A Day In The Life...
By Kate
Teen (PG-13)
Published: 25th August 2010
Description: An average day in the life of PC Andrea Dunbar.
DISCLAIMER: The Bill and its characters don't belong to me. They never have and never will. I'm just playing with them for a bit. I promise to return them when I'm done.
AUTHORS NOTES: An internet wide challenge I've set as part of the Coffee Designs Community, where everyone gets to write about the life of a character of their choice. For my entry I've decided to write about PC Andrea Dunbar because there was a lot more potential than we ever saw on the show. Everybody is welcome to take part and write a story of their own, and I can't wait to see what other idea's people come up with. Find full details of the challenge at .net.
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I wake up to the sound of my alarm blaring away insistently. I roll over onto my side and swat at it trying to get it to shut up. The rays of light from the small gap in the curtains penetrate through my eyelids, forcing me to wince against the bright light. Eventually I force myself to wake up and crawl out of bed and into the shower. It's a Tuesday and I'm due at work in less than an hour I realise looking at the calendar once I'm finished with my shower. I use the calendar to keep track of my various shifts at Sun Hill as well as the dates of meetings and other various activities. I manage to grab a slice of toast and cup of coffee just before I grab my things and make my way out of the door to work, almost certain I'm going to be late again.
In the corridors of Sun Hill, I hurriedly make my way to the locker room and get changed into my uniform, before racing back out and down to the briefing room, where I almost collide with Smithy in the doorway.
"PC Dunbar, you're late," he states matter of factly.
"Sorry Serge, car troubles," I excuse myself, knowing that the real reason I'm late is because of the late night I had last night.
I enter the briefing room and take a seat next to Yvonne and Tony over by the tables on the left hand side of the room. Shortly afterwards, Inspector Gold steps into the room, Smithy closing the door and stepping into place behind her.
Inspector Gold conducts the mornings briefing, informing us all of any important information that we may need to do our duties. I along with the others listen intently to what she has to say, determined to make a good impression and not have her doubt my motivation for the job. The meeting draws to a close and we are informed of who we will be paired with for the day, before being released from the room to get on with our set tasks. I am in the area car with my best friend Yvonne, who is insistent on questioning my early departure from our girls' night out last night.
"Where did you get to last night then," is the first question she asks me as we pull out of the station yard and into the streets of Canley.
"What do you mean Yvonne?" I reply, determined not to reveal any more information than I really need to; there are some things, best friend or not, that I just can't share with her, for everybody's protection.
"Don't try and cover it up, why did you leave early last night? Where did you get to? It wasn't to this mystery boyfriend of yours was it? I still don't get why you can't tell me who it is, you've already said it's not someone from work, or is it?"
"Yvonne," I placate, mentally panicking that she's got it all worked out, she just doesn't know who yet, "I got a phone call from my sister's boyfriend who wanted some advice on what to get her for her birthday," I lie carefully, "and I've already explained why I can't tell you who I've been seeing. It's not that I don't trust you or don't want to tell you, it's just for the best that nobody knows right now."
"It's not someone from work then?" Yvonne sulks.
"No," I respond calmly.
She lets the conversation drop and we drive around in silence for a few minutes until a call comes through the radio.
"Stabbing reported on the Larkmead Estate, can any unit deal?"
I pick up the radio and respond to confirm us attending to the incident. The person in CAD radio's through the exact address of the incident and we speed to the scene of the crime, lights flashing and sirens blaring.
We arrive on the estate and park up next to the ambulance that has just arrived on the scene. I follow Yvonne's lead and she leads us into the house where the incident has taken place.
On the floor of the living room is a woman, in her arm's a young boy who is bleeding out profusely and a bright red blood stain forming on the carpet around them. I look around the room for something that can be used to stem the bleed, and I thrust a clean tea towel into the woman's hand instructing her to press it against the stab wound and apply pressure. The ambulance men come rushing into the room and settle next to the young victim where they treat him as best they can to stabilize him before moving him to the ambulance to be transported to the hospital for further treatment.
The victim, and the woman holding him disappear into the ambulance, Yvonne goes with them to get a statement, while I'm left at the scene to secure it and wait for CID back-up.
10 minutes after Yvonne leaves the scene, a herd of CID officers arrive on the scene, DI Manson leading the way. He barks instructions to his team before stepping up beside me.
"What happened here PC Dunbar?" he asks me professionally.
"Sir," I greet before explaining the detailed events of the past 20 minutes or so.
He listens tentatively to my explanations, thanking me for the information before dismissing me to the station and going after Phil Hunter and Samantha Nixon who are busy searching the house for the weapon or any other clues. I watch him head up the stairs before making my way back to the area car and heading to the hospital to find Yvonne.
At St Hughes, I make my way to the reception desk, but before I reach it, Yvonne steps from behind one of the curtains and calls me over to her. She quietly fills me in on what additional information she's got before leading me behind the curtain she appeared from.
I am introduced to Mrs. Joan Cleaver, the mother of the victim; whose name I am told is Adam.
"I don't understand," whimpers Mrs. Cleaver, "Who would want to hurt my little boy, he's only 11 years old."
"We will find who is responsible for doing this Mrs. Cleaver," I reassure her before stepping back outside the curtain and explaining to Yvonne about CID showing up on the scene.
"They think it may be related to a drug gang," I explain, revealing the information that Neil told me earlier.
We are relieved from our stay at the hospital when another uniformed officer arrives with the task of guarding the victim and his family, and we are instructed to return to the station.
When we arrive in the yard we run right into Inspector Gold who informs us that the DI is looking for us.
"We will go up and see him straight away," Yvonne informs the Inspector before almost dragging me up the stairs to CID, anxious to know what he wants to talk to us about.
We reach the top of the stairs and Yvonne pushes open the door to CID where we see the DI yelling at Rob Thatcher over his obsession with the Radford's. His attention is drawn to us, and he ends his conversation with DC Thatcher before silently indicating for us to follow him into his office.
Once we step inside the confines of the office, the DI shuts the door behind us, before walking over and looking out of the window like he so often does. Silence reins for several minutes, me and Yvonne waiting patiently to hear what he's got to say. Eventually, he starts to speak. "Inspector Gold informs me that you we're first on the scene at the stabbing this morning," he starts, business as usual.
"Sir," we confirm, waiting for him to continue.
"I don't know whether or not you are aware, but that is the second similar incident in as many days. CID has been looking into a drug ring that is targeting local schools, and we think this may be connected." He pauses there to gather his thoughts before pressing forward, "So far details are sketchy at best, but as you can imagine this has got the potential to get a lot worse. From what we can work out, a gang, operating under the name of street sharks, is selling drugs to school children and getting them involved in small burglary crimes and violence campaigns. What we need to find out is who is behind this group, where they are getting these drugs from and where they are selling them, and why they are getting children as young as 10 and 11 involved. That's where you come in, Inspector Gold had given permission for you to help on this investigation and for starters I want you to look into the school children this gang is targeting. Is there anything linking them together, a common school or event that makes these kids stand out to this gang. We need to find out as much as we can to prevent this from happening again."
"Sir," Yvonne nods her acceptance and understanding of the case.
"DS Hunter and DS Nixon have got details of the other victims to help get you started," the DI states dismissing us from his office.
"PC Dunbar," he calls out to me, as I pull the door open ready to lead the way over to the DS's desks, "Can I have a word before you go."
"Sir," I reply turning back around to face him. I reassure Yvonne I will catch up in a few minutes before watching her leave the small office.
DI Manson steps across the room towards me and peers out to see who's watching before shutting the door and turning his full attention to me. "How are you?" he asks, moving his left hand to rest on my cheek.
"Neil," I sigh, wanting to kiss him but knowing it's not a good idea, "I'm good," I reply to his question.
"I hate having to just up and leave in the middle of the night but we both know it's the only way right now," he confesses, bringing his other hand up to stroke my face and neck.
"I know, it doesn't make it any easier though," I confess my own thoughts on the matter.
He wipes away the single tear that has slid down my cheek with the pad of his thumb before pressing his lips to mine in a loving kiss. We both know this is dangerous but we just can't help ourselves sometimes, the emotions between us so strong.
"I better go," I mumble reluctantly pulling away from his kisses.
"Yeah," he replies, making no move to let me go, even though we both know we have been stood behind the cover of the door for too long and someone is bound to notice and become suspicious.
I take a step back, putting the distance needed between us to break us from this spell we're both caught under. "Come round tonight?" I ask him, knowing he'll understand what I'm on about.
"Yeah," he confirms, before stepping back and allowing me to leave the office.
I breathe deeply to regain my composure before stepping out of the office and over to where Yvonne is stood with DS's Hunter and Nixon.
"Have a nice little chat with the DI," Phil teases. He accidently caught on to our little secret last week when he walked in on us in a compromising position, and has been teasing us about it ever since.
"Yes thank you Philip," I reply cheekily, playing him at his own game. It's the only way to make the other believe it's just Phil Hunter messing around as usual. "So what have I missed?"
Samantha Nixon explains the details of the other victim and what they know of the case so far before giving both me and Yvonne instructions to call around the local schools for possible links. Once we have been dismissed we make our way back to the area car to drive around to the schools.
"What did the DI want," Yvonne asks once we are seated comfortably in the car and pulling out of the station.
"Not much," I reply, "He was just informing me of the results of a case I helped them on a few weeks back," I say.
"I don't see why you are so keen to help them all the time, most the times I'm called in to help CID, I end up making tea for them all day and doing all the donkey work. This is probably the most I've ever done on an actual case before now."
"They just like me," I say with a laugh, "and besides, Inspector Gold said to me the other day, if you want a promotion in the future you make a good impression now."
"A promotion to what? Official tea maker," Yvonne says looking rather glum, "the DI must fancy you," she adds as an afterthought.
"I think you're forgetting that he's married," I state, trying to get her off that line of thought.
"Since when has that stopped you?" Yvonne says to me, "I once wondered if he was the mystery boyfriend you won't tell us about, but then thought no, he's way too moody."
I inwardly swallow, that's twice today that she's hit on the truth, could she have found out about us? A nervous laugh is the only response she gets as we pull into the car park of the first school on our list.
Inside the head teachers office we explain the situation before requesting the information we need about the victims and other possible connections. We do this for every primary and secondary school in the borough which takes up most of the shift.
We get back to the station an hour before knocking off time and head straight to the computer room to type up our notes from this morning and process the paperwork from our school visits this afternoon. By the time we have finished its past knocking off time.
"Are you two still here," the DI says poking his head into the room.
"We're just finishing up now," states Yvonne shutting her computer down and gathering her things.
"In that case you'll be able to join everybody in the pub to throw a surprise party for Inspector Gold then won't you," he says, giving me a look that says a lot more than his words do.
"Of course Sir," Yvonne says, "I'd forgotten it was the Inspector's birthday today. You're coming right Andy?"
"Yeah of course," I say, shutting my computer down and collecting my papers together.
Yvonne steps out the door and heads in the direction of the locker room, brushing past the DI who is still stood in the doorway of the room. "I'll be with you in a minute," I say to her.
Neil's eye's follow Yvonne till she's out of sight, before he steps into the room and wraps his arms around my waist, pressing a small kiss to my collar bone. "I've missed you today," he says in explanation for his actions.
Both of our eyes remain on the door in the off chance that Yvonne decides to come back looking for me. "I've missed you too," I admit, kissing him deeply.
"I better go before PC Hemmingway comes back looking for you, see you over the pub in a few minutes," Neil says reluctantly breaking his hold on me.
"I'll be there," I say giving him a quick peck before following him out of the room and making my way to the locker room to find Yvonne.
"What took you so long?" Yvonne asks when I enter the locker room, "never mind," she says before I can answer, "just hurry up and get changed so we can go."
I change out of my uniform as fast as I can, and then after grabbing my personal belongings and securing my locker I follow Yvonne out of the station and across to the stations favorite pub, the Canley Arms.
In the pub we find the rest of the relief and a scattering of CID officers crowded around a table in the far right corner. My eyes instantly meet Neil's and he silently calls us over. I follow Yvonne's lead and take a seat right next to Neil on one of the bench seats. Yvonne pulls up a stool and sits just to the left of me.
"What are you having to drink ladies," Rob Thatcher says to us, it's obviously his round.
We each make our requests before focusing our attention on the conversation that's going on in front of us. "... and so all that was left was this prosthetic arm hanging out of the handcuffs," DC Drummond says, sending the whole table into fits of laughter.
"What about you Gov," someone says to Neil, "Surely you must have some interesting stories to tell."
Neil's head snaps up at the mention of his rank, his mind obviously elsewhere.
"I've got one," buts in Phil Hunter with a sly smile and a glance across to me and Neil to see if we are paying attention, "A few years ago, back when I was at Stafford Row, I went to see the DCI about a new case, so me being me knocks the door and walks straight in without waiting for a response. As I opened the door and stepped into the room, I saw the DCI wrapped around one of the newest DC's, they were practically doing it on the desk, so as you can imagine, I hightailed it out of there as fast as I could, swearing to myself I'd never just barge in on someone again. The next day and for the next few months neither of them could look me in the eye."
"Hardly surprising there," Tony Stamp joins in on the conversation.
"Your motto to not barge in on people didn't last very long then did it Phil," Neil says to him, "How many times have I had to tell you off for barging into my office unannounced."
"Fair point," Phil concedes defeat, "But it's not like I'm likely to catch you getting cozy with one of the DC's in there is it," he adds cheekily.
The topic of the conversation is changed to that of strange things people do when drunk. I block most of it out lost in my own thoughts. Subconsciously, part way through the evening my hand moves to rest on Neil's leg under the table, out of sight of anyone else. His hand settles on top of mine and he strokes his thumb soothingly atop my hand. Outwardly we show no sign of our affectionate touches, and continue to do this until we are forced to get up because someone needs to get up to go to the toilet. As soon as they've gone and we've settled back down, we resume our former positions even though we know it's more than risky and the chance of getting caught is high. The hours pass unseen and slowly, as more and more alcohol is consumed the conversation gets wilder, and people become more lapse in their actions. On several occasions tonight, Neil has touched me deliberately and in plain sight of the others, although no one has seemed to notice our closeness and affection for each other. As closing time draws near, everybody gets their last drinks in. I excuse myself to the toilet, and one of the others agrees to get my drink for me. In the ladies toilets, I go into one of the empty stalls and empty my bladder before flushing the chain and stepping over to the sinks to wash my hands. Yvonne steps out from one of the other stalls as I am checking my reflection in the mirror.
"I still think the DI fancies you," she says to me on spotting me.
I turn to face her before humoring her and asking, "Whatever gives you that idea Yvonne?"
"Well ignoring the fact that he keeps asking you to help with CID cases and always wants to talk to you alone in his office, he's been watching your every move tonight, a look of longing in his eyes that's not all that hard to miss. His eyes seemed to light up the minute he saw you arrive here tonight, and they were practically glowing when you sat beside him."
"You'll find that's just the alcohol," I try to reassure her, "and as for helping up in CID, I can't help it that they like me up there."
"You can say what you like to try and deny it, but if you were in my position, you'd be saying the exact same thing."
"If you say so," I say stepping towards the door, "Come on before they think we got lost."
We make our way back to the table where I settle down next to Neil, a little more wary than I was before. Once I am sure no one is paying attention to us, I whisper to him, "Yvonne's just said to me that she thinks you may fancy me."
He looks at me shocked and wary, is our secret well and truly out this time because that's the way it's looking right now. We can't really discuss it right now and make a silent agreement to talk about it later as soon as we are alone.
The last half hour or so in the pub is spent with everyone finishing their respective drinks, the conversation dying down and everybody gradually making their way home. I carefully time my exit so that it's just after Neil's but not obvious that we're heading home together. I catch up with him just around the corner from the pub, and walk to my flat with him arm in arm. We are both unaware of the eyes following us curiously.
Upon reaching my flat I unlock the door and we both step inside. I turn around to shut and lock it behind us, before I turn around and am pushed back against the door, Neil's eager lips melding against mine. We kiss passionately for several minutes, only dragging our lips apart when it becomes necessary to breathe. Our faces remain close, breathing in each other's scent. It takes just long enough for us to regain our breath to realize that the only conversation we're going to have tonight is with our bodies. We make our way upstairs to the bedroom stopping to kiss and push each other up the wall several times along the way. By the time we reach the bedroom we are down to our underwear, a trail of clothes left where they fell in our haste to remove them. We collapse onto the bed, our lips still fused and the rest of the world forgotten. We make love deep into the night, eventually falling asleep in each other's arms.
THE END