Come With Me

Chapter 7

They went to work separately that morning as they started at different times, but Jacob had seemed a little off all day, and Connie didn't know what to think. She got straight on with her work, and only stopped when she noticed Jacob loitering around outside her office door.

"Jacob, it's open," she sighed smiling. "If you want to come in, then don't just hang about." He walked sheepishly into her office, and she offered him a seat. He took it, the sat looking down at his hands anxiously. "What's wrong?" She asked, and he couldn't seem to look up at her.

"Look, Connie," he began, and something inside Connie fell. He was going to tell her it wasn't going to work, and she just braced herself for it. "You're beautiful, inside and out, and this morning was... It was wonderful."

"Jacob, I know what you're going to say. It's okay, you don't have to worry about telling me. I get it," she said.

"Oh, right," he replied, relaxing a little. "So we're good?" He asked, smiling.

"Of course." She managed to force a smile, and he leant forward and kissed her lips. "What are you doing?" She asked, taken aback.

"Sorry, I thought, you know, after this morning?"

"Jacob, you can't just tell me you don't want to be with me, then kiss me!"

"What?" He asked, laughing. "I didn't say I didn't want to be with you! Connie, I want you more than I want anything else!"

"Then what was all that about?" She asked, referring to their conversation. He started to smile, as he realised how she had interpreted it, and then he leant forward and kissed her again.

"I was trying to tell you that I wanted to go back to my house. Now I've stopped wallowing, it'll be good for me. I really want to make it with you, Connie. If you'll let me." She couldn't believe she had got it so wrong, and that she was going to give up on him so easily, but then she realised that she had only ever been let down by men. She'd had so many disappointments in her life - how could she expect herself to think the best when a good one actually came along?

"Oh Jacob," she sighed, relieved that he still wanted to be with her. "Being with you is an adventure I can't wait to have." He moved round and slowly slipped his hand up the side of her face to cup her cheek, then softly encased her lips with his. His tongue massaged her lip before creeping inside to move with hers, and her arms immediately moved up to hang loosely around his neck. They broke away about a minute later, both desperate for air, and smiled at each other madly.

He left a little while later, leaving Connie smiling all day. She winked at him as he closed her office door, and all the staff noticed how his mood had shifted. He was back to the old him - he was cracking jokes, he was being gentle and caring with his patients, but most importantly, he told people why he had been so upset. Keeping it locked up inside him had not done him any favours, and so now having it out in the open, he was able to get the support he needed. Everything seemed to be going well for him now, and it was all down to his one and only Queen Bee.  Meanwhile, Connie didn't really know how to feel. Of course she was happy that she had Jacob, but she was still dying, and that was something that wouldn't go away just because she was happy. She wasted her life being unhappy and so it was just typical that when she finally had a shot at happiness, she couldn't possibly enjoy it.

Connie continued to feel this way for the next few days, but didn't seem any different, as whenever she saw Jacob, she broke out into a ridiculous smile. He stayed at her house twice in the next week, but they didn't have sex once - they both just enjoyed the feeling of being wrapped up together, feeling like they had all the time in the world, though obviously that wasn't the case for Connie. She had to go for another check up at Saint James' exactly one week after her and Jacob had talked in her office, but she didn't really see the point of it. She was dying in a few years, there wasn't really much else they could tell her. As she got back to her office after her appointment, she was a little distracted, but tried to concentrate on her work. However, she heard a scream from the Staff Room, and for some reason, she found herself running towards the source. It was clearly a child's scream, only when she opened the door, she realised exactly why she had ran towards it. Grace. It was a mother's instinct - Connie had gone straight to her daughter, and she almost broke down into tears.

"Mum!" Grace cried, but Connie couldn't tell if she was happy or sad.

"Gracie, what are you doing here?" Connie asked, fretting over her little girl. "Why did you scream?"

"She tried to make me leave!" Grace shouted, pointing over to the member of staff stood in the corner of the staff room. Connie looked up, and saw Dixie, and realised that it had obviously been a misunderstanding.

"It's okay, sweetheart, you can stay with me. That's Dixie - she didn't mean to scare you, dear." Grace stepped back, and looked up at her mum weirdly. "What's wrong?" Connie asked, feeling a little nervous.

"Are you okay?" Grace asked. "Normally you would've shouted. You've changed since I last saw you."

"Is that a good thing?" Connie asked.

"I hated you when you shouted," Grace replied, then hugged her mum. Grace was much taller - and so much more grown up - than when Connie had last seen her, and they both cried a little bit as they walked together to Connie's office. Before leaving, Connie mimed 'thank you' to Dixie, who was equally as confused to find that Connie wasn't shouting.

"So where's your father?" Connie asked, handing Grace a hot chocolate and sitting on the couch in her office.

"His girlfriend had to go to hospital," Grace said, sounding a little disgusted. "He went with her, and sent me on a plane back to you."

"He left you on your own?" Connie gasped, and then decided not to talk about Sam, as she would only get angry.

"I was never exactly his priority," Grace replied, taking a sip of her drink. "He never wanted me any more than you did."

"Oh, sweetheart," Connie gushed, looking at Grace. "My baby, I always wanted you. I've missed you so much, my dear."

"Does that mean I can come back to live with you?" Connie cried again as Grace threw her arms around Connie's neck, repeatedly whispering 'yes'.

Connie spent the rest of the day in her office with Grace, and it was the first time since she'd been diagnosed that she hadn't even thought about her illness for longer than a few hours. However, Connie's good mood ended when she had to excuse herself to go to the bathroom, and was forced to throw up the remainder of her lunch as a symptom of the medicine she was on.  It wasn't going to help her get better, but it was designed to prolong the time she had left - this could give her up to another year, so she was quite eager to grasp the opportunity with both hands. After coming back down to her office, Connie bumped into Jacob, and flushed as his hand settled across her back. None of the staff knew about them yet, and not even Connie nor Jacob knew how "official" they were, and so it was fun sneaking around.

"Rita tells me that girl in your office is the famous Gracie Beauchamp," Jacob said, leaning in to Connie.

"She certainly is - are you going to say hello?" Jacob agreed, and so the pair of them walked down the corridor to join Grace once more in Connie's office.

"Mum, you were ages!" Grace laughed, bounding off the couch.

"I bumped into someone," Connie replied. "Grace, this is Senior Staff Nurse Masters." Jacob put his hand out to shake, and Grace took it, smiling.

"Hi Grace! Your mum has told me about you!" Grace looked him up and down, and stepped back, thinking for a while.

"Are you and my mum together?" She asked, which caused both of them to look at each other awkwardly.

"No, Grace, we're not." Jacob replied, and pulled a bar of chocolate out of his back pocket. "Here, have this. But not all at once, or else I'll be in trouble with your mum!" Grace laughed, and thanked Jacob, while Connie stood there a little distracted.

"Thank you, Staff Nurse Masters. Now, do you have work to be getting on with?" He was a little confused as to why she was kicking him out, but he just went along with it, and so he nodded politely, bidding them both farewell.

"Yes, Mrs B," he said, before leaving and closing the door behind him.

"So what's the story there?" Grace asked, looking at Connie knowingly. "Come on mum - you can't hide things from me!"