Gene sat on the hard, plastic seat and watched her. If he tilted his head it looked like she was sleeping. It had been weeks since he saw her move, and it was beginning to get to him. Three years ago, he'd have been quite happy about this, but now he'd give anything to see her move even if it meant her fist swinging into his face. The lifelessness was what was killing him. Even a twitch would do just to break the monotonous nothing.
He'd been able to get into the hospital almost every day for about a month. When she'd first shot her, one of his ex-colleagues had been sat with her all the time,holding her hand and telling her she'd be okay. But eventually they gave up. First Ray, who'd waited until she was out of surgery before storming off shouting something about 'getting' the bastard'. That 'bastard' was him. Chris had held out for a while longer mainly because he was trying to be there for Shaz. When they split up, he stopped coming. Shaz came to see her mentor almost religiously for the first month. But it was clearly taking it's tole on her. Since Her arrival, Alex had been a role model to Shaz, and for her to see the strong, independent woman she looked up to incarcerated, well, it was too much.
He told himself he kept coming because he didn't want her to be on her own, but it was him who needed the company. That last thought made him laugh. "You're awful company Bols. An' tha' goes for when you're awake as well." Nothing. He'd give anything for her to frown at him now.
Out of all the team, he was the one who did all the proper things. He was the one there when the doctor came to check on her each day; he was the one who looked in her file at the list of people with no means of contacting them. Her doctor said it was the first time in his career he'd seen an incomplete file, but Gene knew Alex. There was something so mysterious, so obviously missing about the women, that he was sure that there really was no way to contact these people. That hadn't stopped him taking a good look into them.
Molly Drake. That was her daughter, he was sure she'd mentioned her a few times. Peter Drake was listed as her ex-husband, and for some reason he felt glad there was no number for him. If he ever got emitted to hospital he most definitely wouldn't want his ex there. Then there was Evan White. Now why was that there? Wasn't he that lawyer bloke she'd had a crush on? To be honest, he hadn't thought about him since 1981, and Alex hadn't mentioned him since that time either, so why was he one of her emergency contacts? The file listed him as her godfather, which calmed Gene considerably. 'Must just be a coincidence'. Last of all was a Daniel Reynolds, who was apparently her 'good friend'. As far as he knew, Alex had never said anything about a Daniel.
So she was on her own, and Gene didn't like that. Her daughter should know about her mother, and so should all the other people who cared for her. But with no hope of finding any of them, he resigned himself to the fact that he must be the one to 'be there' for her. In a way he was glad. This served as his penance. Waiting, for how long he knew not, to rectify the biggest mistake he'd ever made, apart from marrying of course…
Alex stared at the empty lounge. It was so bland. There was no colour to the walls, no personal objects except a few photos, nothing that showed any character. Had she really been that focused on her career? The life she'd been so eager to return to was really devoid of all excitement. For the millionth time that day she wished she was back in... No, stop that Alex. She was glad she was here. She was, she was. Only she wasn't. She'd wished so much to get back that once she had, things had gone flat. She had been so happy to wake up, see Molly, but then she'd returned to her life. Her dull, empty life.
Turning back to the kitchen, she went to make herself a cup of tea to fill the time. Switching on the kettle, she reflected on the past year she'd spent in her 'real world'. There had been so much to do at first. Finally after 27 years, she'd had it out with Evan over the truth of her parent's death. When she came straight out with it he'd been so shocked he barely managed to deny it before she began shouting. Not a word had been spoken between them since, though Mols kept in contact with him, just like with her dad, Pete. That was the other thing. Pete had come back to 'keep an eye on Molly whilst she recuperated'. To him, her recuperation lasted six months, and in one month bursts since then. Alex felt she coped well when Molly was with her. When she wasn't though, that was when the loneliness set in and she found herself longing for those wonderful days so long ago. Wincing at coming back, yet again, to the eighties, she decided she would go for a walk. Nagging at the back of her mind was the slight pain in her temples…
The thing Shaz hated about the whole thing was the guilt. Not about the shooting, that had been nothing to do with her. No, it was the fact that she'd not visited the Ma'am in hospital for weeks, that was like a knife in her every time she saw the empty desk in the corner of CID. It would have literally been a knife in her if it wasn't for the Ma'am that would have her in the ground right now she knew, Chris had told her about how she saved her life. When Shaz had been in hospital, Ma'am had visited often. She had been a good friend when her friend was in need. And now Shaz had bailed on her.
So about three months after the shooting, Shaz once again found herself walking down that eerie, echoing corridor towards her immobile role model. Before she entered the cubicle, out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a slight movement, and being hopeful she dashed in, only to find Alex still comatose.
"Just your imagination Shaz," she told herself. She was just about to sit down when the bed pan resting on the bedside table clattered to the floor. She screamed and leapt backwards, gripping the curtain rail for support. As the curtain slid with her, she unearthed Gene's hiding place…
The pain was swelling around her forehead now so that she had to screw her eyes shut to focus. Wishing she'd never come out, she needed to focus to get herself home. Think Alex, this shouldn't be happening, something is wrong here, so either pull yourself together or ask for help. But there was no one around, even though she was walking in the middle of London. 'Shit, Alex. You are pretty seriously screwed.'…
"You." When Shaz spoke it was dripping with menace. Standing up, she surveyed him with something that could only be conceived as contempt. "Come to finish her off then."
"No as it 'appens Granger, I came to visit a friend of mine, something I have been alone in doing for about the last two months." For a second Shaz looked stumped, before her confusion was replaced with rage.
"How dare you lecture me when you're the one who put her here in the first place. I should call Chris and Ray down here right now and get them to arrest you."…
Alex made it to her front gate when it hit her. A wave of nausea swept over her, and she found she was no longer able to move. Trying to gulp in some oxygen to her stricken brain, she realised that the air around her was thick like syrup, and she seemed to be drowning in it. Panicking, she dropped to her knees, before the twisted, distorted voices floated over to her through this dystopia.
"I should remind you Granger.." That was Gene. She could recognise his Manchester accent anywhere, even 27 years after she was supposed to. Which could mean only one thing.
'Oh God,' she thought, 'I'm waking up'.
"No, no, NO! You listen to me!" That was Shaz, and she sounded angrier than Alex had ever heard her. She couldn't be going back, she wasn't supposed to. Once she got home she wasn't meant to ever leave 2009.
'Great, I'm waking up to an argument.' Light filled the edges of her vision, and she no longer felt like her feet were on the floor, in fact, she felt unaware of her whereabouts at all. Her lungs suddenly became full of air, and she was aware that it was forcing itself in through a mask on her face. Fearful and confused, she opened her eyes…
"I don't care what you have to say, woman, I'm telling you to-"
"How dare you-"
"What was that?"
"Oh my God, get a doctor, she's waking up!"
"She's trying to say something."
"Uh… Both.. of you.. shut up."
