Chapter 7

Hope everyone's having a good Christmas break, can't wait for Holby tonight if only Casualty was on Saturday :'( Anyway enjoy and thank you for reading and reviewing x

Almost a week had passed and Connie was still refusing to admit she felt differently about Jacob. Since the first evening she spent with him, she'd distanced herself again and returned to being professional. It was the beginning of her shift but the end of several others.

As Connie wandered towards the entrance to the hospital she passed Rita, Robyn and Lofty who were all laughing about something which had happened during the night. Not paying much attention Connie continued to walk inside and passed reception quietly heading for her office.

She switched the lights on and closed the door behind her before noticing the huge pile of paperwork which she had left behind the night before. Walking round to her chair she dropped her bag to the floor before letting herself fall to the chair in defeat. Time would pass slowly this morning that was certain.

After about 10 minutes someone tapped at the door brining Connie out of the masses of paperwork and filing. "Ah Connie, there's a patient out here asking for you… Says they won't be seen by anyone else." Connie sighed shaking her head. "Do you want me to-" "No it's fine I'll come." She placed the paperwork back on her desk and rose grabbing her stethoscope and leaving the office.

Jacob was already standing in the cubicle talking to the patient who was sitting up on the bed with his arms crossed against his chest. "You gotta be kidding me, young guy like you with no one at home?" The patient sat up in the bed and looked down towards Jacob. "I appreciate the idle chat, but it's not really my thing-" "Is that why you asked for the boss?" Jacob smiled as the patient laughed and Connie pushed open the curtain of the cubicle.

"Adam I hear you're causing trouble for my staff?" The man sitting grinned as the clinical lead closed the curtain and faced him. "It's good to see you too Connie-" "Well I can hardly say the same when you're sitting in a hospital bed. What seems to be the problem?" She stepped closer as Jacob stood back and just watched her work.

After a few minutes Connie stood back up. "It looks like you might have broken a few ribs which has caused your breathing to become difficult. I'll send you up for an x-ray to confirm but I'm pretty sure." Connie moved to the end of the bed and turned to Jacob who she realised was looking at her already. Momentarily she forgot what she was going to say before finally talking. "Can we get some pain relief and also arrange some bloods, I want to rule out a few things before we send him for an x-ray."

Jacob nodded and watched Connie walk out of the cubicle. She didn't look back and Jacob only turned back to the patient upon hearing his voice. "So does she know you've got a thing for her?" Jacob scoffed with a small smirk on his face. "Mrs Beauchamp? Not my type of woman and even if she was, she'd be entirely out of my league."

He began moving about and taking some blood before they spoke again. "So come on, really, do you have a thing for Connie?" Jacob smiled shaking his head before removing the needle from Adam's arm. "And does she know how you feel?" Jacob didn't speak but the smile lessened on his face. "Ah so it's like that?" A confused look settled across Jacob's face to be cleared up by Adam. "You slept together and she hasn't spoken to you since… Yeah she has a tendency to be like that."

Jacob stood up and began putting things away as he frowned looking back to the patient. "So you know Mrs Beauchamp?" He nodded sitting back in the bed. "You could say that. I'm an old family friend, it's been a while but we grew up together." Jacob made to leave the cubicle before Adam spoke again. "Flowers-" "Huh?" "Roses to be specific. To get through to her, make her see you're not just in it for the fun things which is probably what she's thinking. Connie's good at pretending, but once you see the truth she can't hide it from you."

He left the office thinking about what Adam had said. "Lofty if you see Rita tell her I'm taking my break." He patted the other nurse on the shoulder before leaving the department in a rush.

Connie wandered down the hallway after spending several hours helping in resus. She opened her office door and closed it behind her gently as a bunch of red flowers caught her eye. Carefully she stepped around the desk not taking her eyes from the roses standing in the middle of the desk. The paperwork that had swamped the desk had been stacked neatly and she realised it was all in some kind of order too.

A little smile passed her lips before her eyes moved back to the flowers. She plucked the card that sat in the top and turned it over. There was nothing written on it other than her name so she looked up out of the window of her office for a moment. Dropping her eyes again to the card she held in her hands she sat down in the chair. Pulling a rose out she spun it between her fingers thinking and biting her lip a little before dropping the rose and leaving the office again.

"Adam…" Connie caught up to him as he walked towards the entrance of the ED. Stepping out into the cold she looked across at him. "You didn't have to you know, you could have just said thank you-" "For what?" She smiled as they continued to walk out towards the car park. "You didn't have to buy me flowers-" "I didn't…" They stopped walking as a frown passed Connie's face while Adam glanced over her shoulder. "But I think I know who did. Can I give you some advice? Give him a chance, he seems to like you and he knows you pretty well."

Adam walked away from Connie as she looked behind her where he'd been looking before. Jacob had walked outside and was walking with his hands in his pockets. "Are you heading back inside for your things or are we back to crazy shifts again?" Connie smiled and laughed gently crossing her arms tightly across her front. "That depends-"

She walked forwards and stopped in front of him. "On what?" She let her arms drop as she stood in front of Jacob looking up at him. "On you." Connie closed the small space that was left between them smiling up at him as he smiled back at her. Jacob let his arms fall and rest around her as she leant into him and placed her lips against his.

Standing there, outside the ED in broad daylight, where everyone would see them. Connie moved her hands to rest on his arms as she smiled into the kiss before breaking apart from him. "So, will you let me take you for dinner tonight?" Jacob stood straight and looked off behind her before looking back again. "Well I was looking forward to that microwave dish and a beer sitting alone on my sofa-" Connie pushed his arm away from her laughing as he held onto her hand "Of course, any excuse to spend time with you sweet cheeks." He leant down and kissed her again moving his hands to her waist and pulling her close enjoying the moment.