Saviours – Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I am not connected to Emmerdale and its characters, which belong to ITV

Chas was worried. Something had been going on at Dale Head, but Aaron was being his usual secretive self. She knew it must be big; as the bigger the problem, the more uncommunicative Aaron became. Of course, she could never have known just how huge the deal was; Aaron had entered into a pact with Jackson and Hazel to help Jackson end his life.

Paddy was surprised to see Chas turn up, unannounced, at Smithy Cottage. He could tell that she was troubled and knew that Aaron must be at the heart of it. "What's wrong?" he asked, guessing what the answer would be.

"It's Aaron," Chas looked really shaken, "I've just seen him run down the street like the devil himself was chasing him! I'm sure he was crying! What's going on, Paddy?"

"Don't ask me! You know as well as I do that Aaron doesn't talk to anyone! I've had a feeling that something's wrong, but it's no good asking him anything; you know that!"

"I'm fed up with this!" Chas suddenly turned angry, "I'm going down to Dale Head to get some answers!"

"I'll come with you."

Before they even left Smithy Cottage, they heard the sound of a siren outside and went to the door to see what was happening. An ambulance flew down the road and pulled up outside Dale Head. They hurried down towards the scene just in time to see Jackson being stretchered out to the ambulance, accompanied by a distraught looking Hazel.

"What's happened?" asked Paddy as he approached.

Hazel looked at him; she was as white as a sheet and looked as if she had been crying for hours, "He's had a bad turn, that's all," she said, defensively, "I've got to go, sorry!"

Paddy and Chas watched her climb into the ambulance with her son and the vehicle raced off towards Hotten.

"Well," said Chas, "I'm off to try to find Aaron..."

"No need," Paddy interjected, pointing up the road to where Aaron and Adam were walking towards them. Chas ran to intercept them; and could see that Aaron looked very upset.

"What's wrong?" Chas asked.

Aaron brushed past his mother without saying anything and headed for Smithy Cottage.

"Aaron!" Chas bellowed at the top of her voice.

"He's really upset!" Adam stated the obvious.

"Do you know what's the matter with him?" asked Paddy.

"I don't know if I should say this," Adam looked unsure of himself, "but he's blaming himself over Jackson."

"Blaming himself for what?" Chas was confused.

"For killing him!" Adam wondered if he had said too much.

"What?" exclaimed both Paddy and Chas together.

"Jackson's not dead!" Paddy said in a concerned tone, "He's just gone off in an ambulance; why is Aaron saying that?"

"Search me!" Adam shrugged, "You'd better ask him."

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Back in Smithy Cottage, Paddy and Chas tried to coax Aaron out of his room. They cajoled, they pleaded and finally, after about half an hour, a distressed looking Aaron emerged and sat at the kitchen table.

"Well," Paddy said quietly, "are you going to tell us what's going on?"

"Jackson's dead!" Aaron's tears threatened to fall again, "I killed him!" Aaron put his hands in front of his face and let out a sob.

"But Jackson's not dead!" Chas tried to reason with her son, "We saw him going off to hospital with Hazel, just before you appeared with Adam."

Aaron looked at Chas in disbelief, "Hospital?" he said, as if he had never heard of one before.

"Yes," confirmed Paddy, "he looked in a bad way; but he was still alive!"

"I've got to go there! I've got to see if he's alright!" Aaron jumped up and made for the front door.

"Hold on!" Paddy followed him, "I'll take you."

The three of them arrived at the hospital and made their way to the visitors' area where a worried Hazel was sitting. She looked tired and drawn, as if she had not had a good night's sleep in a very long time.

"How is he?" asked Paddy as they approached.

Hazel looked up, her expression betrayed the fact that she had been deep in thought and had been interrupted, "What? Oh, hello! He's being taken care of, they told me to wait here." Hazel shot a glance at Aaron and a wordless communication passed between them.

"Did he take a turn for the worse?" asked a concerned Chas.

"We'll know more when they come out again," Hazel was being non-committal.

Paddy and Chas decided to get drinks from a machine; they offered to get Aaron and Hazel some liquid refreshment but both refused. After they left, Aaron sat down next to Hazel and spoke to her, "I'm sorry I legged it! What happened?"

"It's OK, I don't blame you. That was a very brave thing you did; giving him the drink. I let him down." Hazel looked close to tears.

"I'm not brave! But, I don't understand," Aaron was still confused by what had happened; "I thought I'd killed him! But he's still alive; was he wrong in thinking that the drugs would do the trick?"

"I don't know. Just after you ran off, he was sick; brought it all back up again. I dread to think what the doctors will say when they examine him. They'll know we gave him the drugs."

Aaron turned pale, "So, I'll be done for attempted murder!"

"No, it was assisted suicide; at least, it would have been! Anyway, I'll say it was me that gave him the drink."

"But, Jackson will probably remember what happened! Supposing he tells the police that I gave it to him?"

"We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. I don't think he'll say too much about it; not after keeping it a secret all this time."

"But it's no secret now is it? Everyone will be asking questions; what are we going to tell them? I've already said that I thought I'd killed him! How am I going to explain that?"

"Don't worry, we'll say we made a mix-up with his medication and he had an overdose."

"Sounds like you've thought about it, long and hard," Aaron was a little relieved that Hazel was holding things together, for both their sakes.

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Aaron entered Dale Head with mixed feelings. Jackson was back in his bed and still disappointed that his plan had come to nothing. Aaron was pleased that Jackson was still alive to tell the tale; but he was sad that Jackson still wanted to die. The fact that the police had bought their story about the mix-up in the medication was scant consolation.

"How are you feeling?" asked Aaron as he approached the bed.

"How do you think?" Jackson sniped back.

"Sorry! Just asking!" Aaron did not know why he was apologising; just for enquiring about his boyfriend's welfare.

"No, I'm sorry!" Jackson suddenly realised he was being too harsh, "You've done nothing but support me. You've done everything I asked of you."

"Well, at least you're still here. I know it's not what you wanted, but I'm glad I've still got you here to talk to."

"I should have realised I'd throw up after taking that stuff! I've looked online; apparently they give you another drink beforehand when they do it at the clinic in Switzerland, so that you can keep the poison down."

"Are you still going on about topping yourself?" Aaron turned angry, "It didn't work; get over it!"

"Aaron, this changes nothing! I'll just need to be a bit more thorough next time!"

"Next time?" Aaron looked at Jackson in amazement, "How can there be a next time? They insisted that Joe returned to be your carer after what happened; you won't be able to try it again with him watching you like a hawk! Anyway, I'm not going through all that again; and your Mum bottled it last time; she won't be able to help you; so you're stuffed mate!"

"But Aaron, please! You know I can't live like this!" Jackson looked close to tears, "You loved me enough to help me the last time; and I'm truly grateful for what you did for me. Why won't you help me this time?"

"I can't do it Jackson! Do you have any idea how I felt, thinking I had killed you? Now I've been through it once, I know I can never do it again; not ever!"

"If you won't help, then I'll have to find another way," Jackson looked at Aaron, hoping that he could get him to comply with his wishes; but the anger and hurt in Aaron's eyes was clear to see.

"I can't be doing with this!" Aaron scowled and headed for the door, "If you won't give life another chance...for my sake, then I'm out of here!"

Jackson grimaced as the door slammed. He called Aaron's name, but knew that his attempts to call his boyfriend back were futile.

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Aaron was in turmoil. He loved Jackson, but his boyfriend was refusing, point blank, to meet him half way. He believed that, if only Jackson would give it time, he might feel differently about life. Aaron threw himself into his work at the garage; determined to keep his mind occupied with other things. But, in his quieter moments, thoughts of Jackson still seeped back into his mind like a relentless tide lapping at the shore.

Jackson tried time and time again to call Aaron on his mobile; but it was obvious that the young mechanic did not want to answer. He did not blame him; he had obviously pushed him past his limit. But he had still not given up on trying to make Aaron see things from his point of view. He decided that he would go and see Aaron at the garage next door and asked Joe to put him in his wheelchair so that he could pay his boyfriend a visit. Joe offered to accompany him, but Jackson insisted on going by himself.

Aaron had just jumped into a van to move it out of the way, off the forecourt. He reversed towards the road, but slammed the brakes on when he felt a thud as he hit something behind him. Jumping out of the cab, he was not prepared for the sight before him; Jackson's wheelchair was over on its side with Jackson still in it!

"Jackson! Oh my God!" Aaron screamed in sheer terror as he rushed to his boyfriend's aid. Jackson was lying unconscious; still strapped into his overturned chair. Aaron immediately pulled out his phone to call an ambulance. He sank to his knees and stroked Jackson's face, "Jackson, can you hear me? I'm so sorry! What have I done?"

The tears rolled down his face as he prayed that his beloved Jackson would be alright...