Tato Potato, thank you for your review! I'm really glad you like it so far - I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

Tanith Panic, I was really hoping Louise would become a softer character once she'd faced her fear and become a nurse again, but it hasn't happened so far! Still, it's only been one day. Thank you for your review and your kind words.

TheAtomicCheesepuff, I'm glad it's not just me who wondered about that! Thank you for your review - and as you can see I'm updating right now!

CBloom2, thank you for your review - and you don't have to wait any longer! I hope you enjoy Chapter 2.

xXxAnInspiredWriterxXx, your wish is my command - updated! Thank you for your review and I'm glad you like it so far.

LittleBritishPerson, maybe they will be evacuated in the next episode - it's a shame we have to wait so long to find out! You'd expect a lot of them to be very upset if anything happened to Guy or Fletch. Thank you for your review!

ETWentHome, the two series do seem to be fairly unconnected so it wouldn't surprise me if it's not mentioned in Casualty - especially as Casualty has a week off. Thank you for your review - I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Connie's lips tightened as she realised the nurse assigned to the prisoner was Rita Freeman. She preferred not to work with Rita at the best of times; following the complaint, Connie's desire to work with the nurse had plummeted still further. She would do what she had to do, of course, but she knew that it would be a very difficult interview – an interview that would be postponed at least until the patient they were treating was stable.

"Connie," Rita greeted her with a professional smile.

"Rita," said Connie, with a smile of her own. "My office, please, as soon as we've finished with the patient."

"Sounds like someone's in trouble," said Cal, who'd been making inappropriate and extremely unfunny jokes ever since Connie had told him about the patient. She looked round in the hope that Ethan might have rematerialized, but there was no sign of him. Connie frowned: that was another little issue that needed sorting out.

Once she'd finished dealing with his brother.

"Whether a member of staff is or is not in trouble, Dr Knight, is hardly any concern of yours," she said.

"Sorry," mumbled Cal, much to her surprise. He wiped his hands on his scrub top and then fidgeted with the pens in his pocket. If Connie hadn't known better, she would have said he was nervous – which could also explain his recent unwise levity – but she couldn't think of any reason why that would be the case. The self-dubbed Knight in Shining Armour would hardly fear a patient just because they'd been in prison.

But Connie had no more time to consider the matter. The doors were opening and their newest patient was on her way.

Dylan handed the earphones to Zoe. "I need them back at the end of your shift."

Zoe nodded quickly: she knew it would worry Dylan if his belongings weren't back in their proper place at the appropriate time. Besides, Dylan was finishing later than she was today and might be needing them himself. "Thanks, Dylan."

"I hope they help," said Dylan as he walked away.

Zoe put the earphones over her ears. Although they weren't in a particularly noisy part of the hospital, she was still aware of every shout and clatter from downstairs. As soon as her ears were covered, the sounds faded almost to nothing and she was left with an almost complete silence that surprised and delighted her. She felt the tension beginning to drain away from her shoulders as she began the walk to her office.

The relief didn't last. It seldom did. Coming towards her, carrying a mop and bucket, was Max Walker, technically (some might say) her husband, though the marriage hadn't been consummated and wasn't likely to be. Zoe was hit by a sudden wave of guilt and sadness. It was all her fault that it had gone wrong and there was nothing she could do to change it.

"Zoe," said Max with a rather distant nod. His voice was too quiet for her to hear it, but she could read his lips. She knew his lips so well.

"Max," said Zoe: "can't we at least talk?"

"I have nothing to say," said Max sadly, and walked away.

Louise wished Robyn would go away and leave her alone. She liked Robyn, but she was afraid she wasn't going to like her for long if Robyn remained her mentor. She was always so nice and so patient, but that made it even more difficult. Robyn had everything: kindness; gentleness; empathy; the ability to perform under pressure and think quickly. Louise was sure that, at some stage, she must have had at least some of these qualities, but they'd completely deserted her now.

Robyn's competence, coupled with her lovely way of speaking to people, only made Louise feel more inadequate, and this annoyed her. On reception with Noel, Louise had always been the competent one who knew where everything was and always knew what to do. Beside Robyn, she felt lost.

And the more inadequate Louise Tyler felt, the more her tolerance levels dipped (and they weren't very high to start with) and the more her temper rose. This was not good news for anyone who happened to get in her way.

"Hi!" said Robyn cheerfully as they entered the cubicle. "It's Owen, isn't it? I'm Robyn and this is Louise. We're working together today. So, Louise is going to take some bloods and then we'll get them rushed up to the lab and get the results back to you as quickly as possible."

She gave Louise a quite unnecessary nudge in the arm. Louise glared at her and turned to the patient, who looked like he was in his late teens or early twenties. "Hi…" She stopped.

"Owen," prompted Robyn.

"Hi, Owen," said Louise, trying to conceal her shock at her memory lapse. Working on reception, she'd always been brilliant with patients' names, and then they were dealing with several patients at once. Noel had been in awe of her.

It was safe to say Robyn wasn't.

Louise rubbed the young man's arm with alcohol. "Not scared of needles, are you?" she asked, unable to prevent a slight sneer from creeping into her tone. But perhaps he wouldn't notice.

"It's okay if you are," said Robyn quickly. In the voice of one sharing a secret, she added: "I'm not terribly keen on them myself."

"Really, Robyn?" said Louise, startled. "How can a nurse be scared of needles?"

Robyn looked awkward. "Well, giving a blood test is a bit different from receiving one… but don't worry, Owen. You're in safe hands with Louise."

Louise tied a tourniquet around Owen's arm and prepared to insert the needle. Her lip curled as she saw he was actually shaking. What a baby! Louise wouldn't say there was nothing that scared her. Confronting her past had been terrifying. But you had to learn to control your fears and someone of Owen's age ought to be able to do that.

"You'll feel a sharp scratch," said Louise. She inserted the needle.

Owen let out a small whimper.

"Oh, don't be such a baby!" said Louise. "It's not that bad! Maybe you should have brought your mummy with you."

Robyn gasped audibly. "She didn't mean it, Owen. It's okay."

Owen gave a sob. "My mum died. That's why I'm having the tests. To make sure I haven't got what she had."

"Oh God." Louise froze into place, still holding the needle as the small phial filled with blood. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Louise, would you like me to take over?" Robyn said with a sweet smile that didn't deceive Louise one bit.

Louise removed the needle, offered the equipment to Robyn, and had one last look at Owen. "I really am so sorry."

She left the cubicle with the feeling that coming back to nursing was a terrible mistake.