Meanwhile, Connie stood in the ladies', in front of the mirror above the sink. She had seen Rita on her way in, Mia was due in theatre in twenty minutes, and she had already won over a number of the nurses. She heard the door open and quickly withdrew from the sink, patting down her coat before turning around to see Robyn standing in the doorway, her attempt to hide her surprises failing spectacularly.

"Mrs Beauchamp? I... I didn't know you were... Are you okay?" She came in and closed the door, on noticing that Connie's eyes were red and smudged, and that she looked pale and tired. This wasn't the Mrs Beauchamp she knew, who presented herself impeccably and would have launched into defence mode straight away at her question.

"It's just been... A mare of a few days. Thank you, Robyn." She smiled slightly before passing the nurse, and left, heading straight in the direction of her office.

...

"Great minds." Jacob smiled at her as he approached the office from the other direction, frowning when Connie just glanced at him and lowered her head, quickening her pace to get inside the office. Jacob made it to the office a second after her to find the door being shut in his face. He hesitated then, hand on the door handle. Maybe he should leave her for a few minutes? No. She was just like Grace, and he knew the state she could get herself into in a few minutes. Pushing open the door, Jacob found Connie sat in on the sofa, her head in her hands. He approached and silently sat beside her, pulling her into him. After a moment's resistance, Connie buried her face in his top as Jacob rubbed her back, much as he'd done for Grace.

Connie knew she'd lost Grace. For good this time. She'd picked the man in front of her over her own daughter and was now here, crying into his shirt.

As if Jacob had read her mind, he suddenly spoke. "She doesn't hate you, Con. She thinks you hate her."

"What?" Connie asked, pulling back as she tried to brush hair from her face, but it was stuck to the tears that had wet her cheeks.

"Grace told me she's worried that you hate her because she asked you to choose between her and me."

"Why would she think that?" Connie sounded irritated and stood up, but Jacob grabbed her hand to stop her leaving the room.

"She said that sometimes you argue and sometimes you're friends, but that you never talk properly, so she doesn't know what to expect from you."

"Why could she tell you all this and not me?" Connie asked quietly, sounding so vulnerable Jacob wanted to stand up and hug her again, but instead he stayed where he was.

"You're so worried about hurting her that you're giving her adult decisions to make, and when she makes the wrong decision then you both argue. She's twelve, Connie, and she needs to be a child. She needs rules and discipline." Jacob offered gently.

Before Connie could reply, there was a knock on the door and Rita looked in. "They're about to take Mia up to theatre and she wants to see you both."

...

"Am I going to lose my leg?"

Having asked the nurse to leave the room, Connie and Jacob sat at either side of Mia's bed, Jacob holding one of her hands and Connie stroking her hair between her fingers.

"I can't say for certain, Mia." Jacob looked across at her, hearing the break in her voice as she spoke. "But I think you've got every chance, we got you in here and this is the best place. But whatever happens, it will be okay." She said the last bit quietly, doing her best to convince herself so that Mia would believe her. Jacob squeezed Mia's hand as her head rolled to look at him, her eyes teary.

"I'm scared."

"I know, I know. But we're here okay, and Grace is just outside with Rita." Jacob looked at Connie but she didn't meet his eyes, focussed intently on Mia.

"We need to take Mia through now." A different nurse quickly opened the door to speak and then promptly shut it, and Jacob eased himself out of his chair before moving around to stand behind Connie. He placed a hand on her shoulder, before kissing her head and helping her up.

"We'll stay outside of the theatre. And we'll be right here when you come out." Connie pressed a gently kiss to Mia's head, before reluctantly releasing her other hand from the bed, lacing her fingers in Jacob's as they walked from the room, to see Grace sat on a chair outside with Rita.

"There we go, Grace. I'll see you in a bit, okay?" Rita nodded to Connie before motioning for her to come with her to the lift.

"Rita, what-"

"Connie, the department is a mess." She held her hands up, helplessly. "I'm sorry to ask, but we really need you to come downstairs."