"I thought one of the rules was no work allowed?" He stalked her from behind as she sat at the desk, flicking through papers with her laptop open. His warm, doughy hands rested on her shoulders as she tutted at the interruption. They were holed up in a luxurious hotel located just outside of Holby. Trying to keep things as safe as possible. Connie wasn't too bothered about taking extra precautions but since the charity dinner in the Lakes, Will felt more at ease being as far away from Holby as he could realistically get. You know, just in case.

"Five more minutes." She whispered seductively. "And then you'll have me all to yourself, I promise."

"I can't wait five more minutes." He stooped down, his head angling to allow his lips access to her neck as he started kissing and nipping at her tanned skin sensually. He could feel her leaning her head to the side, her mind desperately trying to continue reading but her body was giving in quickly. She was completely defeated as soon as he let his hands roam to the front of her chest, slipping softly under the hotel robe she was wearing. It had a plunging v-neck as it was but as soon as he let himself into it, the entire front of her chest was now exposed as the fabric slipped off of her shoulders. As soon as the cool air hit her skin, she broke out in goose-bumps all over. Perhaps a mixture of the cold and Will's expert finger movements over her front.

"Patience is a virtue, Mr Curtis." Her hands moved to his slowly, gripping at them as she pulled her neck away from his love-starved mouth. "Five more minutes." She turned, kissing him gently but passionately. Almost as if she was offering him a taste of what was to come if he could just hold on. "And then I'm all yours." The corners of her mouth curled into a sultry smile, which became less blurred to him as she pulled away from his lips.

"You're a tease, Mrs Beauchamp." Biting his lower lip, he couldn't help but reciprocate her smile, moving away from her reluctantly so that she could finish her work and join him in the sheets sooner.

It was a long wait. So long, in fact, that by the time she closed her laptop it was nearing one in the morning. Hitting the lights, she moved quietly over to her side of the hotel bed, her eyes roaming over his bare back and ruffled hair as he lay asleep on his front. The sheet just draped limply over his legs and lower back, despite it being dark the street lamps outside offered an orange glow which illuminated his soft skin. Dropping her dressing gown completely, it fell from her shoulders like a waterfall, the fabric pooling around her feet before she crawled across the mattress delicately. Her lips grazing his right shoulder, with his head facing away from her she moved the soft kisses across to his shoulder blades, slowly gravitating towards the back of his neck whilst her left hand planted itself cautiously on the other side of his sleeping body. Her nuzzling neck kiss was enough to stir him, smiling into his skin she lowered herself down softly, her chest melting into the right side of his bare back. As soon as he'd been roused by her sensual pecks he'd felt her nude body pressing up against him and immediately rolled over to face her as carefully as he could. The second he settled on his back, she once again allowed her naked body to lay over his front, smiling upon feeling his warm palm rolling over her buttocks, squeezing at it possessively.

"You just love to keep me waiting, don't you?" He cooed, closing his eyes when she answered him with a passionate kiss. He melted into it quickly but managed to pull away from the tasty lip-lock. "I'm afraid I'm too tired now-"

"No, no, no." She smiled devilishly at his weak lie, kissing him again more firmly this time. Her tongue lapping up against his before she ended the smooch just as quickly as she'd initiated it. "You won't have to do much, I promise." Her whispered words partnered with the look she gave him in the darkened light sent a ripple of goosebumps over his entire body. Her lips returned to his once more whilst her left hand snaked it's way down to the sheet covering his lower half. With one swift hand movement, he was as exposed as she was. Continuing to allow her tongue to wrestle harmoniously with his, she steadily raised her body away from his in order to swing her left leg over his hips and straddle him securely. This change of positioning alone was exciting enough for him, his large hands instantly finding her hips and grabbing at them hungrily. She let her fingertips trace over his abs, gradually travelling up to his chest before stopping. Only her right hand ventured on from there, slowly heading towards his chiselled jawline where she gripped at his face. Their breathing intensified dramatically at the quick change in tempo, his tacky palms smoothing up and down over her hips had triggered her movements into a slow grinding fashion over his manhood. Her right fingers entangled in the hair on the back of his neck as her thumb stroked over his cheek softly, their erotic kiss still going strong despite the desperate need for air. He was the first to break with her rocking hips exciting him so immensely, he couldn't contain his loud, panted breaths.

"Stop teasing." He breathed harshly, his brow furrowed with the pained agony of wanting to be inside her. His anguished expression only made her smile as she pressed her hips down over him but slowed her rhythm almost to a stop. Her own actions resulted in a soft moan escaping her swollen lips, immediately forcing her body to jolt at the feel of him under her. He was so ready for her, everything about her was infatuating him. Her touch, her movements, her expression, the feel of her. Everything. He wanted her so, so badly. The anticipation within him peaked as soon as she removed her hand from his face and let it venture down between them as she stroked at his length a few times, enjoying his pleasured face before guiding him inside of her. Her throat hitched instantly, her mouth gaping with ecstasy as she studied his eyes fluttering closed with a loud groan escaping him.

The sheets were a tangled mess the following morning.

It wasn't even eight o'clock and she found herself naked and alone in the large white king bed. Adjusting to the faint morning light, she glanced around the room before stretching her arms out in search of his body. His side of the bed was cold, with nothing but a note left on his pillow. A simple 'X' written on the hotel note paper. Something they each did if they were called away from their rendezvous by their spouse. She grabbed at it, studying the neat handwritten kiss before smiling about their night of intense passion. That was another thing she loved about him. They had sex, a LOT but it never got boring. It was always enjoyable and had her swooning like a teenaged girl the following morning.


"Oh!" Elliot gasped, making her jump at the nurses station. "The Sofitel Hotel." He marvelled, looking at the branded hotel note paper in her hand before she quickly folded it shut, returning it to the safety of her chest pocket in her scrubs. "You planning a mini getaway?"

"I wish." He retort was cool and feelingless accompanied by a scoff. "Have you seen Mr Strachan? Apparently he was looking for me, something to do with a patient refusing to be seen by anyone but myself."

"No, no I haven't sorry-"

"Yes." Chrissie slid into the discussion casually. "This patient in particular is difficult to say the least, they're not making it easy for Sam that's for sure." She curled her lip, inviting Connie to roll her eyes cattily with a sharp sigh.

"Well, perhaps Mr Strachan can start to learn how to calm and diffuse tricky situations with patients today, as opposed to escalating them."

"He's trying his best-"

"Oh yes, and I don't doubt that." She smirked, her level of bitchy on a new high this afternoon. "So you can put your pom-poms away because he doesn't need his one-nurse cheer squad defending him today."

"I don't have time for this." She growled. "They won't be seen by anyone but you so perhaps you could do us all a favour and go see to him before there's another near-fatal stabbing on your ward." She snapped back, slamming an armful of patient files down before storming off irately.

"Was there really any need for that, Connie?" Elliot's face wrinkled apprehensively, wondering why exactly that little exchange had just occurred.

"Don't start, Elliot." Rolling her tongue over her upper teeth she threw her stethoscope back around her neck swiftly. "Her little crush on Mr Strachan is causing more than a few issues on Darwin, with Mr Byrne out of action we can't afford for things not to be running as smoothly as possible. She needs to stop swooning over him and focus on her duties. Every time I see her she's following him around like a lost puppy." She was staring straight as she spoke, only turning to face him when he didn't supply her with a response. "What?" The venomous punch in her voice was directed one hundred percent at his small smirk.

"Hm? Oh nothing, nothing. It's just, if anything, I'd say you might be a little jealous-"

"Excuse me?" She positively recoiled at his accusation.

"Just an observation-"

"Yes, well do me a favour and stop observing everything I do." Curling her lip angrily she ran her fingers roughly through her short hair as she turned on her heel and set off in search of Sam and this so-called difficult patient. Her anger hadn't yet reached a boil but it was definitely simmering away. Walking briskly through the corridors of Darwin, she found her hand moving up to her chest pocket again. Pulling the heartfelt note out to study it's short yet sweet sentiment once more. Rolling the paper out between her fingers, she smoothed her thumb over the small 'X' on the centre.

"Ah, Mrs Beauchamp." Sam's frantic voice startled her, shoving the paper back into her pocket before she turned to look at him in a flustered manner. Her expression quickly switched from vexed to concerned upon seeing the nick on his right eyebrow. "I'm sorry, I paged for you at the last possible minute-"

"What happened?" Her direct question seemed to roll over him like a small wave, leaving him untouched as she began walking quickly along side him towards this so-called painful patient.

"I didn't want you having to deal with these people, I thought I could calm it down-"

"Just tell me what happened, Mr Strachan." Stopping suddenly in her tracks, she exhaled furstratedly. Gazing off to the side momentarily as she tried to gather her patience. He studied her tired complexion before his gaze travelled south, stealing a quick and unnoticed glance of her neat bump tucked beneath her scrubs. Every time he saw it he felt a warm wave wash over him, that was his baby.

"Sorry." He finally came back to the present moment and moved his eyes back up to hers as soon as she turned to look at him again. "I know you've got a lot on. Hostile patient, he doesn't want to be here but his son is enforcing it and he just so happens to be even more hostile than his unwell father-"

"So he just hit you for no apparent reason?" Her brows raised awaiting an answer, figuring there must have been some sort of catalytic event on Sam's part that would lead a patient relative to punch a scrubbed up surgeon.

"Yes, like I said, he's very hostile. He's adamant he needs to see you, but I didn't think it'd be safe given your condition-"

"Right, let me just stop you there, Mr Strachan." Her anger peaked suddenly as she stopped walking. "First of all, I do not need you deciding which patients I can and cannot see!" Her brows pulled together ferociously. "How dare you! Don't you ever hold off paging me at a patient's request again, do you understand?!" The tone of her voice had lowered remarkably, the fury evident in her darkened eyes. "How do you always find a way to anger a delicate situation and make my life even harder-"

"You know what? I'll gladly step aside with this one." He interrupted with an angry growl, much to her shock. "I'm due a break anyway so go ahead, they're all yours." Presenting the doorway to her dramatically, he smoothed his fingers over his bleeding brow before shaking his head and brushing past her irritatedly.

"Mr Strachan!" Calling after him pointlessly, she even waited a few seconds for him to turn back but he kept on making his way down the corridor until he reached the corner and disappeared out of sight. Exhaling frustratedly, she closed her eyes for a moment before summoning the strength to turn and enter this doomed room.

Nothing prepared her. She should have seen it coming but she was completely blind-sided. There, before her very eyes, lay her cruel and sadistic father. Bed-ridden and sickly looking as her thug brother stood to the side of the room with a smarmy look on his face.

"Well, here she is at long last! You're a hard woman to get a hold of, you know?" He shouted with a false sense of glee. "The almighty, Connie Chase!" Applauding her entrance sarcastically she could do nothing but freeze up in shock.

"It's Beauchamp." She corrected quietly, her mouth drying almost instantly. Her eyes were trying their best to avoid making eye contact with her father but he hadn't stopped staring at her the moment she walked in.

"Sorry, I forget you shook off any remaining ties to this family as soon as you buggered off out of Peckham. It's almost like you're ashamed of us, Connie?" He tilted his head, as if he was posing a question. She'd been pinned down under these people all her life until she managed to get herself out of there, she wasn't about to let them worm their way back in and get under her skin like this. Clenching her jaw, she finally locked eyes with her father.

"I told you, I would get you seen to-"

"But you don't listen, we want him seen by you." James cut her off and she could do no more than huff irately before leaning back on one foot. Her arms crossed over herself, displaying her level of annoyance. In doing so, her obvious bump became more prominent. Her brother's attention went straight to it.

"Alright, this is how it's going to go." she spoke up, an element of exasperation shining clearly through in both her tone of voice and facial expression. "You will be treated here at Holby by another Cardiothoracic Surgeon." She paused but quickly resumed again before he could butt in. "That is the only offer you get, if you don't like it and continue to disrespect my staff, I'll have security escort you from the premises. In addition to that, you don't ask for me or contact me again."

"Look at you, laying down the law." James smiled, honestly impressed with her blunt way of handling the situation. "I think I prefer the younger feller that was in here earlier, he was far easier to push around." He laughed at the recollection of his altercation with Sam only moments ago but his face soon straightened out when he saw Connie's rage filled eyes.

"That's it." She held her hands up, shaking her head in disbelief. "I'm done, you need to leave now. I'm instructing my staff not to treat him-"

"You can't do that!" He arced up immediately.

"Oh really? Because last time I checked I was Clinical Lead of this ward. What I say, goes." Her left brow raised, getting one over on him. "Either you calm down, stop abusing my staff and let Mr Hope assess Dad, or you can be escorted out by security. It's entirely up to you."

"Just do as she says, James." Their father finally croaked quietly, each breath sounded painful, his eyebrows framing his eyes in an anguished manner. "I'm too tired for all of this now." His stark sentence seemed to silence the arguing pair as he placed the oxygen back over his nose and mouth for a few seconds before removing it once more to look at his two grown up children. "I don't want you both fighting once I'm gone, please." The room fell silent, a weighted sense of guilt now hanging off the both of them as their gazes finally came back to one another in a bitter moment of realisation. "Connie, love, it's good to see you. You know, I never did tell you how proud I was of you." His sentimental behaviour wasn't reciprocated by her.

"Fine, we'll let this Hope feller take a look at him." James finally surrendered to her ultimatum, their father's health took priority over their differences.

"And you don't lay another finger on one of my staff again, do you hear?" She stepped forward, whispering seriously as she stared up at him in anticipation of an answer.

"Loud and clear, Clinical Lead." He rolled his lips together before the seemingly peaceful moment between them was interrupted by Sam making a surprise entrance behind Connie.

"Sorry to interrupt." He snarled. "I left my bleeper." Grabbing the pager quickly, he clipped it back on to his trousers, offering the male patient relative an angry glare whilst he went to leave almost as quickly as he'd entered but James' rough voice halted him in the doorway.

"Listen, I'm sorry about the brow, doc." He smirked despite it being a genuine apology. "To be fair, I did make it quite clear that we didn't want you tending to my father but you just wouldn't listen. I find some people respond better to a more physical approach." He grinned "But no hard feelings, yeah?"

"James." Connie warned immediately, causing Sam to look at the back of her head with confusion. How on earth did she know this awful man? He was promptly invested in the situation again. Choosing not to leave, he turned and stood motionlessly next to Connie whilst the door swung shut again behind him.

"Alright, alright." He surrendered with a laugh. "But in all seriousness though, I am sorry. I shouldn't have hit you earlier." He moved towards Sam, holding his hand out as if to call a truce. He was left hanging for a few moments as Sam decided whether or not he wanted to shake this areshole's hand. The look Connie shot him was enough to tell him he had to, even just for the sake of keeping the peace.

"Thanks, but in the meantime perhaps you need to work on your anger issues before you seriously hurt someone." He grimaced, still managing to continue shaking his hand and offer a very weak smile as he did so. Connie was stood to the side of them, not knowing whether another altercation could possibly arise from Sam's awful choice of words. He was so argumentative at the moment. She was mentally yelling at him for deliberately poking at her already hostile brother, it's like he had a death-wish. She gave him a severe look before glancing back at her Dad briefly, he looked frail and exhausted. Like even breathing was a huge effort. A part of her wanted to turn her back and ignore this situation as she already planned to do but there was a deeper part of her that was nagging at her to try and make amends with him. Especially after the comment he made in relation to not being around anymore. She, of all people, knew how it was to lose someone and not get a proper goodbye. Nevertheless, she was itching to get out of there and take Sam with her so as not to let him discover the true identity of these people. This far it seemed James had't established who he was to Sam earlier on and she wished to keep it that way.

"It's funny you should say that, Connie was always the angrier one out of the two of us, wasn't she Dad?" He looked over his shoulder to glance at their father as Connie's whole chest almost fell into her stomach. Her mind had just jinxed everything. She swallowed hard with a long blink before sighing loudly as Sam's eyes burrowed into the side of her face. She could almost feel the shock radiating off of him.

"She got that off your mother, not from me." He laughed into the oxygen mask, fogging it up before he began to cough. His whole body shook with each and every painful convulsion of his damaged body. It started off as a couple of smaller coughs at first but it quickly turned into breathless choking as James rushed to his side instantly. Sam also flew straight into doctor mode as he moved over to the opposite side and began assisting him in breathing. But Connie couldn't move. She felt like she was in a long dark tunnel, watching from afar. All of her awful childhood memories flooding back as she watching him gasping for air. Within a click she was back in the moment, joining Sam on the right side of the bed as they sat him up and slowed the coughing to a stop. It took a fair few minutes for things to calm down but it's exactly what James had needed to pipe down and stop causing trouble.

"Just make sure he keeps the mask on." Her abrupt and cold instruction was supposed to be her exiting line to her brother but their father once again spoke out unexpectedly and stopped her before she could leave with Sam in tow.

"I'm right here you know? You can talk to me directly, Connie." He wheezed breathlessly but she couldn't face him. "My own daughter can't even stand to look at me. I haven't seen you in twelve years and now here I am, on my death bed and you haven't so much as said a word to me." He gasped loudly between words, his next line shocked all three of them. "I want one of those forms signing, the one that says you'll leave me to die if things go pear-shaped." His thick Peckham stained accent wasn't hard to miss, even with the struggle he was currently enduring to speak. Connie could do nothing but stop in her track, running her hands through the top of her hair in a stressed manner as she rolled her eyes at his manipulative behaviour.

"Dad, no-"

"Pack it in, Jamie." The gruff, gravelly voice of the ailing man silenced him. Pulling the oxygen mask away from his face once more, he let the breathy sentences out with a great deal of effort. "I'm finished, I've lived my life. My kids are grown up, one of them won't leave me alone to die in peace and the other one wishes I was dead. I ain't got a wife, not a single bloody grandchild to survive for and I doubt I ever will at this rate. So don't get me wrong, I mean this in the most positive way possible but I don't have anything else to live for. If this op don't work, I don't want to wake up in some vegetative state. I'd rather just be dead." Connie felt both James and Sam look at her on the topic of grandchildren. Although her bump was obvious to them each time she moved, the positioning of her father hindered him seeing such telltale signs. Sam's momentary gaze was more of a nervous glance whereas James seemed to have an ulterior motive sparkling in his cold blue eyes. It only took a few seconds of them staring at one another before she felt like she knew where his mind was headed and she had to say something to try and stop him.

"James, please, don't." Her light whisper was a tone Sam had never heard from her before, she sounded desperate and it immediately pulled at his smitten heartstrings. Regardless, he felt as though he was in shock watching all of this unfold before him. Ten minutes ago he'd assumed she was an only child and both her parents were dead, yet here he was meeting her very angry and confronting family.

"What?" James asked with a fake sense of confusion. "You don't want to share your big news with Dad? Because now would be the perfect time, don't you think? Especially before he has surgery."

"Unless it's news of a time machine that'll allow me to go back and undo my mistakes, I don't want to hear about it." He intercepted, oblivious to their battling as he panted tiredly before slipping the oxygen back over his mouth and nose. The siblings continued to hold eye contact, Connie silently pleading with James to keep his mouth shut but to him, her pregnancy was a beacon of hope to try and convince their father to opt for life instead of death.

"Actually, I think it's quite exciting so I'm not sure why she wants to keep it quiet?"

"James, I mean it, don't." She furrowed her brow deeply, a curl in her lip as her breathing quickened. Her sense of urgency had caused an increase in the volume of her voice which grabbed her father's attention. Poor Sam took it upon himself to try and diffuse the situation and steer it in a different direction upon sensing how uncomfortable Connie was right now. She obviously didn't want her father knowing.

"How about we get Mr Hope in here to come take a look at you so we can move things along a bit faster, I can organise a Do Not Resuscitate form for you as well-"

"Connie's pregnant." Growing tired of the argument and interruptions, James ignored his sister's pleas and uttered the words icily.