Alex elbowed Jeanette in the stomach and she heard a gun shot and then another gun shot. Less than a second later she felt searing pain in her stomach and she had realised she had been shot. She let out a gasp of pain and a gasp of surprise as she felt her legs folding in beneath her as she fell to the ground. She looked at Gene and gasped again as she felt the bullet bury itself deeper into her stomach and she heard one small tiny word come out of the mans mouth, "Bolly" he said. She gasped once more and she saw Ray, Chris and Shaz come into her view and they just stood there. She took one last breath and gasped once again before she closed her eyes.

3 months later…

Alex was sitting in her living room at home alone. She had sent molly to live with Peter for a while and god did she miss her!

She fell into a light sleep and awoke when it was dark, sitting bolt upright gasping for air. She had the strangest dream, she went back to the 80s with Molly and Gene swept her off her feet and kissed her in front of the whole team! She shook her head and said to herself: "Don't be ridiculous Alex, like that's ever going to happen!" Alex stood up and stretched, she then walked into the kitchen and got herself a glass of water as she had a dry mouth. She stood at the sink and drank her water. When she had finished it she let out a small sigh and tears started to run down her face; she had never felt so alone in her life. Once the tears had subsided Alex walked to her bedroom, climbed into bed and fell into a calm slumber.

She tossed and turned in her dreams only thinking of that one person she wanted to be near right now- Gene. His face swam in front of her and she smiled and then she heard him say 'Bolly' as if he had said it into his ear and she woke up immediately.

Alex sat up holding her head as it still hurt when she moved suddenly. She stood up and walked into the kitchen to find the bottle of whisky in her cupboard and she got a glass out of the cupboard. She went and sat down on the plain black leather settee and put the TV on, but it wasn't the right TV it was modern day TV that was a load of shit! She wanted to be back at the flat above Luigi's listening to the Italian music lulling her into her sleep every night. But it wasn't there she was sat in her house all alone and the only person she wanted was Gene.

She poured herself a whisky and sat back to watch the TV programme that was on – it was Waterloo road. She couldn't concentrate on it though she felt tears sliding down her face and she could feel herself getting more and drunk with every sip of whisky she took. But she didn't care it took the pain of missing someone away and she liked it. By the time she had had enough of the whisky there was half the bottle gone and Alex felt her stomach churning and she clutched her stomach and ran to the toilet. She got there just in time lifting the toilet lid up and emptying her churning stomach into the toilet tears streaming down her face once again and if she wasn't being sick she would have been screaming with the pain in her heart right now.

Once she had finished being sick she walked slowly back to the living room and lay down on the sofa and grabbed a blanket from on top of the sofa and pulled it down over her shaking body. Alex could no longer keep her eyes open and she gave in and once again fell into a calm restful slumber.

Gene was sitting in his office sipping whisky out of his glass when he couldn't handle it any more and grabbed his coat, gloves and car keys. He walked out of his office slamming the door behind him getting some weird looks from his colleagues and he walked out of the double doors of CID.

He pulled into the hospital ten minutes later and got out of his car, slammed the door without bothering to lock it and began to walk into the hospital. He made his way to Alex's hospital room. When he got to the door he took a deep breath and braced himself and walked into Alex's room.

He walked over to her bedside his breath hitching in his throat. He cleared his throat and stood right beside her. He reached down to touch her hand gingerly. He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand and eventually slipped his hand around hers so they were encased together.

He held her hand for at least 2 hours just sitting there talking to her, apologising and saying he would do anything to have his Bolly back with him, correcting him when he would say psychiatry instead of physcology and telling him that he needed 'evidence'. He sat there for a further couple of hours not caring that it was now dark and night time as he only cared that he was there with her there hands entwined and he was sitting right beside her.

He continuously stroked his thumb over the back of her hand, tracing patterns on her hand. He studied every beautiful feature that she claimed as her own and he realised that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met. He moved a piece of her soft brown hair off her face so he could take a better look at her face. The only thing missing was her beautiful green-hazel eyes that sometimes could be so cold it hurt. He longed for her to open her eyes so that he could look into them and maybe tell her that he was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with her. He finally decided to say goodnight to her and he didn't want to leave her all alone, he wanted to guard her with his life, to never let her go but he couldn't stay there forever. So he stood up kissed her forehead and said with a heavy heart "See you tomorrow Bolly, please wake up soon 'cause I need you" He turned on his heel and walked away taking one last glance before he disappeared out of the door.

Gene continued to visit Alex over the next few weeks and every day he held her hand delicately in his own bigger hand. He felt himself falling in love with her even more every time he saw her and he had decided to tell her how he felt today.

He drove to the hospital, his stomach churning with nerves and as he pulled into the car park he took a deep breath and rested his head on the steering wheel for a moment before stopping the Quattro and getting out.

As he walked into the hospital he thought of what he could say to her and he kept thinking and thinking until he got to her door. He then forgot everything that he had thought but he pushed his fears aside and pushed her door open.

Once again his breath caught in his throat and his heart started to go wild at the sight of her. He swallowed loudly and made his way over to her bedside and took hold of her hand in his before he sat down.

After half an hour of sitting there just talking to her put his head down and began to drift off into a light sleep and he awoke when he felt a sudden jerk on his hand and he snapped his head up and saw Alex looking from his face to there entwined hands. Gene slipped his hand out of hers and said "I'm sorry Alex I thought that if you felt someone holding your hand or somert then you would wake up sooner, but it took yer long enough!" "Gene I don't want you to blame yourself for shooting me, because it was my own fault I got into your line of fire and I was stupid so please don't blame yourself" Alex said touching his face. Gene pulled away abruptly and said "I must go Bolls, I have to be in the office soon" He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and walked out of the hospital door. Alex was left confused and upset, she turned over as a tear escaped from her eye and tried to go back to sleep.