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This article is missing sections. Please help create these sections: "Personality" (July 2024) |
Stephanie[1] "Stevie" Nash (born 23 April 1980) is a consultant in emergency medicine who works in the Emergency Department of Holby City Hospital. She served as Acting Clinical Lead for a brief period in 2024.
Raised in Northern Ireland during the Troubles with her younger sister Emma, Stevie witnessed and was victim to sectarian violence from a young age which would affect her deep into adulthood. In an attempt to escape her more popular sister's shadow, Stevie excelled academically and outperformed most of her peers. Shortly after starting her medical career, Stevie became close friends with Faith Cadogan, an advanced clinical practitioner in training, but the two fell out of contact when the latter started a family.
In 2016, in the aftermath of an affair and a falling-out, Emma was involved in a car crash and left in a persistent vegetative state following a botched procedure that was covered up. Stevie spent the following five years taking care of Emma and pursuing justice, culminating in her appointment as consultant in the very emergency department where her sister was harmed. She sought to expose Ethan Hardy as a liar and a dangerous doctor, but circumstances later saw Stevie fighting to save his life and the two coming to a mutual understanding.
Stevie quickly integrated into the team once her mindset shifted. Her clinical skills were praised not only by her peers but her superiors, and she was trusted to conceptualise and institute large-scale policies on their behalf. Stevie found herself back in Faith's life and supporting her through family crises and a drug addiction. She pursued ill-fated relationships with the likes of the traumatised Matthew Afolami, the coercive Marcus Fidel and the adulterous Rich Walker, but she also found allies in colleagues such as Jacob Masters, Dylan Keogh and Charlie Fairhead.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Stevie was born in either 1983 or 1984 (CAS: "Fear Not") and raised in Northern Ireland. (CAS: "Last Words") Her father was Eoghan Nash (CAS: "Charlie"), and she had a younger sister named Emma. (CAS: "Begin Again") Stevie shared a close bond with Emma in their childhood and was fiercely protective of her. Their relationship soured over time when Stevie often found herself the lesser favoured sister.[1]
In the mid-1980s, Eoghan was injured by a nail-filled pipe bomb whilst he and Stevie were in central London. (CAS: "Trauma", "Charlie") Stevie was taken care of by staff nurse Charlie Fairhead whom she would become a colleague of in her adulthood. (CAS: "Charlie")
At some point, Stevie started a relationship with Danny Corcoran. Whilst attending a gig at the Knocklynch Pub with Stevie, Danny was assaulted by a group of young men which left him seriously injured and covered in his own blood. (CAS: "Haunted")
At medical school, Stevie was one of the highest-performing students in her year. Shortly after leaving medical school and securing a hospital position in the 2000s,[1] Stevie worked and became close friends with Faith Cadogan. (CAS: "Begin Again") The two drifted apart after Faith gave birth to her third child Luka and went on maternity leave[1] in 2012. (CAS: Episode 1158)
Emma's accident[]
In 2016, Stevie admitted to her sister Emma that she slept with her fiancé Marcus Fidel to facilitate a break-up. Furious, Emma left in her car and parked by a burger van. As Emma was leaving Stevie a scathing voicemail, a distracted driver caused a lorry to crash into the side of Emma's car.
After receiving the message, Stevie rushed to Holby City Hospital's emergency department and found Emma being treated by registrar Ethan Hardy. While apprising Stevie of the situation, Ethan neglected to unmute Emma's monitor which he had deafened while intubating her; it was soon discovered that Ethan had unintentionally inserted the tube into Emma's oesophagus and starved her brain of oxygen. Upon being informed of Emma's hypoxia, Stevie grew suspicious of Ethan's lack of communication, but Caleb Knight — Ethan's brother and a fellow registrar — lied and claimed that the hypoxia was a result of the accident. Realising that an error had been made, Stevie confronted Ethan who did not acknowledge his involvement and instead offered his condolences. (CAS: "Begin Again")
As a result of the hypoxia, Emma was left in a persistent vegetative state. (CAS: "Two Minutes") Heartbroken and angry, Stevie refused to put a DNR in place for Emma (CAS: "Blinded") and vowed to dedicate her medical career to the ultimate goal of exposing Ethan (CAS: "Two Minutes") and those responsible for her sister's condition. Stevie demanded the very best care for Emma and sometimes paid for her sister's treatment out of pocket.[1]
Employment at Holby City Hospital[]
Stevie encountered a job listing for a vacant consultant position in Holby City's emergency department and subsequently discovered that both Ethan and Faith were employed there. She applied for the role with a plan to enact justice in mind, and she was ultimately the successful candidate,[1] starting in August 2021. On her first day, Stevie left the hospital to search for Clive Delmore who was the father of her patient Lily and had dementia, and convinced a reluctant Faith, who worked in the ED as an advanced clinical practitioner, to join her. The pair found Clive at a funfair with a deep arm laceration and managed to control the bleeding with sanitary pads and by using Stevie's bra as a tourniquet. Later, at The Anchor, Stevie revealed to Faith that she was interested in securing the permanent clinical lead position in the ED. Later that month, Stevie was reintroduced to Ethan who had become a consultant since the incident involving Emma. (CAS: "Begin Again")
Framing Jade[]
In September, while working with staff nurse Jade Lovall, Stevie — not realising that Jade was deaf — told her to "toughen up" after the girlfriend of their patient took issue with Jade not hearing her and demanded to speak with a "proper" doctor. After Stevie apologised to Jade, the two began to develop a friendship. Stevie was shocked but grateful when Jade — not realising Stevie's relation to her — recalled saving Emma's life immediately after the accident and cited it as her inspiration to become a nurse. However, after learning that Jade was a passenger in the car that caused the crash and was partially responsible, (CAS: "No Harm Done") Stevie planted drugs in Jade's locker shortly before it was due to be inspected. Stevie quickly felt guilty about her actions and did not want Jade to be punished, but Jade ultimately decided to quit her job to pursue a career better suited to her. When Ethan commented on Jade finally being "on the right path", Stevie concurred and claimed that there were "no more distractions". (CAS: "The Road Less Travelled")
Conflict with Ethan[]
In October, Dylan Keogh — the ED's acting clinical lead — was forced to terminate a morbidity and mortality meeting when Stevie accused Ethan of ending a patient's treatment prematurely and attempted to discuss Ethan's past cases. Stevie became further convinced that Dylan was attempting to cover up Ethan's incompetence when she witnessed Dylan take over from Ethan during a lateral canthotomy. Realising that Stevie had a personal vendetta against Ethan and was the reserve candidate for the permanent clinical lead post, Dylan decided to continue serving as clinical lead and, much to her exasperation, forced Stevie to thank Ethan for advocating for her. (CAS: "Two Tribes")
The following month, even more determined to take Ethan down, Stevie accepted his offer to work with him in resus in order to catch him making mistakes. The two managed to work cordially together while treating a young man named Sol Mathes, but Stevie snapped at Ethan when he remarked about her decision not to reassess Sol when he complained of a headache, and asserted that Ethan would be responsible for any errors on account of him administering the sedative. Shortly after, Sol began displaying symptoms of an extradural haematoma and died. Stevie blamed herself for Sol's death and regretted prioritising her crusade against Ethan, and Ethan urged her to learn from her mistake and start again. Stevie began to see Ethan in a new light, and the pair agreed to start over as friends. As a trusting Ethan tried to tell her about his Huntington's diagnosis, Stevie was called to Farmead Lodge and was heartbroken to discover that Emma had died. (CAS: "Blinded")
Stevie confronts Ethan on the roof about his role in Emma's death. (CAS: "Two Minutes")
The next day, Stevie was furious to learn that Ethan had forgotten to give her a note about Emma's condition, and the pair clashed in resus. Dylan decided to take over and assigned Stevie to cubicles where she agreed to treat Luke Reynolds — a frequent flyer with psychosis. Stevie told Luke about Ethan's involvement in Emma's death and opened up about her occasional homicidal ideation, but she rejected Luke's offer of a haemostat to stab Ethan with and decided to get Luke help with his suicidal thoughts. However, Ethan ignorantly discharged Luke before the latter could be referred to mental health professionals. While looking for Luke on the hospital roof, Stevie prevented Ethan from leaving and threatened him with the haemostat. After Stevie reminded him of the incident with Emma, Ethan insisted that he made a mistake and explained that his conversations with Dylan were about him having Huntington's disease. When Ethan maintained that making mistakes was part of their jobs and dared Stevie to stab him, claiming that he had little else left to lose following the death of his fiancée, Stevie threw the haemostat away in frustration only for it to be picked up by Luke. Stevie urged Luke not to harm Ethan, but Luke stabbed Ethan in the abdomen. Stevie applied pressure to the wound, and Ethan was rushed into resus. Dylan assured Stevie that her actions saved Ethan's life. (CAS: "Two Minutes")
Two days later, Stevie feared that her career would be over as soon as Ethan regained consciousness. When Ethan woke up, Stevie offered to resign and work elsewhere as long as Ethan kept quiet about the incident, but Ethan was unwilling to bargain and told Stevie that Emma did not love her. Ethan intended to tell Dylan about Stevie's culpability for his stabbing, but, when Faith asserted the department could not afford to lose a doctor of Stevie's calibre, Ethan observed Stevie's performance in resus and vouchered for her in front of Dylan. Privately, Ethan empathised with Stevie's grief and apologised for letting Emma down. Stevie admitted that she needed help with her grief, but the two were still distrustful of each other and announced their intentions to keep their eyes on one another. (CAS: "Gasping for Air")
Brief falling-out with Faith[]
In January 2022, Stevie and Faith started visiting bars together. Stevie encouraged Faith, whose husband Lev had recently died, to start seeing other men, prompting Faith to pursue one-night stands. (CAS: "Handcuffs") One night, Faith was approached by a shady man named Angus and took him back to her house. When Angus became aggressive when Faith changed her mind about sleeping with him, Faith alerted Stevie who, as Faith and Angus were coming to an understanding, tried to force Angus out and hit her head after being pushed. At the ED, Stevie expressed her concerns to Faith about her recent behaviour, but Faith assured her that she was fine. Nevertheless, Faith invited Angus back to her house to sleep with him, and Angus later left with her purse. (CAS: "Close Encounters")
The following day, Stevie took exception with Faith when the latter accused a man of pressuring his fiancée into sex and triggering an instance of penis captivus, but Stevie was later sympathetic when Faith explained that she allowed Angus back into her home out of desperation and loneliness. Stevie told Dylan about Faith's problems and later the police about the burgulary, but Faith accused Stevie of judging her and bluntly told her to save her concern. (CAS: "Delayed Reaction") In February, Faith's son Luka was involved in a car accident after Faith failed to arrange for his collection from football practice. Stevie was immediately suspicious of Darren who had Luka in his car and was claiming to be his coach, and she soon correctly concluded that Darren had attempted to abduct Luka. After the driver of the other car involved in the crash died, Stevie assured Faith that she was not to blame for what happened, told her that she needed to let herself grieve for Lev, and urged her to be there for Luka. Faith appreciated Stevie's support and returned to her son. (CAS: "On the Edge")
Matthew's post-traumatic stress[]
In October 2021, Stevie began flirting with paediatric registrar Matthew Afolami, and after meeting up and having sex, (CAS: "Warning Signs") the pair entered a sexual relationship. (CAS: "Two Tribes") As their relationship continued into the new year, Stevie frequently witnessed Matthew experiencing "full-body nightmares" which he refused to discuss, but Stevie did not inquire further on account of their lack of emotional commitment. (CAS: "Close Encounters")
In February, Matthew and Stevie broke up after Matthew struck her during a nightmare and branded her "selfish". After Matthew successfully performed a thoracotomy while battling his own trauma, Stevie praised his work and offered him emotional support, but Matthew coldly turned her away. (CAS: "Balancing the Books") The following month, Stevie criticised Matthew for attempting a risky popliteal artery repair to impress his peers. Following an incident in resus where Matthew refused to give up resuscitating a patient, Stevie recommended that Matthew take some leave; Matthew refused. (CAS: "Balancing the Scales")
Later in March, Stevie found a notebook belonging to Matthew and took it hoping that it would explain his behaviour. After learning from Rash that it contained the names of patients Matthew had lost, Stevie confronted Matthew. Matthew explained that his notebook was a reckoning to make up for the deaths he had caused with his mistakes; Stevie told him that his methods were dangerous, but she empathised with him and offered him her support before kissing him. After intervening in a stand-off between Matthew and Curtis Hinch over Michelle Savini's test results, Stevie gently encouraged Matthew to speak to Dylan about his problems, but Matthew instead reported Stevie for stealing his notebook and sexually harassing him, leading to her suspension. When confronted, Matthew stood firmly by his accusations, prompting Stevie to ensure him that she would make all of his colleagues aware that he was not fit to practise. Stevie followed Matthew into resus and ordered him to stand down as he attempted to treat a fitting Michelle, but Dylan ordered Stevie out of the department. (CAS: "Trigger")
Stevie comforts Matthew as he admits to having PTSD and needing help. (CAS: "Burning Love")
In April, Stevie prepared her final papers for the disciplinary panel, but she decided against consulting a union representative, fearing that they would be swayed by Matthew's "sob story". However, at the ED, Faith treated Holly Cage — a hospital human resources worker — who, as a token of appreciation, gave her the details of a rep named Ella Thorndon who had experience with tackling sexual harassment cases. (CAS: "Friends Like These") At the hearing, Stevie — against Ella's advice — maintained her total innocence and asserted that Matthew was trying to cover up his post-traumatic stress disorder. Despite Dylan's instruction to leave as soon as possible, Stevie instead chose to work a shift and ended up helping Matthew resuscitate a baby. After Matthew experienced flashbacks, he apologised to Stevie for his accusations, acknowledged that he had PTSD and vowed to seek help. Following Matthew's resignation and the dismissal of his charges against Stevie, Dylan branded Stevie a liability and asserted that Matthew may not have been a threat to patients if she was more compassionate towards him. (CAS: "Burning Love")
Conflict with Jonty and Marcus' employment[]
In June, following the Carsbury Park High School shooting, Stevie persuaded Dylan to allow her to lead resus whilst he completed administrative work relating to the incident. Stevie was frustrated when an anaesthetist failed to materialise to put in a central line; when Jonty Buchanan arrived, he accidentally punctured the patient's lung and caused a tension pneumothorax. Stevie confronted Jonty and accused him of incompetence, but Jonty castigated Stevie for pulling away from the grieving mother of a school shooting victim who had been left with severe brain damage, and encouraged her to fill out an incident form. Later, Stevie suggested that Dylan temporarily step down as clinical lead to be able to support David Hide, who had been attacked by a mob for his son Ollie's participation in the school shooting; Dylan agreed but — to Stevie's chagrin — appointed Ethan to the role instead on the grounds of her outburst at Jonty. Stevie accused Jonty of "crying to" Dylan, but Jonty felt justified in reporting her and warned Stevie that he could give her an equally hard time. (CAS: "Blame Game")
Stevie visited a bench that was installed in Emma's memory to pay her respects on Emma's birthday, and she angrily turned Marcus away when he tried to sit; Marcus later approached Stevie wanting someone to talk to, but Stevie refused. After being called in on her day-off to lead the department in Ethan and Dylan's absence, Stevie struggled to remain composed and professional, and soon attracted the ire of Charlie Fairhead when she publicly accused a GP of misconduct for missing symptoms that led to a fatal car crash, and allowed the young driver to see her mother's body. Left with no other choice, Charlie made a complaint about Stevie's conduct, forcing Ethan to come in and take over. In the evening, Marcus found Stevie drunk at The Anchor and ushered her out. The pair opened up about their feelings of grief surrounding Emma, and they shared a passionate kiss. (CAS: "One In, One Out")
Stevie and Marcus pursued a relationship, but Stevie felt uncomfortable when Marcus called her "Emma" in bed, and decided to ghost him to put an end to it. However, Marcus had accepted a temporary job at the hospital as a management consultant. In resus, whilst Stevie was performing a fasciotomy on a patient, Jonty inserted an intubation tube down the patient's oesophagus, prompting Stevie to castigate Jonty and brand him "a liability". Jonty wished to lodge a formal complaint against Stevie for her conduct and explained to Marcus that working with Stevie was affecting his clinical performance, but Jonty took umbrage at Marcus suggesting an audit of his performance in every department and resigned. Stevie was shocked that Marcus would allow Jonty to resign on the spot, but she appreciated Marcus' defence of her and chose to continue the relationship. (CAS: "No Good Deed")
By September, Marcus' position in the ED was made permanent. Stevie believed that she was ready to assume the responsibilities of the clinical lead, but Marcus was openly sceptical. Stevie felt further undermined when Dylan took over the treatment of a patient named Laura Douglas in resus. Stevie voiced her frustration with Dylan to Marcus who, after witnessing Dylan berate a patient's mother for causing a scene in reception, came to Stevie's side and offered to facilitate Dylan's "slip and fall from the clinical ladder". However, having learnt that Laura was a friend of Dylan's and had died, Stevie was resistant to the idea and appreciated Dylan praising her work and putting his trust in her. (CAS: "Skin Deep") Marcus spoke to the board about Stevie's suitability for the role of clinical lead, and they agreed that she would make a good one. Stevie was already aware and resisted Marcus' attempts at seducing her, insisting that their relationship should remain outside their workplace. Following a difficult shift for Stevie, she accepted Marcus' offer of eating out. (CAS: "Derby Day")
In October, a drunk Jonty was admitted to the ED with a lacerated hand after trying to force his way into his estranged wife and son's home. Jonty refused to be treated by Stevie but told her mentee Paige Allcott about his family issues. Paige suggested that Jonty should be kept under observation to sober up and receive a mental health assessment, but Stevie insisted on freeing up the bed. Consequently, Jonty staggered onto a road and caused a multi-vehicle crash that also left him injured. Jonty scoffed at the idea that not working at the hospital would push him to attempting suicide, and one of the drivers admitted that they were distracted at the moment of the accident, but both Dylan and Marcus criticised Stevie for dismissing Paige's concerns about Jonty's mental health. Stevie apologised to Jonty for discharging him, but Jonty admitted that he deliberately stepped in front of the car on purpose and warned her that her colleagues would soon realise that she was not as good a doctor as she portrayed herself to be. (CAS: "Just Between Us")
In November, Stevie decided to contend for the Naylor Award which offered consultants additional clinical development, but Dylan refused to nominate her because of her supposed lack of people skills. In resus, a patient named Saul Williams tested HIV-positive, but he was hesitant to disclose his illness to his wife Mercy with whom he was trying to conceive. Stevie saw the situation as a safeguarding issue and decided to intentionally breach patient confidentiality and inform Mercy. Dylan warned Stevie that she would need to defend her job and felt that her actions validated his prior assessment of her. Despite Marcus feeling that it would not go as far as a GMC hearing, Stevie saw the situation as a sign that it was time for her to move on from Holby. However, after Stevie saved a young girl from choking, Marcus volunteered to put Stevie forward for the Naylor Award, remarking that Jac Naylor was not known for being a "people person" either. (CAS: "People Skills")
Assault[]
Stevie is left beaten in a corridor. (CAS: "Confidence and Paranoia")
On the day of the Naylor interviews, Stevie treated a woman named Flo who fell three metres after feeling ill. After Flo experienced a seizure, Stevie grew increasingly concerned about her boyfriend Jordan's controlling behaviour and privately asked Flo to tell her about the "natural stuff" Jordan had been giving her. Stevie identified the substance as PCP and wanted Jordan dealt with, but Flo feared the potential consequences and was uncooperative. After Stevie publicly stood up to Jordan in resus and having him removed, Jordan found Stevie in a corridor preparing for her interview and beat her up. Ethan found Stevie soon after and had her taken to resus. Moira Murphy, who was heading the Naylor interviews, decided to delay Stevie's interview until the following year, but Marcus convinced Moira and the committee to give Stevie a second chance. Stevie appreciated Marcus' gesture, and Marcus assured Stevie that he would not let anything happen to her again. (CAS: "Confidence and Paranoia")
Following the attack, Stevie unknowingly started exhibiting post-traumatic stress and was witnessed screaming in her sleep by Marcus. Marcus encouraged Stevie to take more time off work to recover, but Stevie clocked in regardless out of boredom and tried to maintain an unfazed exterior whilst treating patients and mentoring Paige. Despite her efforts, Stevie quietly sobbed in the toilets. Feeling as though she could not approach Stevie without being ridiculed or criticised, Paige attempted to sedate a patient named Chase by herself. When Chase went into respiratory arrest, Paige tried to resolve the situation without Stevie's help, but she ended up leaving Chase starved of oxygen for a prolonged period. After Paige was sent home by Dylan and informed that she would likely face a hearing with the General Medical Council, Stevie tried to offer Paige reassurance and support, but Paige accused Stevie of bullying her and blamed the mistake on her. (CAS: "Leap of Faith")
Marcus' coercive control[]
In the new year, on the way to a meeting with HR, Jonty photographed Stevie and Marcus kissing outside the hospital, and informed Stevie that he would make it known throughout the hospital that her career progression relied on sexual favours. Marcus tried to bribe Jonty with a job opportunity at St James' Hospital, but Jonty nevertheless made a public spectacle of Stevie in front of her colleagues and patients, and threatened to escalate to the wider medical community. After Stevie lambasted Marcus for failing to resolve the situation, the latter met with Jonty in an alley, and the two got into a physical fight which ended in Jonty being impaled on a screw. Stevie treated Jonty on arrival and successfully treated his tension pneumothorax. As repayment for Stevie saving his life, Jonty agreed to delete the photograph and acknowledged that Stevie's position was gained wholly through merit. At the end of the today, Stevie told Marcus that the situation had briefly caused her to doubt the validity of her own accomplishments and that their relationship was over. (CAS: "Fear Not")
Following their breakup, Marcus flooded Stevie's online profiles with fake negative reviews from previous patients accusing her of being rude to patients and breaching confidentiality. Stevie believed that it was Jonty holding a grudge, but Jonty had made one post acknowledging his behaviour before taking himself offline. After Faith pointed out that one of the reviews referenced a case Paige took on whilst shadowing Stevie, Stevie accused Paige of writing the reviews, but Paige denied the allegation and pointed out that they did not make her look good either. Stevie turned to Marcus for help with getting the reviews taken down, but Marcus was non-committal and suggested that she work towards generating more positive ones. (CAS: "Lost in Translation")
On the day of the Naylor Award interviews, Stevie took issue with Marcus continuing to persuade the panel to select her, fearing that it would make her victory feel hollow. In response, Marcus took the USB stick containing Stevie's presentation slides and assured her that she was able to perform without them. When the award was ultimately given to Ethan, Marcus offered his insincere commiserations and offered to take Stevie out to dinner. Stevie declined in favour of Faith's earlier offer of a girl's night out, prompting an angry Marcus to discard the USB stick. (CAS: "Fight or Flight")
Her poor performance in the Naylor Awards and the continuing barrage of scathing reviews took a toll of Stevie's confidence, resulting in her losing sleep and making clinical errors that she would usually deem elementary. Marcus grew weary of Stevie's dismissal of him and endeavoured to isolate her from Faith. Marcus tried to convince Faith to speak up about Stevie's recent clinical mistakes, but Faith — viewing Marcus' intentions as those of a bitter ex — insisted that there was no problem with Stevie.
However, in resus, Stevie and Faith came into conflict over their handling of Astrid Shelsby — the mother of a patient and rising YouTuber named Serena — who Stevie believed cared more about her daughter's physical appearance than her wellbeing. Serena's blood results led Stevie to believe that Astrid had been giving her daughter weight loss drugs, prompting her to make the accusation; it quickly transpired that Serena was taking the drugs behind her mother's back due to hateful comments from online trolls. Stevie apologised to Astrid for her assumptions, and the former and Faith were back on good terms. However, Marcus convinced Astrid to make a formal complaint about Stevie and suggested to Stevie that Faith was not backing her up. Stevie angrily accused Faith of throwing her under the bus and began listing Faith's history of what Stevie perceived as personal failings, from her relationship with Lev to her one-night stand with Angus Knockton. Hurt by Stevie's remarks, Faith told Stevie that she was sick of making excuses for her behaviour and that Stevie deserved whatever came of the complaint. With Faith no longer in the picture, Marcus assured Stevie, much to her appreciation, that he would do everything in his power to persuade Astrid to drop the complaint. (CAS: "I.O.U.")
Marcus urges a distraught Stevie to forget about Faith and "the others" because she still has him. (CAS: "Crash Landing")
Stevie started to avoid Faith and even asked Jacob Masters, the clinical nurse manager, to put the two of them on separate shifts. (CAS: "Running on Empty") Marcus continued to undermine Stevie, relegating her to minor injuries during the aftermath of a train derailment so she could "keep a low profile" around the increased press presence. Stevie tried to treat a man named Hazeem Khan who believed he was suffering from a broken rib, but Hazeem was insistent on being treated by a male doctor. Stevie acquiesced and refused Faith's help on multiple occasions. Hazeem went into cardiac arrest while waiting, and Stevie was forced to stop resuscitation when Hazeem's GP notes revealed that he had an abdominal aortic aneurysm that had most likely ruptured. In a meeting with Marcus, Faith blamed Stevie for Hazeem not receiving treatment and the aneurysm being missed. Stevie later blamed herself for Hazeem's death and felt that no one trusted her anymore. Marcus assured her that she was just going through a rough patch and urged her to forget about her friends and colleagues, for she still had him. The two shared a kiss. (CAS: "Crash Landing")
Marcus began to exert control over Stevie's appearance, from trying to control her diet to criticising her dress sense and making adjustments to her wardrobe. Before a shift in February, a woman named Eloise attempted to choke Marcus to death as revenge for his abuse. She tried to warn Stevie that Marcus was a pathological liar and "the Devil", but Stevie accepted Marcus' framing of Eloise as a crazed stalker who had deluded herself into believing they were engaged. Jacob, who knew Eloise from his abuse support group, recognised red flags in Marcus' mannerisms and invited Stevie out for a drink to casually make her aware of acts of coercive control. Stevie, however, insisted that Marcus was nothing like Jacob's abusive ex-partner Tina.
To further isolate Stevie, Marcus anonymously leaked a nude photograph of her to every person in her phone's contact list. Marcus blamed the incident on Stevie's poor cybersecurity and suggested that it was a waste of time informing the police, instead recommending that they change all of her passwords. After Jacob visited Eloise on the psychiatric ward, Stevie reluctantly agreed to speak to Eloise. Although initially sceptical of Eloise's story, Eloise's description of Marcus' micro-management of her appearance resonated with Stevie. A search through Marcus' computer revealed a photograph of him and Eloise together. After lacing Marcus' wine with a sedative, Stevie illicitly opened Marcus' phone and collected evidence of Marcus's engagement to Eloise and his leaking of the nude photograph.
Upon discovering that Stevie had drugged him, Marcus visited Eloise; the encounter was so traumatic for Eloise that she ran out of the ward and deliberately jumped in front of a car. She was admitted to the ED, but her injuries were fatal. Stevie accused Marcus of causing Eloise's death and distributing the photograph, and Marcus tacitly informed her that he had opened her locker and deleted all of the evidence from her phone. Stevie felt hopeless and responsible for Eloise's death, but finding Eloise's bracelet in her belongings inspired her to stand up to Marcus and vow to make him pay for what he had done. (CAS: "Not Important")
Stevie recounts Marcus' acts of coercive control to HR. (CAS: "Pushover")
Stevie reported Marcus' actions to the hospital, culminating in a HR hearing. Having been called in to give his version of events, Marcus threatened to inform HR of Stevie drugging him if they accepted her account. After Stevie gave her statement, HR decided that the evidence was not strong enough to fire Marcus. Furthermore, Marcus refused the opportunity to relocate or accept a more senior position elsewhere in the hospital. Upon finding out what happened, Faith immediately offered Stevie her support which the latter appreciated and accepted. In a move to force Marcus out of the hospital once and for all, Stevie employed the help of Faith and Stan McGinty — a patient of Stevie's who was also a cyber-analyst — to take Marcus' phone and extract its contents to use as evidence. Marcus fell for the ruse, and Stan copied the phone's contents onto a hard drive which Stevie decided to hold onto as a guarantee. Stevie told Marcus that she did not want to see his face around the hospital ever again. Happy that the plan had worked, Stevie and Faith reconciled. (CAS: "Pushover")
Following Marcus' resignation, Max Cristie — the emergency department's new clinical lead — informed Stevie that her morbidity and morality numbers were abnormally high, meaning that more patients died in her care than was usual. Stevie argued that it was a result of her proclivity for handling critical patients. However, after losing two patients who she felt could have been saved, Stevie wondered if Marcus' criticisms of her abilities were true. Her confidence was restored when she correctly diagnosed aspiration pneumonia in a patient. (CAS: "Screwdriver")
Faith's drug addiction[]
| “ | Faith Cadogan: Stevie, stop! You'll never work again, you realise that? Your career will be over. We'll never work again! Stop, stop! Please! OK. Please, I'll do anything you want. OK? I'll walk out, I'll go home right now! Please! Please, I'll get better! You're the only one who can help me get better! Please don't do this to me! Please, help me! You can- You said you loved me! Stevie: I do love you, Faith. I do. |
„ |
| — Stevie decides to report Faith for her sake. (CAS: "One Hundred Years") | ||
Over the course of 2022 and the beginning of 2023, Faith developed an addiction to diazepam (CAS: "Baby, I Don't Care") and started procuring tablets through patient prescriptions through the emergency department's pharmacy. To combat the theft, Max and the hospital's administration instituted a double-signing system. Stevie initially suspected that staff nurse Cam Mickelthwaite was the thief on account of the "permanently serene look on his face" but quickly ruled him out as she deemed him too incompetent. After finding that one of the boxes of diazepam Faith prescribed for a patient was missing a blister pack, Stevie forced Faith's locker open and found her cache of tablets. In an attempt to persuade Stevie not to report her to Max, Faith falsely told Stevie that she had ovarian cancer and was using diazepam to complement her prescribed painkillers. Stevie took sympathy and agreed to not report Faith as long as she stopped stealing and sought stronger painkillers from her oncologist. Furthermore, Stevie felt guilty for not noticing that something was wrong sooner and vowed to remain by Faith's side. (CAS: "Pull Together, Push Apart")
Stevie offered Faith with help with clinical matters, like attending oncology appointments and finding clinical trials, as well as domestic tasks such as taking care of her children. Faith was reluctant to accept, (CAS: "Too Young, Too Soon") but she acquiesced and allowed Stevie to help with chores, only complicating matters when her eldest daughter Natalia began asking questions. Faith was furious when Stevie accidentally let it slip to Natalia that she was undergoing treatment, and she insisted that "it was never meant to get this far", much to Stevie's confusion. Stevie subsequently found out that the oncologist Faith claimed to be seeing was on maternity leave and had not treated any patients in three months. (CAS: "The Ostrich Effect")
Stevie insists that she is reporting Faith's drug use and theft out of love for her friend. (CAS: "One Hundred Years")
Stevie concluded that Faith was still taking diazepam, and a conversation with paramedic and Faith's ex-boyfriend Iain Dean affirmed her fear that Faith was lying about having cancer to conceal an addiction. Immediately upon confrontation, Faith denied being an addict and threatened to sue Stevie for defamation. However, when Faith's inability to concentrate resulted in a series of nearly fatal errors, Stevie ordered Faith to leave resus. Faith desperately begged Stevie not to go to Max before threatening to end Stevie's career by bringing her decision to allow her to continue practising to light, but Stevie already felt at fault for what had happened and was willing to accept responsibility. However, Iain had already informed Max. (CAS: "One Hundred Years")
In spite of Iain's accusation, Faith remained in denial and failed to cooperate with the hospital and the Nursing and Midwifery Council, putting both her job and her nursing registration in jeopardy. Max implored Stevie to intervene, but she saw it as a futile effort and ignored Natalia's repeated calls to join the junior nurses for drinks at The Anchor. Natalia angrily confronted Stevie for abandoning her mother, so Stevie told her the truth. Stevie found Faith alone and reeling in her house. Faith finally admitted that she was an addict and begged for Stevie's help. (CAS: "Hard Pill")
Stevie honoured Faith's decision not to go to rehab and tried to gradually wean her off the diazepam whilst also trying to find her a union representative. Faith struggled with withdrawal symptoms and told Stevie that she had reduced the dose too quickly, but Stevie stood by her approach and encouraged Faith to focus on resting. Desperate, Faith contemplated stealing from an ambulance and then resorted to buying cut diazepam from her dealer. Faith suffered an overdose and was brought into the ED. Stevie realised that she was incapable of providing the help that Faith needed, leaving her with no other choice but to send Faith to rehab. (CAS: "Too Much, Too Young") Faith engaged with her programme and left after being clean for 42 days. (CAS: "Tinderbox")
Zero-tolerance policies[]
Waiting times in the emergency department worsened to the point that ambulances were regularly queueing outside. On a day which Clinical Nurse Manager Charlie Fairhead had described the queues as the "worst" he had seen in his multi-decade career, a woman named Irene McKenna suffered a fatal heart attack whilst waiting in an ambulance for treatment for a fractured femur. In a fit of rage, Irene's son Ray assaulted and tried to kill staff nurse Ryan Firth which left him with severe injuries. (CAS: "Tinderbox") When Ryan recovered and was discharged, he felt that he could no longer continue working in the department and resigned. Stevie felt responsible for what happened — she was Irene McKenna's doctor, and she believed that she should have been with Ryan when the attack occurred. Max informed Stevie that he was in renal failure and requested Stevie's help with formulating an effective security plan for the department.
Stevie devised zero-tolerance policies that Charlie saw as controversial but ultimately stood behind. (CAS: "Aftershock") The measures included mounting additional security cameras around the department and providing staff with body cameras, securing the queue at reception with physical barriers and having a police officer — Constable Harry Sinclair — stationed in the ED part-time. The paramedics took issue with Stevie's red-card system that immediately rejected violent patients lacking life- or limb-threatening injuries from the department, as it still put them at risk of harm. The system resulted in paramedics Jacob Masters and Sah Brockner being put in danger of attack from protesters for holding an asylum seeker who shared a name of a flagged patient. Stevie felt accountable for the errors and doubted her solutions, but Harry insisted that "blips" were inevitable and encouraged her to remember why she instituted the policies in the first place. (CAS: "Barriers")
On the day of Irene's funeral, Ray was allowed out of custody to attend, but he absconded. Having been threatened by Ray after he attacked Ryan, Stevie requested that she go home for the rest of the day, but she quickly became sidetracked handling a male rape victim's case and changed her mind. Ray approached Stevie in the women's toilets urging her to defend him to the police and accusing her of provoking him by not prioritising Irene. Before Ray was swiftly restrained and rearrested, Stevie defended her actions and branded his assault on Ryan as unforgivable and something that he should live with the consequences of.
To concentrate on his health, Max temporarily stepped down as the clinical lead and put Stevie forward as his most suitable replacement, praising her clinical skills and her leadership in making the department a safer place to work. Stevie accepted the position, promising not to let Max down. (CAS: "Red Flags") Stevie immediately came into conflict with a rehabilitated Faith who took issue with Stevie's zero-tolerance policies. After Faith was struck by a drunk Matt Halliwell, Stevie insisted that Faith submit a statement to the police. However, Faith did not feel comfortable jeopardising Matt's upcoming career as a lawyer and refused. Stevie asked what Faith could not back her on zero tolerance, claiming that everything she was doing was for her, but Faith was beginning to think that Stevie's motivations were wholly self-serving. (CAS: "Liability")
The department was tested when a fight broke out at a wedding, resulting in the belligerents and the guests all coming in. Stevie treated Nikhil Kapoor, the groom who had suffered a blow to the face, without any issues. However, Nikhil's wife Neha grew impatient waiting in reception and confronted Stevie, culminating in Neha attempting to hit Stevie and the former being ordered out of the department along with Nikhil who had been waiting for his head CT results. Stevie tried to get Nikhil to return after his results revealed an extradural haemorrhage, but he collapsed at the wedding venue and later succumbed to his condition. Charlie felt that Stevie could have waited to review the CT results, Stevie and Harry argued that there was nothing that she could have done differently. (CAS: "Willing and Able") In spite of the backlash Stevie received online, the hospital board chose to back her, and the case was not escalated to the Coroner's Court, but she was required by the Trust to attend a conflict resolution course.
Stevie treated a Northern Irish stabbing victim named Adam King. Stevie very quickly got along with Adam who was injured whilst helping an elderly woman, and praised his actions as heroic; her goodwill instantly evaporated upon discovering that Adam was a former member of the Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist group that took part in the Troubles. Adam expressed his disgust at his past behaviour, but Stevie steadfastly refused to offer any sympathy. Stevie subsequently broke down and, on Faith's suggestion, contemplated seeking help from staff welfare but decided not to follow through. (CAS: "Last Words") At home, Stevie continued to struggle with post-traumatic stress and nightmares. (CAS: "Haunted")
Involvement with the Sinclairs and crisis of confidence[]
One day, Stevie treated a patient named Mel with a cracked rib and and several historical injuries. Despite Mel's insistence otherwise, Stevie believed that her injuries were the result of physical abuse — a belief that was unwavering upon the discovery that Harry was Mel's husband. However, witnessing Mel and Harry trying to calm their physically strong, developmentally disabled son Lloyd changed Stevie's mind. Stevie persuaded Mel and a reluctant Harry to have Lloyd taken into temporary respite care so she could recover from her injuries. Charlie Fairhead — an old friend of Mel and Harry — felt that the situation could have been better if he had been involved, but Stevie stood by her decisions. (CAS: "Liability") Harry was unhappy with the arrangement and rebuffed Stevie's attempts at getting him to see the bright side. (CAS: "Take the Strain")
Some time later, Mel was readmitted with injuries sustained falling through the hatch of their loft. Stevie had suspicions about Harry and Mel's relationship, but Charlie felt that she was looking too deeply into it. However, after a small bleed on her brain triggered a seizure, Mel admitted feeling scared to Stevie, but her confession was immediately interrupted by Harry's sudden return, and Mel requested another doctor. Whilst Charlie maintained that Harry was a good man, Siobhan McKenzie — the department's new clinical nurse manager — took Stevie's stance seriously and was alarmed by Harry criticising Stevie's leadership.
Harry arrests Stevie for inflicting grievous bodily harm on Scott Baker. (CAS: "Haunted")
Whilst trying to treat a young assault victim, Stevie's PTSD was triggered by the shouting and bashing coming from Scott Baker — a patient with schizoaffective disorder who was refusing help from Cam Mickelthwaite. In the heat of the moment, Stevie sedated Scott with midazolam meant for Theo, knocking him out for a prolonged period of time. When Cam later claimed to have not felt threatened by Scott's behaviour, Harry arrested Stevie for inflicting grievous bodily harm and marched her out of the ED in handcuffs. (CAS: "Haunted") Although she was released from custody, the hospital put Stevie on gardening leave until the Crown Prosecution Service had decided whether or not to charge her.
When treating Harry for an old, infected wound, Charlie found a fragment of one of Mel's teeth in his wound and reported him to the police, resulting in his arrest for domestic abuse. Later, he visited Stevie, who had been crying alone in her flat, to apprise her of the development and thank her for looking after Mel. (CAS: "Easy Way Out") The decision was made not to charge Stevie. In a preliminary meeting with hospital management, Stevie condemned her sedation of Scott but requested that she be allowed to continue working whilst any further investigations were carried out. Although not formally cleared, Stevie's services were required in the ED in the aftermath of a major road accident, but she quickly found herself struggling again. Confiding in Faith, Stevie admitted to experiencing traumatic flashbacks ever since Ryan's attack. She found little solace in the subsequent news that the investigation into her conduct had concluded in her favour, no longer feeling like the doctor she once was anyway.
Stevie and Faith discovered Charlie stabbed in a corridor. (CAS: "Trauma") In resus, Stevie felt helpless when her suggested course of treatment was rebuffed by locum Zoe Hanna and indirectly by Dylan, reinforcing her feelings of being a liability. However, faced with no other choice, Stevie — for Charlie's sake — agreed to serve as a HEMS doctor at a crash involving Mel Sinclair who was fleeing from Harry, where she fearfully completed a cricothyroidotomy with support and assurance from Iain and Jacob. Upon her return to the hospital, Stevie decided that she was done being a doctor and prepared to walk out, but she immediately jumped into action when Charlie started bleeding into his chest, and relieved the tension haemothorax. Charlie pulled through and decided to retire from nursing. Stevie was devastated and not ready for him to go, but Charlie urged her not to give up and entrusted the stability of the ED to her. (CAS: "Charlie")
Exposing Patrick Onley[]
In the wake of Max Cristie and Charlie Fairhead's departures, Patrick Onley was appointed the ED's new clinical lead. (CAS: "System Failure") He quickly came into confront with Dylan who eventually went on leave amidst a succession of unusual patient deaths. (CAS: "Earn Your Stripes", "Childhood's End") Stevie heeded Faith's concerns about Dylan following a week of reclusion and visited him on his houseboat. Shaken by Patrick's suggestion that he was on the autism spectrum, Dylan believed that he had become unsafe and was relying on "muscle memory" to treat and diagnose patients, but Stevie countered that he was one of the most focused people she knew, and whatever traits he possessed that could have been indicative of autism were what made him "a frustratingly amazing doctor". Stevie promptly volunteered to go through the cases with him to make sure he had not missed anything. (CAS: "Into the Fire")
Following the broadcast of a television exposé that featured leaked footage from the ED staff's body cameras, Dylan suspected that Patrick administered the penicillin that caused Samantha Hardy to suffer a fatal allergic reaction. Stevie, meanwhile, believed that the video evidence of Patrick interacting with Samantha was inconclusive, and could not back up the accusation of clinical negligence Dylan later levelled at Patrick. However, after learning that Patrick had been giving the department's junior doctors abnormally high levels of clinical responsibility, Stevie concurred with Dylan's assessment of Patrick as a dangerous doctor, and the pair agreed to work together to expose Patrick. (CAS: "The Whistleblower")
Stevie and Dylan struggled to find incriminating evidence against Patrick, so they decided to intervene whenever Patrick stepped in with a patient. Stevie was sure that Patrick was responsible for her patient inexplicably deteriorating, but she once again lacked hard evidence of foul play, so she and Dylan planned to widen their search and ask their colleagues if they had noticed Patrick acting suspiciously. However, Patrick — having been informed by a close former colleague that Stevie and Dylan had been running background checks on him to potentially damage his reputation — threatened to report the two consultants to board chairman Piers Cooper if they continued with their investigation. (CAS: "The Longest Shift")
The hospital's Datix system reported a 25% increase in serious patient incidents, leaving the department facing the possibility of a board-helmed critical review. Stevie and Dylan believed that Patrick's substandard practice was the root cause, so the pair concocted a plan to gain access to the relevant data and prove that the incidents predominantly occurred during Patrick's shifts, with Stevie agreeing to cover Dylan on the floor whilst the latter illicitly obtained the incident reports from Patrick's computer. The data showed a correlation between Patrick's shifts and the incidents which Patrick briefly accepted and took responsibility for, admitting that he needed to take a back seat. (CAS: "Red Handed") However, an investigation was subsequently launched after Patrick walked back on his admission and almost fatally botched a chest drain insertion. To Stevie and Dylan's horror, Patrick was allowed to continue working until the investigation had been concluded, although Patrick had accepted an offer to help develop a major trauma centre in Edinburgh and claimed to have returned solely for his exit interview. Patrick later left the department. (CAS: "The Last Post")
Affair with Rich Walker[]
In the eight weeks following Patrick's resignation, Siobhan McKenzie was appointed the emergency department's new clinical lead. Whilst on a HEMS shift, Stevie met and worked with firefighter Rich Walker (CAS: "Sinking Ships - Day One") who was Siobhan's husband. (CAS: "Sinking Ships - Day Two") The pair established a rapport treating and rescuing an impalement victim in the midst of a violent storm. After giving Rich her phone number, Stevie noticed that Rich was wearing a wedding ring; he claimed that it was "complicated". (CAS: "Sinking Ships - Day One") Upset by Rich's "baggage", Stevie ignored his texts. Siobhan — unaware of his identity — encouraged Stevie to call Rich back, citing the fragility of life, (CAS: "Sinking Ships - Day Two") and later to have a drink with him. Stevie was extremely unsure about meeting up with Rich, but witnessing a relationship end in tragedy influenced her to join Rich at a cocktail bar where the two shared a kiss. (CAS: "After the Flood")
Stevie and Rich soon started a relationship. Wanting to be with Stevie but not wanting to continue deceiving Siobhan, Rich expressed his intention to ask for a divorce. Stevie was open to the idea and argued to Faith that Rich was married to the wrong person, but upon discovering that Rich was Siobhan's husband, she was nauseous with guilt and vowed to end the affair immediately. Stevie lambasted Rich for failing to disclose who his wife was and declared their relationship over, despite Rich's repeated professions of affection for her. (CAS: "Duped") Stevie briefly considered meeting up with Rich again, but her guilt of going behind Siobhan's back spurred her to delete Rich's phone number. (CAS: "Man's Best Friend")
When Rich was admitted to the ED with an injury, Faith accidentally left it slip to Rich that Stevie was upset with the situation involving the pair of them and Siobhan, (CAS: "All for Love") inspiring Rich to inform Siobhan that he wanted to separate and pursue a relationship with Stevie. Stevie rejected him once again, whilst a devastated Siobhan was keen to salvage her marriage and knew in her heart that Rich had been having an affair. (CAS: "Downfall") After receiving a text from Rich implying that he was contemplating self harm in her absence, Stevie accused Rich of attempting to manipulate her and, despite Rich's declaration of love, maintained that she could not be in a relationship at Siobhan's expense. (CAS: "Absolution")
After discovering a receipt from the bar for two different drinks (CAS: "The Right Amount") and receiving a text from Rich meant for another woman, Siobhan concluded that Rich was having an affair with his younger colleague Brooke who had been taken into the ED by Rich with an injured leg. Stevie intervened before Siobhan could initiate a confrontation and admitted that she was the one Rich was having an affair with, leaving Siobhan feeling betrayed by both her husband and her friend. (CAS: "The Truth Will Set You Free") Despite Stevie's repeated apologies and affirmations that she ended the affair as soon as she found out who Rich was, Siobhan stated that she no longer considered Stevie a friend. (CAS: "Freedom")
Behind the scenes[]
Elinor Lawless has portrayed Stevie in Casualty since August 2021.
References[]
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