"Well, that was incredible."
Zoe leant back in her seat, placing both hands on her stomach, looking over at Max who was finishing his last mouthful.
"Why thank you."
He took a sip of his wine and stood up to clear the table. He had spent the previous two hours preparing and cooking a full roast dinner with all trimmings, followed by a nectarine and marzipan tart.
He moved her plate away from her, stacking it on top of his own and placed it next to the sink along with the rest of the washing up.
"Is there anything you can't do?"
She asked, rubbing her stomach, it felt hard beneath her touch, full of food, food that tasted much nicer than any of the takeaways that she usually had.
He winked at her as she sipped at her wine.
"Don't drink too much remember, Tess wouldn't approve."
He waggled a finger before putting the plug into the sink and running the hot tap, methodically washing each one carefully and placing them on the draining board. She watched him, a smile toying with the corners of her mouth.
"I've got a dishwasher you know..."
She smiled, watching as he turned to her, placing the last saucepan on the stack of clean utensils.
"Bitch."
He whispered, flicking a tea towel in her direction.
She refilled her glass, and took another mouthful.
"No more."
He said, resting his hand around the neck of the wine bottle that had been placed between them on the table, the third one of the evening.
She rolled her eyes as he took a swig from it before placing it in the door of the fridge.
He opened the prescription bag that he'd left on the side next to the oven and popped two clear oval tablets from the foil wrapper, cupping them in his hand and taking them over to her.
"Your drugs for that head of yours."
He said, offering them to her. She placed them on her tongue, swallowing them with a gulp of wine. She winced as they slipped down her throat.
"I'm not sure Tess would approve..."
He smiled, watching her place the almost empty glass back on the table with a swaying hand.
"Well it's a good job she's not here then..."
She leaned forwards, pushing her fingers against her temples as she spoke, her words slow and slurred.
"Come on you."
He stood beside her holding out a hand.
"I might need more than a hand."
She breathed, reaching out to take his hand but missing by some distance.
"Am I going to have to carry you?"
He asked, suppressing a smile, amused by this new Zoe, one he hadn't seen before. A Zoe that trusted him to look after her, relied upon him when she needed him.
She looked up at him, one eye closed so that she could focus on him.
He took her hand and pulled her to her feet, she fell against him, snorting a laugh through her nose.
"Alright you, come on."
He bent down and lifted her, carrying her cradled against himself.
"God how much do you weigh?"
He laughed, feeling her giggle into his neck as he struggled up the stairs. His knees beginning to wobble as he reached the top. He used his foot to kick open her bedroom door and dropped her onto the bed.
He straightened his back, looking over her as she lay on top of the bed, eyes closed, a dreamy smile dancing across her lips.
"I think it's the tablets."
She said, raising an arm to gesture to her head with wavering fingers.
"Mmm...and two and a bit bottles of wine."
He hauled her up so that her head was resting on the pillows, rolling her onto her side and placing a pillow long ways in front of her to stop her from rolling out of bed.
He tugged the duvet out from under her and pulled it up over her, realising as he did so that she was already asleep.
He watched her for a moment, her dark hair feathered against her cheek, her mascara slightly smudged under one eye, her lips parted as she breathed slowly.
He bent down, placing a soft kiss against the bandage on her forehead before unbuckling his belt to remove his jeans and slipping into the bed next to her, curling his body around her own, an arm tucked up from behind her, his hand against her chest, her heart beating against his palm as he drifted off to sleep.
He awoke in the morning to his mobile phone ringing from his jeans pocket.
He stretched and rolled over, reaching out from the bed to grab the leg of his jeans, pulling them over and retrieving his phone.
"Hello?"
He answered, pinching between his eyes, lying back on the bed.
"Max it's Tess, how is Zoe today?"
He could hear the noise of the ward in the background. He pushed himself up on his elbow, looking about for a clock.
"What time is it?"
He asked, covering his mouth as he yawned.
"Eleven. I've swapped your day shift for tonight. How is Zoe?"
She repeated, her voice hurried and clipped.
He looked over at Zoe who lay, still sleeping next to him. Her mouth now wide open, her hair fluttering at her lips. He smiled.
"She's fine, she's still asleep."
He answered through another yawn.
"Could you get her to give me a call when she wakes?"
Tess asked, speaking to someone else in the background as he answered.
"I'd better go"
She spoke over him.
"Make sure she rests."
She added before hanging up.
He tossed his phone onto the bedside table and lay back on the bed looking up at the ceiling.
"Was she checking up on me again?"
Zoe's voice came muffled from beside him.
He glanced down at her.
"She was checking that I was letting you rest and not screwing your brains out."
He yawned.
She snorted.
"I can't imagine Tess saying that."
She smiled into the pillow and rolled over to face him, her eyes barely open.
"Was I awful last night?"
She asked, resting her head on his chest and curling an arm around his waist, slipping her fingers into the waist band of his boxers.
"No...not awful...no."
He whispered into her hair.
"Although you did throw up on me...twice."
He added, smiling against the fruity smell of her scalp.
"Oh God."
She murmured, burying her face against his bare chest. He smelled of soap. He'd lost his t-shirt in the middle of the night when she had announced she was going to throw up and he'd taken her to the bathroom where she had vomited over him before he'd managed to lift the toilet lid.
"Sorry."
She breathed, her face still buried against him.
"That's ok, you made it up to me by kissing me and telling me to 'fax you'. I'm assuming you meant something else."
He pressed his lips against the top of her head as she looked up at him.
"We didn't did we?"
She asked, her eyes dark and smudged with mascara.
"No. We were both standing on the scales and you kept looking down and shouting 'Oh my God, I've put on twelve stone!' ...Bit off putting. Besides, you had sick mouth."
He ran a hand over her hair as she groaned and hid her face against his neck.
"I'm joking."
He whispered, running his free hand up and down along the soft skin of her upper arm.
"About the last bit anyway."
He pulled the duvet up over her arm, feeling her shiver.
"How's the head?"
He asked.
"Need anymore tablets?"
She shook her head, slipping her hand from his boxers to run her fingertips across the bare flesh of his chest, resting there for a moment before slipping her fingers down across his stomach, across the elastic waist band of his boxers to the smooth fabric of them, toying with him through the fabric.
"No tablets."
She whispered.
A party, a revelation and a shock to come... Comments very welcome :)