Scarlett: Thank you so much, and you're very welcome :-) x
Chapter Ten
"I think someone hurt Lily."
Iain sighed and rolled his eyes at the sound of his sister's voice. He threw his bag into the ambulance and slammed the doors shut, before turning round to face her. She was leaning against the wall with her hands in the pockets of her hooded jacket.
"What on earth are you on about now?" He sighed.
"Lily," Gem said. "I went round to her place last night and..."
"Gemma!" Iain shouted at his younger sister. "When will you learn to keep your nose out of other peoples business?"
"Just hear me out," Gem pleaded, dragging her feet over towards the ambulance. "I did tell her that you didn't know I'd gone round. She was really freaked out though, Iain. As soon as she let me in, she screamed."
"You probably startled her," Iain stated. "Especially if she wasn't expecting the visit."
"That doesn't explain the silence though, does it?" Gem told her brother.
"Well, did you talk to her about it?" He shrugged.
Lily could have been seriously hurt, and Gem had just decided to keep quiet. It made no sense.
"No. I thought she'd be embarrassed and it isn't as if she's talking anyway, Gem said. "Besides, I wanted to get your opinion first. I thought you might want to talk to her about it."
"Well, I would," he sighed heavily, looking down at the floor with a sad look in her eyes. "But she hates me, doesn't she? She doesn't want to talk to me, Gemma. Maybe you should discuss it with Mrs Beauchamp or something."
"You don't care, do you?" Gem snapped. "I've just told you that Lily might have been hurt, and you're telling me to talk to Mrs Beauchamp instead."
"She doesn't want to talk to me!" Iain shouted. "Just leave me alone, Gemma! Have you not thought that you could be wrong, hmm? It wouldn't be the first time, would it?"
"I've been right plenty of times. Lily's patient?" Gem reminded him, hoping that he'd remember. "Yeah, the young girl with the mobile phone? You all told me to keep my nose out, but I knew more than any of you."
"That was ages ago," Iain whispered, and began to rub anxiously at the back of his neck.
"Also, Lily does want to talk to you," Gem said, pulling her scribbled note out of her pocket and shoving it into her brothers hand. "She just can't."
"Okay, we have a major RTC coming in," Connie said, as she and Lily walked through the corridor of the ED.
Although Lily wasn't currently working, Connie liked to have her in the department, so at least she felt involved. Besides, she was wanted to do everything in her power to get her to talk, and she couldn't do that when Lily was at home. Lily wasn't in her work clothes, but instead a hoodie, tracksuit bottoms, and a pair of old trainers. She didn't look like her normal self, and everyone in the ED had to look twice at her. Lily preferred the baggy clothing though, it didn't feel as rough against her injuries.
"Could you go and inform Doctor Gardner for me?" Connie then asked.
Panic immediately struck Lily and she turned to shake her head at Connie.
Connie sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. "Listen, Elle needs to know about this and you need to talk, so go on."
Tears stung Lily's eyes and she shook her head again, hoping that the message would get through to Connie. It didn't though. Connie gave her a gentle push forwards and she had no choice but to walk over to Elle.
"Morning Lily," Elle greeted her, a warm smile on her face to try and keep her calm. "What can I do for you?"
Lily managed to make eye contact with the consultant, but no words came out of her mouth. She was scared. What if she managed to speak, and Elle thought that she was stupid? It was possible.
She noticed Elle glance across at Connie, and she slowly turned her head to shoot a helpless look at her. Connie looked almost sorry for her, as she just stood there, shaking her head.
"Lily," Elle whispered. "Have you got something to say?"
Immediately, Lily pushed past her and fled the reception area. She ran down the corridor and up the stairs, and disappeared out of sight.
"What happened?" Connie sighed, making her way over to Elle. "I thought that she was going to say something."
"Maybe we shouldn't push her so much, Connie," Elle said. "She looked petrified."
"But I sat with her for a whole hour yesterday," Connie told her. "I was practically running my own speech therapy session for her, I was sure that sure it would have helped even a little bit."
"Right, okay!" A smile spread across Elle's face, and she threw her head back. "I went to the circus the other day, and now I'm a professional trapeze artist."
Connie pursed her lips together, and a glare crossed her face. She looked ready to kill Elle.
"Your jokes are not needed, Doctor Gardner," she said in a quiet voice. "There's an RTC coming in, so could you please help out with that? I need to go and find Lily."
"Alright," Elle whispered, taking the notes from Connie. "I'm sorry."
Connie just nodded at her and said, "I just hope she's okay," before walking away.
Dear Iain,
Mrs Beauchamp suggested that I write down my thoughts and feelings, seeing as I'm unable to say them out loud. Even on paper though, I don't quite know what to say to you.
I guess I should start off by saying that I do love you, and I'm sorry if it hasn't quite come across that way. I really did want to kiss you, both times, but I couldn't. I'm sure you'd understand why, if you knew the reason, but I don't feel ready to tell you or anyone just yet.
I'm scared, Iain. I wish I could talk to people, but there's always this little voice at the back of my mind that's stopping me. What if I say the wrong thing? What if people don't agree with my suggestions?
I don't like it when we argue, and I know that I've ruined things, so I'd understand if you don't want to forgive me.
I really hope that we can make things work between us, but maybe I'm just not ready for a boyfriend. Either way, I hope that we can be friends at least.
I'm really sorry.
Lily x
So I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm going away tomorrow so wanted to update this story beforehand. Let's hope Iain and Lily manage to work things out between them.