Jill ran a hand through her hair as she descended her stairs, memories of the previous evening with Gordon fresh in her mind. It had been perfect; romantic, relaxed, and yet there was a light, playful atmosphere with a seriousness that showed it wasn't just a bit of fun, there were real feelings and emotions there. It personified what their relationship had become.

After he had left, she began toying with a few words in her mind, tentative about them, but by the morning, certain.

A contented smile escaped her lips as she dragged her thoughts back to the present and the awaiting day of work. She tightened the belt of her dressing gown and made her way into the kitchen. As she did so, there was a rattle of her letterbox numerous envelopes spilled onto the doormat. She turned back to retrieve them.

"Bills, bills, more bills…" She muttered as flicked through them. She paused however when she came upon a white envelope, her name and address typed lopsidedly. "Strange…" She studied the postmark; Whitby. Intrigued, she tore open the envelope and pulled out a single sheet of paper, again the same lopsided, clumsily typed words. She scanned the page briefly. Her breath caught in her throat and she read the contents slowly. Realisation of the meaning of it hit her. She began to tremble in disbelief; the paper fell from her fingers as she leant heavily against the wall, unable to hold herself up without support. She suddenly felt cold and her shaking combined with uncontrollable shivering as she was unable to get a grip on herself.


Jill rounded the corner into the reception of Leeds General Hospital, ready to call her next patient. "Mrs Harrison please."

A stout woman stood up, extending an arm in Jill's direction. "I'm not being seen by you."

Jill raised a hand to rub her forehead, a headache that had plagued her all day starting to intensify. "Why?" Although she asked she had a good idea what the answer would be.

The woman drew herself up and started speaking haughtily and deliberately loudly so the whole of reception could hear. "Because you're not good enough. You came from a cottage hospital, did you not?"

She knew it; it would have been that or the fact that she was a woman. She sighed, not in the mood to argue. "Yes, but I assure you I'm a qualified doctor, the same as the rest of the doctors here."

"Yes but you went straight to working at a cottage hospital that surely shows your lack of experience and knowledge…"

Jill fought the urge to roll her eyes as the patient, who frankly didn't look like there was anything wrong with her apart from her personality, ranted and raved.

The woman finally took a breath then finished with- "I'm not going to let you anywhere near me, who knows what you'll do."

Jill saw her look of disgust she was clearly not trying to hide. "Fine but you'll have a long wait if you want to see another doctor." That said, she turned away and started towards her office.

"I won't have you speaking to me like that. I want to see the administrator."

"Fine." She threw over her shoulder and closed her office door, effectively blocking out her voice.


Jill re-read through the letter she'd received earlier in the day, allowing herself to emit an incredulous laugh. She felt silly about the way she'd acted earlier, and had come to think it of it as something silly and not worth thinking about. Her eyes travelled across the smudged text again-

Jill Weatherill I know.

You disgust me.

Watch your back.

She shook her head, scrunched the paper up and tossed it into the bin by her desk. Pushing all thoughts of it from her mind as she did so, believing nothing more would come of it.

A few seconds later, there was a knock on her door and Gordon popped his head round. "Are you free for lunch?"

She nodded, glad of the company, especially as it was him.

He entered, closed the door, then she closed the gap between them, sliding her arms around him and to encircle his waist. She felt his arms enclose her and she tucked her head beneath his chin, closing her eyes and allowing his familiar and comforting scent and fell to fill her senses.

She realised she'd needed it; the letter had unnerved her more than she knew. But she allowed herself then, to be lulled into calm, the last thoughts of the letter filtering out of her as she released a contented sigh.

"You okay?"

She loved feeling his voice vibrate in his chest. She nodded, uttering a muffled 'yes' as she buried herself deeper in his arms.