Gene swerved and fired his gun. A loud bang that seemed to go on forever, loud and long.
And in that moment I was falling.
Gene didn't seem to move, shock had taken him over. "Bolly." At the best of times I couldn't read Gene Hunt, let alone now. Was he still angry with me? Did he still believe I was bent? Why wasn't he holding me like he had done with the others?
I didn't mean to do it. I moved out the way- Bolly shouldn't have been caught, Jenette managed to escape. It wasn't an act of revenge, spite, I couldn't do that. Not to Alex. Not to my Bollyknickers.
I couldn't move. I wanted to reach down, hold her, comfort her, and tell her everything would be all right. Apologise. I wanted to apologise. I wanted to bring her back, I wanted to ease her breathing, I wanted her to be OK. I wanted to re-do the past twelve hours so that she knew I believed her. Bloody women.
Somehow I'd managed to distance myself away from the pain in my left side. It didn't hurt anymore- but I felt odd. Like, a floating sensation. Everything was fading away, except Gene. I focused on Gene, my constant, my life-line. Ray turned up, and turned pale as he saw me. Then Shaz and Chris. Shaz seemed to blame Gene. I didn't know if I should. But all the time my eyes were on Gene, the life-line. It was strange. I'd been fighting for so long…to…to get back to Mols. And now…maybe I didn't want to leave…Myabe normality wasn't where I belonged after all...Molly, or Gene?
She was looking at me straight in the eyes. The spark that had always been there was slowly dying away, like the flame in the vault, but I couldn't move to help. Then emotion swept over me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a bloody poof, but I felt it in my eyes. The only part of my body that never seemed to work- I couldn't start bloody crying here.
Ray arrived. Shaz arrived. Chris arrived. I didn't care. Alex wouldn't be here much longer, I needed to focus on her. Shaz was looking at me, I could tell from the corner of my eye. Disgust. How the hell was I going to explain this? I didn't mean for it to happen…
But I could not break down here. I blinked away the small droplets of water, and broke a weak smile towards Alex. Her lips opened, as if she were trying to speak. But no. The spark died before her words had formed. My Bolly. Gone. And it was my fault…Things could never be normal again...