LillyMayFlower: I'm glad it made you emotional, I mean I'm not, lol! You know what I mean, it was meant to be an emotional scene so it is good that you felt that way. Louise was a good choice, seeing as she doesn't like Lily that much. Thanks so much for reviewing.

Chapter Five

"Home sweet home," Iain said, as he and Lily walked through the door of her flat.

Iain had never been in Lily's flat before, but it was so friendly and welcoming that it brought a huge smile to his face. It was spotless for one thing, every single room was tidy, and there wasn't a single speck of dust to be seen. It had a nice smell to it as well, although he couldn't quite work out what it was.

Lily was grateful for the lift home, and she wished that she was able to find the words to thank Iain properly. She'd walked to work that morning, hoping that the fresh air would help clear her head and distract her from the threatening messages. By the time she'd finished work though, it was dark and the last time she'd walked home in the dark...Well...She didn't even want to think about that.

Iain didn't even know about the assault, so it just showed what a kind and genuine guy he really was.

"Can I get you anything?" Iain asked her.

He wanted to make sure that she was alright, especially because she wasn't talking. He didn't like the thought of leaving her alone if she was upset.

Lily shook her head, slowly walking into the living room and throwing her bag onto the sofa. Iain had done more than enough by dropping her home, and to be honest she just wanted to be on her own.

"Okay," he sighed, watching her as she sat down on the sofa. "Can I ask you something before I go?" He waited for Lily to nod in response. "I told you that I liked you, earlier on, in the ambulance bay. Do you feel the same way?"

Lily looked up at him and saw the way that he was looking at her. He was the first man who'd ever really liked her, and he'd never let her down before. She had to admit that she did like him, but she was scared. Maybe a boyfriend was what she needed though, someone to take her mind off of everything.

All she could do was give him the right answer, by nodding.

"Really?" Iain suddenly sounded like a little boy, so happy that the girl of his dreams had said yes. "I was so scared that you didn't feel the same way," he admitted, and sat down next to her.

Lily could feel herself blushing as Iain got his face up close to hers. She felt her body tense up as his lips suddenly brushed against her cheek. She bit down on her lip and let out a small whimper, finding herself moving further and further away from the paramedic.

"Lily?" He questioned. "What's up?"

Of course Lily couldn't speak. Why was she so stupid? She liked Iain and she was going to lose him if she wasn't careful. She could have slapped herself. Everything that her attacker had said to her was true.

"You don't want to kiss me?" He asked.

Lily shook her head, but then she realised what that probably meant to Iain, and she nodded instead. With a sigh, Iain sat back and ran a hand through his hair.

"Listen, it's getting late," he said, and Lily was surprised at how calm and nice he was being. "Go and put your pyjamas on or something, and we can order in and watch some TV."

Lily nodded thankfully and stood up from the sofa, her hands in her pockets. She couldn't wait to change into her pyjamas, she needed some loose and baggy clothes to make her feel more comfortable. She was sore all over and she was finding it hard to put on a brave face.

Iain tried to hold Lily's hand the next morning, but she wasn't letting him touch her in any way. His concerns were beginning to grow but he knew that Lily wouldn't answer any of his questions, all he could do was be there for her.

When the two of them turned up for work, everyone was staring. Did they know that Iain had stayed the night? Did they know that they were basically a couple? Gossip spread throughout the ED fast, so it wasn't surprising.

"Lily," the sound of Connie's voice appeared, as soon as Lily had taken her first step through the door. "Can I see you in my office?"

Lily looked to Iain and a few small tears began to sting her eyes. Connie was smiling gently, but it was the sort of smile that told her that something was wrong. She folded her arms protectively across her stomach and walked across the reception. She could feel the eyes watching her as she walked, and it made her stumble a bit in her steps. She tried to focus on her breathing, but it was so difficult, and even the sound of Iain's voice behind her wasn't making her feel better.

"Inside," Connie whispered, allowing Lily to walk into the office.

Lily stood awkwardly in the middle of the room and Connie shut the door, before picking up a book from her desk and passing it to her. Lily examined the cover and saw that it was an old childhood favourite, Alice in Wonderland.

"It belongs to Grace," Connie said defensively, as if Lily was accusing her of being a secret Alice in Wonderland fan. "It's a nice easy read, and a book that everyone loves. Turn to a page for me."

Lily fingered the delicate pages. She ran her hand over the cover. She gulped and clutched the book as if she was never going to let go.

"Go on," Connie encouraged, but she didn't sound angry. "Any page will do, I'm not fussed."

Lily kept her eyes on Connie, and turned to the first page. That way she didn't have to think too much.

"Okay," Connie whispered. "Read it to me."

Lily's eyes went wide, wider than the rabbit hole that Alice went down in the first chapter.

"Out loud," Connie added, just in case Lily was about to start reading the entire book in her head.

Lily hesitated, and her whole body began to shake. She couldn't. Her breathing was hard to control, and she felt close to throwing up in front of Connie. She couldn't do it, she just couldn't, and she knew that she couldn't. She shook her head, a single tear rolling down one side of her face and landing on the page in front of her.

"Just try a sentence," Connie tried to help.

Lily clenched her teeth together and tried to focus her eyes on the words in front of her. Her vision had gone blurred though, and the superglue was back. She gulped and only just managed to get the words out.

"Alice...Alice was...Beginning to get v...very tired of...of sitting by her sister on the bank, and...and of having n...nothing to do."

She stopped there and glanced up at Connie over the top of her book.

"So." A smile appeared on Connie's face and she took the book from Lily, shutting it gently before setting it back down on her desk. "You can talk, so where have you been hiding that voice?" Lily just shrugged her shoulders. "Take a seat for me."

Lily looked behind her and sat down on the edge of the sofa. Connie set a hand down on her shoulder and sat beside, making sure to keep a safe distance between them.

"I'm going to start off by saying that I'm not cross," Connie began. "But I am concerned, and I don't think that I'm the only one. I know Iain is for a fact, and I had a member of staff come to me yesterday as well."

Lily slowly made eye contact with her. She wondered who'd spoken to Connie.

"I'm not going to say who," Connie said quickly. "Has something happened, Lily? You usually don't hesitate to tell someone if they've done something wrong. Have you been struggling to talk to people lately?"

Lily just nodded, anxiously rocking back and forth on the sofa to try and calm her nerves. Sitting so incredibly close to Connie made it hard to focus.

"Do you know why?" Connie sighed. "Is it the fact that you don't want to speak, or you just physically can't speak?" Again, nothing. "Come on Lily, you read a sentence from that book didn't you? At least try and answer my questions."

Lily violently shook her head. Even reading from the book had been a struggle, saying other things seemed so overwhelming.

"You know that we can't have this in a hospital environment, right?" Connie said. "I'm not saying this to hurt you. I'm saying it because it's true. Being a doctor involves an awful lot of talking, to patients and to staff. What happened with Frankie shouldn't have happened, and let's just say that he wasn't incredibly happy with the service that he received."

More tears filled Lily's eyes.

"Don't worry," Connie whispered. "I'll speak to Doctor Gardner and Charlie, and we will try our best to convince him to drop the complaint. I can't promise anything though." She paused before continuing. "I can see that there's something more going on here, and that you're not just being difficult, so I'm not going to let that certain performance be held against you."

Lily nodded thankfully. Why were Iain and Connie being so nice to her? It made her feel awful, she didn't deserve it.

"When Grace stopped talking, I thought that there was something seriously wrong with her," Connie said. "But there wasn't, she just didn't want to talk to me because she hated me. That's not you though, is it Lily? You're scared of something, I can see it in your eyes, and if we need to get you speech therapy or something along those lines to get you talking again then that's what I'm going to do."

Lily reached up to wipe away her tears.

"I just want you to know that my office door is always open," Connie said. "You're a talented doctor Lily, and I really don't want this to affect your job. I know how much you enjoy it, and I could see that reading from that book was extremely hard for you, eh?"

Lily nodded, unable to stop her tears anymore.

"Don't cry," Connie comforted, giving her leg a gentle squeeze.

Lily gave a pained smile and dug her fingernails into the sofa.

"Stay in here for a bit," Connie said. "Have some time to yourself. I'll be outside if you need anything."

As Connie stood up, Lily made eye contact with her and shook her head slowly.

Connie managed a small smile and ran a hand through her hair. "Sure," she said with a small sigh. "I'll stay."

This was probably my favourite chapter to write so far and I hope you enjoyed it. It had everything, a cute Lily and Iain scene and then a lovely scene between Connie and Lily as well.

Thanks again to everyone who's been reading. Also, I like the sound of Connie being a secret Alice in Wonderland fan, haha!