Unexpected Correspondence

Chapter 9

There was a loud bang that sounded like a door being slammed open, and Kitty found herself suddenly dropped to the floor. Her hands went straight to her sore throat where she was sure hand-shaped bruises were already forming.

"Sir." The title was snarled contemptuously in that gloriously familiar, thick Scottish accent. "I recommend you step away from her immediately." Kitty raised her head to see a furious looking Thomas shutting the door behind himself. Elliott was still near her but not as close as he had been as he had stepped away from her to confront the newcomer.

"This matter does not concern you, get out!"

"Miss Trevelyan's wellbeing is my concern, and I highly doubt leaving her in your presence would be conducive to that." As Thomas said this he moved to place himself between her and Elliott, increasing the distance between them. Kitty rose to her feet unsteadily, still wary of Elliott even with Thomas as a shield between them. "Are you alright?" Thomas did not take his eyes off Elliott as he asked. "I thought I should intervene when I heard the shouting."

"I'm fine." Kitty replied. "Thank you." Elliott was looking between them calculatingly, clearly he had worked out that there was some connection between them, particularly as Thomas had referred to her by name.

"She might be fine, but you will not be if you do not leave this instant." Elliott said coldly to Thomas. "I doubt Catherine has told you but I am a politician and I wield considerable influence, I could ruin you." Elliott glanced disparagingly over Thomas's uniform which to an informed eye such as his clearly showed his rank and role. "If you stay, you will never work in a hospital again, nor any other smaller practice." Thomas did not move, his expression and body language unreadable.

"This isn't like the situation with Francis." Kitty snapped at Elliott. "You cannot just threaten to wield your influence as though yours is the only voice that counts."

"You think they will listen to you?" Elliott scoffed. "An adulteress who ran off to France to play nurse."

"Not me, my father." Kitty hated having to resort to such measures but she didn't want to risk Elliott returning to London and spreading lies about Thomas's abilities as a surgeon when all Thomas had done was try to stop him from hurting her.

"Your father hates you, why on earth would he help you in this instance."

"My father doesn't hate me," Kitty said disdainfully, "he hates you. I'm sure he would be more than happy to help me if it had negative consequences for you." Elliott looked surprised at this revelation and could not find a suitable rebuttal. Kitty suspected that if Thomas had not been there Elliott would have tried to hit her, he certainly looked like he wanted to.

"Do you want to get back to the hospital?" Thomas asked her, once he realised that Elliott had been silenced for the time being.

"He says Sylvie is here," Kitty replied, "I have a key to the room."

"Go see her," Thomas told her, "I'll make sure Mr Vincent doesn't attempt to follow you." He fixed Elliot with a glare that was far scarier than the one he used on her weeks ago when she interrupted him when his patient died. That glare had been pretty intimidating then but there was no comparison, she was almost surprised that Elliott hadn't melted to the floor in a puddle because of it.

Still clutching the key for Room 22 in her hand Kitty walked towards the door, turning her back on the two men still in the room. She thought she heard a footstep but it was rapidly followed by Thomas telling Elliott threateningly that if he took one more step towards her he would personally do his very best to cause him pain.

Closing the door behind herself, Kitty let out a shaky sigh of relief before hastily walking towards the hotel's rooms, wondering if Elliott had been honest this time about Sylvie's presence or if it had been a ruse as it was before.

Unlike the last time she did not run to the room, a brisk walk would be a more accurate description of her pace. She paused in front of the door to Room 22. Kitty felt terribly conflicted, she desperately wanted Sylvie to be behind that door but she also dreaded opening that door and finding out in case Elliott had lied again. Kitty did not think she could handle such disappointment again. At the very least she knew that if the room was empty, Elliott didn't have the chance to attack her again, she sincerely believed that Thomas's threat should Elliott try to leave the room was serious.

Deciding it was better to get the disappointment over with, Kitty slowly inserted the key into the lock and turned it, swinging the door open.

AN: *cautiously still behind shield* Slightly shorter chapter than normal, sorry about that! At least we have Thomas being fairly awesome, even if he didn't punch Elliott. Next chapter is the final chapter of the fic, it is already written and will be posted on the 25th (tomorrow!) it is a little longer than normal since it is the last chapter and to make up for this chapter being a little on the short side.

Thanks to Lauretta92 and TheCurlymop for reviewing last chapter!