Molly's P.O.V

I jumped out of the car, waving goodbye to my family. As much as I'd missed them, he was more important, he was everything. I knew I was gonna get bollocked for going off on my own but I didn't give one, he was all that mattered to me. I hurried down the corridor after asking at reception where I could find him. I took the lift and ran to the room. I stared through the window. His bed was empty.

"They took him to theatre." Smurf's familiar voice told me from behind as I rested my hand against the window in despair. Our last conversation rang in my mind "It was your fault.", "we're gonna lose him,", "they had to resuscitate him." I could barely breathe. I turned round to face the man whose heart I had shattered. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a pretty young woman in a British Army hoody and jogging bottoms sat leaning against an alcove. A young boy lay sleeping on her lap as she gently brushed his hair with her hands. She didn't see me but my heart sank…the Boss' wife. Smurf grinned, "She's beautiful isn't she."

"Is she army?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"Yeah. Lieutenant James. She was on tour with Geraint when he…you know."

"I didn't know that was allowed."

"It isn't but there was an error in the records and it was overlooked, obviously they didn't point it out."

"I didn't realise she was army."

"What did you think she was? A stay at home housewife?"

"Never really thought about it."

"She hasn't left his side since Bastion, well as much as they'd let her."

"She was at Bastion?"

"Yeah! She is gonna be in so much shit when it's over because she got overly involved in the Emergency Arrivals area and then disobeyed orders left, right and centre, I just hope they put it down as compassionate."

"I never realised they were that close."

"Oh it's crazy. He's ridiculous about her, the slightest cut and she would be marched to the medic's tent. He loves her like crazy!"

I felt a lump form in my throat as I looked over at her, holding the little boy close to her. As she moved her head I could see by her tear-stained face that she'd been crying. The boy stirred and she lifted him up and he rested his head on her chest before falling asleep again. She covered him with her coat and closed her eyes as tears trickled down her face. I noticed two rings around her neck and remembered that I was still wearing Smurf's mum's ring around mine. He said they were split up…but clearly they weren't.

"The kids cute." I muttered and Smurf nodded.

"Can't help but feel sorry for him though. He barely knows her and now she's all he's got to comfort him while his dad fights for his life."

"What do you mean?"

"Well her and the Boss man fucked off to Sandhurst when he was three and a half and since then they've both done two tours, he's only seven and well, they don't exactly spend much of their time at home."

"Poor kid."

"What kind of mother abandons her child, Moll?"

"I don't know but he's seems pretty settled now."

"Yeah. He does." Smurf smiled. We noticed that the woman was asleep. She only looked about twenty four/ twenty five, she must have been pretty young when the child was born, younger than me! We waited for the Boss Man to be brought back but we weren't allowed any further than the door so we retired to the waiting room again. Smurf barely took his eyes of the Boss Man's wife.

"You seem pretty loved up by her!" I joked and he shook his head.

"Geraint loved her, really loved her and she didn't love him back. I never realised what he saw in her but I suppose if I had kissed her round the back of the food tent I'd love her too."

"Geraint kissed HER round the back of the food tent?"

"Yeah. The Boss weren't happy!"

"I'll bet!"

Part of me felt happy that she was such a terrible person. In her position, I would never have kissed another man round the back of the food tent, I loved him too much. I thought back to the divorce papers I saw, that must have been the reason. Feeling a pang of guilt for the Boss and Geraint, being played by the beautiful girl with the beautiful boy but then, it's the pretty ones that break your heart. The next morning, Smurf had to go back to his room for a few minutes to get his obs checked but I couldn't bring myself to move from the waiting room. I sat there staring into space when suddenly I heard my name being called.

"Molly?" the young woman called, smiling. I turned to look at her. The kid was still asleep on her knee so I shifted closer to her.

"Lieutenant?" I retorted curious as to how she knew my name.

"Don't be so fucking formal. We're in the same boat." She sighed. I was confused, did she know about me?

"Hardly."

"Well, thank you for everything."

"Well it's my job to save him but I don't know how well I did at that." I muttered and she laughed a little. What was funny? Abruptly, her face lit up and she got up, putting the sleeping child down across the chairs. I watched her as she ran to the door. She threw her arms around someone and buried her head in their neck. It was clearly a soldier, it was clearly a man. He kissed her cheek and ran his fingers through her hair.

"It's ok, baby. It's all gonna be ok!" A familiar voice said and I was so confused. He looked up. It was Corporal Kinders!

"Molly?" He smiled. "Why aren't you with Smurf? Has something happened?"

"What are you on about you fuckmuppet?" the woman laughed and Kinders looked confused.

"She's broken the rules to be here to see Smurf!" Kinders explained and the woman shook her head.

"Honey, you're fragged. She's here for Charles." As she said the words, Kinders' face fell and I was overwhelmed with confusion.

"Mummy!" the little boy cried as he woke up startled. The woman went to him, Kinders close behind her. "Not you, I want Mummy, or Daddy." I looked at Kinders and he looked at me back, neither of us understood what was going on.

"Mummy's not here, monkey. It's just me and Uncle Liam." The woman soothed and my eyes widened. The boy began to cry and Kinders nudged her shoulder as she tried to comfort him. The woman nodded and lifted him into Kinders' arms.

"Come to Uncle Liam, rascal! Auntie Pippa needs her coffee and I need a hug from my favourite little man!" Kinders smiled and the boy smiled through his tears as Kinders hugged him tightly. He called her Auntie Pippa! The Boss Man's wife was called Rebecca! So she wasn't his wife. She smiled at Kinders who was rocking the snuffling child and planted a kiss on his cheek before heading out of the waiting room. Seconds later she came back in.

"Li, latte or cap?" She asked and he looked pensive.

"Latte would be loving, babe. I haven't had a latte in six months!" Kinders smiled.

"I'll come with you." I said and Pippa beamed.

"I'd love that." She grinned as I joined her and we walked a few metres in silence before she broke it. "You thought I was Becky didn't you?"

"Becky?"

"Rebecca? Charles' wife."

"Oh, yes I did." I admitted, my cheeks flushing red.

"Sam threw you right!" she laughed. "Do I look good with a kid?"

"Sam?"

"Shit, he never told you did he?"

"Not that he was called Sam."

"He's such a twat sometimes."

"Who?"

"Charles. I bet you call him Boss Man though. He'll never have told you his name was Charles."

"There's a lot I don't know about him."

"Like me? I'm Pippa or Phil if you're in my platoon and Pip if you're an annoying cockwomble like my brother."

"So you're his sister? Not his wife or girlfriend or owt?"

"I was under the impression that that was you, Private Dawes!" she smiled and took a Fruit Shoot, a Latte and a Cappuccino off the woman at the till. Smiling widely, I took my tea and followed her back to the waiting room.