RETURN FROM THE DEAD 2

PREVIOUSLY

PJ and Jo faced each other and the smile fell from her face.

'Jo. I think we need to talk.'

'Yeah. I think we do.'

PART 2

Jo wordlessly followed him out of Tom's office and across the room to another bigger office. He pulled the blinds down in the windows and Jo looked at him curiously.

'They have a habit of being nosy. Must be a necessity to come to Mt. Thomas.'

Jo gave a small laugh.

'It must be.'

They stood in silence for a few minutes before PJ turned and spoke.

'Why'd you do it?'

'PJ.' She said, shaking her head slightly in exasperation.

'I loved you. Sorry. I love you. I still do.'

'And I don't doubt that for a second.'

'Then why did you leave? Why did you throw away everything we had?'

'PJ. I had, and still do have, too much pride to play second fiddle to a woman who's been dead for almost 6 years. You have understand how I feel. I know how much you loved her. How much you still do.'

'No you don't. Because I, I don't love her anymore.'

'What?'

'She was special to me Jo. I will always care. But I'm not in love with her. Not anymore. She's gone. And she's not coming back. There's no point hanging on to a memory. A memory is from the past. You can't have a future with a memory. And I want a future.'

'I've never said this before. And I probably shouldn't be saying it now. But I have to. How can you be so sure she's dead?'

'What? Jo, this is crazy.'

'No it's not PJ. We all saw the suspiciousness around her death. You can't tell me you've never wandered what if.'

'No I can't. But that doesn't matter anymore.'

'It's matters to me. PJ. I was going to spend the rest of my life with you. I couldn't do that, knowing that she might come back and ruin it all.'

'That wouldn't have happened.'

'You don't know that.'

'Yes I do. I can't tell she won't come back. Because even I don't know that for certain. But I can tell it wouldn't change anything. Maggie and I don't have a future. That ended 6 years ago. Jo. If she is out there, somewhere. She's a very different person. She's not the person I fell in love with. SHE died 6 years ago.'

'What do you want me to say PJ?'

'Look me in the eye and tell you don't love me anymore.'

'I didn't leave because I stopped loving you. I'll never stop loving you.' A lone tear rolled down her cheek and she didn't bother to wipe it away.

'Fine. Then look me in the eye and tell me you don't want the same things you wanted 2 years ago. A wedding, children. A future.'

'Ofcourse I still want those things.'

'Yeah. But do you want them with me?'

'That's not fair PJ.'

'But it's fair for you to walk away from everything we had built. To walk away from our future. And for me not to get a say in it. Jo. Don't go. Please. I can't lose you again.' The pleading look on his face was one Jo had never seen before.

'Why should I stay PJ? So I can go through the pain I went through before all over again. I don't think so.'

'It'll be different this time. I promise.'

'Don't make promises you can't keep PJ.'

Jo turned and walked out the door and across into Tom's office. She just made it through the door when the tears cascaded down her face.

'Oh Jo.' Tom wrapped his arms around her slender frame, holding her as she cried.

'I love him so much Tom. Why does it have to be so hard?'

'It doesn't have to be.'

'What, come back? Pick up where we left off. Pretend it never happened. How can I do that Tom?'

'I know why you left. And I understand. I really do. But you didn't see him Jo. When he though you were dead. His heart broke into a million pieces. He was as bad as he was when Maggie died. Cause he loves you just as much.'

'He looked me in the eye and told me he was over her. He told me he didn't love her anymore.'

'You don't believe him?'

'I don't know. Do you believe she's really dead?'

'Maggie?'

'Yeah.'

'I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. But Jo, if she is out there, I don't think PJ would forgive her. I don't know if you know. But he was going to go with her.'

'In to witness protection?'

'Yeah. He was going to give up his entire life to be with her. If she went alone. I don't think he'd forgive her for lying to him. For making him go through the pain and suffering of her death if it wasn't real. Hell Jo, he was arrested for her murder at one point. It would take a hell of a lot to forgive that.'

'Yeah and he loved her a hell of a lot too.'

'Exactly. Loved. Past tense. Jo, Maggie's his past. Everyone has one. Maggie isn't his future. You are. You just have to say the word.'

Suzie and Jonesy returned to the station and Tom gave them the rest of the day off. Together with Jo, they left the station in a cloud of laughs as they headed off together. PJ and Tom stood in open office doorways watching them go. PJ crossed the room to Tom and they disappeared back inside his office.

'How can I convince her to stay? You're right. I can't stand back and watch her walk away from me again.'

Suzie and Jonesy had taken her to the pub, where she had had a tearful reunion with an overjoyed Chris. Jo sat and smiled.

'Penny for your thoughts?' Chris came up in front of her.

'Just thinking about all the good times I had here.'

'There were lots weren't there?'

'Yeah. He begged me to stay. Told me still loved me.'

'PJ?'

'No, Tom. Yes PJ.'

'Do you still love him?'

Jo paused before replying.

'Yeah I do.'

'Then why is it such a hard choice?'

'I don't know. I mean, I want to say yes. I just don't know what it is that is stopping me. My head keeps telling me it's a bad idea. It's only going to cause me more pain.'

'But what's your heart telling you Jo?'

Chris walked off to serve a customer and Jo sat in thought. 10 minutes later she left the pub and drove to the look out by lover's leap. At night the place was a favourite for lovers. During the day it was deserted. It had always been her place to think. She sat on a rock in the late afternoon sunshine as all her memories since her original arrival in Mt. Thomas seven years ago. The tears began to flow as her life flashed slowly before her eyes. Maggie's death. Jack's betrayal. Her unanswered feelings for Jonesy. Tess, Josh and the baby.

PJ.

She remembered developing a crush on him. Telling herself she was crazy. The first night they spent together. Avoiding each other for days afterwards. Repeating the experiment several times with no different outcome. Him telling her he didn't love her. Tatiana. Marco. The night in the locker room. It was still one of the happiest days of her life. She could remember his face as he said those magical words. "I'm saying I love you." Her pregnancy scare. His proposal. The case which resurrected Maggie's memory. His heart wrenching speech to talk a girl from suicide. "You only ever have one true love." She remembered taking the ring off. His face when he saw it sitting on the cupboard. She'd never forget the hurt on his face. He'd said he told her what she wanted to here. "Then look me in the eye and tell me its not true." The tears she'd shed alone in her Melbourne apartment over him. The pain in her heart when she realised he thought her dead. The warm feeling when she saw him again. Images were flashing through her head. PJ. Tess. Jonesy. PJ. Suzie. Ben. PJ. Tom. Jack. Chris PJ. Maggie. PJ. Suddenly, she knew.