Gene looked up. He could hear noises and people talking but he couldn't see clearly- everything was blurred.

"Hello Gene, welcome back. Don't be scared you're in Manchester Royal Hospital" said a nurse standing over his bed.

The picture started to get clearer: He was lying in a hospital bed- what the hell happened? He couldn't remember a thing. He started to fidget as he became confused and agitated.

"Its ok Gene, calm down. You were involved in an accident, you have been here sometime. Do you remember ?"

"No" his voice was hoarse but it was his voice.

"Well you need to rest, someone else will be along later to explain what's happened"

With that Gene drifted back off to sleep.

Time passed and Gene was woken for various tests and conversations about what happened to him. He couldn't quite take it all in - he never dreamt that he would have been shot in the line of duty. The Gene Genie being shot. Apparently he was very lucky- he had been in a coma for three months and it was touch and go for while. Lucky he was shot in 2008 and not earlier in his career or it would have been curtains.

"Guv, Guv"

Gene opened his eyes again expecting yet something else to be prodded into an orifice.

"Hello there guv" Ray stood over him, alongside him were Chris and Sam.

"You had us all worried. We thought we going to have to do a collection for a wreath!"

"Well, cheers Raymondo". It came out slightly quieter than usual, but lat east it was a glimpse of the guv they knew.

They all sat round the bed and talked about what had been happening at work and the visits they had made to him while he was away with the fairies.

"Guv, who is Alex?" Sam asked

"Alex ! Don't know an Alex...well not that I can remember but that doesn't mean anything. Why do you ask?"

"They said several times you mentioned Alex, or what they thought was Alex"

Gene remained quiet he was thinking, something was returning to his memory but what it was he didn't know. With that he drifted off again and the guys left him in peace. But they were pleased the Guv was back and went off to celebrate with a beer.

Gene had a peaceful night's sleep and was only woken once by someone sticking the thermometer in his ear. He woke in the morning feeling brighter and more alive. But he couldn't get what Sam had said out of his mind: Alex. He didn't know an Alex he was sure but yet the name rang a bell.

Later that day a psychologist came to visit him to talk about the counselling he would be receiving and what would be best suited to him.

"Psycho-babble, I don't need that I am fine"

"Well I'm afraid if you want to leave Mr Hunt you need to undergo a certain amount of therapy. The force will also dictate that before you can go back to work, so you may as well get it over with"

Gene sat there with his arms crossed. He felt fine and couldn't really understand what all the hassle was about. He had been shot- that's a coppers life -it happens. He survived. Lets just get on with it. He was left alone again and just watched as people moved around the hospital doing their work. He closed his eyes and started to think: Alex….. Then a picture came into his head, he could see her. Brown curly hair, striking eyes with blue eye shadow, lovely figure and a gorgeous pair of puppies. Then the picture was gone. He opened his eyes- who the hell was she? She wasn't dressed like girls of today. He wasn't clued up on current fashion trends but he knew it wasn't now.

The next few days passed without much excitement, Everyday Gene was getting stronger and more irritable and wanted to leave the hospital. He'd enough of lying down and thinking, he wanted to get back out into the real world. Today was going to be his first counselling session and he was less than impressed with the idea of someone fiddling with the inside of his head. He was taken down to the room. When he got there it looked quite cosy- better than the white walls of the rest of the hospital. But he eyed it suspiciously.

"Take a seat Mr Hunt"

Gene sat down.

"Ok, I want you to relax and close your eyes, take some deep breaths."

Even though Gene was getting better he could still nod off quickly so relaxing into this state wasn't a problem.

"Ok Gene, I want you to tell me about what happened leading up to the accident, nice and easy"

"Drake"

"Drake, who is Drake Gene.? Was that the person who shot you?" he started to write notes as Gene spoke

"Bolly Knickers, prozzie…….. Red dress… breakfast"

"Is this someone you arrested before?"

"London, I was in London"

"Have you been to London before?"

"No, southern bastards."

"Ok Mr Hunt. I want you to slowly open your eyes"

Gene opened his eyes and looked around- what the hell was going on?

"Well I'm not sure what you are remembering Mr Hunt, Can you remember being shot?"

"Not really, I remember going to the stakeout and there being a lot of shouting and that's it"

"So who is Drake?" he said referring back to his notes

"I don't know, I don't recall anyone of that name. But yet I feel I know them well, but not from this time. It feels odd- like a dream you have but when you wake up you remember bits"

"Ok its possible it was a dream from when you were in the coma. What I suggest you do is keep a diary of what you recall and we'll leave it there for today"

Gene was relieved it was over. He hated being mentally probed. He had never believed in it, but for some reason he felt as if someone had tried to convert him to it. Over the next few days he wrote little pieces he recalled in his notebook in the hope he would be able to work out what was going on. The hospital was going to release him as they had enough of his moodiness and attitude. But it was on the condition that he had to return for more of the psychobabble. He thanked the staff and walked out to see Sam, Ray and Chris waiting in his Silver Audi to whisk him off for a well deserved beer.