Bonnie Sveen Fan: You did indeed guess correctly, so well done. Lily will always have Ethan, I think the two of them have a good friendship.

LillyMayFlower: I'd be relieved, haha! I'm glad you liked Zoe's return, I really miss her in Casualty and would love to see her come back to the ED eventually. Sadly, I don't think it will happen though.

Scarlett: I love a good Lily and Connie scene, and there will be more with Zoe.

casualcasualty: Thank you so much. I'd been planning the attackers death since the start to be honest. Haha yes, good old Nick Jordan. Zoe is a fantastic character though, and always will be a legend in my opinion.

Chapter Twenty-Five

"So, why did you ring me?" Zoe asked.

She popped the lid off of a bottle of wine, poured a couple of glasses, and handed one of them over to Connie. The clinical lead was sat on the sofa in her living room, feeling exhausted after previous events.

Lily had ended up going home early, along with Iain who didn't want to leave her alone. Zoe and Connie hadn't really had time for a proper chat, she was too busy contacting the police regarding Darren Warlow's death, and Zoe was busy answering everyone's questions about her sudden arrival at the ED.

It was now one o'clock in the morning, and the two of them were finally sitting down to talk.

"I just..." Connie sighed heavily, and had a sip of her wine. "Thought that we could catch up."

"Connie, be honest," Zoe said. She tilted her head to one side, and sat down beside Connie. "You don't call me back to Holby, just for a catch up. You told me that you needed my help with something and that is what I'm here for. Something else is going on, something that you obviously couldn't explain on the phone."

"I tried to tell you on the phone," Connie said. "But I couldn't, and I thought that it would be best to explain in person. How is America anyway?" Connie questioned her.

"Now, don't try and change the subject," Zoe laughed, shaking her head. "Let's just put it this way. America is good, but it's not Holby." She caught sight of Connie smiling weakly, but she knew that there was something not quite right about her friend. "What's going on, Connie? Is it Grace?"

"No, Grace is perfect," Connie whispered. "She's living with Sam at the moment, but she's perfect."

"Then what is it?" Zoe asked. "Come on, I didn't leave America just to gossip about shoes and make-up."

"It's Lily," Connie said. She knew that Zoe wasn't going to stop asking questions, and she had called her for a reason after all. It was just hard, Connie knew that if she opened up then she'd just start crying. "It's Lily, okay?" She repeated in a small voice.

"Lily, as in Lily Chao?" Zoe raised her eyebrows and gulped down some of her wine. "What about her? I didn't even see her at work today."

"That's because she went home early," Connie informed her. "She hasn't been doing too well."

"What happened?" Zoe asked, reaching across for the wine bottle and topping up Connie's glass. "Come on, have some more wine and start from the beginning."

"I don't even know where to start," she sighed. "Lily hadn't really been talking much, like she'd turned practically mute. There were a few times when I managed to get her to say something, and after a while...I...We...Found out that she'd been raped."

Connie's voice faded away at the end, and tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

"Seriously?" Zoe's eyes widened. "Connie, I...I'm sorry, I...Do...Do you know who it was at all?" She had no idea what to say, she'd never expected something so awful to happen to one of their own.

"We do now." Connie nodded, her eyes on her wine glass. She wanted nothing more than to just chuck it at the wall and watch it smash into thousands of pieces. "He died. He was admitted to the ED yesterday, after attempting to take his own life, and we just couldn't save him."

"I'm so sorry, Connie." Zoe shook her head sympathetically.

"It's not your fault, is it?" She said. "Thank you for coming down though, even though you didn't actually know what you were letting yourself in for."

"Always happy to help a friend," Zoe whispered. It had been hard trying to get time out to go to Holby, but she'd eventually managed it. "But what's going on with Lily now?"

"She's just not talking at all," Connie said. "She's having speech therapy, and she's on medication, but I don't know what else to do. I've been having meetings with her and it's just so hard, seeing her so vulnerable and upset. It's completely out of character for her and I can't handle it."

She sniffed, before continuing.

"Everyone else seems to be struggling as well," she mentioned, thinking back to Alicia's small breakdown. "Alicia, Iain, Ethan, and I've just had to suspend Louise. Long story."

"You need help as well, Connie," Zoe said. "You seem completely exhausted and I've never seen you this upset before."

"No one should have to go through it," Connie breathed. "But with Lily, even after one day we could tell that something was wrong with her, because she's usually so talkative and confident."

"I understand what you're saying," Zoe said. "Lily needs help, but so do you."

"And where am I going to get that exactly?" Connie asked. "I have to take care of everybody, I have a daughter who still hates me, and an ED to run."

"Hey," Zoe said in a comforting voice, and reached across to give her arm a rub. "I don't have to go back straight away."

Iain was sprawled out on the sofa with his feet propped up on the coffee table. The TV was off, the curtains were drawn, and Lily was curled up asleep beside him with her head on his lap. A blanket was draped over her, and Iain was pleased to see that she was finally getting a decent rest.

"Is she alright?" Ethan asked quietly, being careful not to wake Lily, as he walked over to them.

He set a cup of tea down on the end table beside Iain, and gently stroked at Lily's hair.

"She's fine," Iain whispered back, smiling down at his sleeping girlfriend. "Thanks for the tea, mate, and thanks for your help today as well."

"Hey, it was no trouble," Ethan said, folding his arms across his chest. "Lily's my best friend. I'd do anything for her."

Iain thanked him once again and asked, "are you okay getting home?"

"I'll be fine," Ethan said. It was the middle of the night and Cal would most likely be asleep, but he had money on him. "I'll just call a taxi."

"Are you sure?" Iain asked him. "I don't mind dropping you back."

"No." Ethan shook his head, and gestured towards Lily. "Stay with her."

Iain smiled at him and told him to text him when he got home, which Ethan agreed to. As soon as his taxi had arrived and as soon as Ethan had left to go home, Iain planted a small kiss on Lily's cheek and allowed a single tear to escape and roll down his cheek. It had been such a long day, and although he felt sad for Lily, he was happy. Her attacker was dead, and he was never coming back. If Lily wasn't going to get better anytime soon, he hoped that it would give her at least a little bit of closure.

Ten minutes later, he received a text from Ethan to say that he'd arrived home safely.

Five minutes after that, he drifted off to sleep beside his girlfriend.

I really enjoyed writing the scene between Connie and Zoe. I hope you liked the chapter, again it was just a filler, and the story will now focus more on Lily getting better. Thanks for all of your lovely feedback and I'll try and update soon x