My thanks to Sylvain for the beta work

A follow on from Pride/Spectre

Mind Game

Part 1

Jackson was beginning to think he'd have been a lot quicker if he'd gone in to Hotton to do his bit of shopping. He'd told Aaron he would only be ten minutes, he certainly hadn't wanted to be any longer than that, he wasn't happy about leaving him as it was. But he'd already been gone a good half hour and he still wasn't any closer to going home.

Normally, he'd have walked to the village shop but he'd taken the van today, so as to be quick. He'd chatted to David as he'd pulled the items he wanted off the shelves, had quickly handed over the necessary cash and was just making his way back to the van when Betty Eggleton had appeared out of nowhere. He'd almost fallen over her in his haste to get back to Oak Cottage. She'd asked him about 'the patient', if he was better, and on hearing he was had started telling him about her 'little problem' about the puddle of water that was growing ever bigger under her kitchen sink. Betty had obviously seen his van and come in search of his expertise. It was hard to say no to Betty, nigh on impossible in fact, not that he'd ever been able to say no to a damsel in distress. So when she'd asked him if he would mind taking a look, he'd said 'no, not at all'. Well, how could he refuse or promise to call another day, not when she'd been good enough to send Aaron some chicken broth on hearing he was ill.

So he'd unexpectedly found himself replacing a leaking pipe, Alan Turner advising him on how best to do the job! He liked Alan, who didn't? But he didn't like being told how to do his job, not that he'd made it obvious, he'd done a good job of hiding his annoyance. Job done, he'd got to his feet, all set to leave, only to find a mug of tea being pressed into his hand. He'd been going to drink it standing up, hadn't wanted to sit down, to make himself comfortable, but Betty had told him to 'sit, you're making the place look untidy' and so he'd then found himself ensconced on her sofa, not only drinking tea but tucking into a slice of ginger cake. Like the broth, it was homemade and the best he'd ever tasted.

He would admit to being a little offended when she'd asked how much she owed him. He wasn't going to take money off her, off a neighbour, a friend, an elderly one to boot. She could be a right busybody at times, had a well-earned reputation as a nosey old bat, but Betty also had a heart of gold and had been really supportive of Aaron following Chris Davies' murder, had even sent a prying news reporter off with a flea in his ear. He wasn't about to forget that.

When he finally walked out through Betty's front door, he wasn't empty handed, he had his toolbox in his left hand and a tin of homemade goodies in his right. Aaron didn't have much of an appetite right now but Jackson was sure there was something in the tin to tempt him.

/

Aaron had never had flu before and he certainly didn't want it ever again, not if it meant feeling so bloody awful. He'd spent the best part of two days in bed, his temperature had climbed so high he'd been delirious or so he'd been told, he could remember nothing about that. Jackson said he'd been talking gibberish and seeing things that weren't there... yeah, it was a good thing he didn't remember any of that.

He was feeling better today, a lot better, so much so he was now downstairs, camped out on the sofa, watching DVD after DVD. He still had a hacking cough, was as weak as a kitten but at least he was feeling human again. He was hoping to be back at work on Monday, he'd been off most of last week. It couldn't have happened at a worse time, they were snowed under at the garage, had been working flat out but then he'd been hit for six by this virus and no way could he go in the way he was. Cain was having to cope on his own, was working extra long days; Aaron would make it up to him somehow.

Jackson hadn't been to work either, he'd insisted on staying home to look after him, and it seemed he had needed looking after. He hated being fussed over normally but not these past few days; he'd accepted all the TLC without any complaint. He was ready to reclaim his independence now though; convincing Jackson of that was proving difficult. With some reluctance, Jackson had just left to get some milk and a few other essentials, and had told him to stay put, to not move from the sofa. After yesterday, he could understand his concern, he'd got out of bed and passed clean out. Him fainting like that was embarrassing, and it had scared Jackson, he'd wanted to call the doctor out to him again but he'd been adamant that he didn't need to see her. Jackson had called Paddy for a second opinion on the matter. What was he, a sick puppy? Thankfully, Paddy had been wearing his sensible hat and had been able to reassure him it was nothing to worry about… even if he had turned up twenty minutes later to check on him. He shook his head at the memory; they were a right pair of fusspots!

He'd had every intention of staying where he was, snuggled up under the duvet, a box of tissues, a glass of juice and the TV remote all within easy reach. Jackson had catered for all his needs… except for one. His boyfriend had been religiously following doctors orders and plying him with fluids all morning, and he was now desperate for the loo. He knew he could be there and back before Jackson returned; he would be none the wiser and what he didn't know he wouldn't worry about. Getting to his feet, he felt himself sway a little, he closed his eyes before the room began to spin around him. After taking a few deep breaths, the dizziness passed, and on wobbly legs he slowly made his way upstairs to the bathroom.

He was about to make his way back downstairs when the house phone had started to ring; the extension in the bedroom being the nearest, he made his way in there to answer it. To his annoyance, it had been a cold caller, someone trying to sell him home insurance. He'd resisted the urge to tell him what he could do with his no-obligation quote and simply hung up.

Jackson had earlier opened the bedroom window to air the 'sickroom' and deciding it had aired enough, that it was now icy cold in there, Aaron padded over to shut it. That done, he stared out at what was an autumn day. It wasn't at all bad for October, the sun although weak was peeping out from behind a cloud, it was windy though, quite blustery, and it was that making it so cold.

His gaze moved to the road that skirted the property, a car was parked opposite their gate… a car he immediately recognized, the mere sight of it sending a chill running up and down his spine.

/

Jackson had been gone almost an hour and he was feeling really bad about leaving Aaron so long. Parking the van in the drive just behind their car, he snatched up his bag of shopping and hurried inside, alerting his boyfriend to his presence the moment he stepped through the front door.

"Aaron, I'm back, sorry I took so long, Betty needed a favour… you ok?" After depositing his load on a kitchen worktop, he made his way into the living room.

Aaron was sitting upright on the sofa and Jackson was shocked to see how pale he now was, "Aaron?" Hurrying to Aaron's side, he said, "I knew I shouldn't have left you, have you fainted again?"

"No." He very nearly had but he wasn't going to tell Jackson that.

"You look awful, come on let's get you back to bed." Jackson wrapped his arm around the younger man's waist, ready to help him upstairs, prepared to carry him there if need be."

"No, no I don't want to go back to bed. Jackson, I… "He wanted to tell Jackson what he'd just seen, who he'd just seen, but knew how ridiculous he was going to sound.

"What? What is it, what's wrong." He knew something was, Aaron was shaking and it wasn't down to a fever like it had been the other night, he was cool to the touch.

"He was out there… in his car."

"Who was?"

"Chris."

"Chris?" Jackson knew there was only one man who could have such an effect on Aaron but he was dead, it had to be someone else, but who?

"Chris!" Aaron snapped, how could Jackson not know who he meant, "Chris Davies."

"Aaron, he's dead, it can't have been him." Jackson gently reasoned.

"I'm telling you it was! Jackson, I know what I saw… I saw Chris!"

TBC