"Doctor." Lizzie's voice stopped Jill's exit from the hospital. It was the end of the day, and she was going home, unusually, a prospect she didn't particularly relish. Had Gordon not been called out to an accident, she might have invented some excuse to prolong her stay at the hospital.

She wearily leant on the high reception desk. The morning's rescue had tired her, the physical exertion using most of her energy. And she was emotionally drained; the situation with Gordon having progressively worsened through the day. He'd made no effort to see her, to attempt to rectify things. If anything, he seemed to be avoiding her; she'd only seen him once after their argument. She'd begun her ward rounds, entering Milner where three of her patients were, and he was at the other end with one of his patients. She saw him notice her entrance, but immediately look away, busying himself with a file. She'd made her way over to her first patient, in the first bed on the left, and by the time she'd looked back at the rest of the ward, Gordon had left it. She hadn't seen him since.

He hadn't even told her he'd been called out to an accident and might be late home as he normally would have done. Instead, she'd found out by chance from Lizzie.

The woman in question captured Jill's attention once again. "So, are you coming?"

"Coming?" She questioned, wondering whether Lizzie was being her usual ambiguous self, or whether her tiredness was making her slow. "Coming where?"

"To the ball!" The receptionist exclaimed, her tone of voice indicating how obvious she thought the answer to be. "I gave the invitations to Doctor O yesterday. Are you both coming?"

Despite them both agreeing to attend, Jill hesitated in responding. Was she in any position to answer for her husband? So many things had changed since the previous afternoon in his office. The tenderness, love, comfort, all familiarity had suddenly disappeared from their relationship, for a reason unknown to Jill, leaving her in fear that they would never resume what they had once had.

"Doctor?"

Jill snapped to attention as Lizzie's voice made her realise she'd been far too slow in giving her answer. "Yes, yes, we'll both come."

"Great." Lizzie beamed, forcing Jill to return the smile, despite it being the last thing she felt like doing.

She just hoped she hadn't jeopardised their relationship yet further.