Heart & Soul
Episode 1.08

By Allan Craig

 

Oakridge General Hospital: Quentin’s Office
“Let me go” Gillian pleaded, “I promise that if you let me go I wont call the police”

“Do you really think they’d believe you if you did? There’s none of my DNA on you, I’m wearing gloves, see. Now take off your clothes”

Gillian kicked Quentin in the groin before getting up and going to the door.

Oakridge General Hospital
Ashley lay in a hospital bed, the bleeping of the heart monitor was steady.
Wesley sat opposite his daughter in a chair.

“How did this happen?” he asked his unconscious daughter. The door opened and Nick rushed in.

“I came as soon as I heard. How is she?” asked Nick, clearly frantic with worry.

“The doctors say she could have brain damage” Wesley replied, knowing what Nick was going through.

“How did it happen?” Nick was obviously concerned about what had happened, but at the same time, there was a part of him that didn’t want to know.

“I don’t know, I heart a bang and I went into her room, the window was smashed and she was just lying there”

“Oh god” Nick placed his head in his hands.

The door opened and Will came in.

“I had to make a call” Will looked as if he was hiding something.

The
Sterling Mansion: Guest House
Carrie sat in the living room with the telephone in the palm of her hand. She pushed the ‘end call’ button angrily.

“Damn you, Megan, where the hell are you?”

The
Sterling Mansion: Lounge
Diane and John sat in their facing armchairs.

“So, why aren't you working today?” asked Diane.

“I don’t have to, I own the company, remember?” John responded in a snappy tone.

“No need to be so touchy. So, any plans to do anything today?” Diane continued to try and find out every detail.

“Look Diane, will you get the hell off my back, please?” John slammed his newspaper down on the coffee table and stormed out of the room.

Oakridge General Hospital: Quentin’s Office
Gillian fiddled with the lock on the door. Quentin got up and walked over behind her. Gillian started banging on the door.

“Help me! Somebody, please, help me!” she yelled.

Oakridge General Hospital
Nathan got off the elevator in the hospital and heard the banging. He rushed over to the door and tried to open it. He banged himself against the door until it eventually opened.

“Get the hell off her!” Nathan yelled. He punched Quentin and Quentin fell to the ground. Nathan and Gillian ran out of the office and into the hospital reception area.

 

The Sterling Mansion: Guest House
Carrie tapped her fingers impatiently on the table, the other hand holding the telephone.

“Come on Megan, pick up,” Carrie thought. The ringing stopped and someone picked up, “Megan, Megan is that you?…Yeah, it’s Carrie, I need a favour”

Oakridge General Hospital

Will, Wesley and Nick sat around Ashley’s bed. Nobody spoke.

“When did they say she’d wake up?” an impatient Nick inquired.

“When she’s able to. It’s an induced coma, so that her brain doesn’t suffer much damage” Wes replied, “I’m just upset that she wont get to compete in the pageant. I know how much she was looking forward to it”

“I know what you mean Mr. Abbot” said Nick, remembering how excited Ashley had been.

“Wes. Call me Wes, Nick” Wesley seemed to warm to Nick, it was clear to him that Nick loved Ashley very much.

The bleeping of the heart monitor kept going, steadily. Nick looked at Ashley’s face. Tubes were going in different places, her golden blonde hair swept back over her head. There was a cut down the side of her face, breaking her perfect skin.

“It’s just so frustrating, knowing that she’s completely unaware to what’s going on around her, completely helpless” Nick couldn’t even imagine what Ashley must be feeling.

“It’s terrible. Whoever did this to her, they must have been completely sick. If only I knew who it was” Wes was clearly ready to get revenge.

The Sterling Mansion: Guest House
“Don’t worry, I’ll pay for the flight. Well, I’ll get Jessica to, you never know who might be monitoring my account…okay…well I better go before Greg gets back…yeah I will…okay…bye” Carrie hung up. She dialled Jessica’s number.

“Hi Jess…it’s me…everything’s set. Megan said she’ll be here as soon as she can get the flight, I said I’d pay for it, which is where I need your help”

Oakridge General Hospital: Staff Room

Gillian sat in the small, cold room with Nathan.

“The cops’ll be here as soon as they can, until then, hospital security are keeping an eye on him” Nathan explained.

“Why did he do that to me?” asked Gillian.

“He’s sick. He’s a psychiatrist, maybe he got it mixed up along the way” Nathan cared for Gillian very deeply, it was obvious by the way he was looking after her.

“I knew I shouldn’t have came in tonight. Ever since I got that note” Gillian closed her mouth as soon as she realized what she had said.

“Note? What note?”

The Sterling Mansion
Diane stood in the archway leading to the sun lounge. John sat on a chair.

“I’m, I’m sorry about earlier John, I should have left you alone” Diane faked a regretful face. John didn’t speak.

“Anyway, what do you fancy for dinner tonight, maybe we could go to The Bungalow for a bite later” Diane quickly changed the subject, “Or maybe Delphine’s

John got up from his seat and walked out of the room.

“Alright John, if you don’t want me to be nice, I don’t need to be, in fact, I can be quite the opposite if you really want me to” she thought.

The Bungalow
Ben walked into the warm restaurant and took a seat at the bar. Gina walked over.

“Fancy meeting you here” Gina whispered in his ear, the scent of her perfume was subtle, but beautiful.

“One taste of that Linguini and I couldn’t stay away” Ben replied.

“I was hoping that would be the case” Gina joked.

“Well you got your wish. When does your shift finish?” Ben got straight to the point, small talk wasn’t top of his list of priorities.

“Five minutes actually, how about we go for a drink or something?”

“Sounds good to me”

 

Jazz & Co
Carrie walked into the bar and sat down on one of the sofas next to Jessica.

“Told you I’d get here in five” Carrie boasted, leaving out the fact that she had broken the speed limit and was more than likely to get a ticket.

“Look Carrie, I don’t know how you think I can cough up the cash for Megan’s flight so quick” Jessica replied.

“I’d get it myself but my account’s shared with Greg, which means that Diane knows every little bit about how much money me and Greg have. I can hardly say I spent all that on a new outfit”

“She’d probably believe you, knowing how much Diane spends on clothes” Jessica made reference to Diane’s impeccable dress sense.

“I cant Jess, and Megan said that I’d have to make this worth her while. She wants a thousand bucks plus the flight, first class, direct from Paris, otherwise the whole deal’s off. And if it falls through, then Greg and I’ll be stuck in Oakridge until Diane finally kicks the bucket, and even then she’ll still be in our lives. I don’t want that, Jess. I want to live, I want to go all over the world, not stuck here for the next 50 years”

“I’ll try my best, Car, but I cant promise you anything” the thought of losing her best friend didn’t appeal to Jessica, but she knew it was for the best.

“Yes you can, you can promise me that if this doesn’t all work out then you’ll help me” Carrie added.

“Help you do what?”

“Get away from Diane. She said she’d kill me, and I have a feeling that she wasn’t kidding”

TO BE CONTINUED…

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