(Written for the_safehouse livejournal quote challenge (Quote: "You don't know what you're talking about!"- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling.))


"All right if I pop in and see him, love?"

Shelly glances up from the patient records she's busy updating, straight into smiling blue eyes. "Of course, Mr Bodie, though he might be a bit tired. The physio's been with him all afternoon."

"Oh." A momentary pout purses the man's lips. "Maybe you ought to come with me, then. I'm sure he'd wake up for a pretty thing like you."

"Get along with you," she laughs, "I've already told you I'm seeing someone."

They're back to a little boy grin. "You can't fault a bloke for trying, can you." With a wink, the visitor wanders off down the corridor, leaving Shelly to stare wistfully after him. If he asks again, she'll break her date with Derek, she decides. There's something dangerously sexy about Mr Bodie.

"He back again? Would've thought he'd've had enough mooning around this place after the last fortnight." A mug of coffee lands in front of Shelly, slopping over and marking the blotting pad. She grabs it up and mops at the spill with a tissue. Typical Caroline, no wonder she never made it past SEN.

"Well, I think it's sweet. He's here every day, regular as clockwork, to see his friend."

"Why bother? I mean, it's not like Mr Doyle's going to improve overnight. Certainly not enough for him anyhow."

"Whatever do you mean? They're partners, aren't they? It stands to reason he'd want to keep an eye on him."

"And you don't know what you're talking about. If those two are just partners, then I'm the ruddy Duchess of Kent."

For a moment Shelly stares at Caroline, and then the penny drops. "Always got to see something dirty in it, haven't you," she says, vigorously flipping over a page in the report book. "It is possible for two men to just be mates, whatever you think." She casts a jaundiced look at her co-worker. "Anyway, Mr Bodie asked me out on Tuesday."

Caroline sniffs. "Try standing outside the door while your Mr Bodie's in there, then tell me I'm wrong. They might not be part of the limp wristed brigade but they're a pair of poofs if ever I saw 'em."

Much as she doesn't want to be drawn into Caroline's intrigue, the idea, now planted, takes root in Shelly's mind and over the next half an hour, she wastes numerous glances down the corridor in the direction of Mr Doyle's room. Surely they couldn't be queers, could they? They seem like such nice young men.

She shudders, even the idea making her feel faintly nauseous. There are things in this world she will never understand and that's one of them. Men are meant to be with women and that, as far as Shelly is concerned, is the end of the matter.

"Any chance of a refill, sweetheart?" It's Mr Bodie, smiling at her and holding out an empty water jug.

Taken by surprise, Shelly stutters for a moment before saying, "Yes, certainly. I didn't realise Mr Doyle was drinking so much."

"Probably all the exercise he's been getting," Mr Bodie replies and there's a suggestive note in his voice that brings an unwelcome flush to Shelly's cheeks.

Silently damning Caroline for making her see things that aren't there, Shelly takes the jug and forces a smile to her lips. "I'll bring it down to the room in a moment."

"Thanks, love." He's on his way back down the corridor and Shelly stares after him. He walks well, like a man, with not a touch of the Mr Humphries about him. She shakes her head as she stands up. Caroline must be mistaken.

Refilled jug in hand, Shelly pauses outside Mr Doyle's room and peers in through the glass. Normally she would walk straight in, but after what Caroline said, she can't help but spy a little.

The patient's sat up in bed, his colour improving by the day. He'd nearly died when he'd first come in, so his records said. Though Shelly hadn't been working that weekend and so is in no real position to comment. Now however, he's much better and only the huge white bandage around his chest and the bruised look to his eyes shows how ill he still is. Certainly he always has a ready smile and a joke for her when she goes in to take his pulse and blood pressure.

Mr Bodie's perched on the edge of the bed, turned so he can see out of the door without moving. Yet he hasn't seen her. Of that Shelly is quite certain.

Why?

Because his fingers are twined in Mr Doyle's and the expression on their faces say everything Caroline suggested is true. As she watches, he leans forward, his hand cups the side of Mr Doyle's face and they share a kiss.

The jug drops from Shelly's nerveless fingers, crashing to the floor. Mr Bodie's up off the bed and he's reaching for something under his arm.

All Shelly can do is stumble away, the back of her hand pressed over her mouth.

Until he leaves the hospital three days later, Mr Doyle's blood pressure remains unmonitored and the next time Mr Bodie comes to visit, Shelly hides in the sluice and lets Caroline speak to him. Listening through the door to their over-polite conversation, she wishes there were things she didn't know.

-- THE END --

August 2005