It'll be okay…" She could hear Tess murmuring the words as she rubbed soothing circles on the small of her back, and began to shake her head frantically disputing Tess' claims.

Her mind had completely wandered to the day she had told her soon-to-be husband that she thought she was pregnant, particularly given his reaction to being told she was pregnant before. "He didn't want Millie, he was so angry…" She closed her eyes aware that Tess was looking at her concern etched all over her face when she'd heard the words. "… and what if I don't get better and he still doesn't want her, what's going to happen to my little girl?" Her head was spinning from the realisation that following the scan she had been coerced into going for had somewhat put more doubt on her young daughter's future than her own. She knew Tess was struggling to find any words of reassurance, yet a small part of her was seeking comfort as she rested her head against the nurse's shoulder while she continued to rub her hand across her back in a consoling manner, probably hoping to encourage her to sleep.

She couldn't explain how Sam's words had made her feel; but she felt that she had some sort of responsibility to her to attempt to pacify her fears and reassure her: "I'm sure Dylan absolutely loves Millie… she's his little girl, he'd never let any harm come to her." She paused, her confusion remaining hoping that the emotionally drained young doctor would allow some one to support her.

She felt the younger woman move her head from her shoulder and watched as she lay down, mumbling into the pillow, "I want her to be safe…"

"I know, darling, I know…" She spoke quietly, as she moved across to sit on the bed, running her fingers through Sam's hair. "Zoe's going to be back to see you in a moment, to talk about what you've got to do next, you still don't what's going on yet." She watched as the girl reacted to her words with tears, and she continued to run her fingers through her long blonde hair, noting that it had provided some degree of comfort earlier.

She had managed to stop the uncharacteristic tears sometime later, but at the same time she'd had grabbed on to Tess' hand essentially refusing to let the nurse leave her side. Tess had asked no questions, but she found that now she had begun talking about Millie, she couldn't put a halt to the words. "I was frightened."

She moved to sit in front of the younger woman before she spoke, "When?" She glanced back towards the girl, certain that the confusion was evident on her face.

She wasn't even certain what the woman was talking about, she moved her hand to reach up and touch Sam's cheek, offering her silent support, "When I found out I was pregnant, I just tried to ignore it until I couldn't anymore…" Sam paused, glancing towards her, a look of uncertainty and alarm crossing her face before she began to speak again, much more quietly, "I didn't want to tell him." She glanced towards the girl, trying to put her question of confusion into a caring look, as she tried to establish why she had been so fearful of telling Dylan her news.

Within a few moments, Sam had averted her gaze and was picking aimlessly at a loose thread on the blanket while she spoke: "He was so angry with me. He kept shouting…" She watched sadly as the girl in front of her, dissolved into a stream of tears and clung on to her hand.

She managed to pull Sam to her, letting the girl cry into her chest as she rubbed her hands in soothing circular motions across her back, whispering words of comfort. "It's alright, it's alright. Everything is going to be fine." She has watched Sam smile a little at that, but she had remained within the comfort of her arms.

When Sam had finally felt able to continue with what she had been saying, her voice was choked and hushed: "…he told me that what I'd done was irresponsible that we wouldn't be able to cope." She paused momentarily, seemingly struggling with how to express what she wanted to say, she however had waited patiently - aware that what Sam had been saying to her, appeared to have been bottled up for the past four years. "I think we coped… I think I coped." Sam had looked up and met her gaze then, speaking more confidently than she had been before "I was coping until the weekend."

She spoke quietly, trying her best to reassure the girl, while her mind was drifting to Dylan and where he actually was when Sam needed him the most. "We'll make sure Millie's safe while you're in here; I promise."

She pulled a chair across the floor, stopping when she reached the desk and carefully sat herself down opposite him before she reached over the desk and put her hand over Dylan's, unsure what to do or say in the circumstances. "Yes, well…"His tone of voice suggested that this action was something which he found uncomfortable and as he cleared his throat she removed her hand from his and paused to see if he would explain any further. "It was a long time ago now." He turned quickly to the file he had originally been staring at when she'd interrupted him and forced her thoughts back to the distressed woman she'd left crying her heart out at in a small, cold ED cubicle.

Without looking up from her finger nails, which she had just begun to examine carefully, she began to speak softly - hoping to provoke a reaction from the detached man sitting in at the opposite side of the desk. "She is obviously still hurting about it Dylan."

He didn't flinch, yet she was surprised why he replied so honestly: "Do you think her falling pregnant was what we'd planned?"

"I doubt that would stop it hurting…" She regretted the words the moment they had left her mouth wondering whether or not that's his air of disinterest in the whole thing was a mask to cover how deeply the situation had affected him. "Did you…" She trailed off unsure about whether it was in fact her business or how to go about asking whether or not Dylan had provided Sam with any form of comfort that day, other than providing her with a stuffed toy.

"Did I what?" He had snapped at her, however, she let the words go over her head aware that he may react that way. "It was a busy day, I had people to assess." He had spoken quietly, as though he was aware that he hadn't reacted ideally at the time but he would never admit that, so he simply chose to attempt to defend his actions. "She had to be assessed Zoe, it was the worst possibly timing." He paused briefly, looking at her as though challenging her to tell him his actions were incorrect.

"Supportive as ever then…" She wasn't certain whether or not that she had said the words out loud but she knew she had thought them, she shook her head softly in disbelief but then realised that she probably shouldn't even be that shocked by Dylan's reaction to news that should have sparked some sort of emotion in him.

When Dylan has taken it upon himself to reply to her she realised that must have muttered her observation aloud. "We weren't together, not then, we were drunk, we'd had an awful day Zoe." She tried desperately not to react to Dylan's sudden admission, though it was not lost on her that what he had been telling seemed surprisingly out of character for both parties. The thoughts which were circling her mind halted when she heard Dylan begin to speak again. "I don't even know now, what she expected me to do when she told me she was pregnant. I needed to sort my head out, I told her we'd talk the next day." Once again, he paused, this time his eyes closed and he seemed to be reflecting on the situation that he and Sam had found themselves in years previously. "Then the next day there was no baby anymore. I've never seen her in so much pain. She was crying and the pain just didn't seem to stop, not all day." He stopped speaking abruptly and stared at Zoe as though waiting on her to respond to this particular announcement. She didn't know what to say and the situation made her feel sick, if she was being truthful with herself, as her mind clearly envisaged Dylan trying not to show emotion and a very young distraught Sam.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to be in the situation, which was ironic given the amount of time she'd spent trying to get herself involved in this very situation in order to understand the complexities of the Keogh's marriage. Something inside her compelled her to dig deeper and find out more, she took this to be her natural flare for finding out information and her own nosiness. "How old was she Dylan?"

"Twenty-two…" He wasn't surprised when he trailed off upon answering the question, and turned him around by at least forty-five degrees to stare at the blank wall, in order to avoid looking at her.

She knew in that moment that she could not make any reference to the age gap, to how young Sam was, she just had to simply accept what Dylan was saying before she could try to make him understand why Sam felt so low that day. "She probably just wanted a bit of support, some reassurance." She paused to briefly consider how to explain that Sam needed the same support from her husband that day as she did right now. "It's hardly any different from now you need to go and see her, give her a bit of support, come on…"

She sighed with relief when Dylan eventually stood from the seat behind the desk and begun to walk out the ward in front of her; she was aware that she had coerced him to go and see his wife, but she hoped that, that particular part of Dylan's visit would be lost on Sam.

She had managed to reassure Tess that she was fine to be left alone, only moments before she heard the curtain being pulled open and she was forced to open her eyes and look to see who had decided to disturb what she had wanted to be a peaceful slumber. She closed her eyes again, when she realised that it was Dylan, who was closely followed by Zoe, though she did seem to hang back when he stepped closer until he was standing by her bedside.

"Can I watch Millie, while you're in here?" She nodded weakly, at Dylan's question, aware of Zoe's presence in the room. She desperately wanted her answer to be an end to the matter, but the fact that Dylan had decided he had to ask, made it perfectly obviously that he was still bitter about her over- looking him as a possible guardian for Millie while she was in Afghanistan. She knew that it looked odd to not let Dylan watch their daughter but she had her reasons and she sure Dylan had understood them even if others hadn't. She could hear the next question before he had said it, and felt that Zoe's presence in the room, would mean she would have to explain her actions aloud to Dylan for the first time. She hadn't even been able to articulate that decision to Dylan so she had no idea how she would be able to do so with another person present. However, neither questioned why Millie was not handing into her father's care upon her departure so she allowed Dylan to slip his hand into hers and closed her eyes unable to fight the exhaustion of the day.

So I'm sure it'll be up a little earlier on Wednesday morning; to many distractions today.

However, thank you for reading.

Anny x