Author's note -

As always, thank you so much to everyone who has read/followed/reviewed/favourited the story so far! I love to hear from you.

Chapter 5 - Tom's revelation

"Dr Crawley to the nurses' station on level 3 please - that's Dr Crawley to the nurses' station on level 3."

Sybil was just pouring milk into her tea and breaking open the biscuit tin when she heard the page and groaned. "Can't I get five minutes to myself in this place?" she thought as she got to her feet and headed along the corridor towards the main gathering point on the oncology level.

Sybil was spending most of her time in this part of the hospital these days, having decided to work towards a specialisation in cancer surgery over the last year or so. She really felt she had made the right choice - as heartbreaking as it could be and often was, she also found it uniquely satisfying to work as part of the team trying to help some of the sickest and most desperate patients in the hospital. Just that morning she had assisted in a complicated surgical procedure to give a young mother with two children a second chance at life. It really reminded her of why she had become a doctor in the first place - to help people and make a difference.

There was quite a crowd of people looking at something as she approached the nurses' station, and as she pushed through the swing gate, one of the nurses turned around and gave her a smile.

"Dr Crawley, something you haven't told us?"

Sybil, mystified, walked towards the rest of the group, which parted to let her see a beautiful bouquet of white lilies lying on the counter. She felt a blush rise up her face as she realised there was only one person these could be from.

Her friend Imogen, another surgical registrar, gave her a nudge - "Come on Sybil, we are all dying to know who sent them!"

Sybil had to stop and think - what should she call Tom to this group of people who hadn't met him, when they hadn't had that discussion themselves yet? In the end, she smiled and said casually, "Oh, just a guy I have been seeing lately, I expect."

She then had to spend several minutes fending off eager inquiries - somehow, she wanted to keep the details to herself rather than become the topic of gossip on the ward, although she thought it was probably already too late for that. She walked off saying something about looking for a vase, remembering a conversation with Tom a couple of weeks ago when she had mentioned in passing that lilies were her favourite flowers and feeling a small thrill that he had remembered and thought to send her some.

A couple of hours later, she was looking despairingly in the mirror - she looked almost as exhausted as she felt, and her hair was a mess. "Maybe I should get it cut one day as Mary suggested," she thought as she pulled on her coat and headed out the door.

Suddenly she saw a familiar figure as Tom materialised out of the early evening gloom. A broad grin crossed his face as he saw what she was carrying in her arms - "Like them?"

"Tom, they are absolutely gorgeous, thank you! I love them." Sybil felt Tom's arm slide around her as he leaned in for a kiss and for a moment she wished she wasn't holding a big bouquet as it meant she could not hold him the way she wanted to. "Hold that thought..."

"Want to go for a walk? I have a little surprise for you."

Sybil nodded and took his hand as they started walking along Westminster Bridge Road. She felt herself leaving St Thomas' Hospital behind, both physically and mentally, as they started swapping stories about their week, and smiled as Tom told her about his football game the previous night, seeing how he couldn't hide his pride at having scored the winning goal.

The darkening sky was streaked with gold and red and a breeze was blowing that smelt a bit like spring as they headed towards the Thames and turned right towards the old County Hall building. Tom was steering her towards something she had seen many times but never been to - the London Eye - and based on the recognition dawning on her face, he could see that she thought she had worked out what his surprise was.

"Little do you know that is only the beginning," Tom smiled to himself.

They headed towards the queue and Sybil said, "Bound to be popular on a night like this one. Could be a bit of a wait?"

Tom didn't reply - instead he led her to a sign saying "Priority boarding". The lady behind the counter smiled brightly, saying "How can I help you, sir?"

Tom pulled some papers out of his coat pocket - "Booking for Branson, 6.30?"

Their details were quickly confirmed and a wondering Sybil was guided to the head of the queue.

They got onto the next capsule and when she turned around to see who was behind her, she was surprised to see the door was already closed and they were moving off. She realised that Tom had organised a private capsule for them, and as she turned around, he beckoned her over to sit next to him.

They didn't talk much for the next few minutes - Sybil leaned her head on Tom's shoulder as he put his arm around her, and they both enjoyed the magnificent views of London afforded by one of the highest points in the city as they made a start on the bottle of champagne that had been left for them. Tom listened to a track playing softly over the speaker and recognised it as Everything but the Girl's "English Rose", which made him smile and pull Sybil closer - "No matter where I roam, I will come back to my English rose..."

Sybil realised he could not have chosen a better surprise for her today. The peace and beauty of the scene stole into her soul, and as she watched what she thought could be a couple of red kites soaring and turning in the updrafts from the great wheel as they started their annual courtship rituals, she felt her exhausting day slipping away from her like a blanket slipping off a bed. She turned up her face to kiss him and saw he was reaching into his pocket for something.

"Here's the other part of the surprise," he said as he passed her an envelope tied with a red ribbon. Opening it, she saw two small silver shapes fall out and leaned forward to pick up a set of keys from the floor.

Tom cleared his throat as he looked at her and took her other hand - "Sybil, I have to tell you something - I am in love with you. Pretty much since we met, I have thought about almost nothing else but you. I really want us to keep this relationship moving forward so I got you these. No pressure, mind... " he tailed off, a bit uncertain of her reaction.

Sybil felt tears welling up - yes, she wanted them! Although they had only been dating for a couple of months, somehow she knew already that what they had was something really special, something she had never experienced before.

"Tom - of course I want these, and I want to give you mine. I think about you all the time too. In fact, I think - " Sybil looked him straight in the eye and corrected herself - "in fact, I know - I am in love with you too."

They didn't talk for a while after that - the joy of newly discovered and shared love meant their lips were otherwise occupied for several minutes. Eventually, they broke apart and Sybil thought of something.

"Tom, this may be a dumb question - does this mean you are my boyfriend? When the people at work asked me who sent these flowers, I didn't really know what to say... I didn't want to presume, since we never talked about it."

Tom's lips curled into a grin - "Let me walk you through it, Dr Crawley. When a man can't stop thinking about you [he paused for a kiss], and you have the most amazing sex [another kiss], and you see each other three or four times during the week and over most of the weekend [another, longer kiss], and he gives you his keys [another kiss, initiated by Sybil this time], and he tells you he is in love with you, it's pretty safe to say that man is your boyfriend, darling."

He pulled her to him and Sybil happily surrendered herself to the bliss of that perfect night. They kissed once, then again and again, each time a little more deeply. Tom lifted Sybil onto his lap and held her tightly as he smoothed his fingers through her tousled hair and caressed her tongue with his, eliciting little mews of pleasure from her as his hand slipped inside her shirt to stroke her skin.

Just then, the capsule lurched to a stop. The guard put his head in and when he saw the two lovers locked in an embrace, oblivious to the world around them, and with a few buttons undone that he knew shouldn't be undone in a public place, he grinned and thought, "I better give them another minute."

He shouted to his colleague - "Hang on, Nigel - don't move it on just yet!"

A/N -

Special thanks to two very talented people: to angiemagz, for permission to use one of her lovely S/T pics to accompany this story, and to the Yankee Countess, for giving me the English Rose idea and for her ongoing encouragement with this story.