Guest: Thank you so much. I will definitely consider it. Thank you for your review.

ReflectionsOfJess: Aww, that's okay. I'm glad you liked it. This story will end soon as I've kind of reached that point, but there will be more stories from me. Thank you for your review.

Chapter Twenty-Five

As Lily walked through the corridor of the ED, she was sure that she could hear people talking about her.

She knew that she was probably just being paranoid, but it still upset her. She sighed deeply and slammed her notes down onto the reception desk, keeping her head hung low so that she didn't need to look at anyone. She couldn't help but lift her head though and when she did, she noticed that people were just staring at her intensely.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing." Louise shrugged her shoulders. "Just shocked, that's all."

"About what?" Lily frowned and turned towards Dylan. "What's going on?"

Dylan just shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, but Louise wasn't afraid to speak her mind.

"You were raped by the same man when you were younger," she stated. "You do realise that this is all your fault, right?"

"No, it's not," Lily whispered to try and convince herself, and shook her head.

"Yes, it is," she spat at her. "Did you not think about reporting it? Did you not think that he could go and do the exact same thing to someone else? Because he did, Lily. He did it to Alicia!"

"I didn't mean for that to happen!" Lily defended.

"Guys!" Alicia called, pushing between Louise and David to get to Lily. "Leave her alone, alright? None of this is her fault."

Lily felt pleased that Alicia was standing up for her, but she also felt as if it'd just make things worse. All eyes remained on her and she felt absolutely awful. She tried to tell Alicia to stop, but she ignored her and carried on.

"You guys are being way out of order," she said. "If you want to blame someone, then blame me."

"You haven't done anything," Louise said. "Alicia, you didn't do this."

Lily just shook her head and walked away. She wasn't sure if anyone even noticed, but she didn't care. She made her way towards the ambulance station, where she saw Sam. Iain wasn't round unfortunately.

"Hi Lily," she said. "Is everything okay?"

"Not really," Lily replied honestly. "Where's Iain?"

"Gone to grab coffee," Sam sighed and walked over. "What's the matter?"

Lily shrugged uncomfortably and said, "I don't mean to be rude but I'd rather not discuss this with you, if that's okay."

Sam looked a little bit hurt and disappointed, but she nodded all the same. Lily didn't understand how she was upsetting so many people. Sam stuffed her hands into the pockets of her uniform and gestured for Lily to follow her, as she made her way towards the office.

"Cup of tea whilst we wait?" Sam offered. "I think Iain's bringing me coffee, but I don't mind making one for you. Or we could text him, ask him to get one for you too?"

"I'm okay, thank you," Lily said and awkwardly leaned against the doorframe. "I'll just wait for him here."

Sam nodded and sat down on the sofa. Iain didn't take long to arrive. He came shortly after their conversation with two coffees in hand, and he seemed pleased yet surprised to see Lily there.

"Are you okay?" He asked, when he noticed the solemn look on her face.

Lily began to cry immediately and wrapped his arms around his waist tightly.

"Lils, what's happened?" Iain passed both drinks to Sam so that he could wrap his own arms around her to comfort her. "What's wrong? Is it Alicia?"

Lily hardly ever cried and the sight panicked him, especially after everything that had happened lately. He turned to Sam, but she just shrugged her shoulders. Lily hadn't said anything to her.

"Lily, you're scaring me," he sighed and gently pushed her away. "Talk to me, Chuckles. What's happened?"

"Everyone hates me," Lily sobbed. "They're all blaming me for what happened to Alicia."

"Now I'm sure that's not true," Iain said.

"It is!" She nodded in tears. "They've just told me! They said it was my fault and that I should have reported it when I had the chance, and do you know what? They're right!"

Iain's concerned look soon turned to anger. His arms dropped to his side and he shook his head from side to side. How could their colleagues say stuff like that? They were supposed to be supportive friends but no, they were blaming Lily for something that wasn't her fault at all. He couldn't believe it.

"I'm going to go and have words," he said.

"Iain, is that really such a good idea?" Sam asked calmly.

"Did you hear what she said?" Iain yelled. "They can't talk to her like that, Sam!"

"Please don't," Lily whimpered quietly and shook her head at him. "I don't want to make things worse. I...I'm sure things will blow over, I hope they will anyway."

Iain just sighed sympathetically and shook his head again. He wished there was something he could do.

"Alicia, is this such a good idea?" Ethan asked, feeling nervous as they approached Connie's office. "I mean, I'm with you, they shouldn't have been like that towards Lily but...But is going to Mrs Beauchamp really the best idea? It feels like school kids, going to the teacher, telling on their classmates."

"I've blamed myself every day for what happened," Alicia said. "I don't want Lily to blame herself as well. She...She hasn't done anything."

"And neither have you," Ethan said. "It's no one's fault, apart from...His." He sighed and asked, "Where is Lily anyway?"

"I don't know." Alicia shrugged. "I'm worried, but I'm hoping she's with Iain."

"Hopefully," Ethan said, as he cleared his throat.

Alicia turned and anxiously knocked on the door of Connie's office. It took a while, but Connie eventually called them in, and she sounded busy. Ethan felt worse than he already did. There was nothing worse than disturbing the boss when she was under a lot of stress and pressure.

"Mrs Beauchamp, can we have a word?" Alicia asked.

"Of course," Connie said, looking up from her desk.

It was weird. Ever since Alicia had been raped, Connie had almost always found the time to talk to her. She assumed that she was just worried something might happen, but she didn't question it. She was just thankful that Connie was making time.

"Everyone's blaming Lily for what happened," Alicia said. "I...I don't know what to do, but Lily's really upset. They're basically calling her out, telling her that it's her fault, and that she should have reported things when she had the chance."

"Right," Connie sighed. "What do you expect me to do?"

"I'm not sure." Alicia shrugged. Maybe she hadn't really thought things through. "Um...Talk to them, maybe? It's bang out of order, Mrs Beauchamp."

Connie looked from Alicia, to Ethan who hovered behind her awkwardly. She was right. It was out of order, but were a few words really going to solve anything? Probably not.

"I can try and have a word with them," Connie said. "But at the end of the day everyone around here is an adult so they're going to have to sort things out between them."

"Lily hasn't done anything wrong though," Ethan finally spoke.

"I know," Connie said quickly. "I'm not saying she has. But a few words from my mouth might not help anything. Why don't you try to talk to them yourself? You're a grown woman, aren't you?"

"I...I did," Alicia stuttered. "But they didn't really listen."

"Well, Lily's your friend, isn't she?" Connie sighed. "All you can do is stand by her side, show your support, and hopefully that will change everyone else's mind. The two of you have been through so much, you understand what it's like, so you need each other. Don't forget that."

"I won't," Alicia promised.

"I'll have words," Connie said. "I will, I'm just saying that it might not help. That's all."

"Okay," Alicia said. "Thank you, Mrs Beauchamp."

"Go on, go and take your break, alright?" Connie said. "You too, Ethan. Also, if either of you see Lily, then send her my way. I'd like to talk to her about this as well, if that's okay."

"Sure," Alicia agreed, before leaving the office with Ethan close behind.

"Are you okay?" Connie asked, and handed a glass of water to Lily. "Alicia told me what happened. I'm sorry."

Lily took a small sip of her drink and shrugged her shoulders. Why was Connie apologising? It wasn't exactly her fault, was it? Still, she was grateful for the apology.

"It's not your fault," Lily whispered.

"I told Alicia that I would talk to them," she said. "Would that be okay?" Lily shrugged her shoulders. "I won't if you don't want me to, but Alicia feels really bad and is really worried. She doesn't want anyone talking about you or blaming you for what happened, because it's not on."

"I know," Lily said. "She's a good friend, but you don't have to talk to anyone. Honestly."

"Are you sure?" Connie asked and gave her shoulder a rub. "You can come to me about anything, you know? You and Alicia. Neither of you are alone in this."

"I understand," Lily whispered. "Thank you. Thank you for seeing me but I am okay. I um...I think I'm going to go and find Alicia now though, invite her for a drink or something."

"That sounds nice," Connie said. "I think she would like that very much."

Bit of a writers block for this story at the moment. It's reached that point so I will be ending it soon unfortunately x