Penny sat in the waiting room idly flicking through a Woman’s Weekly from two years ago and was deeply immersed in the article about Nicole Kidman’s breakdown when the doctor’s door opened and Chris walked out still in conversation with the doctor.
          “I can’t believe I popped that many stitches and my intestines didn’t drop out onto the living room floor or something.”
          “Yes I’m quite amazed you’re still alive to be honest,” the doctor agreed. “I want to see you here again in a week’s time to make sure that those stitches are still in place.”
          “Should I put a cone around his head to make sure he doesn’t scratch?” Penny asked cheekily.
          “He’s a man not a dog you know,” the doctor remarked curiously.
          “It’s quite hard to tell the difference sometimes you know,” Penny chided as she took Chris by the arm and led him out of the surgery. She helped him into the car and they were halfway home before she spoke again.
          “You’re a stupid man you know that?”
          “How so?” Chris sighed, glancing at her.
          “You could have died, again.”
          “Would my death upset you?” Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.
          “What do you think Einstein?" Penny sighed. "Of course it would!”
          “Does this mean you’ll stay at home, put on a little nurses outfit and take care of me?”
          “Maybe,” She said with a hint of a smile on her lips. “Mainly because I’m scared that I’ll come home from work and find Bear munching on your liver or something.”

          Julia was feeling much cheerier after her lunch with Kirsty, mostly because she finally got the mud cake and two coffees she'd so desperately wanted and was on such a high from too much caffeine and sugar that she was almost skipping. She stopped when she saw a familiar figure lumbering her way on crutches.
          “Well if it isn’t my good friend Liam,” Julia declared as he reached her and stopped. “What are you doing out and about?”
          “I had to come in and get my leg checked out," Liam said a little breathless. "I kinda tripped when I was playing footy with Jack in the lounge room and had to make sure I hadn’t re-fractured it or anything.”
          “Well, that wasn’t a very friendly thing to do to your leg was it?”
          “No I guess not," Liam agreed. “Hey did you get the flowers?”
          “Why yes, thankyou my friend. They were stunning.”
          “Jools are you feeling okay?” Liam was looked at her as if she’d gone completely mental.
          “Yes I’m fine,” Julia smiled. “I’ve just had lunch with my friend Kirsty. It was a bit of an apology as she forgot my birthday. Not at all the sort of thing a friend would do.”
          “Yeah, so anyway,” Liam said with slight agitation. “I’d better get going. I’ve got a train to catch.”
          “Ok, well make sure you stay off that leg and stop horsing around with Jack til it’s healed buddy of mine.”
          “Although I’m pretty exhausted lugging this leg around all day,” he continued and looked down at his plaster. “Don’t suppose you could give me a lift home?”
          “Sorry pal but I’ve got a ton of work to get finished at the office by the end of the day,” Julia shrugged. “Best I can do is point you to the nearest taxi rank.”
          “Oh, okay then. I’m sure I’ll manage,” Liam nodded, vaguely crestfallen. “Good luck getting the things you need to get done finished.”
          “Stay off that leg!” Jools said as she started to walk away and muttered under her breath “My bestest friend.”

          Kirsty sat in her office determined not to join in the festivities for Ross. Her plan was altered after five minutes when Tabitha marched into the office, pulled her out from behind a huge pile of old magazines and dragged her out into the boardroom to join everyone else.
          Ross was sitting in the boss’s chair with Mindy from Sales perched on his lap and looking utterly miserable. Everyone else was congregating around the cake that was sitting half eaten in the middle of the table and drinking cheap cask wine.
          “Oh this looks like it’s so much fun,” Kirsty sarced as she glanced at the half plastered girls from accounts.
          “Oh it’s just so much fun! It seemed a shame you were going to miss out on it,” Tabitha chirped, not noticing the sarcasm.
          “Well it was that or stick my head up the arse of a cow,” Kirsty shrugged. “And I believe the cows arse is looking the better option.” Ross gagged on his wine and ended snorting it all down the front of Mindy’s white top.
          “You’ve ruined my best top! I’ll never get red wine out of this. It’s completely ruined!” she squealed as she jumped up.
          “S’all right love, made you look fat anyway,” Ross grinned as she fled the room. Ross got up and made his way over to Kirsty. “You should have came sooner.”
          “That’s what you always say,” Kirsty smirked. “Besides, we’re not very close so I didn’t think you’d miss me.”
          “But you licked chocolate from the cleft of my buttocks. How can we not be close?” he asked, slightly bewildered.
          “Perhaps I was doing it as a friend,” Kirsty suggested nonchalantly.
          “Yes I quite often let my friends do tongue work down there.”
          “No wonder you’re so popular. This explains everything,” Kirsty grinned and fought back a giggle.
          “Cheeky bitch,” Ross smirked, a familiar twinkle in his eye.
          “Ah you love me for it,” Kirsty mused and swatted his arm.
          “Yeah I do,” Ross agreed without a hint of amusement.
          Kirsty lost the ability to talk for a moment as she stared at him absolutely floored by this announcement.
          “Anyway, I’ve got a Fruity Flake thingy I need to get done for the job I’m doing at the moment,” Kirsty stammered as one of the girls called out for Ross. He turned to see what they wanted and Kirsty slipped unnoticed from the room and went back to her office.

          “So are you going to talk to me now?” Chris asked as Penny settled him onto the lounge.
          “You have to call your mother before she has the police out looking for you.”
          “Penny!”
          “Sorry,” Penny sighed as she plonked herself into a squishy armchair and looked out the window.
          “Penny will you stop looking out the bloody window,” Chris sighed and winced.
          “What do you want to talk about?” Penny asked hesitantly.
          “Us.”
          “There is no us Chris.”
          “So there’s no us but we’re sitting here right now?”
          “That’s right,” Penny said and looked out of the window again. Chris grabbed Bear’s squeaky hamburger toy and squeezed it.
          “Look at me Penny!”
          Penny looked at him blankly. “What do you want me to say?” she asked.
          “That you don’t hate me.”
          “You didn’t fuck Twiggy did you?” Penny said glaring at him.
          “She told me she was a huge Sex and the City fan and I just couldn’t go there.”
          “How far did you go?”
          “She tried to kiss me once and Bear went for her throat.”
          “Glad to hear that at least Bear has good taste.”
          “So, do you love me maybe a little bit?” Chris asked hopefully.
          “I have to go to work,” Penny announced, getting up from the chair.
          “Please just answer the question Pen, I need to know,” Chris pleaded. The agony was clearly etched across his face.
          “If you had any idea what I’ve been through since the accident you wouldn’t need to ask that,” Penny said gently, picked up her bag and left.
          “I’m still confused,” Chris sighed as bear licked the side of his face. “Thanks mate.”

          “I’ve been bad and now I feel really bad,” Julia wailed into the phone.
          “What is it you’ve done this time? You didn’t slip sleeping pills into the secretary’s coffee again did you?” Kirsty asked, enjoying the excuse not to think of Fruity Flakes.
          “No. I ran into Liam.”
          “You didn’t push him in front of a moving vehicle did you?”
          “No. I was just really horrible. He was tired and wanted a lift home and I wouldn’t give him one.”
          “He called you his friend. He deserves to be punished.”
          “Yes but unlike you I have a conscience and I feel really awful about it.”
          “Ross told me he loved me.”
          “So go fuck him,” Julia spat and the lightened. “Now back to my problems.”
          “You said you had a conscience!”
          “What do I do?”
          “Jools, if it’s bothering you that much just go and see him. Make sure that he did actually get home and that he’s not lying dead on the side of the road or something as a result of you abandoning him.”
          “Gee thanks. That’s made me feel so much better.”
          “I do what I can.”
          “What are you going to do about Ross?”
          “I’m going to hide in my office and hope it all goes away.”
          “That’s mature of you.”
          “I thought so,” Kirsty agreed, her attention distracted by the opening of her office door. “Oh my god he’s coming into my office! What do I do?”
          “Put the phone down and talk to him,” Julia suggested.

          Kirsty put the phone down and looked up at Ross and gave him a big cheesy grin.
          “Hi! Still here then?”
          “I see you were consulting with the brains trust.”
          “Actually she was having a mild breakdown because she left Liam to die and now she’s feeling bad about it.”
          “Yeah, so anyway, why did you leave? You missed Tabitha get so drunk she put a glass between her breasts and tried to get everyone to drink from it.”
          “She’s a double A cup,” Kirsty gasped. “She doesn’t have a cleavage!”
          “I know. It was so funny,” Ross laughed as he lay across her desk and looked up with huge puppy dog eyes. “Talk to me.”
          “I said hello. It was civil.”
          “I think I deserve more than just a civil greeting.” Ross pouted and smiled. “Fred and Rose are looking very perky from this angle.”
          “Ross, I’m trying to work here…”
          “No you’re not, “ Ross teased. “We nearly kissed the other night!”
          “That was the other night.”
          “And about twenty minutes ago, I told you I loved you.”
          “Would you like an award or something?”
          “Only if it’s framed,” Ross chided before his face fell. “You know you’re a terrible liar.”
          “You’re an abysmal flirt.”
          Ross let out a heavy sigh. “Fine, I give up,” he got up from the table and threw his hands in the air. “You can be a miserable spinster for all I care.”
          “If you really did love me you wouldn’t let me be a miserable spinster,” Kirsty countered.
          Ross frowned and narrowed his eyes. “Maybe I don’t love you.”
          “But you just said you did!”
          Ross closed his eyes and let out a frustrated cry and Kirsty cracked up laughing.
          “You piss me off so much!”
          “So leave,” Kirsty mused, raising an eyebrow.
          Ross growled, headed for the door and then paused before turning around and leaping over the table and into her lap. Their lips were edging toward each other when the door opened.
          “Anderson are you still here!” Mr Truman declared.
          Ross let out a heavy sigh. “I was just leaving sir.” He headed for the door behind Mr Truman but stopped before he was out of the room. “I’m heading to Melbourne soon, so y’know if you want to catch up…” He let the words trail off, shrugged and left.

          Julia leaned her chin on her folded fingers, a small mole hill of paperwork sat idle beside her but no matter how hard she tried, even feigning interest seemed impossible. Her mind was entirely consumed with gut wrenching guilt over her vengeful actions toward Liam. What if he was dead on the train, lying comatose in the gutter or worse, had he been so exhausted he collapsed en route to the train station.
          Glancing down at her watch Julia saw she still had 45 minutes to go, but she couldn’t wait any longer as there was the possibility her brain might explode and the cleaners wouldn’t be happy at all.
          She quickly grabbed her things and slid into the elevator before anyone could notice she was gone. As she stepped into the warm late afternoon sun she noticed the bus pulling up to its stop. She barreled through several old ladies, a small Polish family and a Buddhist monk and just managed to reach the doors in time. Breathless she fell into a seat next to a startled looking Catholic schoolgirl and prepared for an agitated trip home.
          Perhaps the bus was feeding off her desperation but it seemed to idle along the roads, stopping for lengthy periods and the unnaturally nice driver kept leaping from his seat to aid mothers and the elderly. When it finally got to Julia’s stop she was so relieved she got off as quickly as possible in case the bus tried to reel her back in for more tedium torture.
          Julia darted into the house where she dumped her things on the couch and changed into a skirt and singlet before she dashed outside to her car.
          “I should bring flowers,” she declared as she turned up the radio loudly and pulled out of the driveway.

          Penny unlocked her front door feeling utterly exhausted from her day at work. Doing Chris’s job was a lot harder than she imagined but on the upside she forced Sienna to make her coffee all day.
          Bear lumbered over to greet her, his tongue instantly covering her hand in drool. “Thanks Bear,” Penny sighed and rubbed his head. “Where’s your daddy?” she added as she followed the large dog into the living room.
          Chris was sprawled uncomfortably on the couch, a patchwork blanket covered him as he let out a few small snores. Penny dropped her bag into an armchair and padded over to him. She crouched down and placed her palm on his forehead. She sighed, relieved he wasn’t running a temperature. Her fingers gently began to stroke his forehead, and then the hair that was hanging limply over it.
          Chris let out a small groan and fought to open an eye. “Am I dead?”
          “No, your liver is still in place,” Penny said softly.
          “Oh, that’s good,” Chris smiled wearily. “The painkillers are making me sleepy.”
          “I know,” Penny soothed. “Have you eaten or drunk anything since I left.”
          “No, I kinda just crashed.”
          “I’ll get you something then,” Penny declared as she straightened up and headed for the kitchen. She put on some toast before pouring him an ice-cold glass of water and returning to the lounge. Chris had managed to sit up as best he could and gratefully took the glass of water.
          “Sit with me,” he said in a tone that was more desperate than he’d meant.
          Penny hesitated only slightly before she sat beside him. “Did you call your mother?”
          “No,” Chris said sheepishly. “Pen.”
          “Yes.”
          “About what you said earlier,” he paused trying to read her eyes. “What have you been through since the accident.” Chris noted Penny looked a little startled, but he was pleased when she started talking.
          “No one ever wants to see someone they care about go through that Chris.”
          “I didn’t deserve you caring about me.”
          “No, but I did, I do,” Penny breathed, tears clearly pricking at her eyes. “I continually tell myself you’re too good for me but then fuck, you keep going and making me feel like the most special person on earth and I relent.”
          “You are the most special person on earth Pen,” Chris said gently. “Well at least you are to me.”
          “Then why did you change like that, before the accident?”
          “Male ego,” Chris sighed. “I need you to slap me down when I get like that.”
          “I think karma slapped you down big time.”
          “Yeah, I don’t think I’ll be running off on any ego trips for quite some time,” Chris chided. “Or running in general.”
          Penny allowed herself a small smile and crept her hand over the blankets until it found his. She gently stroked the rough skin on the back of his hand with her thumb and then surprised him by bringing his hand to her lips and kissing it. “The idea that I could have lost you absolutely kills me.”
          “Me too,” Chris swallowed and she looked up as their eyes finally met. He went to say something equally heartfelt when a scream rang out and they both jumped.
          “The smoke alarm,” Penny said and the leapt up. “Shit the toast!” she added and fled into the kitchen leaving Chris laughing softly and wiping a tear from his eye.

          Kirsty arrived home and was surprised to find an empty house. She grabbed the stereo remote and pressed play, letting Keane’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know’ belt out of the speakers. She took to feeding all the animals, and then moved on to trying to feed herself. Pawing through the freezer she realised that she wasn’t hungry and slammed the door shut before wandering back into the lounge and sitting on the couch.
          The words of the song that must have been on repeat washed over her as she sat:

          So tell me when you're gonna let me in.
          I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin.

          It conjured up images of Ross who was looking increasingly tired and drawn and his final plea to her as he left. Who was she kidding? She’d loved seeing him, the flirting, the sexy slide across the table and that oh so near kiss.
          Kirsty jumped up off the couch. “Fuck it!” she declared to the empty room, snatched her keys from the coffee table and headed out of the door.

          Liam was awoken by his Port Power themed doorbell, which woke him from a desperately needed nap. The last thing he felt like doing was heaving his plastered leg anywhere, but still he hauled himself off the couch and limped to the door. He opened the door and was surprised to see Julia standing there with a bunch of flowers.
          “Uh hi,” he said warily. “Flowers?”
          “They’re an apology and you better like them because I’ve not been able to see all the way here due to my eyes running like taps,” Julia declared as he moved aside to let her in. “Do you have a vase?”
          “I’m a guy,” Liam said bewildered as he went back to crumple onto the couch.
          Julia scurried into the kitchen, feeling even worse since Liam was clearly very exhausted. She had a quick search for a vase, failing she grabbed a novelty, overly large beer glass and used that. When she returned to the living room Liam was sprawled on the couch again.
          “I used that big beer glass,” Julia said hesitantly. “But they’re staying in there because of my hayfever.”
          “Whatever,” Liam yawned. “What are you apologising for?”
          “Being really wenchy to you earlier,” Julia winced. “I was awful and now you’re on the verge of having muscle meltdown.”
          “I don’t know about muscle meltdown but it’s a bastard dragging this around all day,” Liam sighed. “I shouldn’t have asked you for a lift anyway.”
          “Why?”
          “Well we’re not exactly best buddies now are we?”
          “Oh.”
          “Don’t pretend like you didn’t know,” Liam chided and sat up a little. “I actually thought you might throw me in front of moving traffic today.”
          “Oh,” Julia felt her cheeks redden. “Actually, I was just being a bitch because I was startled by you calling me friend on the card that went with my flowers.”
          “Was that bad?” Liam winced. “I’ll make a mental note that women NEVER like to be referred to as friends.”
          “I guess I’m just not used to us being that yet,” Julia sighed. “Sorry, it was really immature of me.”
          “I guess under the circumstances, your friends forgetting your birthday entirely, it’s understandable.”
          “You nearly died in a car accident!” Julia gasped. “You should be telling me I’m selfish and cold and…”
          “And what would be the point?” Liam shrugged and sunk back into the couch. “I don’t want to fight with you. I was touched you came to the hospital in the first place since I’d been such a stupid dickwit.”
          “Yeah you were a dickwit,” Julia agreed. “How’re you coping with all that?”
          “Our court date is set for when Ross gets back from Melbourne,” Liam said solemnly and then let out a sad laugh. “Y’know I can’t bear to face either of them. I nearly killed them.”
          “They don’t hold you responsible, they hold themselves,” Julia soothed as she fought the desire to go over to the couch and embrace him.
          “I was behind the wheel,” Liam breathed. “How’re they doing anyway?”
          “Well Ross is well, aside from a serious bought of insomnia which I think has more to do with a certain blonde that trauma. His show’s been a hit at the Fringe,” Julia enthused. “And Chris, despite recent surgery, fled to Pen’s to avoid his mother.”
          “So life is pretty normal then,” Liam half laughed as his attention turned to the roof.
          “Yeah, so really you shouldn’t worry,” Julia perked. “You should start trying to put it behind…” Julia’s voice trailed off as she noticed the wet streaks on Liam’s dark skin. “Liam.”
          “What if I’d killed them?” he managed through a choked up throat.
          Julia instantly moved over beside him and wrapped him tightly in her arms. “Don’t ever torture yourself like that babe,” she gasped as he buried his face into her neck. “They’re ok, you’re ok…”
          “I’m not ok,” Liam managed to spit out as he pulled away from her. “Do I look fucking ok?” He ran his fingers through his hair and used his palms to wipe his eyes.
          Julia squeezed his shoulder gently, her hand sliding down his back where she took to rubbing it gently. “I know, but you will be.”
          Liam looked at her over his shoulder, “I hope you’re right,” he sniffed and rubbed at his eyes again.

          “How could Leah just forget Vinnie like that?” Ross frowned as he worked on a bowl of cereal as he watched Home and Away. He was about to take another mouthful of cereal when there was a knock at the door. He sighed, placed his bowl on the coffee table and wandered over to the door. Ross opened it and was surprised to see Kirsty standing there looking agitated. “Hey, I wasn’t expecting you.”
          “I wasn’t expecting to be here,” Kirsty replied as she stepped forward, cupped his face in her hands and kissed him with desperation.
          Ross spent the first millisecond stunned but once that passed his hands were reaching for her, pulling her close where he’d wanted her to be for ages. Kirsty pushed him further into his apartment and didn’t even look as she fumbled blindly with one hand to shut the door.
          “I’m so glad you’re here,” Ross panted, his lips still pressed against hers.
          “Me too,” Kirsty replied in an equal breathless state.
          They backed into the living room with their lips still firmly locked. Kirsty’s hands crept down to the hem of his t-shirt and gently found their way underneath. She felt him shiver as her fingers touched his warm skin. She caressed his flesh gently, until a small groan formed in his throat and she pulled away a little. Without a word she helped him remove his t-shirt and then guided him over to the couch. Where he needed no further encouragement to make love to her.