One
"Girl, you got me trippin' on sunshine..."
- 'Runnin' On Sunshine' by Jesus Jackson
It was with an unusual amount of cheer that a jovial Harry Cunningham walked across the sunny car park and entered the Lyell Centre on Monday morning. He'd had a good weekend, relatively speaking. Sunday night was a bit of a blur as he'd gone out drinking with Nikki, and he'd woken up earlier that morning with a headache to end all headaches, but once the paracetemol had kicked in he'd found himself smiling. For the first time in months, since he'd returned from Hungary, a whole weekend had passed where he hadn't woken in the early hours of the morning from a nightmare covered in a sheen of sweat. Three nights of uninterrupted sleep might not seem like a big deal to a lot of people, but to Harry it meant that he was finally ready to move on from what had happened. There was a part of him that would never forget those horrific few days, he knew that, but maybe he could now put it behind him and get on with his life again.
Pulling himself from his thoughts, he buzzed himself in through the large glass doors and looked around. Leo was sat in his office, engrossed in some tedious-looking document, but Nikki was nowhere to be seen. Sticking his head around the door of Leo's office, Harry said, "Where's Nikki?"
Leo looked up and raised his eyebrows slightly. "Good morning, Leo, how are you today? I'm fine, Harry, thanks for asking," he mocked.
"Sorry. Morning, Leo," Harry grinned.
"That's better," Leo smiled, returning his attention to his report.
Harry waited a moment, but when Leo didn't say anything he asked again, "So, where's Nikki?"
"She's not in yet," Leo informed him. "Makes a change, it's normally you that's late."
"We went out for a drink last night, she's probably hungover," Harry mused.
Leo tutted. "On a school night?"
"Well, I was on call on Friday and she was on call on Saturday, so last night was the only night we both had free," he explained, slightly defensively.
"If you say so. Have you finished the Gillespie report yet?"
"In a word ... no," Harry admitted.
Leo sighed and looked up at him reproachfully.
"But, I am planning on going to my desk and doing it now," he added quickly. "You'll have it by the end of the day."
"I should hope so," Leo smiled. "Go on then, get on with it."
Harry mock saluted his boss before retreating to his desk. He sank into his chair with a sigh; he hadn't really intended to spend all morning doing paperwork. Deciding that the quicker he got on with it, the quicker he could get out on a case, Harry switched on his computer and pulled his notes on Gillespie towards him.
Half an hour later and Nikki finally arrived. Harry couldn't help but smirk as he noticed the coffee in her hand and her sunglasses on her eyes. He sniggered as she sat down at her desk opposite him, dumping her bag on the floor and removing the sunglasses.
"Don't you dare say anything," she muttered, placing a hand on her forehead and groaning.
Getting to his feet, Harry walked over and stood beside her before saying, loudly, "Good morning, Doctor Alexander. You're late."
"Go away, Harry," she moaned, swatting his stomach with her hand. "I blame you entirely for this."
Harry sat back down at his desk. "Hey, you're the one who kept ordering more drinks."
"Well, you were supposed to be the responsible friend and tell me when to stop," she complained.
"Now where's the fun in that?" he winked.
"You're insufferable," she groaned. Harry laughed slightly before continuing with his report.
The day passed just like any other; most of the morning spent doing paperwork, and the afternoon completing a post-mortem on a middle-aged man who appeared to have died of a heart attack. Seven o'clock finally rolled around and both Harry and Nikki were shrugging on jackets getting ready to leave when his phone rang.
"That had better not be a dead person," Harry grumbled, picking up the receiver as Nikki giggled. He sighed as a voice on the other end of the line told him that there had been a car accident and he was needed.
"What is it?" Nikki asked as he swapped his briefcase for his silver field kit, knowing that he wasn't going home anytime soon.
"A car wrapped around a tree in Hampstead Heath," he sighed. "I knew it was too good to be true that I'd actually get out of here on time for once."
"Do you want me to come?" Nikki offered.
Harry narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't you have one of your hot dates tonight? An unsuitable man just waiting to flatter you into bed?"
She threw him a withering look but he could see her trying not to smile.
"No, I'm all yours," she told him.
He mock winked. "Well now, there's an offer."
"Shut up, Harry. Do you want me to come or not?"
"All right then," he said, somewhat pleased that she was going to be there. "I'll drive."
It didn't take them long to reach the scene. The late summer sun faded and darkness descended rapidly as they drove along one of the many small roads that ran through Hampstead Heath. The trees on either side of them grew more and more dense as they approached the crime scene. Up ahead Harry could see a police cordon, with traffic being directed around it. He slowed to a halt at the side of the road and he and Nikki climbed out of the car. They both stood behind the open boot and pulled on white coveralls, before grabbing their cases and walking purposefully over to where a female, plain-clothed police officer was waiting for them.
"Doctor Cunningham, I presume?" she said as they approached. She looked about forty, Harry guessed. Her curly brown hair was scraped back into a neat bun on the back of her head, whilst her grey suit and fitted jacket immediately gave her the air of a professional.
"Yes. This is Doctor Alexander, my colleague," he said, introducing Nikki as he held up the police tape and they ducked underneath it.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Detective Inspector Mary Parks."
Harry and Nikki trailed along after Parks as she led them through the trees. Harry could see tyre skid marks amongst the leaves and couldn't help but wonder how the car managed to get through without crashing sooner. It couldn't have been an easy feat. Eventually they emerged into a clearing, the leaf-strewn floor lit by floodlights. Below them was a small yet steep slope before the ground evened out again. The area was swarming with police officers, paramedics and fire crew, and on the far side, its bonnet crumpled around the huge trunk of a tree, was a small, red Volvo.
Harry half-slipped, half-jogged down the slope, holding out his hand to Nikki when he got to the bottom. "I'm not an invalid," she scolded, but she took it anyway as she also slid towards him.
"It probably would have been funnier watching you fall over, I agree," he quipped.
"You're such a child," she said as they walked quickly to catch up with Parks.
"You love it," Harry winked, before turning his attention to the car.
The bonnet was completely crushed and still smoking slightly, although there didn't appear to be any fire damage. Both of the front doors had been removed, presumably to give the emergency services better access to the victim. Slumped in the passenger seat was the body of a female, her light brown hair falling in front of her face and matted with blood. As they approached the car, Nikki asked, "Do you know who she is?"
Parks nodded. "Her purse was in the car. Her name's Kate Starling. She's thirty years old according to her driving license. I'll run her through the system when I get back to the station."
Harry leant into the car as far as he could and looked into Kate Starling's face. Her bright blue eyes were wide and glassy. There was a large cut across her hairline which had dribbled blood down her right cheek.
"How did you know she was here?" Harry asked over his shoulder.
"We had a call an hour ago. There was a driver coming in the opposite direction who claims that Mary had lost control of her car and swerved through the trees. He called us," Parks informed them.
Harry nodded, pulling back and straightening up. He let Nikki slip past him to take a look while he turned to Parks and said, "Besides a few obvious lacerations, I'm guessing the majority of her injuries were internal. I'll be able to tell you more once we get her back to the lab."
Sighing, Parks said, "I'll go and tell my guys."
Harry turned back to Nikki, with the intention of asking her if she was done, when something caught his eye. In the back of the car was a child's booster seat. Hanging across one side of it was a blanket, with a distinct red stain on it. Frowning, he crossed to the other side of the car and peered over the shoulder of the passenger seat.
"Harry? What-?" Nikki began, but he ignored her and stepped back from the vehicle, turning slowly on the spot and observing his surroundings. There were just trees, in every direction. Darkness and trees. Crossing to the perimeter of the crime scene, he walked slowly along the length of the tape. That was when he heard it. It took him a few moments to work out what the familiar sound was; tinny, repetitive, polyphonic music. Ducking under the tape, he headed in the direction of the noise. Up ahead was a huge oak tree, and it didn't take Harry long to work out that it was the source of the music.
An eerie glow was emanating from the hollow trunk on the other side of the tree. Carefully, Harry walked closer. "Hello?" he asked the thin air, feeling rather foolish. "Is anyone there?"
Immediately, the music stopped. There was a snapping sound and the light also went out, confirming Harry's suspicions.
"It's okay. I'm a ... doctor." By now he was only three feet from the tree. In just two steps he was standing in front of it. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but, as he crouched down, he could clearly see the outline of a young boy hiding in the hollowed-out trunk, a Nintendo DS console clutched in his small hand. He couldn't have been more than about eight years old, and looked terrified.
"Hi," Harry said with a smile. "What's your name then?"
The boy didn't answer, merely watched Harry with wide, frightened eyes.
"It's all right, I'm not going to hurt you," he added kindly, but the boy shook his head firmly. Harry looked up just in time to see Nikki approaching them, a curious expression on her face, but he stopped her with a meaningful glare.
"That's a really cool games console," he said, turning his attention back to the child. "What colour is it? It's a bit tricky to see in the dark. Red?"
The boy slowly nodded, which Harry found encouraging. As he moved, the little light that there was left illuminated a deep gash on the child's bare forearm.
"Why don't you come out of there?" Harry asked softly. "Let me take a look at that arm?"
Immediately, he scampered back further into the tree, shaking with fear.
"Okay, okay!" Harry said quickly, holding out his hands. "We'll just stay here until you're ready then."
There was silence for a moment. Harry could see Nikki watching them, looking troubled now that she'd worked out what was happening.
"My name's Harry, by the way," Harry smiled.
The boy did nothing but look at Harry for a moment, obviously debating whether or not he should tell him.
"I'm John," he said eventually, his voice quiet and small.
They were the first words he'd spoken, and Harry finally felt like he was getting somewhere. He grinned. "John. That's a good name. How old are you?"
"Six and three-quarters," he whispered.
Harry mock gasped. "So you're nearly seven! Wow!"
John just nodded, tears sparkling in his eyes, and Harry said gently, "What happened, John?" The little boy did nothing but shake his head vehemently, biting his lip. "There was an accident, wasn't there?"
Harry couldn't even begin to imagine how this young child must be feeling. He'd gone through the trauma of being in a car accident, watched his mother die, and then hidden inside a hollow tree for over an hour trying to block it all out. Still John refused to speak, and Harry could see tears sliding down his pale cheeks.
"I know you're scared," he said, gazing at the young boy imploringly. "I know you just want to hide in here forever, because in here nothing is real whereas out there everyone is going to want to ask you questions and take you to places you don't know, but you need to come out. Something very, very bad has happened, and I know you're upset and I know you don't think you can do this, but you can. It's horrible, what you've been through, but you're hurt and there are people who want to look after you."
"No there aren't," John whispered suddenly, desperately looking at Harry. "It was just me and my mum. No one else."
It was all Harry could do not to cry himself. He caught Nikki's eye and could see silent tears pouring down her cheeks.
"I want to look after you, and I know some very nice people who will make sure that you're okay," he assured John. He outstretched his hand. "Come on."
John looked at Harry's hand warily for a moment, until eventually he grasped it with his own tiny fingers. Smiling reassuringly, Harry got to his feet as John left the hole in the tree; neither relinquished their grip on the other's hand. They began to walk in Nikki's direction, when a jolt on Harry's arm made him realise that John had stopped moving.
Upon Harry's questioning look, John muttered, "I'm scared."
Swallowing the lump in his throat, Harry squeezed the boy's hand and said quietly, "Don't be."
Yes, that's right. A new multi-chap. I know this first chapter was really boring, but this story's going to have a structured plot and I wanted to get it going straight away. I've also got a mountain of deadlines at college at the moment, but as of the start of the holidays next week I will have a lot more time to write this. So please, hang in there. :)
Oh, and there will - of course - be Harry/Nikki down the line somewhere. As if there wouldn't be. *Rolls eyes*
Let me know what you think so far!
Charlotte
xxx