Stepping Up To The Plate

Chapter 1

It was 3am when the phone started to ring.

"Linden it's Faye"

His first thought was annoyance, after everything that had happened, the kiss, the rejection, he was hurting and he just wanted to keep distance from her but he could hear in her voice, not panic but something. Faye always had a calm consistent tone to her voice, but now this was different.

"It's 3am Faye, what's wrong?"

"Look I know I'm probably the last person you want to hear from right now, but I...I don't know who else to call, I...I can't get hold of Joseph"

Now he could hear some panic surfacing.

"Faye, you need to tell me what's going on. Where are you?"

"I'm at home, there was a break in. Two men...I disturbed them. The police are here but they are leaving and I've tried calling Joseph, but he's away and he's not answering his phone. I....I..."

"Okay Faye, it's OK, calm down. I'm on my way. I'll be there in 20minutes". He could hear a sob building up in her voice as she thanked him.

Linden jumped out of bed, grabbed the clothes he'd been wearing the night before and his car keys and raced out of his flat. All anger had vanished as soon as he'd heard the panic in her voice, it was replaced by the same feeling he had at the wedding when he found her crying, the overwhelming urge to protect her. The feeling that led to the kiss.

Racing from the car to Faye and Joseph's flat, he took the stairs two at a time. When he got to the door and knocked, it slowly opened with the chain on. Faye's head appeared around the chain in darkness he could hear a sigh of relief when she saw who it was.

She opened the door without saying anything and stood there in the dark, the only light coming in from the hall. "Linden, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have called you. I just didn't know who else to call". At this her voice broke and Linden's heart sank. He stepped forward and pulled her to him. A sob escaped Faye and he could feel her tremble against his chest.

Linden held her tighter, smoothing her hair with one hand. "It's okay...it's okay". They stood like this for a while. He could gradually feel her breathing calm and eventually she pulled back from him. "Come and sit down". He guided her to the sofa. The room was now only lit by the street lights coming in through the window. Linden could make out a lot of mess on the floor but he didn't say anything until she sat next to him on the sofa.

"Faye, what happened?"

She sat with her head down, her hands occupied with some tissues. "I was asleep in the bedroom. I heard a bang. At first I thought it was outside, but then I could hear rustling. It was stupid, I know, but I went to have a look at what it was". She paused, as if re-living the memory. "When I opened the door, I could see the room had been turned upside down, I was just looking at it, when I could feel a presence". Linden could see her shudder. He placed a hand softly on her back, he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to this, but he asked, "what happened next?".

"I could hear breathing close, I turned and he...he just lunged at me". Linden could feel his heart sink, not what sure what Faye was going to say next. "He had a knife; he held it up to my throat". She was rocking slightly now. "He said not to panic, that as long as I did what they said, they'd let me go".

"Oh Faye", he rubbed her back as she continued. "I didn't know what to do and then he was arguing with other man and he turned to speak to him and I panicked. I backed up into the bedroom, locked the door and crouched down by the bed. I was trying to call Joseph, but he wasn't picking up, but then the man just started kicking at the door. I had nowhere to go....the door flew open and he came in". She was sobbing softly now. Linden pulled her closer to him, her head resting in the crook of his neck. He shushed her soothingly, but she had started and she wanted to finish.

"He was in a rage, it was like a switch was flipped, he grabbed me by my hair and dragged me across the room and we fought. I was trying to get away from him but it was no use. He grabbed the knife...and...and I thought that was going to be it, but then there was a siren and he froze. The siren got closer and they shouted to each other to leave". The rocking got harder. "Then they grabbed what they could and ran. They shouted back, we'll be back for the rest sweetheart and laughed as they left". At this, Linden could feel his chest become damp from her tears.

"Oh Faye, I'm sorry".

Through tears she said "You have nothing to be sorry for"

No he thought, but Joseph does. It was an irrational annoyance building up, he knew, Joseph wasn't to know what was going on, but if it was him, if he was the one who got to share his life with Faye, he would have been there.

Faye calmed and he could see the strong facade going back on. She started to move. "I should clear up, this place is a mess".

"Faye, leave it. I can help later. You've had a shock, it can wait".

"It's okay". She rose, took two steps and stumbled. Linden was immediately on his feet grabbing her to steady her. She now had a hand to her head and Linden got the sinking feeling again. He switched a nearby lamp on and tried not to let the shock show on his face, for fear of scaring her. There was a large and angry bruise appearing across her forehead.

"Faye did someone check you out". He gently lifted her chin and started to lift up her eyelids, to check her pupils. She winced as she did it.

"No, the police came and they wanted to take me to A&E, but I didn't want a fuss. I didn't want to see anyone from work. I'm fine, just shaken". He'd moved from her head to checking her pulse.

"Faye, you might have a concussion. Are you hurting anywhere else?"

She lifted up her pyjama top and he could see an equally angry bruise on her side. He moved to touch it, but again she winced. "I'd rather take you to casualty, to give you a full check up". He could see her start to panic.

"No Linden please, I don't want to see anyone".

"Okay, okay, it's alright." He eased her back into a chair. "At least let me get you some ice". He moved to the kitchen stepping over the mess as he went. Returning with ice wrapped in a cloth he held it to her head until she took over. Linden was amazed at how calm she seemed considering. He felt sick that he couldn't make this better for her, sick about what she had been through.

"I'll keep an eye on you here, but if you show any more symptoms that it's more than a concussion, you'll have to go in. I'm not taking any chances."

She nodded silently. "Thank you". She grabbed her mobile from the table and began to ring Joseph again. He wanted to stop her, he didn't want Joseph here. He'd let Faye down and now he was here to look after her.

"He's still not answering. He's at that surgeon's conference in Brighton; he's probably out of range". Linden scanned his memory to a conversation about the conference. A conversation he had had with Jac. He thought back to Joseph's confession about sleeping with Jac behind Faye's back and he really hoped for Faye's sake that that wasn't why Joseph wasn't reachable this time.

Faye was on her feet again surveying the mess. "I don't even know where to start", she sighed.

"Leave it. Why don't you get some rest, go on, go to bed. I'll sleep on the couch, I'm not going anywhere."

Faye smiled and moved towards the bedroom door, but she came to a halt in the doorway. Linden resisted the urge to intervene. She carried on and climbed into bed, leaving the door ajar. Linden sat on the sofa. He didn't think he could sleep, his mind was racing. What he wanted to do, was go into the bedroom and hold her in his arms, but that was Joseph's job and Joseph just might be doing the same now with Jac.

He sat and thought for a long while. He'd have to keep checking on Faye anyway, in case she did have a concussion. There was no point sleeping. Instead he let his mind go over and over his feelings for Faye.

It was a noise that he couldn't quite make out that stirred him from his thoughts...

tbc