"Hello?" Sandra weakly answered, still half asleep.
"Sandra" Strickland replied tensely.
For a split-second, she thought she had overslept but glanced at her alarm clock that illuminated 5:31 in the dark boys wouldn't have called. They barely remembered her birthday, let alone an insignificant day off!
"Yes Sir. It is only 5:30" Sandra justified. But then it occurred to her that he hardly ever rang: something must be wrong. There was a short pause.
"There was a fire last night" He started. This confused Sandra. What did it have to do with her? Unless...
"UCOS is burnt to a crisp." There it was. The words that hit her like a ton of bricks;that she feared would become a reality.
"Oh Christ." Sandra replied with the two words she was able to compose as the trauma span around her head.
It looked like her day had started.
Sandra immediately rang Gerry. She never relied on anyone but at this point in time, she was stuck. Gerry would know what to do. Obviously she over estimated his creative problem solving skills.
"Bleedin' Hell!" Gerry screeched down the phone, his voice as high as a mountain. By this time, she could see that he would be no help whatsoever.
"Right," Sandra tried to take control of the situation, as per usual. "You ring Jack and tell him. I'll ring Brian and tell him to meet at mine at 7."
"Seven!" Gerry exclaimed. Despite being such an emergency, he didn't like the thought of being up in an hours time.
"Yes Gerry. It won't hurt you for one morning to get up a little earlier and considering the circumstances, I don't think that's un reasonable. Do you?!" Sandra ranted down the phone, unaware he had hung up!
By 7 they had all communed at Sandra's. None of them were dressed to their usual standards and they all looked duller than ever before despite everyone, except Brian, trying to lighten the mood. He was a worry. All 3 were silently concerned about how this would affect him. They gathered in the kitchen, accompanied by a cup of tea each with an assortment of biscuits that were chucked onto a plate, isolated in the middle of the table. That's as far as Sandra's food prep goes! It was the first time it had been so quiet that they could hear the clock tick by.
"So," Jack broke the silence that was beginning to fester away at the small quantity of relaxed mood still in the room.
"What are we going to do?" Sandra asked. She did this with care, not quite sure how they would take to the , it had to be approached at some point.
At this moment in time, Brian could go either way. He could remain a useful member of the team or drift away into solitary thoughts for a while.
"I think we should visit what remains." Brian suggested eagerly. The team valued each other's input but Gerry, Jack and Sandra all exchanged worried looks. They had let him slip once before and they weren't prepared to do that again.
"No Brian." Sandra instantly retaliated, bursting with reasons to justify this decision.
"But how can we- How can I come to terms with this, without viewing the remains." Brian answered strongly.
"You make it sound like a body!" Gerry joked and consequently received a stern glance from Sandra.
"No. I'm serious. It's ok for you lot. You all have a healthy and maintainable mental state. Whereas, I'm just..." Brian faded out.
An awkwardness like no other hit the room. How could Sandra say no now?
"OK Brian." She sighed.