LillyMayFlower: Thank you! I loved writing her little speech, and it was pretty easy to explain considering I've been diagnosed with anxiety myself. I'm glad you thought it was alright.

Jasmine: Thanks so much, that comment has made me blush! Good idea overall, I can have a go with it but I might change some stuff slightly. If you have anything else you might want me to write, feel free to PM me or just leave a comment if you don't have an account. Thanks again.

Chapter Thirty

"Just tell me the truth, Iain!"

"No."

Iain shook his head at Connie, his arms folded across his chest. That was the forth time she'd asked him if Lily had spoken to him at the beach, and he was putting his foot down. Lily had asked him not to say anything, and he'd promised her that he wouldn't. He really did not want to break her trust.

"Iain, I am your boss," Connie sighed, as if she needed to remind him. "Lily needs serious help right now, and if she's spoken to you then I need to know! Helen will need to know. She is her speech therapist, isn't she?"

Iain sighed and picked up the mug of coffee that he'd made himself earlier. It had gone cold, but he drank it anyway. He didn't want to show Connie that she'd interrupted him, she was already angry with him.

Then again, maybe she was right. He wanted Lily to get better, and how was Helen supposed to help her get better if she didn't even know that she'd talked? God, he really hated it when someone else was right.

"Fine," he sighed, setting his mug down again. "Lily spoke, alright? She um...She actually spoke quite a bit, although it did take me a while to get something out of her."

"What did she say?" Connie asked him.

"She explained how she was feeling," Iain whispered. He could feel himself choking up a little, as he remembered what Lily had said to him. "She explained what anxiety really felt like."

Connie faintly nodded and asked quietly, "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Iain hissed through his teeth. "I'm not sure. I just...I never really realised how she felt, and hearing it come from her, well, it was hard to hear I'll give you that."

"I'm sure it was," Connie said, flicking the hair out of her face. "Don't worry, alright? Helen has emailed me, and I'm going to spend some time with Lily today."

"Why is Helen emailing you?" Iain frowned. "Isn't the whole therapy thing supposed to be confidential?"

"We all agreed that I'd have some input," Connie sighed. "Helen needs to know how Lily is getting on with every day life, and considering she can't see Lily every day, I'm sending feedback across every now and then. That was why I needed to know if she spoke or not."

Iain nodded.

"Lily doesn't seem to be co-operating in her sessions with Helen," Connie continued. "And we don't know why. I'm glad she spoke to you, at least it shows some kind of progress."

"Mrs Beauchamp, please don't say anything," Iain begged her. "I wasn't supposed to tell you."

"Don't worry, Iain," Connie said. "I won't."

"So, what are you going to have then?" Connie asked, as she and Lily walked through the entrance of Starbucks.

Lily scanned the people and gulped anxiously. She found herself clinging onto Connie's arm, desperately wanting to get away from the business of the coffee shop. It wasn't Connie's fault, she'd decided on a time where she thought that it would be less busy for her. Clearly, people of Holby didn't work though. There was even a young girl in there with her dad, who she was sure should have been at school.

"Deep breaths," Connie whispered, taking hold of her hand. "Listen to me. You're in a safe place, and I'm not going to leave you. I've been talking to Helen though, and she just wants you to try and order yourself a drink. Nice and easy to start off with, and I'll be at your side if you get stuck."

Lily shook her head and held her hands to her face. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her breathing became heavy. She suddenly felt as if the walls of Starbucks were closing in on her, and she couldn't get out. Even with Connie at her side, she didn't feel safe.

"Lily, look at me," Connie said, standing so that she was face to face with Lily.

She glanced across at the counter and saw that the woman behind the desk was observing them closely. She looked worried, but also kind and as if she'd realised what was going on. Connie knew that if they ordered with her, they'd be okay.

"Come with me, gorgeous girl," Connie said, wrapping an arm around Lily and leading her over to the till gently.

"Is everything okay there?" The woman asked, smiling gently at Lily. "How can I help?"

Connie took a look at her name tag and saw that her name was Jessica.

"Take your time," Jessica said, even though there was a queue beginning to build up behind them.

"What do you fancy, Lily?" Connie asked her, keeping hold of her hand. "Well, I'm going to have a latte I think."

"A latte?" Jessica asked, tapping it into her computer. "No problem."

"Lily?" Connie asked, gently nudging her arm.

"Um..." Lily stuttered, wiping away a few of her tears. "I...A...Um...Sorry..."

"It's okay," Jessica whispered.

"Thank you," Connie mouthed at her, grateful for her patience.

"I...I want a...A pumpkin spice latte," Lily soon said, almost crying at the fact that she'd just spoken. "Th...Thank you."

"Excellent choice," Jessica said. "Do you want anything else?"

Lily shook her head against Connie. She couldn't even stomach the thought of food.

"And your name please?" Jessica asked.

"Lily," Lily introduced herself in a soft whisper.

"And it's Connie for me," Connie said.

"Great." Jessica nodded at them both. "It'll only take a second. Just wait at the side for me."

Connie nodded and lead Lily away, wrapping her arms around her neck to give her a huge hug. She was so proud, bursting with delight and excitement. Lily couldn't help but laugh, feeling shocked but also happy.

"High five," Connie said, holding her hand up.

Lily just shyly slapped her hand against hers.

"Well done, you did great," Connie said. "Now, we can tell Helen that you managed to order your own drink. I am so proud of you. I know for most people, that's silly but it is a huge deal for you. You're brilliant, I mean that."

Embarrassed, Lily just shrugged her shoulders.

"You know, Jacob and I had one of our first dates here," Connie whispered to her. "And when they asked for the names, Jacob gave them extremely silly names that were hard to spell. The looks on their faces were priceless. I was laughing for days."

Lily smiled at Connie's story and leaned against her. She was so tired, even just the one word seemed to make her exhausted these days.

"You'll feel better once you've had a drink," Connie said, obviously sensing that she was losing energy. "Hey, are you proud of yourself?"

Lily hesitated, before shaking her head. Connie sighed, shaking her head back at her. She wished that Lily had more confidence in herself, she really did.

"You should be," Connie said. "That was a big thing for you. Don't worry, we'll get that self esteem up again, I promise you."

Lily didn't even have the time to response, as their names were suddenly called.

I hope you liked the chapter. Let me know what you think x