After all this time...A FLAC story

Chapter 6

The next day at work was almost a blur. The hospital was on high alert and so many new protocols and procedures were in place. Neither Jac nor Fletch had time to think about, let alone talk about, the arrangements for his stay at her house. After a mammoth 12-hour shift, Jac sat back in her office chair, taking a moment to escape the pandemonium out on Darwin. After a couple of minutes of quiet time there was a knock at the door. She knew instantly who it was. Without waiting for her to respond, the door open and in walked Fletch. After throwing himself on Jac's sofa, he let out a long sigh. Typical Fletch she thought. Make yourself at home. This thought took Jac back to realisation that Fletch would indeed be making himself at home at her home Jac knew there were no words to begin to describe the shift they had both had. Countless patients being brought in and being put on live saving ventilators. Copious amounts of PPE. No relatives. It was like nothing they had ever experienced before. Even though Jac and Fletch had both worked at Holby through far too many crisis' and hospital lockdowns, the sheer scale of what was happening around them was almost too much to comprehend.

After a minute of two of comfortable silence. Jac got up and wandered over to the sofa. Swiftly holding out her hand, Fletch took it and Jac attempted to pull him up. Playing a dead weight, Fletch couldn't help but let out a chuckle as Jac struggled to try and get him off the sofa. Jac couldn't help herself but join in and started giggling. Fletch eventually relented and stood up off the sofa. Jac and Fletch held each other's gaze for a moment or two. Not dropping the eye contact Jac told Fletch to meet her at her house as soon as he was changed and ready. 'Wine's chilling in the fridge' she said as Fletch left her office, making his way to the changing rooms. Jac tried to ignore the funny feeling she felt in her stomach. Nerves she thought? Not from me, Jac Naylor, she told herself.

About 20 minutes later Jac pulled up on her driveway, making sure she left room for Fletch to park is car safely too. She had sent him her address after their brief phone conversation last night. It was only then she started to think about how this whole staying together would pan out. As she poured herself a glass of white from the fridge, Jac wondered what had made her ask him to stay. She couldn't quite put her finger on why she had but she was pleased she had. Just as the wine glass reached her lips, there was a too familiar knock at her front door.

*Fletch's POV*

As Fletch stacked him case and backs into his car boot, he could feel himself getting more and more nervous about the day ahead. He kept telling himself it was about the day at work, rather than where he was headed after work. Trying to put it all to the back of his mind, Fletch turned up the car radio to drown out his thoughts

The shift passed at lightening speed. Fletch knew, seeing the Darwin team working together so intuitively, that he had made the right choice to remain working. Towards the end of his shift, Fletch began to notice the nervous feeling he had experienced that morning. Only one thing for it he thought as he waltzed straight in to Jac's office after not waiting for a response to his knock. Without a thought he threw himself down on the sofa. He lay there for a while, for once stuck for words on what to say. When Jac appeared at his side to get him to move, he instinctively let his inner child rule which resulted in them both laughing together. It made Fletch realise just how long it had been since they had shared a laugh like that together. As he got up his eyes caught Jac's and remained there for until she spoke. Fetch couldn't help but feel something, something he hadn't felt in such a long time. He knew he had to forget it. Walking out to carry out Ms. Naylor's orders to get ready, he knew if there housing arrangements were to work, he had to make sure what he had just felt and thought about didn't happen again. In his car driving to Jac's, Fletch used his time to call his children to wish them goodnight, something he had promised to do daily. Before he realised it, he was parked up on Jac's driveway. Here we go for nothing he thought as he walked to the front door.