Set about a week after the last episode of series 4.

Adjusting to life without Eddie hadn't been easy for Rachel. She still loved him but she knew things just couldn't work now that Mel was having his baby.

As always, Rachel's two best friends Angela and Vicky had been there for her and she really didn't know where she'd be without them. The three of them had met in their first year at Manchester university and had remained best friends since.

It was a beautiful summer's evening and Rachel was at Angela's house drinking a glass of wine on her patio.

"How did you get on today?" Angela asked

Rachel hadn't been there for long but Angela wasn't one for beating around the bush and Rachel knew that she'd be wanting to know straight away.

"The chances of me having a baby are very, very slim. I only have one viable egg left" Rachel said sadly

"Oh Rach, I'm so sorry"

"I'm not surprised"

"How were your FSH levels?" Angela asked with expertise because she was a gynaecologist

"High. I really have left this too late"

"Women you're age do have babies"

"It's not looking likely for me though"

"What did your doctor say? You have options right?"

"I'm still going to try IVF with a sperm donor, but my doctor did say to not get my hopes up too high because the chances of me conceiving aren't high" Rachel said

The reality of her situation was making her feel really angry with herself. She always knew she'd wanted children, but the time had never been right and now it was looking like she might never get the chance.

It was Angela and Vicky that had persuaded Rachel to book an appointment with a fertility specialist. Rachel had thought the idea was ridiculous to begin with, but the more she thought about it the more excited she'd become about the idea. If she were to wait for another man to come into her life, she could be waiting forever and time definitely was not on her side.

"Have faith in it Rach, you still have a chance"

"I know, I'm just trying to not get my hopes up" Rachel said as her eyes glassed over with tears

Angela wrapped her arm around Rachel and looked at her in a way Rachel knew exactly what she was trying to say.

Rachel looked at her watch.

"I wonder where Vicky's got to. She said she was on her way a while ago now" Rachel said

"Yeah I'm not sure. I hope she's here soon, I'm starving"

Rachel took a big gulp of wine. She definitely needed it after the week she'd had and now just finding out how unlikely her chances of conceiving a child were.

Angela was about to give Vicky a call when her fourteen year old daughter, Mia, came out into the garden.

"Is Dad on his way home from work yet?" Mia asked

"Not that I know of, hopefully he will be soon though" Angela said to her daughter although really she did not believe that he'd be home soon

Angela's husband, Sam, was a cardiothoracic surgeon so Angela had been used to the long hours he worked. Recently, he'd got a job as head of department and now he was working even more hours and both Angela and Mia were struggling with it.

"Okay, are we eating soon? I'm hungry"

"Yeah Vicky should be here soon"

Mia came over and sat with her Mum and Rachel. Rachel and Vicky were both a big part in Mia's life and were as close as Auntie's to her.

When another half an hour had passed and they still hadn't heard from Vicky, Rachel and Angela were both starting to feel very concerned about her.

Angela's phone started ringing. She grabbed her phone at once and saw that it was Vicky.

"Vicky, where are you? We were worried"

There was silence for a few moments before Vicky spoke.

"I've been in an accident Ang"

Angela's face dropped.

"But you're okay?"

"I need surgery, but hopefully it will go well and I'll be okay"

"What kind of surgery?"

Rachel was trying to work out what was going on from Angela's replies but whatever it was, it didn't sound good.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked as soon as Angela came off the phone

"She's been in an accident. Apparently someone went through a red light and hit into her car. She needs brain surgery, but the surgeon says he's confident the surgery should go well"

"Well that's good" Rachel said struggling to process this information

"She wants us to bring Olivia and Daisy to see her before she goes to surgery"

"Is that a good idea? Is there any need to worry them and make them wait while their Mum has surgery?"

"It's what she wants, she wants to see them just in case"

"But the doctor's confident the surgery is going to go well"

"It's brain surgery though Rach, of course there are risks"

"So Vicky might die?" Mia asked suddenly

Angela had kind of forgotten Mia was there with them.

"Hopefully not darling, but Vicky is going to be having a major surgery on her brain so we just need to be prepared for the worst"

"Can I come to the hospital to see her too?"

"Of course you can. Right we need to pick up the girls and head to the hospital as quickly as we can"

Luckily neither Rachel or Angela had finished their glasses of wine meaning they could both drive.

"We should collect one of them each, that way we can get to them quicker"

Rachel went to get Olivia and Angela and Mia went to get Daisy. Olivia and Daisy were Vicky's eleven and 6 year old daughters. Both of them had been staying at friend's houses for the night which was the reason the three of them had arranged to meet up for the evening.

Angela tried ringing Sam on the way but to no surprise at all he didn't answer. Angela left a voicemail, but had no idea when he would get back to her.

When she got to Olivia's friend's house, Rachel went to knock on the front door.

When Olivia came downstairs she was surprised to see Rachel there.

"Rachel, what are you doing here?"

"I'm afraid I'm here to pick you up"

"Why?"

"Just go upstairs and get your things please Liv"

Olivia was confused, but Rachel seemed very serious so did as she was told.

Olivia came back down with her stuff so Rachel took hold of Olivia's hands.

"I don't want you to worry, but your Mum has been in a car accident so I'm going to take you to the hospital to see her"

"Is she okay?"

"Well she does need surgery but we're hoping she's going to be fine"

Olivia's eyes filled with tears straight away. Her relationship with her Mum hadn't been good recently. They'd been arguing a lot and Olivia just didn't seem to want to be around her Mum at all.

Rachel took Olivia out to the car and they drove to the hospital.

Olivia was silent the whole way just thinking the worst. She'd already lost her Dad, she couldn't lose her Mum as well.

Just over twelve months ago Vicky had lost her husband to cancer. When he was first diagnosed, the doctor's had been confident that he would recover but things took a turn for the worst and he didn't make it.

Vicky's Mum was no longer alive and she didn't speak to her Dad, so without the support of Rachel and Angela she really didn't know what she'd have done.

They found the ward that Vicky was on, but when they got to the doors Olivia stopped and didn't want to go through.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" Rachel asked

"I'm scared. I don't like hospitals"

"I know but your Mum just wants to see you before she goes to surgery"

"What if the surgery goes wrong?"

"The doctor's are confident that it's going to go well"

"The doctor's also said they were confident Dad was going to be fine as well" Olivia said with tears in her eyes

"Your Mum needs this surgery Liv or she definitely won't be okay. Before she has it though, she wants to see you. The sooner we go and see her, the sooner she'll be taken to surgery and the sooner they can fix her brain"

"So you promise me it's all going to be okay?"

"I can't promise you that Liv. The doctor's are confident but every surgery has risks. I can promise you that I'll be here for you no matter what though. According to Angela, the surgeon doing your Mum's surgery is the best brain surgeon in the North West so I have every confidence"

"Okay, I'll go and see Mum"

Rachel took hold of Olivia's hand and together they walked to Vicky's bed. Angela, Mia and Daisy were already there.

As soon as she saw her Mum, Olivia ran straight over to her and wrapped her arms around her with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Rachel, Angela and Mia stepped outside to give Vicky a little bit of time alone with her children.

"You girls know that I love you more than anything in the world right?" Vicky said and they both nodded

"You're the most important thing in my life and I just want you to know how proud I am of both of you"

After a little while it was time for Vicky to go to surgery.

Rachel and Angela came into get Daisy and Olivia. Both were reluctant to leave their Mum.

"I love you Mum" Olivia said

It had been a long time since Vicky had heard Olivia say this and it meant so much.

They watched as Vicky was wheeled to surgery and then they decided to go to the cafeteria and get some food.

They bought some food but nobody ate that much.

"Is Mummy going to be back soon?" Daisy asked

"Not for another couple of hours at least" Rachel told her

"Oh, I need a wee"

"Okay, I'll take you" Angela said

Angela took hold of Daisy's hand before going to the toilet with her.

When they returned they decided to go to the relative's room.

Daisy started sucking her thumb. Something she always did when she was tired.

Rachel got Daisy comfy so that her head was resting on her lap and it didn't take long for Daisy to fall asleep.

Mia sat with Olivia and tried to talk to her, but it was obvious that Olivia wasn't in the mood for talking.

Angela came and sat by her daughter and pulled her in for a cuddle.

Mia was still resting against her Mum when the door to the relatives room opened and Sam walked through the door.

"Dad" Mia called before rushing over to give her Dad a hug

Angela stood up and Sam came over and wrapped her arms around his wife and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner. I was in surgery"

"It's okay, you're here now"

Time seemed to be going so slowly.

Rachel had been at this hospital that morning and had not been expecting to be back again tonight. She should have been sat with her two best friends drinking wine while they comforted her about her fertility problems and she should have been comforting Angela about her marriage issues and Vicky about the problems she was having with Olivia.

Instead, they were sat in a hospital waiting room while her best friend had brain surgery.

Hours had passed and the door to the relatives room opened again. This time it was Vicky's surgeon.

Rachel, Angela and Sam stood up at once. By this point Mia and Olivia had also fallen asleep.

By the look on the surgeon's face, the three of them could tell he didn't have good news for them.

"How did it go?" Rachel asked. She couldn't stand the way the surgeon was just looking at them and not saying anything

"I'm afraid to have to tell you that the surgery wasn't a success"

"In what way was it not a success?" Angela asked

"There was a major bleed in Vicky's brain and I'm afraid we couldn't stop it"

"So are you saying that she's passed away?" Sam asked for clarification

"Yes, I'm so sorry but Vicky has passed away"

Angela sank into a chair.

"But you said you were confident the surgery was going to go well" Rachel said angrily

"I was but as I explained there were still risks. And unfortunately the rare complications I explained did occur. We did everything we could"

Rachel sank back into her seat too and took hold of Angela's hand.

They looked into each other's eyes, completely lost for words.

Olivia began to wake up and then the realisation hit them. In the space of just over a year, two young girls had lost both of their parents.

"Is my Mum out of surgery yet?" Olivia asked sleepily

Rachel and Angela just looked at her.

Rachel came and crouched down in front of Olivia.

"Your Mum has passed away" Rachel said simply thinking it was best to get straight to the point

Olivia froze.

"There was a brain on her bleed and they did everything they could, but unfortunately they weren't able to save her"

Olivia's face crumbled before she fell into Rachel's embrace and started crying hysterically.

Olivia's crying woke the other two girls up. Angela crouched down in front of Daisy, just as Rachel had in front of Olivia, and broke the news to the little girl.

Would love to know what you think x