What Should Have Been

Part 31

Sam wandered through the corridor of the hospital towards oncology for the final lot of treatment before the review meeting in a few days. "Sam!" He heard her heels hurrying across the floor as he turned to look at her. "I thought you couldn't get away today-" "I wasn't letting you do this alone... Or break what seems to be tradition now."

He half laughed taking her hand in his before wandering into the department. Connie looked up to him before squeezing his hand. "It's gonna be okay." He forced a smile as she stepped into his side, letting go of his hand to wrap her arms around him instead. Sam placed a kiss to the top of her head thankful for everything she did for him just by being here.

The nurse smiled seeing them approach. "Hey Sam. I see you've still got your support in toe-" "Of course." He looked to Connie with an appreciative smile before sitting on the bed. After being connected to the various machines he shuffled across the bed to sit with his legs over hanging the edge. "Woah where do you think you're going?" "Nowhere... I just wanted to look at you better."

Connie felt herself blush dropping her gaze. "Is now a bad time to tell you I love it when you're embarrassed-" "I am not embarrassed." He nodded as she glared across at him. "Yeah, yeah Con I believe you." She pushed his knee before standing up with her hands on her hips. "Now move." She pointed to the bed but he just grabbed her waist pulling her between his legs.

The strong independence disappearing at his touch. He slid his hand up her waist while she held onto the wrist of his other hand. "So then Mrs Beauchamp. What do you want me to do now?" "Now?" "Right now." They'd moved closer to each other as she trailed a hand up to his chest. "Right now... I want you, to lie down and shut up Strachan." She gently pushed him back so that he was leaning against the pillows as she smirked.

Connie moved back to her seat before resting her feet on the side of his bed. Sam glanced down at her with an amused expression. "You treat all areas of the hospital like this?" "Only the ones I don't run." He smiled dropping a hand to her leg, gently running it back and forth. Connie tensed at the contact before relaxing, finding comfort in his touch.

An hour in and Connie was watching Sam fall off to sleep. His hand was still on her leg as she carefully moved to stand up. Leaning over the bed she placed a gentle kiss to his lips. "I'm heading downstairs, I'll be back soon... I love you." She caressed his cheek before wandering out of the room leaving him to sleep.

Normally Connie returned to the ED for the final hours to get some work done but today she just wanted some space. Instead she wandered outside into the grounds of the hospital taking a seat on the bench protected by the high bushes around her. Here she was truly alone and could get some peace and quiet.

Or that's what she thought. After a few minutes of gazing off into the distance her phone began to ring. "Charlie?" "Everything okay? I couldn't help but see you leave earlier, and I was just wandering if something happened with Sam?" She sighed listening to the chaos in the background. "No everything is fine, I just needed some air... Need some help in there?" "No, no... That was the noise of the staffroom, not patients." Connie rolled her eyes before Charlie finished. "Take all the time you need Connie." "Thank you Charlie."

She ended the call before catching sight of the picture on her screen. Sam stood slightly behind her, one arm around her waist and the other around Grace. All of them were laughing and looked incredibly happy. Pulling up her contacts she found who she was after ringing them.

Sam awoke to an empty chair before checking the time. He yawned before stretching out, becoming comfortable once again. Connie was normally back by now but he couldn't blame her for not rushing back. He took out his phone seeing a text from her.

Sorry I disappeared on you for longer than I normally would. I'll be back soon, I love you x

He didn't worry about typing a reply, instead sat back once again before a nurse came towards him. "How you doing?" "Good... Tired, exhausted, but good." She smiled warmly before checking the monitors with a smile. "Oh someone's here to see you by the way, you up for the visit?" Sam frowned briefly before smiling as he looked up to see Grace running across the department towards him. "Sam!"

Connie rushed after her apologising but the nurse shook her head with a smile. She left them to it as Connie looked to Sam. "I knew you were worried about today so I figured you could use the distraction... And the look on your face when you're with her tells me she was exactly what you needed." Sam couldn't help but smile as he sat forwards trying to pick Grace up.

Normally she'd have put her onto the bed but he seemed to be able to lift her fine. Grace sat on his lap giving him a hug straight away before sitting across him, straddling his legs. "Mummy said we can have pizza for tea-" "Did she?" Connie arched an eyebrow moving to sit on the bed beside them. "I might have mentioned something... If you're up for it that is." "Dinner with my two girls? Why wouldn't I be up for that."

Connie smiled feeling his hand on top of hers. She looked down to it for a moment before catching his gaze again. "Sam?" "Mmm-" "I'm never going to leave you, you know. No matter how hard this gets, or how much you think I'm better off without this... I'm going to stick with you through it all." He looked to her, a look she had never seen coming to his face as he swallowed past the small lump that had risen. "Thank you."

She smiled before moving closer to him so he could wrap an arm around her shoulders. "I love you Constance Beauchamp-" "I love you too, but call me that again and it'll be me you have to worry about." He laughed pulling her into his side again as Grace bounced about before them.