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chuffyfan87 · 5 years

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It Started With A Kiss. Part 13

"Ewart and Megan will be there. I don't need to go. I'd much rather stay here and keep you company." Charlie explained.

"Keep an eye on me more like!"

"Duffy..!" He sighed.

"This meeting is important Charlie, the future of the night shift depends on it. I wish I could be there myself but I can't so you have to go for both of us." Duffy reasoned.

"I don't like leaving you here on your own." He countered.

"I won't be on my own, I've got a visitor coming." Duffy replied, her voice light but Charlie noticed the look that briefly crossed her eyes.

"Oh I see, she's finally back from her holiday then?" He asked sarcastically.

"Charlie!"

"Its been three days Duffy!"

"It was a church funded coach trip. She was one of the organisers. She had no way of getting back sooner."

"Her only daughter gives birth five weeks early and she can't get back from the seaside? Really?" Charlie mocked.

"And you wonder why I don't want you here this afternoon?" Duffy shot back.

"You can't keep us apart forever Duffy, I'll have to meet her one day."

Duffy closed her eyes and sighed, one hand rising to massage her temple. "Not today though. Please!"

It took several minutes of further discussion but Charlie finally caved in and agreed to go to the meeting. Duffy was just finishing her lunch as she heard the door to her room open. She looked up and sighed, bracing herself for what was to come.

"I thought that place you worked in was a hell hole but it's practically the Ritz compared to this place!" Kate remarked as she cast her eyes around the small room. "So where is he then?"

"He's still in the spec..." Duffy began but her mum continued to speak over her.

"At least your father had the decency to wait til I'd gotten you home from the hospital before he left us!"

"Mum!" Duffy replied in shock as she realised that her mum meant Charlie. "There was an important work meeting he had to go to this afternoon. He'll be back later though." She attempted to explain calmly.

"Work? Well that's a new one on me, it's usually other women that are the cause." A thought struck her. "Or was that just a convenient excuse because he knew I was visiting this afternoon?"

"No! This meeting could get the night shift reopened. We've been working so hard for months to convince the trust that it's needed. I made him go along." Duffy explained, desperate for her mum to understand.

"The night shift? So Charlie is a doctor?" Kate questioned, her tone instantly changing.

Duffy rolled her eyes. "No he's a nurse." She sighed as she saw the look of disappointment that instantly washed over her mum's expression.

"Oh."

"He's a charge nurse so he earns decent money if that's what you're worried about." Duffy replied sarcastically.

"So Marge was right then."

"What?" Duffy questioned, utterly confused by the switch in direction.

"Her Trish was saying that you'd been secretly sleeping with your boss, despite the fact that he had a fiance, and that's how you got pregnant. I defended you! I said that my Lisa might not be the brightest but she's not stupid enough to allow herself to be taken advantage of like that!" Kate was too caught up in her rant to notice the sharp intake of breath nor the wild look that flashed across her daughter's eyes. "The things I've had to listen to people saying about our family! I have my reputation to think about! I want to have words with this Charlie, because the moment you are out of hospital the two of you are going to that registry office and making things official and above board, do you understand?"

Silence hung in the air for several moments until Duffy found her voice once more. "Because marriage worked so well for you and my dad didn't it?" Duffy shot back bitterly.

"Don't you dare take that tone with me young lady!" Kate reprimanded. "You think you've got it all figured out don't you? That it'll be all sunshine and roses! Life doesn't work like that Lisa."

"You think I don't know that?" Duffy retorted, her voice catching slightly as she spoke. She took a breath in an attempt to hide the trauma that lay behind her words. "Charlie and me are happy just the way we are mum and if you can't accept that then you know where the door is."

Furious, Kate prepared to leave. Standing in the doorway she couldn't resist one last comment towards her daughter. "I'll come back when you've decided to start behaving like a grown up."

Duffy watched her mother leave and once certain she was out of sight Duffy picked up the magazine that sat on the bedside cabinet, intending to read for a bit to take her mind off everything but found she couldn't settle. With an angry sigh she launched the magazine at the opposite wall, folded her arms and stared at the crumpled pages on the floor. Why did her mum insist on being so stubborn and frustrating?!

Charlie dropped the papers he held down onto the table with a frustrated sigh as the chairman called for a brief break. The meeting had been going around in circles for over an hour. Scooping the papers back up he followed Ewart and Megan outside into the hallway where they were met by the union rep.

"This isn't working." Ewart began without preamble.

"Well what do you suggest?" She replied. "We're fast running out of options." There was a pause whilst they all comtemplated the situation. "Unless..." She began before pausing.

"Unless what?" Megan queried.

"We need to show the human impact of the closure of the permanent night shift."

"That's an excellent idea." Ewart replied. "But who?"

"I'd be willing to speak." Charlie suggested.

Ewart and Megan exchanged a concerned look. "Are you sure that would be a good idea Charlie?" She asked, reaching out a hand to rest on his forearm.

Noticing the look they'd shared Charlie sighed in frustration. "I'll be fine, honestly. Duffy insisted that I come here today to speak for both of us. Now's my chance to speak for her and Matthew." Without waiting for a response from his friends, Charlie turned and strode determinedly back into the meeting room.

Megan looked over at Ewart once more, concern written all over her features. She feared this wouldn't end well but also knew Charlie well enough to know that his mind was made up. She sighed and followed her younger friend with resignation.

For the next few minutes the meeting carried on in much the same vein as before the break until Charlie spotted his chance to interject.

"Excuse me Mr Chairman, I keep hearing you talk about costs but I don't think you've considered one vital cost associated with closing the permanent night shift."

"And what cost might that be, Mr..?" He checked his notes.

"Fairhead, sir. I was the charge nurse on the night shift at Holby City hospital."

"Ah yes, Mr Fairhead. So what is this cost that you feel my colleagues and I haven't considered?"

"The human cost. The impact on the patients due to having to travel the extra distance to St James' or other hospitals."

"Its only an extra 20 minutes..." The chairman began.

"Only?! Only?! In an emergency any delay can be critical!"

"I understand that Mr Fairhead but..."

"Do you understand? Do you really? I highly doubt that!" Charlie's voice increased in pitch as the emotions he'd bottled up started to spill forth. "You've not had to watch the woman you love nearly bleed to death on the back seat of a car because the nearest casualty department is closed so you've had to travel to the other side of town so she can be treated! Then sit helpless whilst she's operated on and spends a night in a coma. All whilst your newborn son is in the special baby unit because he was born too early!" Charlie paused, gasping for breath, his throat hoarse from shouting, his eyes filling with tears.

"I can understand your concerns Mr Fairhead, especially on such personal and professional levels. But, the distance out of the centre of the city, at St. James' far out weighs the necessity of Holby City Hospital's central casualty department." The chairman explained calmly.

"You can't possibly..." Charlie interrupted.

"I haven't finished Mr Fairhead. The costs of running the casualty department outside of the city, not only takes away the pressure on the ambulance services, it also reduces time spent trying to get to Holby City through the increasing traffic in the centre of town."

"She wasn't breathing by the time we got to St James'. It took four units of blood just to stabilise her enough to be taken to theatre where they very nearly had to perform a hysterectomy whilst pumping three more units into her. As it is we still don't know for sure if she'll be able to have any more children. She's not well enough to be here today or I'd make you look her in the eye and justify your cost cutting measures!"

A shocked silence fell over the room for several moments, only punctuated by the sounds of Charlie trying to regulate his breathing. The chairman was about to speak again but Ewart interrupted.

"I have seen the human cost of such decisions time and time again in my career as a doctor, including the night that Charlie spoke about. What he didn't mention was the fact that the young lady in question is a very talented nurse, one of our own, who was let down by a system that cares more about budgets than patient lives!"

As Ewart spoke Megan rose from her seat and moved over to Charlie, placing her arm around his shoulders and gently but firmly guiding him from the room. As they entered the corridor she closed the door behind them and turned towards her younger friend.

"I let them down didn't I?" Charlie sighed.

Megan took hold of his face in her hands. "Not at all. You spoke from the heart. Those pen pushers needed to hear that. I just wish you hadn't had to be the one to tell them." She pulled him into a hug and held him tight for several moments whilst he tried to compose himself. When he eventual began to quieten Megan stepped back slightly and smiled softly. "Let's get you back to that family of yours, I'll give Ted a call to take you."

Charlie started to argue, to explain that his place was here fighting alongside his friends but he quickly gave up. If he was honest with himself he wanted to be as far away as possible from this place right now. He just wanted to be with Duffy and Matthew, that was where he truly belonged.

#chuffy #charlie and duffy #charlie fairhead #lisa duffin

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