casualtyfics111: Me too, I loved writing that scene. Thanks so much, I love your comments and your work as well.

LillyMayFlower: It gets worse. Thank you, and me too haha.

heather curtis-rich: Thank you, she'll soon find out the truth.

Chapter Six

"Hi, Pudding!"

Jacob almost jumped out of his skin, as Elle wrapped her arms around his neck. He laughed and shook his head at his old childhood friend, pulling her in for a hug. Jacob loved working alongside his best friend, it made work a lot more fun.

"So, there is a ninety year old man with severe dementia who keeps asking me to marry him, " Elle said. "I was meant to be dealing with it, but I honestly don't think I can. Fancy stepping in?"

"Now, isn't that a job for a doctor?" Jacob raised his eyebrows.

"Please Jacob!" Elle pleaded with him, and Jacob just had to shake his head and roll his eyes. "I'll toss a coin," Elle laughed, whipping a coin out of her pocket.

"Are you serious?" He chuckled. "How old are we?"

"Ah Jacob Masters, you are no fun!" Elle squealed. "Heads!" She said, before flipping a coin and catching it. "So, what's it going to be?" She asked. "Heads or Tails?" She removed her and from the coin and revealed the side with the head on. "Haha! Yes! He is all yours, Jacob Masters! Have fun."

"I didn't even get my say," Jacob tried to argue.

"I'm sure Doctor Keogh will help you out," Elle said. "But at least he's out of my hands."

Jacob gave her a gentle push, just as Charlie strolled over and interrupted their game. Jacob cleared his throat and leaned back against the desk with his arms crossed, pretending as if nothing had happened. He caught Elle smirking out the corner of his eye and winked at her.

"Connie wants to talk to us all," Charlie said. "She's in the board room."

"Did she say why?" Elle frowned.

Charlie just shook his head.

"Well, at least that's me off the hook," Jacob said to Elle. "Now neither of us can deal with him."

Connie was sat at the head of the table. Elle, Jacob and Charlie sat around her, all wondering why on earth they'd been summoned for a random meeting. The door was shut to allow them the privacy, Connie had papers scattered across the desk, and a serious and concerned look on her face.

"What's this about, sweetcheeks?" Jacob joked.

Connie just glared at him and sighed, tapping her pen against the edge of the desk. "We need to talk about Lily," she said.

"Is that the sequel to we need to talk about Kevin?" Elle laughed to herself.

Jacob joined in and gave her a high five, but Charlie and Connie didn't seem to be laughing.

"What's happened to Lily?" Charlie asked, deciding to avoid the joke as best as he could.

"I don't know, that's the thing," Connie said. Where was she even supposed to start? "She hasn't spoken in two days though."

"Well, that's not like Lily," Charlie said. "Have you talked to her about it?"

"Charlie, that was the first thing I did before calling this meeting," Connie said, as if he'd just asked the most stupid question in the world. "I got her to read something for me, and she managed, but she was stuttering and she was quiet and I could see that it was a struggle for her."

"Well, what do you think it is?" Jacob asked.

"i was hoping to get some advice on that," Connie said. "I've been doing some research and I don't know whether she just doesn't want to talk or whether her anxiety is so high that she just physically can't."

"Lily's always been quite an anxious person," Elle said. "But she's never lost the ability to speak. Something must have happened, Connie."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Connie sighed, rummaging through her paperwork. "But until she trusts us enough to talk to us, I don't think we're ever going to find out what. I did consider getting her an appointment with Ben, but he has no experience with mutes. A therapy session only works when both people are communicating."

"But there are therapists who deal specifically with people who can't talk," Elle mentioned. "And Ben might be able to help. It's worth asking him."

"Who knows when she'll get an appointment though?" Connie said. "There could be a huge waiting list. It's hard, but I think we just need to tread carefully around her and try and get her to talk as much as possible."

"How are we going to do that exactly?" Jacob asked.

"Just little things, like passing messages to other members of staff," Connie thought off the top of her head. "Making tea and coffee, reading stuff to us, letting her know that she can trust us. She obviously can't be treating patients, can she?"

"Lily's not going to like that," Elle sighed.

"She has no choice," Connie said. "I just hope that she'll eventually trust us enough to talk to us."

I wanted to update before I quickly go out, and I also wanted to add a little humour to the chapter. Humour isn't my strong point so I hope it was okay.