All afternoon, Millais found himself continually distracted by nurse's voices, all sounding identical to Ethel, and hearing the familiar tap of shoes against the floor as women passed him on the ward. He repeatedly hoped to see her, explain to her why he was so desperate for her to fight for her ambitions as he was so fervently doing, and yet still she kept her distance. In fact, for almost four hours he hadn't seen or heard her – and it was driving him slowly insane.

After returning to his patient, he found Dr. Ingrams deeply anxious about going near the frantic, shrieking woman, and Nurse Goodley looking rather annoyed at being left with such an inexperienced doctor. Millais had to make several apologies for running off, and took charge immediately to make up for it. And all the while he was treating his patient, he could hear Ethel's words flitting through his head. Was he really not doing his duty by letting Harry do things for himself? Should he really be helping the boy every step of the way? When he had been a junior doctor, he had been left to deal with patients completely on his own, and look at him now! However, he could still remember that feeling of being thrown in at the deep end without any kind of anchor to keep him from floating away, and he had always been glad when another doctor came to check on him.

At the moment, however, his student was having a well-earned ten minutes break from wailing patients, and Millais sincerely hoped he was grateful, as once he became a fully fledged doctor there would no time for any breaks, even ten minute ones.

At that moment, the doors slammed open and another patient was brought in. Before Millais had even had a proper look, he could clearly see the splintered bone of the fibula now protruding from a gaping wound in the man's leg. A sorry mess, but one that could be sorted, he was glad to admit.

As he hurried after his patient into a quieter room, he felt Dr. Ingrams presence behind him and smiled. At least he's on the ball, Millais thought to himself.

'Right, let's have a look, shall we?' he said steadily, stooping to have a closer inspection. Harry, eager to help in whatever way he could, stooped as well, and Millais decided to let the new doctor have a try.

'Dr. Ingrams, what would be the appropriate action for such a case?'

Harry, stunned at being asked such a question, began trawling through the medical notes in his head, and then listed off everything he knew about broken bones.

Millais nodded periodically, waiting for his student to finish, and then stepped aside, telling him to enact what he had just perfectly described. The look of pure fear in the boy's eyes was enough to make him laugh, but with a firm pat on the shoulder, he told him that there was nothing to worry about, and then left him to it.

Outside, Millais found his thoughts again returning to Ethel, and wondered whether this was doing his mental health any good. Since she had arrived, he couldn't remember a single day when he hadn't thought about her in one way or another, and it had become increasingly worse as the months went on.

As a patient was rolled past on a trolley with a doctor running behind, he realised Nurse Bennett was with them, clutching the man's bloodied clothes in her arms. As she dropped his shirt and bent to pick it up, Millais couldn't help going to her aid, and when their fingers touched they looked at one another instinctively, and neither could turn away.

'I have to-'

She was stopped by his strong hand grasping hers, a look of desperation in his emerald eyes. She knew, as did he, that they didn't need words to communicate – one look was sufficient in conveying what speech could not.

They stood, close enough for him to feel her breath on his skin, and all he wanted was to take her in his arms, and explain that all he wanted was to make her happy. But the moment was shattered as her name was called, and as her eyes slid past him down the corridor, he knew he had to let her go. For now.

One fleeting, apologetic glance was all she gave, but it was enough to keep him going until he saw her again. And then she was gone, racing to catch up, Millais shoved his shaking hand inside his trouser pocket, and decided to ignore the fact that his entire body was trembling.