A couple of weeks had passed since Rita told Iain everything. She felt like she could relax with him a lot more now, that she didn't have to worry about saying the wrong thing in front of him in fear that she would tell him something that she wouldn't want him to know because now, of course, he already knew. She tried to block out her feelings for Iain but ever since she had noticed them they had seriously started to grow. She had even tried to flirt with some of the other members of staff who worked in the hospital just so she could take Iain off her mind, there was one doctor in particular who she kept being drawn to and that was Caleb Knight. Just like how she met Iain, when Cal had joined the department him and Rita had hit it off straight away. She always found herself flirting with him and she even did it without even realising sometimes. She knew that she shouldn't deny her feelings for Iain but she wasn't prepared to ruin her friendship with him because of some stupid crush.
Rita and Iain's morning started just like how every morning of theirs started, they woke up, Iain made the breakfast whilst Rita made the coffee. They had a general conversation at the table then they got changed for work and walked to the hospital together. It was just a simple routine but made Rita feel at ease and it worked for them.
Rita's shift was pretty hectic, normally she would see Iain once in a while throughout the day but she hadn't seen him at all. Part of her was glad of this as it meant that she didn't have to think about him but then another part of her felt a bit lost without seeing his cheeky grin, which often helped her to cope on manic days such as this day.
"So, what does a young nurse like you do on a Saturday evening?" Cal asked approaching her in the staff room.
"Well that depends," she smirked at him. "I'm either in the house watching a boring documentary or I'm in the shower."
"I'd hate to deter you away from your very exciting life but would you go for a drink with me tonight?" Cal winked edging closer to her.
Rita looked around and noticed that the staff room was empty and it was only them two now, she stepped closer to him and walked her fingers up his chest, then his neck until they landed and rested on his cheek, "I thought you'd never ask Dr Knight."
Cal leaned down and pressed his lips firmly on Rita's which surprised her slightly but nevertheless she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. She could feel his hands beginning to roam up underneath her scrubs. He began to move her and pushed her up against the lockers. They both pulled away for some breath, Rita looked into his green eyes, as he too looked into her brown eyes, the tension was thick between them and Rita's heart was racing, she had never felt so alive.
"I think we'll have to continue this later," Rita whispered as she could hear some voices nearing them.
"If you say so Ms Freeman," Cal replied pecking her lips once more before pulling away from her and fixing his own scrubs. He winked at her and bit his lip as he went to leave the staff room, bumping into Iain and some other paramedic he didn't recognise in the doorway.
Iain looked Cal up and down and then looked to Rita who was flattening her blonde hair down and had a slight pink glow to her cheeks. He could feel the small stab of jealousy surge through him, he didn't know why, Rita wasn't his, she was a free woman to do what she wanted but he wanted to be the one to mess up her hair and make her blush. Shaking his head he continued into the staff room with his new paramedic partner following behind him.
"Rita," he let out. "I wanted you to meet Jez, he's my new partner."
"Jez! It's nice to meet you," Rita held her hand out for him which he took and gently kissed the back of it. Rita's brows furrowed, there was something oddly familiar about the young man stood in front of her.
"Same goes for you," he winked.
Rita could feel herself blushing for the second time that day.
"So are you and that doctor a thing?" he continued.
Rita shook her head, "No, well, I don't know."
"Ah like that is it?" Jez smirked.
"Enough about me, what is Jez short for then?" Rita asked.
"Jeremy," Jez pulled at the edges of his coat.
Rita smiled to herself, "I knew a young boy called Jeremy once, he saved my life. I think he wanted to be a nurse though. He was quite sweet actually, it's a shame because I never got to see him again, never got to really thank him for everything that he did for me."
Jez's face screwed up as he thought about what Rita was saying, "Wait a minute? How old was this boy?"
She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know about fifteen maybe sixteen."
"And what happened?"
Her face dropped, she didn't really want to relive that day or even explain it to some random person she had only just met, her eyes fell to the floor, "I, erm, I lost my baby."
"No way," Jez shook his head. "No way, this is so not happening."
"What?"
"It's me, I'm Jeremy I'm the kid, I, it's me, I'm the one. Oh my god, how are you? You look so different! And your hair, I'm pretty sure it was brown right? Your husband? Where's he now? I'm sure you're pretty glad to have got rid of him? I'm guessing he's not around anymore," Jez shot questions at her but Rita was still too shocked and trying to take it all in.
Rita looked up at him, a smile emerging on her face as she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him, tears forming in her eyes, "Thank you," she whispered in her ear.
Jez didn't really know how to react, so he just wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly. Rita eventually pulled away from him and wiped at her eyes.
"Whoa, hang on a second. I was there," Iain spoke. "Yeah, I was, I remember you two now. You shocked me and Dixie because you both knew what you were doing! Why didn't I put two and two together?"
"I think we all need a catch up after work, what d'you reckon?" Jez suggested.
Rita bit her lip, "I can't, I promised Cal I was going to go for a drink with him tonight."
"No worries, we'll arrange for another night, I can't believe this," Jez grinned.
Iain's face dropped and filled slightly with anger as Rita's words rang in his head.
"Can you give us a bit of privacy for a moment please Jez? I need to speak to Rita," Iain said sharply, causing both Jez and Rita to eye him up slightly.
"Sure thing," Jez answered suspiciously before leaving the two alone in the staff room.
"You and Cal are going out tonight?" he hissed.
"Yes, got a problem?" Rita snapped, folding his arms and glaring at him.
"But it's Saturday, it's our movie night!"
"So what Iain," she rolled her eyes. "Do you remember what you said to me a couple of weeks ago? That I deserve to be happy and that I should grab whatever fun I can have with both hands and treasure it, so that's what I'm doing. I finally got rid of one man controlling my life and now I don't need you to fill his shoes," she snarled before storming out of the staff room.
How dare he? This was her life, why can't he just be happy for her? He was just being unnecessarily harsh and she didn't need it. She liked Cal and she knew that she'd have a bit of fun with him, she needed a bit of fun after everything that had happened and like Iain said, she deserved it, so what was his problem? Maybe he was jealous? But surely, if he was, or if he thought about her in that way then he would've made his move ages ago? Rita had no idea what was going on with him but surely he needed to back off her, she doesn't belong to him.
Later that evening Rita was getting ready for her date with Cal. She had decided to wear a tight, figure-hugging navy blue dress matched with a small pair of navy blue heels. She kept her make-up to a minimum, not wanting to overdo it too much as with how things went between the pair in the staff room earlier then the make-up wouldn't last long. As she was making her way downstairs she seen Iain coming in through the front door, his face full of tension.
They hadn't spoken to each other for the rest of the shift after their little argument; she hadn't even waited for him after work. She couldn't really be bothered with him anymore, if he didn't make a move then that's his own fault. Rita knew she liked Iain but she wasn't the one getting her knickers in a twist about it all, she was trying to forget about it and block it out and going out on a date with Cal was how she was going to do it. But still, she followed him into the kitchen.
"How do I look?" she asked him as she stood in the doorway.
"Brilliant," Iain replied coldly not even looking at her.
"Iain, what is it? Why don't you want me to go on this date?"
"Rita," he stared at her. "I don't care. Go, have fun, I don't care."
"Well clearly you do otherwise you wouldn't be reacting this way so just tell why you don't want me to go!" she was beginning to raise her voice.
"Just go," he barked.
"No," she shouted. "Not until you tell me what it is wrong with you? Why can't you be happy for me? I'm finally having some fun, like you told me to but now you're just being cold and snappy with me, just tell me what is wrong."
"Fine," he paused. "I'll tell you what's wrong. When I said those things about you being happy, I imagined that it would be with me. That you'd be happy with me and that me and you would have fun together. I thought that I would be the one to make you realise that you could have a life after Mark, that you could finally move on. I wanted it to be me. But then I seen you with Cal and I felt angry and annoyed at myself for not making that move. I didn't want to make the move because I didn't think you were ready. I thought that you'd make the first move when you were comfortable to; I didn't want to take advantage of you or scare you like Mark did because I am not that man. I wanted everything to be on your terms. But, I've well and truly messed that up, haven't I?"
Rita stood there, completely shocked, "Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"I was scared, I didn't want to ruin our friendship because if I did then that would mean I would probably never see you again and I don't think I could bear that. I'd rather see you be happy with someone else that never seeing you again. I'm sorry; you go on your date and don't think about me because I'm being stupid and selfish."
Rita placed her clutch bag on the table and walked over to Iain. She placed her hand on his now very warm cheek. Iain took hold of her wrist gently and stroked it with his thumb.
"Why would I go on a date with someone when the man who I have completely and utterly fallen in love with over the past few months that I've known him has just told me what I've wanted to hear for so long," Rita whispered softly.
"What?" Iain barely got out.
"I feel the same Iain," Rita tried to stop the smile spreading across her face but she couldn't. She could feel her cheeks burning a bright red and single tear rolled down her cheek.
Iain leaned down and placed his lips on Rita's, he was gentle at first, and she ran her hands through his hair whilst his fell to her waist. His tongue ran along her bottom lip, asking for permission which was certainly granted. The kiss started to become more heated as Iain picked Rita up and placed her swiftly on the table. Their lips parted for only moments as the pair struggled for breath. Rita started to unbutton his shirt revealing his hard muscles underneath which she took pleasure in running her nails along, sending shivers down Iain's spine. He began to place kisses along her jawline, down her neck and the top of her chest until he reached the strap of her dress. Carefully, he pulled it off her shoulder and continued his kisses; Rita bit her lip as she tried to supress her moans. The feeling of his soft lips and the scratch of his short stubble made her skin tingle with excitement. His hands started to drag up her thigh filling every fibre of her body with pleasure. Iain grinned to himself as she quietly whispered his name. She couldn't contain herself anymore; the dull ache between her legs was beginning to get unbearable. She needed him.
All of a sudden the kisses stopped and Iain pulled away from her, running his hands through his hair.
"What's wrong? Was it is?" Rita asked, completely baffled as to what was stopping him.
"We shouldn't be doing this," he looked at her, his face filled with regret. "I shouldn't be taking advantage of you like this, I'm sorry, I can't."
"What do you mean? You aren't taking advantage of me Iain," she could feel tears brimming in her eyes.
"I am, I'm sorry, I should never have said anything, I'm sorry," Iain turned away from.
Rita nodded, pulling herself off the table and making her way upstairs, she had managed to hold back the tears until she closed the door where they had all escaped. She couldn't stop them, what was so wrong with her? She never deserved to be happy, she never deserved to have fun, she should have been the one to die in that car accident, not Mark. She deserved to be on her own for the rest of her life.