“Dr. Stone,” The bubbly voice of the landlady echoed up the stairs. “There’s a visitor here to see you.” Lara grabbed her coat, paused for a moment, picked up the photo of Patrick and her that she kept on her bedside table and then flew down the stairs to meet Dillon.
“You’re late.” Lara snapped as soon as she clapped eyes on Dillon in the cramped hallway.
“I know, I’m sorry. I had a really hard phone call to take, this girl was threatening to slit her wrists.” He looked away as they walked towards the door.
“I’m sorry.” Lara said, instantly regretting biting his head off. “I’m just a bit nervous, you know.” He nodded and put a sympathetic arm around her shoulders as he guided her through the doors and into the swarm of reporters that seemed to follow her everywhere these days.
“Dr. Stone! Lara!” They shouted after her, bombarding her with questions that she refused to answer, she already knew that a picture of Dillon with his arm around her would be on the front page of tomorrows paper with ‘Dr. Death gets a boyfriend’ or some equally rubbish caption underneath it and she for one didn’t want to give them a quote to go with it, knowing full well that anything she said could be twisted to fit what they wanted to say.
“You okay?” Dillon asked as he started the car engine.
“Fine, just drive.” Lara commanded as she gazed absentmindedly out of the window at the mess she was leaving behind her.
They drove most of the way in silence, Dillon occasionally flicking from one radio station to another and Lara constantly gazing down at her watch. After a while the silence got to Dillon.
“How come you brought Patrick with you?” Dillon asked: nodding down at the gold plated frame that Lara clung to so tightly.
“She wanted to se my boyfriend, I suppose she thinks she might know him.”
“What did you say her name was?” Dillon asked as he turned into the prison driveway.
“Holly, Holly Miles. She was the SHO before me.”
“Can’t say I’ve ever heard of her.” Dillon replied honestly.
“Stop here.” Lara said as they approached the doors. “I’ll be back in half an hour. You okay to wait?” She asked as she gathered her things together and made to get out of the car.
“I’ll be fine. Have a good time.” Lara shot him a dirty look and Dillon realised that maybe that wasn’t the thing you said to someone going back to prison. “I’ll stay right here.” He assured her. Gently she planted a kiss on his cheek and got out of the car.
“Thanks Dillon.” She said as she shakily walked off.
Lara stood at the very back of the hall. Waiting to see which woman was left alone to work out who she was supposed to be seeing. The hugging and kissing was over very quickly and everyone sat down at a table and the only person left alone was a scared looking woman with long brown hair falling over her face. This must be Holly, Lara decided.
“Hi.” She said brightly as she sat down: pulling her photo close to her.
“Lara?” Holly breathed.
“The very same.” Lara laughed nervously.
“I never pictured you being blonde.” Lara laughed, openly and truthfully as she fiddled with her hair.
“That’s funny, you’re pretty much how I pictured you.” Lara admitted and then it was Holly’s turn to laugh.
“How are you?” Holly asked, suddenly serious.
“I’m being hounded by the press and at work I’m barely allowed to breathe unless it’s been okayed by another doctor.” Lara moaned.
“Poor you, must be better than begin stuck in here though.”
“Anything’s better than being in here.” Lara shuddered at the memories. Holly nodded quietly and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and as she did Lara gasped to see a large cut on one of her cheeks.
“What happened?” Lara asked as she leant forwards to try and examine but was pushed back by one of the officers, baking something about no contact.
“I had a little fall out with my new cell mate.” Holly laughed.
“How come?”
“She tried to steal my picture of my boyfriend, I caught her, she cut me with a razor blade.” Lara looked shocked but let the subject drop. “So how is everyone at Holby?” Holly asked quickly.
“Umm, people you would know…” Lara thought for a moment. “Well, Chloe eloped with her criminal boyfriend, Max resigned over a patient dying, he had some dealings with management, Anna’s still well- Anna. Duffy’s got a new boyfriend and Charlie’s split up with Jan- oh you don’t know her do you? She’s our chief executive. Josh and Colette got married and umm... Fin had a brief affair with- oh, you don’t know her either do you.” Lara stopped, unable to think of anyone else. Holly noticed instantly that she’d missed someone out, the person she wanted to know about the most.
“What about Patrick?” She asked quietly. Lara looked at her, the tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn’t cope with talking about Patrick at the moment, so quickly she changed the subject.
“We haven’t got long. Can I see this picture of your bloke then?” Holly smiled, proud to show him off to someone. Gently she pulled a crumpled picture out of her pocket, she smiled down at it before placing it on the down on the table. It showed a young couple at a dance, arms round each other, smiling from ear to ear. Lara felt cold all over, she looked down at her photo, same man, same smile, different woman. She looked up into the smiling eyes of the woman in front of her and suddenly things fell into place. This was the man who hadn’t called, hadn’t visited who she loved so very much, who would come running back someday. But he wouldn’t. He couldn’t, not ever. Lara took a deep breath to steady herself and she opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. She couldn’t break this girls heart like hers had been broken, she couldn’t take away her only lifeline, her only hope. She just couldn’t. So with tears in her eyes Lara got up and calmly walked out of the room. No explanation, no nothing.
***
“Come on Lara, pick up, pick up the damn phone.” Holly muttered, slamming her hand angrily against the side of the pay phone: annoyed that her demands weren’t being heard, let alone met.
“Hi, this is Lara Stone. I’m not in but if you leave a message I’ll call you back.” Holly sighed as she hung up the phone to the same message she’d been getting for the past few days, it seemed when ever she called Lara wasn’t in, when ever she wrote Lara didn’t reply. Holly knew that even if she left a message on Lara’s answer phone she wouldn’t be able to call her back even if she wanted to, one-way pay phones were exactly that: one-way. Quickly Holly ripped her one remaining phone card out of the slot and turned to made her way back towards her cell. She was thinking about trying to catch up on the sleep that she’d missed wondering what she’d done to upset her friend… her only friend. But then she suddenly had a brain wave and placed her card gently back into the slot, much to the annoyance of people behind her in the line. Speedily she dialled the number that she knew so well, his number, even though she’d sworn to herself that she wouldn’t call him that she was strong and she didn’t need to. This was an exceptional circumstance she told herself. The phone rang, and rang, and rang. Eventually someone picked up at the other end.
“Patrick?” Holly asked quietly down the phone. Her heart was beating faster than she could record.
“He’s not in.” Said a woman on the other end quickly as she hung up the phone.
“Lara?” Holly asked but the phone had already gone dead. She shook her head and told herself she was mistaken. Hoping more than anything that she was mistaken.
The steel door to Holly’s cell was pushed open as far as it would go and two girls were sitting on Holly’s bed, one of them was Holly’s cellmate and the other was her cellmate’s best friend. Holly inwardly groaned as she went in to join them, all she really wanted right now was some space to herself, to be left alone but that was never going to happen in this place.
“Morning Miles.” Said Holly’s cellmate, her legs swinging as she sat on the top bunk- Holly’s bed. Holly shuddered at the use of her last name- that was all she was called in here by officers and inmates alike. She hated it. None of these people knew Holly, none of them knew anything about the real her they only knew ‘Miles’, the cold hearted killer who was so stuck up she didn’t talk to anyone. That’s what they all thought of her but Holly didn’t care, only nine more years to go, she thought to herself.
“Hi Nicola.” Holly muttered as she walked over to the window. She wasn’t really paying much attention to the two of them sitting on her bed giggling, she hoped that if she ignored them they would disappear. She gazed absentmindedly out of the window and felt, not for the first time, like a caged animal. Holly heard them giggling louder and louder and finally it got to here, she turned around and gave them a stare that could crack stone.
“What?” They asked innocently, giggling like school children even though they were both seventeen.
“What are you laughing at?” Holly asked angrily.
“Just these letters.” They replied, holding up Holly’s box. “And these photos, honestly how old are they? This guy’s got such a dodgy hair style, and an even worse taste in clothes!” They held up a picture of her and Patrick from Med School and Holly saw red. Tears were in here eyes as she lunged for the box but they snatched it cruelly out of her reach, holding it just too high for her to grab.
“Give it back, that’s private.” Holly shouted as she made another desperate grab for her possessions.
“Nothing’s private in here darling.” They laughed as they held a photo in front of her face, teasing her like you’d tease a dog with a bone. “Who is this guy?”
“He’s my boyfriend, Patrick.” Holly explained, hoping they’d give in and give her her memories back- the only thing she had left.
“So why doesn’t he visit? Got another bird on the outside? Or is he just fed up with you?” Nicola wondered out loud as she turned the picture over and over in her hands.
“He’s just busy he’s a top doctor, he doesn’t have much spare time.” Holly continued, tears falling steadily down her cheeks. Nicola sighed and jumped down off the bed, sighing loudly and pinning Holly against the wall, gone was the jokey teasing of a moment ago, now she was deadly serious. She pins Holly’s head against the wall with one arm, making it hard for holly to breathe.
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