casualtyfics111: Thanks so much. Glad you're enjoying the story, lots of Lily and Iain in this chapter :-)
Scarlett: Thank you, I feel it's important to show how it can affect other people as well. I did write a story about Jac and Zosia once, but because I hadn't been watching Holby City for that long I kept getting stuck so did actually delete it. However, a one-shot is a very good idea and I won't need to worry about updating it. I will definitely give that a go, as those two are my favourites from Holby. Thank you :-)
Chapter Sixteen
"What will you do if Lily turns out to be pregnant?"
Iain and Gem were sat on the sofa side by side, tucking into a pizza that they'd just ordered. They hadn't long been home, and Lily had changed into a pair of Gem's pyjamas before going straight to bed. It had been a long day for her, and she looked absolutely exhausted, so Iain wanted to make sure that she got a decent nights sleep.
"Just support her, I guess," Iain whispered, a string of cheese hanging from his mouth. "What can I do?"
"But she'll be your girlfriend, and it won't be your baby," Gem pointed out.
"I know," he sighed. "But it won't be Lily's fault, will it?"
"No," Gem said in a quiet voice. "When will she get the results?"
"Hopefully within a few days," Iain told her. "That's not Lily's biggest worry though. She was raped, Gemma. She's going to feel awful, and scared that he might find her."
"How was it today?" Gem asked.
Feeling full, she pushed the pizza box away from her.
"Upsetting," Iain said. "I wasn't allowed to go with her for the rape kit, and...It crushed me. She needed me, Gem."
"She needed a female," Gem said. "When I was at school, a girl in my class got raped. Her er best friend was this boy called Cameron. No one would let him go to the hospital with her though, it had to be one of the girls. It was just to make Lily feel more comfortable. She may love you, Iain, but she wouldn't have felt comfortable with you there. You need to understand that."
"I know," Iain whispered, running a hand through his hair. "I just can't believe that this is happening to her."
"Has she spoken much?" Gem asked.
"Not much," Iain said. "She chooses her moments, like she'll only speak if she feels comfortable. She speaks to people who she can trust, but she won't speak to more than one person at once. She spoke to me quite well earlier, but when Mrs Beauchamp came to join us, she stopped. It's basically selective mutism, she'll only talk in certain situations."
"I don't really get that," Gem said. "Like, why can't she just talk? She obviously can."
"It's hard to explain, Gem," Iain said. "I don't even understand it that well, but it's basically a form of anxiety. Something awful has happened to her, and choosing when to talk is her only way of feeling in control."
Gem nodded and said, "right."
They both jumped and Iain dropped his pizza, as a loud scream echoed throughout the flat. The people downstairs must have heard it, and although they complained at even the slightest noise, Iain didn't care. He leapt to his feet and placed a hand on Gem's shoulder, before pushing the door open to his bedroom.
Lily was throwing herself around in bed, her eyes shut, screams and sobs escaping her mouth as if she had no control of it.
"Lily!" Iain shouted and threw himself onto the bed, to try and wake her up. "Lily, it's me, it's Iain. Come on Chuckles, wake up."
Gem appeared in the doorway then, watching on as Iain attempted to shake Lily awake. She gulped and held back the lump in her throat, whilst wiping away a small tear that had escaped. Shaking her head and unable to take anymore, she walked away and shut herself in her bedroom.
"Come on, Lily," Iain whispered, rubbing small circles up and down her back. "Come on, gorgeous."
Lily screamed and her eyes snapped open. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably and she was beginning to hyperventilate.
"Ssshh, it's alright," he soothed. "It was just a bad dream. You're safe."
She stopped screaming, but she was still crying and struggling to breathe.
"It's okay," he continued to comfort her, his hands on her arms. "It's alright, beautiful. Don't be scared. I'm here, I've got you."
Iain's words seemed to calm her, and her breathing soon returned to normal. She was still crying though, and her eyes shone with tears as she just stared at Iain helplessly.
"Come on, don't be scared," Iain said, climbing under the duvet beside her. "I've got you. Do you want to talk about it?"
Lily shook her head and sniffed, her eyes on the window.
"That's alright," Iain said. "Do you want me to stay?"
Lily nodded, her tears continuing to fall. Iain had never seen her look so scared, so vulnerable, and it brought tears to his own eyes. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, rested her head against his, and gently rubbed her arm with the tip of his thumb.
Surprisingly, Lily didn't even flinch.
"Where were you yesterday then?" Louise asked, catching up to Iain as he began to make his way back towards the ambulance bay. "Jez had to deal with most cases by himself."
"I just had some things to take care of, Louise," Iain whispered. "It's none of your business, alright?"
"Were you with Lily?" She asked. "Look, I don't like the way she's treating you and I'm not just saying that because of what Lily did to Alicia that time. You seemed really upset the other day."
"Now, what's that supposed to mean?" Iain frowned at her.
"It's obvious that you like her," Louise said.
"Of course, I like her," Iain said. "I love her and I'm not ashamed to admit that, and she loves me."
"But has she actually said that to you?" Louise questioned him. "Because she's barely said a word this week. Do you really want a girlfriend who can't trust you enough to tell you things?"
"Listen up, Louise," Iain said, shaking his head at her, unable to take in what she was actually saying. "You don't know the first thing about what's going on with Lily, so just stay out of it alright? I love her and I always will, so just back off."
He shoved past her and stormed off. He didn't know where he was going at first, maybe in search of Lily, but he knew that he needed to calm himself down before getting back to work. He didn't know what to do. He felt like he couldn't properly focus on his job because of what was going on with Lily, but he was going to get himself fired if he took anymore time out.
He was pleased to find Connie at the reception desk.
"Is everything alright, Iain?" Connie asked, obviously noticing the anger in his eyes.
"Fine." He gulped, deciding not to mention the conversation that he'd had with Louise. "Where's Lily?"
"In my office," Connie said. "Bad night last night?"
"Did she tell you that?" He whispered.
"No." Connie shook her head. "But she's been on the verge of tears, and she looks absolutely exhausted."
"Yeah." Iain nodded. "She had a nightmare, and she couldn't get back to sleep afterwards."
"Okay." Connie nodded back. "Well, you'd be pleased to know that her pregnancy test results came back as negative, so that's some good news right?"
Iain nodded, a small smile on his face.
"She did well yesterday, I'm proud of her," Iain mentioned, as Connie began to flick through a set of notes. "But...She's still not talking well, is she?"
"I've contacted a specialised speech therapist," Connie said. "And she should be free to see Lily during an evening next week. I'm going to try and help her as well though, Iain. I have an idea that I think might work, so I'll try and have a chat with her when she's feeling up to it."
"Alright," Iain said. "And the police? Have they been in touch at all?"
"Lily only saw them yesterday," Connie said. "I know it's annoying and scary, but it's going to take a while. They need to see the samples that were taken, look into Lily's statement, and run a thorough investigation. It isn't something that can be sorted straight away, but I'm sure that they'll get in touch with some news as soon as they have some."
"Right, sorry," Iain apologised. "I'm just anxious, that's all."
"We all are," Connie told him. "But just sit tight."
"Yeah, of course," Iain sighed. "No one knows what's happened yet, do they?"
"We need to keep things settled for Lily," Connie said. "But I will tell them, in time."
"And is there anything that I need to do at all?" Iain asked her.
"You're doing a brilliant job, Iain," Connie praised him. "Lily's lucky, so just continue to be there for her. Alright?"
"Sure," Iain agreed. "Thank you, Mrs Beauchamp."
He was about to walk away, when Connie called him back.
"If you need to talk at all, then you know where I am," Connie said. "It isn't just Lily who's affected. We all are, especially you, and that's understandable. If you need a chat, then please, talk to someone."
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, along with the small Lily and Iain scene x