"Jac says she's going to be about five minutes." Mo stated as she leant against her car. It had been a long five hour journey, but at 11am, Emma was wide awake in her car seat playing with her water filled plastic teething star where they had stopped in the car park services as agreed. She had only just begun teething but gumming away on the toy had kept her occupied for most of the journey.
"Right, okay." Jonny said shakily. He had opened the car door and squatted down besides his daughter, who he knew he would have to hand over to her mother in a matter of minutes. He was nervous as to how Jac would behave, but he was even more fearful of the fact that she might very well be bringing the police with her and he did not want his daughter to grow up whilst he was stuck in prison.
Mo stood besides the car, watching Jonny in the corner of her eye as he played with her for a few minutes. In truth, Mo really wanted to go into the service station to use the restroom and grab a coffee and something to eat because after driving through the night, and the morning, she had missed both breakfast and dinner. But at the same time, she was worried about leaving Jonny alone with Emma in case he decided to make a run for it once more, just before Jac arrived.
To Mo, it seemed an appropriate amount of time that went by, but to Jonny, time was going by far too fast before he'd lose his daughter to her mother. Jonny hadn't even realised that Jac had parked just two spaces besides them because he was too busy chatting away with Emma. But Mo was alert as she watched the consultant step out of her car.
Mo had only ever seen Jac in scrubs or in smart clothes for work, so she was a little surprised to see Jac in grey tracksuit bottoms, a plain shirt and a dark grey cardigan. Her wavy hair hung lifelessly down to her waist, and it clearly hadn't been straightened as per usual. But the most striking feature of her, was the dark bags under Jac's eyes - proof that in the two nights that Emma had been missing, she hadn't slept at all. In fact, she looked like she hadn't slept for a week, she was that tired.
"Jonny." Mo warned and he stood up and turned around to see the wearied consultant who was so pale, she looked ill. He silently stepped back and let Jac pick Emma up out of her carrier. She held her baby tightly against her chest, and Mo watched her close her eyes as she breathed in the unmistakable scent of her baby that she couldn't describe, only that there was nothing else on the planet that smelt even remotely similar. After a few moments, Jonny watched with concern as Jac opened her eyes and blinked several times as she had almost fallen asleep, standing in the middle of the almost empty car park. "Drive my car back." Mo ordered Jonny as she placed her keys in his hands and grabbed Emma's bag out of her car and then went over with the bag and carrier to the consultant. "C'mon give me your keys." Mo ordered softly but Jac looked back at her in confusion. "I'm surprised you made it this far without falling asleep. Go on, you sit in the back with Emma and get some rest while I drive. We've still got about six or seven hours until we'll be back in Holby."
Slowly and reluctantly, Jac placed her car keys in the registrars free hand.
"Right c'mon you little munchkin, shall we get you back in your car seat?" Mo smiled as she opened one of the back doors and fitted the car seat securely. "Jonny, go." Mo ordered sternly and Jonny snapped back to reality before he jumped in Mo's car, started the engine and slowly pulled away to make the long journey home. "Listen, I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday, and I can imagine that you haven't eaten much either so shall we go and get something from the services quickly?" Mo suggested.
"Thank you... For getting Emma back." Jac said gratefully.
"Don't mention it. But you can pay me back by letting me get a Big Mac before we leave." Mo smiled and Jac rolled her eyes.
"Lock my car." Jac ordered and Mo quickly shut the car door and locked it with the keys, before the two women and the small baby made their way over to the building.
Soon, seated at a table for two in the back of the quiet fast food restaurant, Mo was sat with a Big Mac, fries and a coffee to kept her going for the journey home, whilst Jac had settled for just a bottle of water. She was sat in a large rounded leather chair with her knees up to her side, and Emma was laid on her thighs, facing her mum.
"You sure that you don't want anything to eat?" Mo queried which received just a simple shake of her head. The red head's stomach was indeed empty, which was another contributing factor to her tiredness - she had no energy-, but she was content with spending time with her child until she had to be strapped in her child seat, and she certainly didn't want anything from the fast food place as it was so unhealthy. "Y'know, he was only doing what he thought was best for Emma. And I'm not saying I think what he did was right, I'm just saying that he never intended to put Emma in harms way." Mo explained but Jac didn't respond. She just watched her child play with the ends of her mother's long wavy hair. "Do you actually speak?" Mo asked sarcastically.
"What do you want me to say?" Jac sighed. "The father of my child doesn't want me to be a part of my daughter's life at all, and I didn't know whether she was safe or not for 45 hours, I'm hardly going to be over the moon." She added. Mo gave a small smile to herself because Jac had obviously been counting the hours that she had lost contact with her child. Suddenly, Jac raised her hand to her abdomen and inhaled sharply. And a few seconds later, she let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Is your endo playing up?" Mo asked quietly.
"Just leave it."
"I'll take that as a yes." Mo concluded as she realised that in the whole time she had been with the consultant, she had been experiencing a constant abdominal pain. "That explains why you aren't eating and why you're quiet. Are you taking your painkillers?"
"Funnily enough, in the rush that I left my flat, I forgot them." Jac snapped. Soon Mo had finished her meal, and once she had put her things in the bin Jac had gotten up.
"Hey, where're you going?" She asked curiously.
"To the toilet. Is that alright with you?" Jac retorted as she held Emma against her chest and Mo followed Jac to the bathrooms because she needed to use the loo too. They entered the toilets that were thankfully fairly quiet, but Mo noticed that the cubicles were quite small, and the baby changing cubicle with a table that Emma would be able to lie on for a few moments was out of order so Jac seemed stumped.
"I can hold Emma if you want. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere; I'm the one who got her back remember." Mo said softly but Jac still looked hesitant. "Honestly, I promise I'm going to be right here, you can trust me." Mo added and the red head paused for a few moments before she made a move.
"You'd better be here when I get out." Jac threatened as she carefully handed Emma over and Mo cradled her in her arms.
"I can hold your handbag too if you want." Mo offered but Jac just glared at her before she locked herself in a cubicle so Mo got the hint. "Sshh." Mo said softly as Emma began to stir without the distinctive smell of her mother around her that only she could detect. Mo smiled as the little girl sneezed and then wiggled her pale nose - she had inherited her mother's skin tone along with her hair colour. "Bless you." Mo whispered.
And after a minute a had passed, Jac stepped out of the cubicle, quickly washed and dried her hands and then took Emma back into her arms. "Jonny's wrong y'know. About you being a bad mother." Mo stated she she went into a cubicle whilst Jac leant against the sinks waiting. "I mean, Emma clearly loves you and-"
"How do you know she loves me?" Jac asked curiously.
"Oh c'mon Jac. You can't seriously think that Emma doesn't love you. You might've gotten off on a bit of a rocky start because of Bonnie but Emma always settles when you hold her, and she already knows that you're someone special. Of course she loves you." Mo explained from behind the cubicle door and because Jac was alone, she allowed herself to smile. "You tired?" Mo asked as she heard Jac yawn, although she already knew the answer.
"Me? No, I'm ready to run a marathon." Jac said sarcastically as Mo came out and washed her hands. But it wasn't her usual aggressive sarcasm, it was more light hearted.
"That little one must be full of energy, all she's done is sleep." Mo smiled at Emma who was fast asleep as she was held against her mother's chest.
"Well I'm just glad she's a quiet baby. She doesn't cry much at all, and when she does she doesn't scream." Jac admitted. "Do you face ache?" Jac smirked as she bounced her baby slightly.
"Well let's hope she's got your brains rather than Jonny's. I don't know what he was thinking when he thought he would manage to disappear off of the face of the earth." Mo stated as the they began to leave the services building and walked back to Jac's car.
"He did it because he hates me." Jac stated.
"Well I'm not going to argue there." Mo smirked. "You did tell the police that it was a misunderstanding right?" She asked curiously.
"Yep. And from then on, they spoke to me as if I was an absolute idiot for 'forgetting that my daughter was on holiday'." Jac stated.
"I've got to be honest, I'm surprised that you are letting Jonny get away with this." Mo admitted as she climbed into the driver's seat whilst Jac placed Emma in the car seat behind Mo, and then she jumped in the passenger seat in the front so that at an angle she could keep an eye on her baby, and on the road.
"Yeah well, I didn't want Emma growing up with him in prison. Plus I know it's only because of what happened with Bonnie." Jac shrugged.
"You not want to sit in the back with Emma?" Mo queried as she waited before starting the engine in case the consultant changed her mind.
"Nah, she'll just sleep the whole way home." Jac said softly as she glanced back at her daughter who had stirred a little, but she was still very sleepy in her car seat.
"Alright then." Mo pulled off and set off on the long journey home, but she knew that they'd be hitting rush hour traffic compared to that morning when they had been driving through the rural areas of Scotland. "You got any CDs?" Mo asked curiously.
"You really think you can have music on with a sleeping baby in the car?" Jac retorted quietly. She was sitting at an angle with her knees against the centre console of the car so that in the corner of her eye, she could always see her daughter - the 'kidnapping' had given her a scare and she never warned to lose her daughter ever again.
"Well it's either that or there's going to be an awkward silence the entire way home." Mo stated bluntly.
"Whatever." Jac sighed. "Oh, I should probably ring Elliot and Sacha, they've been worried sick." She stated as she pulled her phone out of her pocket.
"Who're you going to ring first?" Mo asked curiously.
"Sacha. He hasn't stopped fussing over me since she'd gone." Jac admitted.
"Why are you and Sacha so close?" Mo queried.
"I don't really know. He just... There's no one that doesn't get on with Sacha and when I used to work on Keller with him, we always ended up working together or doing little challenges to see who could diagnose people first, that sort of thing, and we just sort of got on. I helped him with the whole Chrissie thing, and he just helped me get on with the nurses." Jac explained before she pressed Sacha's contact and put her phone to her ear.
"Hello? Jac?"
"Hello Sacha." Jac smiled. "Guess who's fast asleep in the back of my car?" She teased.
"You've found her? Oh that's brilliant news! Is she okay? Was she with Jonny?" Sacha asked quickly.
"Calm down and I might be able to get a word in edge ways to explain." Jac retorted.
"Sorry, carry on." He prompted.
"Jonny took her to Scotland to bring her up, and I don't know how, but Mo found out where he was and drove up there to bring Emma back. And she is absolutely fine." Jac stated and Mo smiled to herself smugly as she drove down the motorway with precious cargo in the backseat.
"And Jonny? What's happening with the police?" He asked.
"I... Called them off. Told them it was a misunderstanding." Jac admitted.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I figured Emma could do with a dad that wasn't in prison." Jac said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Well done, that's an admirable thing to do." Sacha stated. "So can I come and see my little cupcake?"
"Nope, we're still about 6 hours away from Holby - I drove up to Preston to meet them half way." Jac stated.
"Oh right. Can I come and see her tomorrow then?" He asked, as the next day was a Sunday and neither of them had work.
"I suppose so." Jac replied sheepishly.
"Right, I'll see you tomorrow around 12ish, and I'll bring lunch." He said cheerfully.
"Sounds great." Jac said sarcastically but Sacha knew that she looked forward to it.
"Right, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yep, bye."
"Bye. Say goodnight to my little girl."
"She's my little girl, not yours." Jac said sternly. "But, I will."
"Bye." He said and finally Jac hung up.
She then rang Elliot and as usual it took several rings before he picked up before he was always unsure of unsure to answer his phone, even though he'd had it for several months.
"Hello?"
"Hi Elliot, it's Jac." She stated because she knew that even with caller ID he wouldn't have seen who it was.
"Oh Jac, it's good to hear from you. Is there any news?" He asked curiously.
"Yeah, Emma's safe, I'm bringing her home now." Jac stated simply.
"Where was she? And what about Jonny?"
"Jonny took Emma to Scotland to bring her up, but Mo found them and convinced Jonny to bring Emma back." She explained.
"Oh, that's brilliant news! But I hope Jonathan isn't in too much trouble." He admitted.
"He isn't, I called the police off and told them it was a misunderstanding." Jac stated.
"That's a very kind thing for you to do Jac, I'm proud of you." Elliot said sincerely.
"Thanks." Jac replied quietly as a smile tugged at her lips.
"So will you, Mo and Jonny be back at work on Monday then?" He asked.
"Don't sound to overjoyed will you?" Jac said sarcastically.
"I'm happy for you all to be on shift, as long as there's no arguing." Elliot stated.
"There won't be. I'm going to stay as far away from him as possible. So don't put me on any cases with him."
"I won't."
"Right, I'll see you on Monday."
"Yes, and thank you for letting me know, I'm glad little Emma is safe."
"Bye."
"Bye."
Jac put her phone in her pocket and then leant her head against her seat as she gazed at her sleeping daughter.
"Jac, get some rest. You look like you haven't slept in days." Mo said quietly.
"Gee thanks Mo, you sure know how to make a woman feel better about herself." Jac said sarcastically.
"You know what I meant, and we've still got hours, you might as well take a nap." Mo stated.
"'Naps' are for babies Mo." Jac stated.
"So much for 'naps are for babies'." Mo said smugly to herself as she drove back to Holby with Jac fast asleep besides her, and Emma fast asleep in the back. She had hoped that Jac would do something like snore or talk in her sleep so that she would have one over on her, but unfortunately, Jac slept silently without a glitch. Or so she had thought until Jac began tossing and Mo could see distress in her face as she screwed her eyes shut.
"Emma..." She mumbled. "I need... Emma... He can't take her..." She said sleepily and Mo didn't want the poor woman to suffer any more than she already had done so she decided that it would be best to wake her up.
"Jac, Jac." Mo took her hand off of the gear stick and gently nudged her arm. "Jac, c'mon wake up." Mo said a little louder and finally Jac opened her eyes and looked confused. "You were having a nightmare." Mo said softly as Jac glanced back to ensure that her daughter was still there.
"Can we um, stop? She needs feeding." Jac said quietly as she avoided speaking about what had just happened.
"Yeah sure. There's a services in a few miles." Mo stated.
"One word of this-" Jac threatened.
"Honestly, I won't say anything." Mo said reassuringly and Jac gave a small nod as she pretended to focus on the road ahead of her. "Do you want me to run in and get you some hot water for her formula when we get there?" Mo offered.
"Er, yes please." Jac replied.
5pm
It was fairly light in the car park that Mo had parked near the back to give Jac some peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle of the Saturday football fans who were drinking beer near the entrance of the building and chanting songs. Mo returned with a costa coffee cup filled with plain boiling water, and sure enough Jac made up a bottle of formula for Emma like she had done it a million times.
"How far have we got left?" Jac asked curiously as she poured the remaining of her bottle of water over the bottom of Emma's bottle to cool the liquid down enough for the infant to drink, by the side of her car whilst she left Emma's car door open to give her some air.
"Um... Probably about another 2 hours ish." Mo replied as she too stood outside to get some air. "We got stuck in traffic when you were asleep." Mo added as had had looked a little confused at how long the journey was taking.
"Right." Jac nodded.
A few minutes later, Jac picked Emma up and cradled her, before she began feeding her with the little bottle of warm milk and Emma suckled away as she was very hungry after the long journey.
"You're a natural." Mo smiled.
"No, she's just a good baby, she's not fussy at all-"
"Don't put yourself down." Mo interrupted. "Jonny told me the first time you held her that Emma's stats improved." She added. "And he said that whenever you held her, her oxygen saturation always improved as though you helped her to relax and to breath easier."
"Really? Jonny said that?"
"Yeah. Now that Bonnie's gone, he doesn't stop talking about you and Emma. And I must admit he did give me maybe a little bit too much information about what happened during the birth before you went into theatre." Mo admitted.
"What did he say?" Jac demanded. The sudden slight jolt disturbed Emma's feed slightly as her mother had moved the bottle a little bit, but Emma soon carried on suckling away as she placed her tiny hands over the top of Jac's but she could not yet hold the bottle for herself as she was far too young.
"That you had a bit of an accident when you were pushing." Mo stated as she tried not to burst out laughing at the details that Jonny had given.
"What kind of accident?" Jac asked sheepishly because she knew she had had more than one and she needed to know which one Mo was aware of.
"That you ended up sitting in a puddle but it wasn't amniotic fluid." Mo admitted and she ended up laughing a little bit anyway but Jac seemed relieved.
"I'm gonna kill Maconie." Jac muttered. "And that'll be after I've tortured him for kidnapping my baby." She added.
"Hang on, you weren't annoyed when you realised that Jonny had told me that you wet yourself so there's something else that happened wasn't there?" Mo smirked.
"Like what?"
"You crapped yourself didn't you?"
"If you don't mind, could, you watch the language please?" Jac requested as she gestured the feeding baby in her arms.
"Yeah, sorry but c'mon, you did didn't you?" Mo stated rather than asked.
"I think I'm getting tinnitus again." Jac quipped and Mo smiled before she decided to leave the topic, as she was sure that she knew the answer anyway.
Suddenly, Mo's phone began ringing.
"It's Jonny." Mo stated as she glanced at Jac.
"Well why're you telling me that for?" Jac huffed as she continued to hold Emma with one arm and the bottle with the other. Mo rolled her eyes before she answered the phone and put it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Hi Mo, are you back yet because I'll run your car around to yours." Jonny offered tiredly.
"No, we're still around two hours away." Mo stated. "We got stuck in a bit of traffic and we stopped for lunch and we've just stopped again to feed Emma." Mo added.
"Oh right. How is she?"
"Who? Jac or Emma?" Mo asked which raised the attention of Jac as though she was a cat who's ears had pricked up.
"Emma of course."
"Emma's fine, she's slept the whole way." Mo replied.
"And um, Jac? Is she alright?"
"What do you mean is she alright?" Mo said with a hint of anger in her voice.
"Well does she seem angry?"
"Jonny she's a mother who's just been reunited with her child after she's been missing for 2 days. I think you being an absolute moron is the last thing she's worrying about right now." Mo snapped and Jac gave a small smile to herself that Mo was sticking up for her.
"Oh brilliant, going on her side again are we?"
"'Her side'? Jonny I'm not on anyone's side but if you think that I support what you did to Emma, then you're sadly mistaken." Mo retorted.
"I was taking my daughter away from that... From that bitch! She was doing my daughter harm and-"
"Yeah well that bitch is your baby's mother and if bringing her into the world and loving her to pieces is doing Emma harm then yeah, she's harming Emma Jonny." Mo said patronisingly. "Do you not think taking Emma away from her mother was doing her any harm?"
"When her mother is Jac Naylor, then no Mo. I don't think that."
"D'ya know what Jonny I'm fed up with you. I know you're upset about Bonnie but you need to get your head straight. You need to take some time off of work and I don't want to see you on Darwin for a month because I'm putting you on compassionate leave." Mo said sternly and Jac cocked her head up to look at how authoritative Mo was being against her own 'best friend.'
"You can't do that. You don't have the power." Jonny argued.
"No, but Elliot and Jac will support me. And you know they will." Mo stated.
"Oh for gods sake give me that." Jac took Mo's phone and put it to her ear. "Right this is going to be quick Maconie because your daughter wants her milk bottle back and I haven't got a spare pair of hands. But you're not seeing Emma for the next two weeks and you're going to sort your head out. End of." Jac ordered.
"You can't stop me from seeing my daughter!"
"Yeah? And what're you going to do? Because if you call the police, I'll tell them that you kidnapped Emma and that you blackmailed me into saying that it was a misunderstanding. Then you'll be sorry. And don't even try to come and see Emma when I'm at work because number one: the nanny will no longer let you go near her under my instructions, and number two: Emma won't be at my flat just in case you do decide to go snooping." Jac said sternly. "Wow for once you're actually speechless, well I'd just like to leave you with one thing Jonny: you tried to take Emma away from me once, and you're not going to do it again. If you try to see her once in the next two weeks, I'll call Vanessa up and she'll start the custody battle again. Don't worry, I'll tell Emma that you said goodnight." Jac quipped before she hung up the phone, handed it back to Mo and then held the bottle for Emma again.
"Nice one." Mo smirked as she locked her phone and put it in her pocket. "Right, are you ready to make a move once she's finished her bottle?" Mo asked curiously.
"Um, not quite. She always has a wet nappy when she's feeding so I'll take her in and change her first." Jac stated.
"Don't you mean she has a wet nappy after she's had her feed?"
"No, I mean during. It's literally milk goes in, wee comes out." Jac stated bluntly and Mo chuckled as Jac couldn't help but smile too.
7:15pm
"If you drive to your place, then you can get out and I'll drive Emma back to mine so you won't have to walk." Jac said as they had just entered Holby.
"Okey Dokey." Mo nodded.
"I really am grateful Mo, thank you for getting her back." Jac said sincerely.
"Oi, don't go all soft. I'm as happy to have Emma back as you are. Well actually, probably not as happy because she's your daughter." Mo corrected. "But I'm just glad I could help. And that the police weren't involved."
"Oh finally decided to join us have we?" Jac teased as she heard Emma babbling in the back and she turned to see the infant wide awake. "Now I just need to wear you out before bedtime." Jac huffed.
"And how're you gonna do that?" Mo asked curiously.
"Twenty minutes lying in her play gym and she'll be knackered." Jac stated bluntly.
"Right." Mo nodded. "So how come your endometriosis was playing up earlier but you've been fine since?" She asked.
"Because I found some painkillers in the bottom of my bag when I went to the toilet." Jac replied quietly.
8pm
Usually Emma slept in her cot, but Jac had missed spending time with her daughter so much that she had decided to let her sleep in the double bed with her mother for one night only. Jac was in her vest top and shorts whilst Emma was in a pale pink sleep suit and a matching hat to keep her head warm during the night, and Jac had decided to have an early night to catch up on sleep because she only had the next day until she was back to work on Monday and she needed to be fully rested.
Though she had made new arrangements for Emma - the nanny was under strict instructions not to let Jonny anywhere near her, and she would no longer stay at home during the day, Emma would be taken to the hospital on the top floor which was full of offices, some of which she knew were not in use after dozens of redundancies so Emma would be safe to stay in there - she would've preferred to have Emma in her office, but she knew that then Jonny would have access to her.
"Are you going to go to sleep yet?" Jac asked as she laid on her side in the double bed whilst Emma rolled around in the middle of it - Emma had recently developed stronger muscles and learnt to roll over from her front to her back and she was constantly trying to show her mum how many times she could do it in a row. "No, of course you're not because you're a pain in the bum aren't you?" Jac concluded. "Actually no, you're a pain in the abdomen which I had sliced open for you and no, I'm never going to let you forget that." Jac retorted.
"Right, lie down on your back." Jac ordered as she pulled Emma off of her pillows and laid Emma down properly with just one pillow under her neck, rather than Jac's usual two. "We'll turn the light down to give those green eyes and chance to settle down and you've got to at least try to sleep." Jac said as she switched the main light off and left just the bedside lamp on. "You have no idea how much I missed you." Jac said softly as she knew that her daughter would never remember the conversation, nor would she understand it. "But we both know that daddy was only doing what he thought was best for you. We'll just have to see how long mummy can hold a grudge for, but I am definitely not leaving him alone with you for a very long time." Jac said sternly. "What are you doing now?" Jac moaned, but her face softened when she realised that Emma wasn't trying to roll over again, she was trying to get closer contact with her mummy. "You wanna sleep here instead?" Jac queried as she shuffled forward, and continued to lay on her side, as she wrapped her arm in a little barrier around Emma.
Emma yawned before her blinking became slower as she was clearly finally getting off to sleep.
"Good girl... Night night..." Jac whispered as she held Emma's hand with her spare hand and thankfully, the little girl closed her eyes and remained silent as her chest slowly rose and fell. Jac internally let out a sigh of relief, as she had hoped that Emma wouldn't be too fussy after she had slept for most of the day but she appeared to have inherited her father's sleeping habits - which basically consisted of sleep as much as you can. "I'm never going to let anyone take you from me ever again, I promise. Not Jonny, not social services, no one." Jac whispered.
The end! Thanks for reading, please review :)