casualtyfics111: Thank you! Enjoy the last chapter :-)

Chapter Forty

One year later

Exhausted, Lily flopped down onto one of the chairs in the waiting room and ran her hands down her face. A good and quiet day had turned in only a couple of seconds, and she just wanted to go home and have a nap. She sniffed and tried not to dwell on everything so much, but it was extremely difficult.

"Hey," Iain whispered, appearing at her side swiftly. He placed a hand on her shoulder and asked, "are you okay?"

"What do you think?" She muttered under her breath, looking up into his eyes and patting the empty space beside her.

Iain didn't even hesitate to sit down.

"You did all you could," Iain tried to reassure her. "Honestly, it wasn't your fault. He would have died, no matter who was treating him."

"Where is his wife?" Lily asked in a small voice.

"She's in the relatives room," Iain said. "I think Doctor Gardner is making her a cup of tea. In the meantime, I came to check on you." He sighed and said, "losing a patient can be hard, but it honestly was not your fault Lily."

"That isn't the problem," Lily breathed.

"Okay." Iain nodded at her. "Then what is the problem?"

Lily locked eyes with him and asked, "don't you know what today is, Iain?"

Iain gulped, wondering what on earth he'd forgot. Was it their one year anniversary? Her birthday? Had they planned to do something together lately? No matter how hard he tried, he honestly couldn't remember, and he felt like the worlds worst boyfriend.

"I'm sorry, I...I don't think I do," he said.

Lily sniffed and quickly wiped a tear away from her eye. Iain was so shocked to see that she was crying, he didn't really know what to do. Instead, he stayed silent and just wrapped an arm around her shoulder to try and comfort her.

"It's been exactly a year," she gasped between small sobs. "Since...I was r...raped."

Iain felt sick.

"Oh Lily, I'm so sorry," he apologised quickly, keeping his arm around her. "I...I didn't realise. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to cause a fuss," Lily said. "I knew that you would worry, and Mrs Beauchamp would see me as unfit to work and send me home, and I didn't want that. Work's been a distraction."

"Clearly not enough of one," Iain said, stroking at her hair. "You are daft."

"Don't call me that," Lily sighed, shaking her head at him.

"Hey," Iain whispered, before going into his speech. "You have done incredibly well for yourself. Once upon a time, you didn't say a single word to anyone, and now look at you. There's no shutting you up, eh?"

He chuckled to himself and teasingly nudged her arm, causing a small smile to appear on her face.

"You're still going to have the odd bad day every now and then," Iain said. "But just try and think of the good days, yeah? Try and think of how far you've come."

Lily nodded and whispered a small 'thank you,' whilst resting her head against his chest.

"I don't think I would have got through any of it without you," Lily said.

"You're so cheesy," Iain laughed, ruffling her hair. "But thank you. I love you, alright? I want to help."

"I know," Lily whispered. "Today's just been hard enough, without the struggle of losing a patient."

"I understand," he sighed.

The two of them sat there in silence for a good couple of seconds, when Lily suddenly noticed Connie out the corner of her eye. She was slowly walking towards them, debating on whether to interrupt their moment together. She didn't say anything, but she did sit down on the other side of Lily.

"How are you doing?" She asked, when neither of them spoke.

It seemed like a good opportunity to talk.

"Bit better," Lily answered, keeping her voice soft and quiet.

"Not the best day for you, huh?" Connie asked, gently rubbing Lily's knee.

"I've had better," she sighed. "I um...I told Iain."

"Good." Connie grinned and gave her a nod. "Men aren't overly great at remembering things, are they?" And she jokingly gave Lily a wink.

"Excuse me?" Iain scoffed, although he was smirking. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," Connie said, turning back to address Lily. "Do you think you're ready to get back to work, or do you want a bit more time?"

"No, I should get back," Lily said, a small sigh escaping her lips. "I want to keep busy."

"You are stubborn," Connie sighed in frustration. However, she felt proud of Lily. "You shouldn't have even come into work today, hmm? Still, I'm proud of you, my lovely. Well done."

"That's because you love me, right?" Lily giggled, moving away from Iain to lean against Connie.

"Hmm, don't push it," Connie said, wrapping her arms around her to give her a hug. "Come on. Take a bit more time, okay? How about the two of you grab a drink and then you can get back to work after that?"

"That sounds okay to me," Iain said, leaning over to kiss Lily's cheek. "It means that I get to spend a bit more time with my beautiful girlfriend. If you want, we can talk a bit more about it."

Lily nodded faintly and stood up, as Connie gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I'm seeing Helen this evening," Lily informed her boss.

"I'm glad that you're still seeing her," Connie said. "She's helped you a lot, hasn't she?"

"You have too," Lily said, small tears shining in her eyes. "More than you know. Thank you."

Connie nodded and Lily leaned down to give her a hug.

"You're so welcome," she whispered, wrapping her arms around her waist tightly. "And you know where I am, don't you, if you ever need to talk? You can always ring me as well."

"I know," Lily said, pulling away from the hug, and turning to Iain who was now stood behind her. "Let's go and get a coffee."

"Sure thing," Iain agreed.

Lily gave Connie a small smile and hurried towards the staffroom with her boyfriend. Iain kept his arm around her protectively, and held the door open, as they made their way inside.

"You mean the world to Connie," he told her. "And you mean the world to me as well."

"That's cute," Lily said, as she walked over to the counter to make herself a coffee. "But I still find it quite hard to accept compliments, even if they are true."

"Whatever I tell you is true," Iain said, standing with his arms around her waist and his chin on her shoulder. "I'm so proud of you, Chuckles. You're come out as a stronger person than you already were. I love you."

"I love you too," Lily said. "Can I ask you something?"

Iain nodded.

"Could you come with me to see Helen later?" She asked. "I'm just...I keep shaking and I...I keep thinking about him, and...I could really do with the company during my session. Helen said it's fine for people to sit in, if it'd make me feel more comfortable."

"Hey, of course I'll come," he promised, removing some loose strands of hair from her face. "You are going to be feeling on edge today, and I'm really sorry that I didn't realise what day it was."

"You weren't to know," Lily whispered. "You're the best boyfriend ever, did you know that?"

"Yeah." Iain shrugged his shoulders, deep in thought. "I had a feeling."

Lily laughed, and threw her head back against him. "You're such an idiot," she joked.

"But I'm your idiot," he said, turning her head so that he could press his lips against hers.

"Yeah," she replied, slowly kissing him back. "You are."

Lily knew that it would take a while to get completely better. There were still times when she felt down and anxious, there were still times when she couldn't talk, and she still had the odd nightmare every now and then.

She was better than she used to be though, and she had so many people to thank for that, especially Iain.

He'd helped her so much, and it had stopped her from living her whole life in golden silence.

She just knew that the two of them would spend the rest of their lives together, happy and with the past behind them.

I actually feel quite upset, ending this story. It had reached that time though and although I wanted to continue it, I had other stories that I wanted to start. I hope you liked it and thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favourited and followed. Your support means so much.

I'll be posting a new story soon called "Truth or Dare" so give it a read when it's up, and let me know what you think. Yes, it is another Lily and Iain story x