Conversation came to an abrupt standstill.

It was one of his most unattractive qualities, but Dixie lived for gossip. With the ability to become instant best friends with everyone he met, he was the hub of scandal and hearsay at the hospital. Although Henry knew it was none of his business, he still felt the emotion he denied the existence of curdling in the pit of his stomach at the thought of Elle and Matt together.

“Anyway, we aren’t judging, are we Henry?”

“No, not at all,” Henry said, but he couldn't bring himself to make eye contact with her.

“Why are you here so late?” Dixie asked Elle in a transparent attempt to change the topic of conversation.

Elle had gone the colour of strawberries as she stared intently at the table, no doubt contemplating whether to leave or not.

“I'm using one of the analysers in biochemistry,”she said finally. “They only use one of them overnight, so I'm using the other for my dissertation project.”

When he met Elle, Henry hadn't imagined she would stick around long, the urge to climb the ladder of her profession far too hard for her to resist. He could have understood that more than the reason she stayed. Henry himself had slipped into a vacant role in the specialist department, a job that meant long days and meagre pay, but at least he was able to focus on his interests and enjoy the solitude a four-man department afforded him. The plan, as there was always a plan, was to find somewhere to divert his life's energy: finish his professional portfolio and make a name for himself in the field. People were stressful. Work was constant and absorbing, but more importantly, work was safe. Maybe that wasn't enough. Elle had fallen in love, that was why she stayed. Just a cocktail of hormones Henry told himself, but envy never sat well with him.

Henry's wandering thoughts meant the conversation had continued without him and, when his attention returned, he found that he couldn't work out the topic. He had two options, either wait until he recognised where the conversation had reached or interject with a new point in the lull that had just arisen. ‘Be brave,’ he thought, even though in the grand scheme of things starting a conversation wasn't really up there with bungee jumping or running into burning buildings.

“Who's on the late-shift?” Henry said.

He felt the adrenaline surge through his chest, little victories like this both annoyed and excited him. Henry’s anxieties were ever present and a bigger battle than anyone could possibly understand, not that he wanted anyone to ever try to figure them out.

“Just Laurence until eight and then Mary until-”

“Don't upset Mary for Christ's sake, I'm on call with her all night,” Dixie said.

“Tempting as that may be, nobody messes with Mary,” Elle laughed.

Mary Wells was a beetroot of a woman, in both shape and colour. Her fuse was short and, although some claimed to have found a sweet woman within, she had verbally destroyed enough people around the lab to have been given the nickname 'Bloody Mary'. Talk revolved around some historic 'Bloody Mary' stories for a few minutes, before the pressure to keep up conversation became too much for Henry, his mind begging to escape.

“I'd better go, I need to get these results and ask someone on the late shift verify them before I can leave.”

It might not be a good idea to leave the two of them on their own, but every time Elle spoke, the thought of her and Matt made Henry's skin crawl. Tray in hand, Henry stood from the table, his gaze momentarily catching Elle’s as her eyes shimmered a kaleidoscope of colours against the harsh fluorescent lighting. Henry could have gazed into those eyes for an eternity, but Dixie was right, that was a hopeless dream.

- Chapter 3 -

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Henry made his way through the pathology department and into the Blood Transfusion lab, worries about the charity run trying desperately to smother his thoughts of Elle. For a moment, he wondered if he owned any clothes for taking part in physical activity before deciding that the answer was most certainly no. While never being sporty, Henry was gifted, or cursed as he sometimes thought, with a metabolism that defied science. His weight was one of life's constants, no matter how much or little he ate. He was reminded of that fact as he put on his lab coat, for which Henry played the role of a coat hanger as it ballooned out around him.

Inevitably, Henry’s thoughts returned to Elle. Further distraction was in order and, in Henry’s experience, there was no better one than work.