As Raf stepped through the doors to AAU, his stride faltered as he took in the chaos occurring around him. Nurses seemed to by flying between patients, their feet barely able to carry them fast enough.

"What's going on?" he asked Fletch, as he got to the desk. Fletch glanced at him, covering up the mouth piece of the ward phone as he answered.

"We were stretched for nurses as it is today, but Cara phoned in sick at the last minute, and the agency don't have anybody spare to send us. Lucy and David," he gestured to two exhausted looking nurses, "are pulling double shifts to try and make up the numbers, but we're struggling."

Raf frowned. "When you say last minute, when exactly did she phone in? And is she okay?"

Fletch rolled his eyes at the obvious route that Raf's thought process had obviously taken.

"Well," he said, glancing at his watch, as if to prove his point, "her shift started ten minutes ago, so I'd say she phoned in half an hour ago? And she didn't say. She just said she was ill and wouldn't be in today. She didn't sound particularly sick though. Do you know if she went out last night?"

Raf shook his head, indicating the negative, and quickly went to get changed into his scrubs. This was going to be a busy day.

As Raf's shift ended, he headed over to the nurses station, deciding to give Cara a call. He'd been worrying about her all day. It wasn't like her to call in sick. It was even less like her to give such little notice.

However, by the sound of the irate nurse shouting down the phone, it soon became apparent that Fletch had got there first.

"I'm sorry Cara – that isn't good enough! You can't just ring up with half an hour's notice and say you 'don't feel up to' coming into work! I have two nurses who are dead on their feet because you made the conscious decision to let us down! That half an hour you gave me this morning was exactly how long I had to arrange cover! And now you can't even give me an idea of whether or not I need to arrange more cover for tomorrow! You are putting our patients at risk here! Do you know what? Let me make the decision for you. You don't sound ill at all, so if you aren't in tomorrow, I'll have no choice but to recommend that Serena puts you on a formal warning. See you tomorrow."

Raf stared at Fletch in disbelief as he slammed the phone down.

"What the hell, Fletch?" Raf asked. "Cara is your friend – how could you speak to her like that?"

Fletch sighed. "I know, and I didn't mean to blow up at her like that. But Lucy and David aren't the only ones who are pulling doubles. Lucy was meant to be back in again now, but because she stayed on to cover Cara, I've now got to stay to cover her. I'd promised the kids that I'd take them out for dinner, but now they'll be staying with their aunt again."

Raf nodded. "I'm sorry Fletch. Look, I'll check in on her on my way home, and let you know how she is."

"Apologise for me?" Fletch asked, and Raf nodded as he headed out.

Cara pulled the duvet cover from over her head as she heard a knocking at the door. She sighed, and made the decision to ignore it. Maybe they'd assume she was at work. But that thought process went out of the window as she heard Raf calling out to her. So, resigned to the fact that she would be entertaining, she pulled herself out of bed and over to open the door.

As the door slowly opened, Raf tried not to react too visibly to the girl stood in front of him. Because although Cara was a fully grown woman, as she stood in front of him in a pair of grey joggers and a black hoodie with her hands hidden in the too-long sleeves, she looked more like a little girl. And Raf's heart broke, because he'd seen the look in Cara's eyes many times before, in many patients, and a couple of old friends.

Cara forced herself to put a smile on her face as she stood back silently to let Raf in, but the façade lasted less than a few seconds, as Raf closed the door behind him and pulled her into his arms, slowly swaying from side to side. So she let the tears fall silently down her cheeks, arms wrapped around his waist, as he held her close to him, one hand running lightly through her hair.

Raf stood there patiently until he felt Cara's body relax, and he took a small step back.

"Shall we sit down?" he asked, and Cara nodded, but didn't make any attempt to move. So Raf gently guided her to the sofa and pulled her close.

Cara curled herself into his side, and took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. As she felt his chest rise and fall under her head, the all too familiar thoughts started making their way to the surface.

"Well, say something! He only came round cos Fletch sent him."

"Fletch didn't even want to come himself."

"Do you really think you're that important that people would actually consider coming to check up on you?"

"I bet Raf's planning his escape right now."

"Don't make him feel like he has to stay – he'll only hate you more for it."

Raf felt Cara tense her muscles as she went to sit up. Pre-empting what she was about to say, Raf decided to get in there first.

"So, I had a friend, Pete, when I was about 19. He called it the black dog. Do you have a name for it?"

He could tell that this had caught her off guard, but didn't want to give her time to make up a lie.

"Is the depression particularly bad at the moment?"

The reply tumbled out of Cara's mouth before she could stop it.

"Only since everything happened with Jed. It hasn't been an issue for a few years now; just the occasional off day. But today something just snapped, and I couldn't face coming into work. I tried, but -"

Cara froze. She'd said far too much already.

Raf watched her start to close up in front of him, and pulled her close again.

"The thoughts invading your mind right now are completely wrong," he said. "I bet they're telling you all sorts of negative things. But they're wrong. I care about you, and I want to be here, and I do not want to leave. You have my unconditional support, and I will stay here and look after you, not because I have some sense of duty, but because I want to. I care, and I have nowhere else that I would rather be. I know you may not be able to believe me, but I promise you, I will not leave."

Cara nodded, but still made no move to finish her thoughts.

"Where have you spent your day, today?" he asked.

"Bed," Cara whispered, ashamed.

Raf nodded, and stood up, pulling her with him.

Before Cara knew what was happening, Raf had guided her back to bed, wrapped her up in the duvet, and then lay next to her, but on top of the covers. He lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling. He was right next to her, but not quite touching her.

"I'm going to stay here, if that's okay with you, and you can tell me whatever you want, whenever you want."

Cara nodded, and joined him in staring up at the ceiling.

Raf wasn't sure how much time passed, but eventually, Cara whispered into the slowly darkening room,

"I had a panic attack."

Raf nodded to acknowledge he'd heard her, but didn't want to speak and spook Cara into silence again.

"I call it a dark day. Today was really bad. I'd made myself get up, get dressed, have breakfast. But when I tried to leave the flat it just hit me. I couldn't do it."

Apparently not wanting to say any more, Cara lifted her hand from under the duvet, and moved to hold Raf's hand. But the dark thoughts got to her first, and she went to move it back again.

But Raf moved first, reaching out to her and gripping her hand tightly in his.

"That's why you called so late?" As she nodded, he squeezed her hand. "Fletch asked me to apologise to you by the way. He knows he was out of line."

As Cara went to disagree, Raf turned on his side to look at her.

"Don't disagree, please. I know your thoughts don't want you to believe me, but I promise you everything I have told you is the truth."

Cara hesitated, but took a deep breath and slowly nodded. She saw the pride in Raf's eyes at the effort she had made, and actually felt a flicker of something not-so-negative inside her. It was the best she'd felt all day.

As she turned to him, she leaned in, pressing her lips softly against his. She felt Raf kiss her back gently, just for a second, before pulling away. Before the disappointment and self-doubt started building up, Raf placed an innocent kiss on her forehead, and cupped her cheek in his hand.

"I would love to carry on with this, but you are not very well today. I promise, when you are having a better day, we will continue this."

Cara nodded, and asked, "Would you stay? No ulterior motive, I promise. You just really helped me this afternoon, and I don't hate myself quite as much right now."

She laughed drily, trying to cover up the true intention behind that sentence, but they both knew exactly what she meant.

However, Raf nodded, and got under the covers, immediately pulling her close and wrapping her in his arms.

As she fell asleep, she heard him whisper, "I will not leave your side. I promise I will prove those dark thoughts wrong."

And for the first time all day, she felt that it might be possible to try and believe him. It wasn't much, but it was more than she'd managed in 24 hours.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this - please review!