"So who is he?"
Henry asked, eyes paused on her face as her gaze lingered on the door that Max had been lead through to be checked over.
She shook her head slightly, a smile fading on her lips.
"He's the reason I left."
She said gently, inhaling and exhaling slowly, eyes sliding back to Henry who sat next to her, hands clasped in his lap.
"You were escaping from him?"
He asked, his eyes almost too intense to stay focused on. She look away, smiling again.
"Not escaping...I just..."
She rubbed the pulsing frown between her eyes.
"I don't know..."
She concluded, sighing again, almost laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.
"What did he do, to make you run away from him?"
He asked, shifting his legs as someone moved past them.
"I think it just got so intense between us so quickly. So much seemed to happen and we'd only just got together. He's so young...I don't think he could cope..."
She tailed off.
"But you were the one that ran away?"
His words made her smile.
"But I was the one that ran away..."
She nodded, closing her eyes and again pressing the headache between her eyes.
The door to the examination room opened and Max exited, smiling his thanks to the nurse who saw him out.
He moved over to them, a wary smile and a tentative glance toward Henry who sat up straight in his chair as he neared them.
"You were right."
Max spoke to Henry.
"Dislocated shoulder and two broken fingers."
He ran his free arm along the sling that his right arm was strapped into, his fingers bandaged against a splint.
He looked to Zoe, trying to smile without splitting his lip open again.
"I think I'm waiting for some painkillers."
He ran his tongue across his teeth, tasting blood.
She reached out a hand to him, taking even herself by surprise.
"Sit."
She smiled softly as he took her hand, taking the seat next to her, stiff, unable to relax under the scrutiny of Henry.
Henry looked from Zoe to Max.
"Do you have somewhere to stay?"
He asked, watching as Max shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Uh..no. I hadn't really thought..."
He watched as Max looked at Zoe, the softest glance with a hint of embarrassment.
"You can stay with us."
Zoe turned to him to speak but he held up a hand.
"But separate rooms. We're old fashioned Christians I'm afraid..."
He smiled as he spoke, the first true smile Max had seen him give.
"Are you sure?"
Zoe asked him, the tension in her head giving way to amusement at his words, feeling as though they were teenagers again.
"Don't let Helena know there's something going on between you two though. She's the strict one."
He leant back in his seat, glancing about the waiting room, not noticing the bizarre mix of confusion that faltered across Zoe's face.
"I'll call for a cab, by the time they get here you'll have your meds."
He stood up, leaving his chair and re-buttoning his blazer over his shirt.
Zoe let herself slip slightly, leaning back in the chair and looking up at the yellow strip lighting overhead, she could almost be back in Holby.
"So..."
Max made to lean back to mirror her but his shoulder throbbed and ached too much and he shifted awkwardly again in his seat.
"What's the deal with Dr Evil?"
He asked as Henry went to stand in the entrance of the hospital to use his phone.
Zoe smiled, just his voice alone such a relief, relaxing her as it always had.
"I don't think he's evil...i think he's just...American?"
Max nodded his agreement, looking past her at the notice board.
"I think we need to have a chat when we get back to wherever it is we're staying...don't we."
He broke his gaze to glance at her. She pulled her lips into a tight line and nodded slightly.
"I think so..."
She agreed, exhaling slowly.
By the time the cab pulled up at the Mollengraaf's it was almost midnight. The house was quiet, only the hall light glowing as they entered the house.
"This makes your place look like...well...my place."
Max spoke under his breath as they entered, slipping off their shoes and coats, leaving them on the banister.
"I'll show you up."
Henry walked ahead of them to the stairs, each one of them moving as quietly as possible, the steps creaking beneath them softly.
"Max, you can have the room to the left of Zoe's, feel free to take a bath you won't disturb anyone."
He attempted a smile that Zoe presumed might have been an attempt at friendliness.
"Thanks..."
Max looked towards where Henry gestured.
"Night Henry...and thank you..."
Zoe squeezed Henry's arm as she passed him by, his upper arm solid with muscle, tense with envy as he returned back downstairs.
Zoe moved over to her room, placing a hand on the handle while Max moved to her left to the second door along.
"Where are you going?"
She asked, frowning.
"Uh..."
He paused, leaning back to check that he was at the right door.
She reached out and took hold of his free hand, pulling him into her room behind her and locking the door securely.
"You need to have a bath."
She said, her voice was matter of fact, resembling her work voice.
"Dr Hanna are you saying I smell?"
He asked, smiling as she raised her eyebrows.
"You smell horrible and you look like..."
She paused.
"Shit?"
He offered, the corner of his mouth twitching with amusement.
"Mmm."
She agreed, stepping into the en suite and dropping the plug into the bath before turning on the taps.
"What do I do with this?"
He asked, looking down at his sling.
She finished squeezing a good dollop of shower gel into the bath so it began to foam, before turning back to him. She reached out, placing her arms about his neck to untie the sling, avoiding eye contact as she struggled with the knot.
"You know you could just lift it over my head? Unless you were looking for reasons to stand so close to me?"
He let his voice whisper into her hair. She glanced up at him, her fingers stopping their movements.
She narrowed her eyes, something sinking within her, a sudden recollection of that phone call.
She pulled the sling off over his head, tugging it slightly more roughly than she had meant to, making him wince.
"Stay still."
She spoke softly, but her voice was firm as she helped him out of his t-shirt, pulling it off over his head, making sure to not knock his bandaged fingers.
Methodically she un-bulcked his belt and drew down the zip of his trousers as though she were doing something as mundane as making a cup of tea.
He stepped out of them, watching as she looked slightly uneasily to his boxers.
"Don't worry I've had plenty of practise getting them off one handed."
He spoke, immediately regretting his words seeing her face turn from him, that tell tale tension rising at her temples.
He pushed off his socks with his feet so that he stood naked in front of her. She averted her eyes, turning off the taps and waiting for him to step into the bath, only turning once he had sunk down into the bubbles.
"Keep your hand out of the water."
She instructed.
He held up his bandaged hand, keeping it well away from the bubbles that popped and crackled around him.
She reached out for a flannel, dipping it into the bath water and kneeling down next to the bath.
"Shut your eyes."
She said, leaning over and wiping his face as he closed his eyes.
"I can do this with..."
She shushed him, pressing gently against the small grazes and cuts along one side of his jaw.
She ran the flannel over his face, his stubble, It was longer than she'd seen it before and she noticed the odd ginger hair in it as she wiped. She dabbed at his bloody lip, the pink skin of his mouth turning white as she pressed it and plumping back out again, temptingly as she moved onto his cheeks, running it over his nose, across his closed eyes and over the smooth creased skin of his forehead.
He opened his eyes as he heard the flannel be squeezed out into the bath.
"Shut your eyes!"
She said again, folding the flannel onto the side of the bath.
He did as she said, feeling a flurry of tiredness wash over him with the heat of the water and the gentle rhythmic puttering of the bubbles against the side of the bathtub.
She unclipped the shower head and, turning it on ran the water into Max's hair, watching him shiver as the water slithered across his scalp. Still holding the shower head she squeezed shampoo directly onto his hair before rubbing it in one handed, letting the shower head continue to spray water down into the bath, the spray of it popping the bubbles.
She felt him relax into the water as she massaged the shampoo into his scalp, lazily letting herself graze her fingernails across his skin.
She smiled, he looked so peaceful she mused, realising with a heart faltering lilt that he was falling asleep. She lifted the shower head again, the noise of the water beating down on the bubbles enough to rouse him again before she rinsed his hair.
She turned off the tap.
"All done."
She breathed, feeling something of a sense of accomplishment. He looked more like him now as he opened his eyes, stifling a yawn with the back of his hand.
"Am I done?"
He asked, wiping the bubbles from the back of his hand away from his mouth.
She nodded, just looking at him for a moment.
"I wish you'd tell me what happened that night."
She breathed at last.
He sucked in a breath, breaking her gaze and looking behind her at the towel rack.
"Pass me that towel and come to bed with me. Then I'll tell you everything."
He said.
Off to bed now, more tomorrow... better too, I was a bit disappointed with my writing tonight, think I'm over tired. I apologise and I will make sure tomorrow's is amazing :)
xxx