invisible heartstrings (shivian)

2.

It was 6:30pm and Siobhan was just about ready to lock up the nursery and leave, when Charlotte walked into the office and informed her that a child still hadn't been picked up.

"I just wanted to let you know, Jamie's still here."

Thinking back on the toddler walk reply slip she'd been given that morning for a Jamie, and Charlotte working in the toddler room, Siobhan quickly put two and two together and worked out who the missing parent was.

"He should have left half an hour ago, he finishes at six."

"I know, uh, but we've literally only just closed," Charlotte tried to reason, "so I'll just keep him occupied until he's collected."

In her last message to Roger, no more than two minutes before Charlotte walked in, Siobhan had said she'd be home for 6:45. It was best to be accurate when it came to him.

But even if Jamie's mum turned up right that second, by the time Siobhan had completed all the usual checks and waited for any remaining members of staff to leave, there was no way she'd make it back for that time now. Roger would accuse her of lying.

"Have you tried calling the other contacts on his form?" she tried. She couldn't stop the thoughts of what repercussions she'd have to face at home for being late from creeping into the back of her mind. She needed to leave.

"There actually isn't any. Single parent, no family, uh, new to the area so no friends either. There is no village."

Siobhan's expression remained unchanged. "I know that was meant to tug on a heartstring or two, but all it's done is irked me 'cause it means we have to wait here until she arrives."

"It's funny that you think you have any heartstrings," Charlotte quipped as she left the office to return to the toddler room.

It was unlike Charlotte to be so feisty. No doubt the influence of a certain redhead, the blonde thought to herself.

- - -

Another half an hour went by before the same dark haired woman from that morning came rushing into the office, a little boy following at her feet.

"Hi, hi, look - I am so, so sorry I'm late," she hurriedly apologised.

Siobhan couldn't hide her frustration this time. "You are an hour late," she started, "did it not occur to you at the very least to give us a phone call?"

"My phone died, and because I was held up so badly at work I decided to just dash straight here and get here as quickly as I could," she tried to explain.

"Well you clearly didn't dash out quick enough," the blonde continued, her tone still thick with annoyance, "what kind of emergency keeps you held back for an hour?"

"Cardiac arrest."

A beat passed before Siobhan spoke again. She kept her expression even. "You're a doctor?"

"No, I'm a nurse. And I've spent the last hour just trying to save somebody's life, during which time my phone died, and rather than waste time trying to find another phone to call you, I decided to just get here as quickly as I could, okay? I'm sorry." The nurse sounded utterly defeated by the day she'd had.

It was barely noticeable, but ever so slightly, something in the blonde softened.

But if she was going to do something nice, she sure as hell wasn't going to be nice about it. "Well on this one occasion, since you make such a measly amount anyway - I'll waive the late fee."

Only one of them would pay the price for being late tonight.

The nurse broke eye contact briefly before looking back at Siobhan. "Thank you." Turning to leave, she motioned for her son to follow her. "Come on Jamie."

As her eyes followed the pair as they left the office, as if right on cue, her mobile started ringing in her pocket, quickly stealing her away from her thoughts. Without looking at the caller ID, she swiped to answer and brought the phone up to her ear.

"I am leaving now." She spoke firmly.

When the work day got into full swing, the unrelenting phone calls she'd had to deal with first thing eventually stopped.

That's when the texts started.

Siobhan wasn't silly. She wasn't naive. Just because it was happening to her didn't mean she couldn't see what was happening. She'd been around people exhibiting controlling behaviour her entire life. She'd forgotten more about signs of abuse and what to look for than most people would ever know.

It wasn't an ideal situation to be in, sure, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. She was strong. And she knew how to take care of herself. Besides, Roger had never actually laid a hand on her before.

But more and more often recently, she found herself wondering if it was only a matter of time.

- - -

2 weeks later, Siobhan found herself sitting in A&E.

A/n - I wanted to keep their first meeting the same as canon but I promise we'll be moving on in the next part. :)