Perfect Illusion

Chapter 15: Skeletons

"I wondered how long it'd be before you stirred?" Elliot smiled down at her warmly. "Dr. Thompson will be down shortly, he wants to do another scan." The on-call Obstetrician had indeed left but now her regular Obstetrician was on site since it was nine o'clock in the morning. Elliot watched as she sat herself up slowly, Will's NHS fleece still draped sweetly over her upper body. It was the next day and she'd managed to bag a good eight hours of sleep. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Rough." She tried her best to give him a smile but he could see it was exhausting. Looking down she pulled the fleece away gently, her hands smoothing over it's material in a doting manner before she suddenly wondered how and why it was here when she knew she'd left it on her bed at home.

"Yes, I hope you don't mind, I had to rush away last night so Mr. Strachan picked up some essentials for you, although I'm not quite sure where he got that from." It was almost as if he'd read her mind, or maybe even her questioning facial expression. His face looked puzzled too, staring at the large item of the clothing. "Yours is in the office on your chair." His words sounded muffled, her own thoughts becoming loud in her mind. Sam had brought this in for her? She was about to open her mouth but Dr. Thompson re-entered the room before she got the chance.

"Good morning." He smiled. "I hope you're feeling a little more human today? I heard you had a rough night?"

"Bit of an understatement there." Offering him the same tired smile she'd given Elliot, he returned the expression as he seated himself on the stool by the CT scanner.

"Well, I'm more than happy with how much things have improved over night, I just want to take a closer look at the babies and ensure all is still well, alright? If everything is looking good, we can even consider discharging you this afternoon." Her feeble nod gave him the okay to go ahead, holding the blanket up to give her a modicum of privacy as he rolled her gown up and proceeded with the scan. "I must say, they're both looking really good, nice steady heartbeats." He smiled at the screen before turning to face her. "I can even tell you the sexes today if you wish? I'm assuming things were a little dire last night and Mr. Keysen didn't have time." He awaited a response from her but she was still and silent, not having a single clue what her answer should be. Any normal woman would be excited to know, wouldn't they? Whereas the mere thought of finding out terrified her. Knowing whether she was having girls or boys or one of each? It was petrifying, it made this whole situation much more real.

Walking down the hospital corridor, he suddenly felt stupid clutching at the flowers in his grip. He'd picked them up on his way into work with the intention of giving them to Connie but he was quickly back-peddling on the idea. How would she react to it? Was this even the right thing to get someone after what's happened? What if she thought he was overstepping and she shut him out again? He finally felt like he had his foot in the door after last night, he didn't want to ruin things now, especially not over a pointless bouquet of petals.

"Sam, what are these for?" Chrissie gushed excitedly, sliding up beside him out of nowhere and wrongly assuming the loving gesture was for her. "You didn't need to do this! And to think, some people say romance is dead?" She took the flowers from him, kissing his cheek sweetly before admiring the beautiful bunch. "I'm gonna get these in some water, they're gorgeous, thank you." Kissing him again, this time on the lips and more romantically he didn't even get to utter a single word before she disappeared into the staff room.

"You're welcome." He muttered to himself quietly in a deflated manner before looking back up in the direction he'd originally been headed. He stopped almost as quickly as he'd started upon seeing her entering her office. She'd been discharged already? Returning movement to his legs, he made his way to her office and knocked lightly on the open door. She was wearing the clothes he'd collected for her last night, her complexion looking a lot more well than when he'd last seen her. "Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked delicately, as always, not exactly certain of how his caring question would be received.