A/N: Thanks for all the reviews on this :)

Sarah x

Serena's mobile rang, the shrill beeping yanking her ungraciously from her daze. "Hello," she answered.

"Ms. Campbell," Arthur Digby said, and Serena internally groaned. Great. Digby. That was all she needed. "We need you on Keller."

"Digby, there's a consultant, a registrar, an F1, Chantelle and multiple other nurses on Keller," she reminded him sternly. "If you can't cope without me, well, frankly, that's slightly worrying."

"No, you don't understand," he told her. "There's something going on and Mr. Malick and Mr. Griffin are in theatre and Chantelle doesn't want to get involved," he explained. Serena leaned forward and put her head in her free hand. It was her duty to go up there and sort out whatever it was, and she couldn't ignore that. She hung up the phone without another word.

She stood up and caught Michael on the way past. "They need me on Keller," she told him.

"OK," Michael smiled. He searched her face for a moment and Serena felt slightly uncomfortable under his scrutiny. He had done the same thing every day for a year but she never really got used to it. She never knew if he saw more than he claimed to. He out an arm around her and squeezed her into his chest briefly before he freed her to go to Keller.

She took the lift, wanting to get in and out as quickly as she possibly could. It was only when she stepped onto Keller and saw Chantelle being harassed by Mariah that Serena realised what was going on. Jac Naylor walked onto the ward just as Serena did. "CT consult," she explained. "What's she playing at?" she added, nodding to Mariah.

"God only knows," Serena sighed. She stalked over to the two women. "That is quite enough," she barked, specifically at Mariah.

"It's fine, Ms. Campbell," Chantelle said. Serena was conscious that Jac had come with her, and she didn't want this blowing completely out of proportion.

"Maybe you can answer my questions," Mariah sneered. "What kind of person walks away from her family, her friends and her job without a word."

"My mother knew I was safe," Serena retorted.

"Then why the bloody hell did you do a runner?!" Mariah demanded as she became increasingly frustrated. Serena really did understand it but it didn't make explaining it any easier.

"Mrs. Swinley, I don't think this is the time or the place," Jac tried to be the voice of reason, but Serena knew that the whole lot of them were unreasonable at the moment and it would do no good.

Mariah put her hands in her thick her, pushing it back, and Serena saw that anger bubbling up onto her face. She was furious. "I want to know why my best friend walked away from me and didn't tell me a single thing!" Mariah insisted.

"She was pregnant!" Chantelle exclaimed. As silence fell between the four women, Chantelle shot Serena an apologetic look. Jac moved forward slightly to stand next to Serena so that they and Chantelle were lined up. Digby was watching from the nurses' station, predictably too cowardly to attempt an intervention.

A sneer broke across Mariah's face as she shook her head in disgust. "You've got a child?" she laughed. It was horrible, mocking laugh. "Well, that just takes the biscuit."

"Excuse me?" Jac said, her voice deadly and quiet.

"Serena McKinnie with a kid?" Mariah scorned. "The Serena I know isn't even fit to be a mother."

Serena looked away from her, trying to disguise how much that hurt her. She knew she wasn't the best mother in the world but, under the circumstances, she felt she'd done alright. "And what is that meant to mean?" Chantelle retorted. "Ms. Campbell is a good mum!" she defended Serena.

Serena was surprised to hear Chantelle sticking up for her. The young blonde was always the one to avoid confrontation and try and find a peaceful resolution but Serena could see she was seething.

"She doesn't know how to put anyone but herself first!" Mariah exclaimed.

"People change," Jac asserted.

"Mind you, it doesn't surprise me you got yourself knocked up," she said directly to Serena. "Only reason you didn't have a boyfriend when you left was because you realised how much work you had to do to finish the F2 exams. Always were a bit of a slut, weren't you, Serena?"

There was the unmistakable smack of a hand hitting a face. It wasn't the pathetic schoolgirl slap to the face; the hand had the full force of a body behind as it collided with the blonde's face. Serena looked around to see Jac looking furious but satisfied that she had caused Mariah some degree of pain for that last comment. Mariah touched her lip and found blood on her fingers. She opened her mouth to have a go at Jac but never got the chance.

"Miss Naylor!" a calm voice behind them said. "What on Earth is going on here?"

The three medics turned to find Henrik Hanssen standing behind them. "You three," he addressed Chantelle, Serena and Jac, "will follow me to my office. Mrs. Swinley, you will remain on the ward with your husband," he ordered them in a tone that made it clear there was to be no arguing over it.

Silently, Jac walked after him, seemingly accepting she was to be punished for hitting a patient's wife. Chantelle looked slightly terrified so Serena put a reassuring arm around her shoulders and guided her off the ward, lagging slightly behind Hanssen and Jac.

When they were all in Hanssen's office, he sat down and the women lined up in front of his desk one after the other, Chantelle between Serena and Jac, like they were making sure she was kept in the clear. "So. I come down to Keller to find two consultants and a nurse in conversation with a patient's relative," he began. "Then one of said consultants unexpectedly hits said relative with what I suspect was all her strength. Care to explain?"

Serena felt nervous at the idea of Hanssen getting fully involved now. There was no doubt in her mind that half the ward had heard what Mariah had said right before Jac hit her, and though Serena hated that idea, she now had to accept that everyone knew something really was going on.

"She called Serena a slut," Jac finally sighed. "Under the circumstances, I lost my temper. I'm sorry," she gave a rare apology.

"I see," he replied. "I do understand why you took offence, Miss Naylor, but, between us and the four walls, we all know Mrs. Swinley is a key part of Ms. Campbell's past, and attempting to knock her head off her shoulders was not the wisest idea you have ever had. I do, however, accept that Mrs. Swinley provoked you."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hanssen," Chantelle piped up, much to everyone's surprise, "but she had it coming. The way she was talking about Ms. Campbell, it was horrible!" she backed Jac up.

"What about you, Ms. Campbell?" he asked her. "You have remained unusually silent."

Serena just looked at the floor, unable to say anything to defend herself or Jac and Chantelle. She very much felt like she was on trial for a past crime. Or that they were up in front of the headmaster for fighting in the corridors. "Mar...Mrs. Swinley," she corrected herself. "She crossed a line. Jac, as my colleague and friend, understandably was unable to keep her temper. To be honest, if Jac hadn't got there first, I probably would have done it myself eventually," she confessed.

"Right," Hanssen sighed. "Miss Naylor, I would like you to apologise to Mrs. Swinley, please."

"But-" Jac began to protest until Hanssen cut across her.

"I don't particularly care if you mean it or not," he told her, surprising Serena with his lack of morality. "All I want is for you to say you are sorry and hope she doesn't make a formal complaint. I don't want you in front of a disciplinary hearing because she couldn't keep her mouth shut."

"Oh," Jac replied. She was obviously shocked that Hanssen could be so understanding of what happened.

"Nurse Lane," he addressed Chantelle. "Explain to me what happened, from the start."

"Well," she said, and Serena literally felt the nerves radiating from her. "Mrs. Swinley sort of cornered me and started asking questions about Ms. Campbell and I was trying not to say anything. Someone called Ms. Campbell back to Keller to help and Miss Naylor was coming for a CT consult – I called her myself – and they came to see what was going on. Mrs. Swinley started on Ms. Campbell and I accidentally let slip that she was pregnant when she walked out and then Mrs. Swinley said Ms. Campbell was an unfit mother, and then that she always was a slut," she quoted Mariah. "And then Miss Naylor slapped Mrs. Swinley and then you appeared," she finished rambling.

"Is that all that happened?" he checked; Serena knew why he was making sure. He was trying to be sure that his staff were not in the wrong. Of course, Jac wasn't right to hit Mariah, but it was at least comprehensible.

"Yes!" Chantelle insisted. "We didn't say anything that would have been offensive."

"Alright. You and Miss Naylor will return to Keller," he told the two younger women, "and return to your work. Miss Naylor, make sure you apologise to Mrs. Swinley, for your own sake. Nurse Lane, you will transfer the care of Mr. Swinley to another nurse and steer clear of his wife as much as possible. Do I make myself clear?" he asked.

"Yes," they both replied. He nodded and they both left, Jac throwing Serena a worried look. Serena smiled back, trying to pacify her before she closed the door. She turned back to face Hanssen, dreading what he would say.

He stared at her a moment before he actually spoke. "This has gone far enough. You need to talk to her."

"I don't," Serena argued. "She'll be gone in a day, two or three at the most."
"You cannot honestly be so naïve," he retorted. "Do you really think this is just going to simply disappear?" he demanded; Serena looked away. She knew he was right. In all the madness, Hanssen always talked sense, for which she was extremely grateful. "I didn't think so. Now. I want this to happen in a controlled environment. We don't want a repeat of today, do we?"

Serena shook her head in agreement. She realised now that she couldn't just hide from Mariah. She was stupid to think that Mariah would have been able to leave the matter alone in the first place.

But she couldn't do it alone. And she couldn't ask Jac to be in the same room as Mariah; it was clear the redhead would have liked nothing more than to knock Mariah's teeth down her throat. She could hardly ask Ric, since she had attacked Eleanor and walked out on them. She couldn't put Jonny or Chantelle through it because she had taken enough from them already. Malick had anger issues, so having him in the room with her was less than wise.

That just left one person.

"Fine," she moaned. "Can I just ask one favour if you're going to make me do this?"

"Of course," he replied. "Anything that makes the situation easier for you."

"Be there with me."

She didn't add that she didn't trust herself to keep her temper, or to keep her emotions in check, and she didn't need to Hanssen fully understood the implications and reasons for that request.

"If you want me there for support, of course I will be with you when you confront her," he promised.

"Thank you."

Hope this is OK!
Please feel free to review and tell me your thoughts!
Sarah x