Next chapter people!

This story does have some sort of plot, but I do like lots and lots of fluff, so that is what you are getting I'm afraid. I will try to stay on topic, but it can be hard when I get carried away.

Thank you for the reviews, they do encourage me. Enjoy!

Walking into A & E was the worst moment of his life, looking around he could see the hustle and bustle taking up all of the A & E staffs focus. Heading towards the receptionist desk, he waits in line, nervously looking around him trying to get a glimpse of Grace.

" Can I help you Sir?" A voice asks, whipping around he sees an older lady peering at him.

" Uh, can you tell me where DC Dasari is please" Neil asks placing his hands on the desk in front of him leaning slightly.

" Erm, who Sir, I need a first name" The receptionist asks smiling slightly.

" Sorry, Grace Dasari, police officer she was just brought in with a stab wound" Neil says staring at the receptionist.

Looking at the man standing in front of her she could tell he was starting to get impatient "and you are Sir?…." she asks.

Flipping his warrant card out showing his I.D and badge. Neil simple says " her boss".

Looking at the card, the lady smiles lightly, tapping on her keyboard " Pelican ward, down the hall on the right, bed six." Before she could say anymore. The receptionist hears a 'thank you'. When she looks up all she see is the retreating back of the officer heading down the hall. Shaking her head slightly she calls "next".

Standing outside the Pelican ward, Neil breathes deeply 'you can do this Neil, she's fine, they would of told you otherwise, come on be a man, just push the doors open and go in.' With that he pushes the doors open and enters.

The ward is not that big, with only eight beds in the ward and looking like four of them not being occupied. His eyes look along the rails for the number six. When he spots it, Neil notices that the curtains are drawn around it. Walking over to them he stops, standing in front of them he listens for voices, but he cannot hear any. ' Do I go in? Maybe I should go? And get one of the guys to check on her. No! you have to see her to make sure she is all right'. Before he could go in a voice attracts him.

" Sir, can I help you?" a male voice questions him.

Turning around Neil sees that the male voice in question is actually a doctor, holding a chart, Neil spies that it has Dasari written on it. Noticing that the doctor is still staring at him, Neil shakes his head. " Hi I'm D.I Manson, my officer is in there" pointing to bed six, " just not sure if I can go in or not as the curtains are drawn"

" Oh, right, yes that's not a problem at all, we just closed it for privacy" the doctor replies. Looking at her chart the doctor carries on talking to him. " Right she has received a wound to her left upper arm, the wound was a little deep, that's why she bled a bit, so we have stitched her up and she is fine now. She can be released , once the paperwork is completed " The doctor trailed off as he notices that his audience is not paying attention, just staring at the curtains. Walking away the doctor goes back to the nurses station.

Lifting the curtain to the side Neil glimpses Grace for what seems like the first time in days. Laying on the bed with her arm wrapped up and placed in a sling Grace lays there with her eyes closed. Staring at her Neil sighs " Oh Grace"

Suddenly Neil jumps his mobile starts ringing, looking at the I.D is shows Jack Meadows. " Sir" Neil answers whilst walking away slightly as not to wake her.

" How is she Neil?" Jack asked Neil softly through the phone.

Taking a deep breath Neil speaks" She's asleep at the moment Sir, got a knife wound to the arm, but that is it, the doctors say she will be fine, she should be out soon" he finishes.

" Alright, I will be speaking with the others first, but I will need to speak with you as well Neil" Jack tells him.

" Understood, I.." Neil starts, but Jack cuts him off.

" Stay up there for a while Neil, she could sure use a face she knows when she wakes up." Jacks cuts in.

" Thank you Sir" Neil replies. Neil then ends the call. Going back to the cubicle Neil once again looks at Grace expecting her to be asleep still. He is shocked when he see her sitting on the side of the bed. "Hey" is all he seems to manage to say. " Sorry did I wake you?". Neil asks.

Shaking her head slightly Grace answers him, " no I wasn't asleep only resting" Grace pauses before starting again " I don't know how long they want to keep me here…" she says

" I don't think it will be that long, the doc said something about paperwork….." Neil replies trailing off while looking outside for the doctor.

" Ok…..well you don't have to stay here Sir, I'm sure that one of the guys can come and pick me up" Grace says softly. Trying to catch his eye, she sighs softly when he avoids her eye, looking down at the floor she closes her eyes waiting for the inevitable scolding that she is due to receive.

Hearing her sigh, Neil looks up at her. Seeing Grace with her head hanging down nearly undoes him. All he want to do was to take her into his arms and tell her that it was going to be all ok, but he knew he couldn't. Instead he answered her." Nope, I'm here, I sent the guys back to change, I'll drop you off home and I'll speak with them in a bit"

Sharply bringing her head up, Grace asks " home?" showing a confused look on her face Neil continues.

"Yes…. home" Neil starts hesitantly, "you have been injured where else are you going to go?" he continues, coming to stand by her.

Shaking her head Grace answers " No! I mean I can work, there is no need for me to go home, after all we still have a case going" Graces states while standing up.

Shaking his ready to over-rule her Neil opens his mouth, but before he can say anything Grace carries on.

" Please, If I sit at home I'll just keep going over it in my mind, I want to be of some help" Grace pleads, quietly drifting off at the end. Looking away as she can feel the tears starting to pool in her eyes.

Listening to her, Neil steps in very quickly. " No!" he states, knowing what she is thinking" this is not your fault, you could of not anticipated this outcome, this has not happened before so you had no reason to think that they would do something like this this time." Neil tells her, trying to gauge out her reaction but not having much luck. Touching her good arm lightly Neil tries to make eye contact with her. When he does he sucks in his breath as he sees her eyes filling up with water. Opening his mouth to console her Neil gets interrupted.

" Right, the doc has signed you out, the paperwork is all done, I just need to get you your pain meds, then you are free to go" the nurse bustles into the cubicle interrupting what Neil was going to say to her. Looking at Grace and seeing her eyes watering, and to Neil's hand still on her arm, the nurse stops before carrying on " are you ok Ma'am?" the nurse asks flicking between Grace and Neil.

Looking away from Neil .Grace replies positively to the nurse, asking how long it would be until she can have her medication. " Not long, I'll go and get it now" the nurse states while backing out.

Leaving both of them alone again, the silence passes slowly. Looking at Grace he sees that she still had her clothing on which was bloody, seeing this it brings Neil out of his revive, shaking his head. " If you are certain that you want to go back to into the station" Neil starts, seeing that Grace nods her head, he carries on " I'll take you via your house, to change" Neil says while pointing at her blood stained clothing.

Looking down at herself, Grace simply replies "ok". smiling sadly.

With the silence engulfing both of them Neil plucks up the courage to begin to talk to Grace, about the earlier revelation "Grace about Jake" Neil starts

Putting up her hand, Grace stops him " Guv, please not now, its none of my business who you tell and who you don't"

'Guv' Neil thinks to himself ,opening his mouth again to speak, Neil is once again interrupted by the nurse. " Here you go, these are your meds " Whilst the nurse begins to explain the meds to Grace, Neil updates Meadows that they would be leaving soon and would be back at the station soon.

The drive to Graces flat is quiet, both consumed in their own thoughts. Neil finally gets Grace to her flat, once inside curtsey of her neighbours key, Grace sets Neil down on the sofa. Breaking the silence that seems to have overtaken , Grace tells Neil to " Help yourself to anything in the kitchen". She then disappears into her bathroom.

Whilst waiting for Grace to wash up, Neil wonders around the living room looking at the numerous pictures that she had dotted around. Pictures of what he presumed were her family and friends 'pretty big family' she has. One however catches his eye. It was of them, well not exclusively them two, but the team.

Thinking back it was after another particularly bad case they all went for a drink. Terry and Mickey were laughing at something ,Jo and Stevie were quite drunk at that point and holding onto each other trying to stay upright, and then there was grace and me, it looked like from that angle I had an arm around her, but thinking back I was grabbing a drink from behind her, we all had smiles on our faces. All facing toward the camera. Those were the good times.' I wonder who took it?', who ever it was, was thoughtful enough to give Grace a copy, I don't think anyone else has a copy…'hmmm maybe I'll have to get a copy from her'. He thinks to himself.

" Banksy took it" Graces voice cuts into my thoughts, turning around I see Grace standing in the doorway, clutching at her blouse" He turned up late and couldn't resist when he saw us" she said with a smile on her face.

" That was a good night, thinking back" Neil says in reply matching her smile. " Are you ok?" Neil asks when he sees that Grace is still clutching her blouse together.

" Ah, well you see, it was hard enough getting my blouse on with my arm in the wrap, and when I took it out of the sling it hurt more, so I thought I should put it back in the sling quickly, but then I realised I couldn't do the buttons up" Grace says. " Sorry I'm rambling" Grace give Neil an embarrassed smile.

Smiling back at her, Neil starts to say " that's ok.." Then he realises what she is asking him to do. "Ah."

After a pause Grace starts to speak "Sorry, I know its not professional, if I could do it myself I would, but my arm hurts every time I move it" Grace fades off. Looking down.

" No, no its fine" Neil says while walking up to Grace. " Erm…" Neil murmurs thinking to himself. 'pull yourself together man!, she needs you to do this one thing, without you perving over her!, she's hurt for cryin out loud!' " Right, right". Neil says out loud.

" You can start at the top, its should be easier" Graces suggests to Neil whilst not making eye contact with him.

" Yea, Ok" Neil simply replies. Stepping up closer to Grace, they are only about a foot away from each other. Breathing deeply, Neil regrets this straight away as her scent engulfs him completely and he nearly looses focus on what he is meant to do.

Neil touches the top button of Graces blouse, hearing a quiet sharp intake of breath, Neil risks a quick look up to her face, seeing that she has a faint blush on her cheeks, Neil bites down a smile. Working his way down her blouse, Neil's fingers keep skimming on Graces skin, putting him off every time he touches her. Doing up her blouse completely Neil releases his breath that he didn't even know he was holding.

" There all done" Neil says, whether that was to himself or to Grace neither of them knew.

All Grace could reply was " thank you", making Neil look up at her.

When he saw her Neil couldn't help but reach out towards her, With questioning eyes Grace follows his hands but says nothing. Then Neil's hands gently touches her neck, but it doesn't stay on her neck, instead he goes to her collar, and it must have been creased wrong, as Neil straightens it out. " There perfect" Neil whispers quietly. Grace smile slightly in reply.

They both stand there looking at each other, neither knowing what to do. Bringing his hand up again Neil cant help but tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Hearing Grace suck in a quiet breath, makes Neil look into her eyes.

Standing so close to her, Neil swears he can hear her heart beating faster, or was it his?. Flicking his eyes from hers to her lips and back up again, he knows his heart starts beating faster. Leaning in slightly towards Grace, Neil sub-consciously licks his lips.

That it for this chapter! Will they or won't they, please R & R it always makes me happy when I see reviews.

New chapter coming soon!