Work that day had been particularly slow, so Cate wandered through the ED to visit one of the few patients she’d brought in. On her way Cate encountered Erica in the reception area and decided to check if there had been any interaction between her and Jack since last night. Jack had looked like he was most definitely going to take Cate’s advice and make a move, but Cate knew very well that Jack’s nerves sometimes got the better of him.

‘Seen Jack around?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, I think he went to pathology.’

‘Oh, ok. He hasn’t spoken to you about anything, has he?’

‘I’m afraid you’ll have to be more specific.’

‘Like he hasn’t made some sort of proposition?’

‘No. At least, I don’t think so.’

And with that, Cate decided to throw caution to the wind and hint very heavily to Erica exactly what Jack thinks about her.

‘You know Jack’s really nice.’

‘Yeah.’

‘He’s so caring, such a great catch.’

‘Are you interested in him?’

‘No, no. He’s not my type, I’m not his type, it would never work. But you, well you’re his type, I think he’s your type, and I think you two would be very good together. But you know, that’s just my humble opinion.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes. Now, I’d better get around to visiting this patient,’ said Cate.

After Cate had walked away, Erica was very curious about what Cate had said. She had a feeling Jack might possibly be interested in her, and therefore had told Cate to help him out. But was she being a little conceited?

Erica knew that there was only one way to found the truth. She had been bewildered by the prospect of Jack actually having feelings for her, but discovered she had actually already warmed to the idea. Jack had been a good friend to her for a few years now, and he had everything she liked in a guy.

So, later that day whilst she was examining a patient with Jack, she decided to make a move.

‘Look, I really want to thank you for all the support you gave me when I was dealing with the whole break up thing.’

‘It’s not a problem. I enjoyed it.’

‘What?’

‘Sorry! I, that’s not what I meant. I just think the whole thing sort of brought us closer together, in a weird way.’

‘Yeah, you’re right. It did.’

‘Yeah. Um, you’re not doing anything later tonight, are you?’

‘Nope.’

‘Did you want to go to dinner?’ asked Jack shyly, hoping the answer wouldn’t totally crush him.

‘I’d love to,’ Erica answered. So Jack really did like her, and they really could be happy together.

Whilst Erica and Jack were enjoying their newfound happiness with each other, Zoe was racked with guilt over spending the night with Dan. She couldn’t believe she could have been so stupid!

When she had finished scolding herself for acting so rashly, Dan entered her office. His heart pounding in his chest, he looked lovingly at Zoe, catching her eye.

Zoe shivered, she felt horrible. Standing up, she made her way towards the door.

‘I’m sorry Dan, I have a lot of patients to see.’

‘What? It’s practically empty out there! Is this about last night?’

‘Last night was just a stupid mistake,’ muttered Zoe, walking out into the corridor of the emergency department.

And with that, Dan’s heart broke. She couldn’t have meant it! She had been so caring towards him, picked him up when he was down. Now what was she doing? Destroying his life. He couldn’t let her get away, so he followed her, not caring if everyone stared and he embarrassed himself in front of them.

Zoe kept walking, aware Dan was following her. It mirrored the night that they’d kissed, when he’d followed her through the car park.

‘So what, last night meant nothing?’ he yelled out to Zoe.

She didn’t respond, so Jack yelled out again, ‘I love you Zoe. I thought you felt that way too!’

As she watched everyone in the ED turn around to watch the spectacle taking place, Zoe felt this anger burning inside of her.

‘I told you already, it was a mistake. It meant nothing! I am not in love with you!’ she snapped.

Dan stopped dead in his tracks. He felt so used, so empty. He became conscious of the people staring at him, and watched with hatred as Zoe rushed off into the tea room.

Von, who had been watching the whole situation play out, walked over to Dan. She patted him on the back and said, ‘It doesn’t matter. You could do better.’

Mike had also been watching the fiasco on the sidelines. He had mixed emotions about the situation. He felt sorry for poor Zoe, but also annoyed about her behaviour. She wasn’t perfect. But then again, he should never have thought about her in that way. Her little flaws made her even more attractive. Like her determination to always have the last word. There would be no fun if she was just a China doll. He’d have absolutely no one to have fun loving battles of words with. Well, there was Frank, but that wasn’t exactly what Mike had in mind.

But, he was sure Zoe would never feel that way about him. He was too old for her, too messed up, too infuriating. He knew it would be for the best if he just moved on, found someone else.

So, he decided to take solace in Cate’s care. Walking over to her, he asked if she’d like to go out for a drink that night, just to talk.

Cate knew exactly what was going on, and was not about to be made a fool of again.

‘Mike, I know as well as you do that there’s only one person you want to go out for a drink with. And it’s not me,’ she said.

It was like she’d just slapped Mike in the face. He realised Cate knew exactly where his heart lied. That was it. He decided to give up his pride, and head to the tea room.

He found Zoe in there, tears streaming down her face as she attempted to make herself a coffee. Mike walked over to her, and she looked up at him, fear and distress evident in her eyes.

‘Hold up, you’re not planning on slapping me again, are you?’ he asked, referring to when he’d tried to help her after Sean had died.

She gave a rather desperate laugh, and flashed him the cute smile he’d fallen so in love with.

Zoe looked down at her coffee, and could see her tears falling into it.

‘Oh, I’ve ruined the coffee!’ she exclaimed with a laugh.

And with that, Mike delicately wiped the tears from her face, and drew her into the kiss they’d both been longing for for so long.