Rocky Road

chapter 2 - goodbye for now

As they walked together along the cold rainy streets towards Kings College Hospital they held hands. They often didn't do this for fear of judgement, especially with Dylan looking older than he is and Sam looking younger than she was, but today they did. It wasn't because they suddenly felt more strong and courageous, or less embarrassed, they were never embarrassed, it was because they knew it could be their last time seeing each other - they wanted to be close.

They knew closeness was everything as they could only speak once a week over the telephone and via letters for the next 8 months.

As they drew towards the hospital they slowed, Sam couldn't come in for a whole shift, so she was finding him on his break, they weren't long and often got cut short so they tried to make every moment together count. Make every moment together as long as they could.

They hugged goodbye, nothing said but everything meant.

Sam watched her husband enter the building from afar, not taking her eyes off him til he wasn't visible anymore.

She took a breath and ran a hand through her hair before going to the shops to look around to kill some time. She checked her phone constantly in case Dylan had messaged to say he was about to go on a break.

At 2 o'clock, she finally got a message and quickly ran to the hospital, she had been bored out of her skull in the shops as it wasn't her thing.

She got near the hospital, then walked quickly to where they had arranged to meet. She waited on a bench til she saw his gingery hair and she stood up and walked over, "Hey grumpy." She smiled gently.

He smiled back and kissed her head, "Hey Sammy, I got a coffee for you, I assumed you had forgotten to take care of yourself, again," he teased, she rolled her eyes and took the coffee, "How long have you got? Before you are called back in?" she said before taking a sip of the coffee, he shrugged, "Its gunna be shorter than I predict so I wont predict." Sam shrugged, "Fair enough. How is it in there?" she asked quietly but also hoping it was calm so Dylan could drop her off. He sighed, "Its quite busy." She looked down, "Ok, will you be home in time?" he brought her in for a hug and she rested her head on his chest, "I will try to be, Samantha. I will really try." She nodded, "Ok," she rested her head, finding comfort in his arms. He kissed her head but then his pager bleeped. Sam drew back as he took it out his pocket, "Sorry Samantha, I really have got to run." Sam sighed but a smirked emerged on her face, "That's a sight id like to see. I never thought id see you run." She joked, hiding her disappointment. He saw through it but had to go, "Ill message you when im free." She nodded and watched his retreating figure walk away quickly, arms swinging gently by his side.

When he was no longer in sight, the smile dropped. She finished her coffee off and sat on a bench, watching people pass.

After a long day hanging about Sam finally saw Dylan emerge from the ED doors, she walked over quickly, "You finished in there?" Dylan nodded, "Yeah, let's get your bags in the car," Sam raised her eyebrows, "You mean the dump?" she joked, he rolled his eyes, "C'mon." She nodded and followed him home.

She checked round the flat to make sure she had everything she needed. She did. She dumped her bag by the front door and stood by it, waiting for Dylan. He walked over, "Ready?" she nodded sharply, emotions weren't her thing and she didn't show upset very often, she just became more serious. He knew her too well and pulled her into a hug, she just rested her head on his chest briefly, before looking at her watch, "We need to go," and stood up straight, Dylan nodded and opened the door. She shouldered her bag and took it to the car, dumping it in the boot while Dylan put Dervla in the back seat. She then climbed into the passenger seat and did up her seatbelt, staring ahead.

On the hour drive there, little words were spoken apart from the occasional word about how people couldn't drive or how pot-holey the roads were.

On arrival Sam got out the car, grabbed her bag and walked in, Dylan by her side. As she waited, she began fiddling with her wrists, scratching away. Dylan took her hands in his, "Samantha," he said gently, she looks up at him and he just wrapped his arms around her, she leant into him before pulling away as her unit was called to leave. She picked up her bag and walked away with just a quiet goodbye, nothing huge – they weren't those people. They would miss each other but had prepared and just spent time together. They hated messy goodbyes, they weren't ones for sharing emotions. They could read each other well and could translate their feelings to each other through body language and few words.

Sam took a breath as she joined her fellow soldiers and medics.

She felt someone barge her lightly and knew who it was. Quinn Thompson. Her best mate in the army. They treated her like everyone else, she wasn't 'the girl', she was just another soldier who was as good, if not better than the others. "Thompson." She said quietly, they smiled, "Nicholls." They walked with her, they were great mates but they knew when she needed space and respected that. Sam smiled gently at them but walked through wordlessly, leaving her bag to be taken through with everyone else's bags.

They walked onto the plane and Quinn and Sam took two seats next to each other, taking the time to mentally prepare for what they were going back to.

Hope you enjoyed it and this first two chapters haven't been too boring!

~Ali/Tomi/Sam