Just a short one from me this time, as I'm avoiding revision for an exam I have this Friday. This was inspired by one of Lady J's 'Unscripted' entries, called 'Hospital'.

The Art of Persuasion

The rhythmic sound of her heels clicking on the floor resounded through the long, narrow corridor as she walked down it as fast as her legs could carry her. When she had received the call from Dimitri that Harry had been injured in an op she had dropped everything she had been working on and had driven to the hospital immediately. Dimitri hadn't been able to give her any more information, because nobody had been allowed access to Harry, nor had they been told what exactly was wrong with him, and just how serious his injuries were.

This whole scenario was all far too familiar to Ruth. She thought back to the last time they had been in this situation, and how badly injured Harry had been then. She could only hope things wouldn't be nearly as bad this time.

She increased her speed, was practically running now, until she finally reached the nurses' desk.

There was nobody there. Typical, she thought. Just when she needed them most, there wasn't a nurse to be found. She waited for a couple of minutes, tapping her hand on the desk in annoyance.

Just as her patience started to wear thin and she was this close to going off in search of someone who could tell her what the bloody hell was going on, a young blonde in a white uniform appeared.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm looking for Harry Pearce. He was brought in not long ago."

The nurse rummaged through a few files, muttering the name Pearce to herself, as though she wouldn't be able to remember it otherwise.

Finally she appeared to have found what she was looking for.

"Ah yes found it. But I'm afraid I'm not allowed to let anyone have access to Mr. Pearce at the moment."

Ruth rolled her eyes in annoyance. "And I suppose you're not allowed to tell me what's wrong with him either?" she stated, rather than asked.

"I'm afraid not, Ms..?"

"Evershed." Ruth added, not bothering with any niceties.

"Right, Ms. Evershed. I'm afraid you will have to come back later, because for the moment I am not allowed to divulge any information regarding Mr. Pearce's situation to anyone, not even his family."

Ruth flashed the nurse her ID card. "Will this do?"

The nurse studied the card closely, then shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

It was time to change tactics, so Ruth decided to play on the nurse's emotional side. "Please," she begged, "You don't understand. You have to let me see him."

The nurse, getting rather irritated with Ruth's persistance, raised a questioning eyebrow. "And why would I do that.?"

"Because we're more than just colleagues." Ruth said.

It was the nurse's turn to roll her eyes.

"Please. I'm having his child." She said, resting her hand against her stomach for more emphasis. This whole scenario started to become freakishly similar to last time.

"Is this true? How do I know you're not just making that up?" The nurse asked, still suspicious.

"Check the hospital records if you want." Ruth said, looking rather smug.

The nurse sighed. "No it's alright, I believe you. Follow me please."

Ruth practically ran into the hospital room, causing her to trip over the hem of her skirt and nearly falling flat on her face.

"Steady on," Harry said, as he couldn't help but grin at Ruth's usual clumsiness. "I'm not dead yet."

"I can see that," said Ruth, looking relieved, as she sat down on the side of his bed.

Harry looked a little worse for wear, he had a few nasty scratches and a couple of bruises on his face, and apparently a couple of bruised ribs as well, but other than that he was fine.

"I was so worried," she said, taking one of his hands and kissing it, after deciding that kissing his lips or cheeks would probably give him more pain than pleasure.

"Like I said Ruth, I'm not dead yet. Honestly, I'm fine. They'll probably even discharge me later today." Harry smiled, hoping it would put her mind at ease.

"But when Dimitri called me I got so scared. Especially because nobody knew what was wrong with you. So I came here as fast as I could, but then they wouldn't tell me anything either.." she started.

"Shh.." Harry put a finger to her lips, motioning her to stop talking.

Ruth smiled shyly, suddenly aware of her nervous rambling.

"Which leaves just one big question," Harry said. "How did you manage to get here? As far as I'm aware nobody was allowed to know the extend of my injuries for safety reasons, let alone see me. That must have been one impressive lie you told them."

Ruth shook her head, and smiled knowingly at him. "No lies this time. Just the truth."

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