Tom awoke that morning, he blinked awake and looked towards Nicki. She still hadn't awoken and this was starting to worry Tom, he realised he should probably ring Lorraine and tell her to come take over. He needed to get into work and it was 8:00am already and he hadn't been home and showered yet, but he promised Lorraine that he wouldn't leave Nicki alone. Lorraine had sacked Michael for his abuse on a member of staff and had contacted Sian asking her to come back and be the head teacher for Waterloo Road till she could find someone to be a more permanent one. Sian had thankfully agreed after hearing what had happened. She had adored Nicki and was also worried about Michael he never seemed the type to do such an attack.
Tom went to walk towards the door hoping to contact Lorraine when the door opened and the small blonde crashed into him, 'Has there been any changes?' Tom looked down at her in shock, 'no nothing sorry' Lorraine visibly slumped, 'look Lorraine if you want, I'll stay and watch over her if you want to get to the school' Lorraine looked up at Tom angrily, 'It's my fault that she's here I will not leave her here alone' Tom held his hands up, 'Okay, okay it was an offer' Lorraine once again slumped 'I'm sorry, it's just I'm worried about her, you know? I just,' she looks over at the bed to a rather broken up Nicki 'I just don't want to lose her' Lorraine looked up at Tom tears filling her eyes. Tom gently embraced Lorraine 'she'll be okay, she's a fighter' Tom led Lorraine over to the chair by the bed then squatted down in front of her, 'look I need to get to Waterloo Road, will you be okay here?' Lorraine nodded looking at Tom; Tom got up slowly and walked towards the door looking back for a couple of minutes then walked out the room. Lorraine once hearing the door shut broke down in tears leaning her head against the bed 'What has he done to you Nicki? What has he done?' Lorraine kept crying slightly holding onto Nicki's left hand, after five minutes of her crying she felt someone running their fingers through her hair. She moved looking up at Nicki to see her looking down at her through half opened eyes. 'You're awake' Lorraine looked at her in shock before jumping up and trying to hug her. Nicki gasped in pain pushing Lorraine away from her softly 'Sorry, sorry it's just so good to see you awake.' Nicki tried to speak but coughs as her throats so dry 'here' Lorraine moves the glass of water from the cabinet to Nicki's mouth helping her drink.
Nicki drank the water thankfully; Lorraine moved the glass back to the bedside cabinet then looked at Nicki. 'What happened?' Nicki rasped, Lorraine looked away guiltily before replying quietly 'Michael he…he' Lorraine broke down crying again, Nicki automatically tried to reach for Lorraine but the pain stopped her she settled for holding Lorraine's hand squeezing it gently in reassurance. Lorraine sniffed beginning again to speak through the tears 'Michael decided to…he…you…Nicki he attacked you because of me' Lorraine sobbed Nicki tried to pull herself up to move closer to Lorraine 'It's okay' Nicki's voice was still raspy, 'Lorraine it's okay' Lorraine sniffed again sitting up looking Nicki in the eyes, she could feel her heartbeat speeding up and this wasn't because of fear of losing Nicki. Lorraine moved forward, closing her eyes and gently kissed her lips. She felt Nicki tense underneath her, Lorraine pulled back quickly looking away 'I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that…I should go' Nicki quickly grabbed Lorraine's wrist before she could leave 'Please…stay.' Lorraine sat back in the chair next to Nicki's hospital bed, 'I'm sorry' Nicki shrugged 'It's okay Lorraine, I just thought that…you weren't interested' Lorraine looked into Nicki's eyes 'I don't know…Nicki I don't know…just with all this…all that's happened…I can't bear the thought of losing you…I can't' Nicki watched as Lorraine started to cry again. 'You don't want this Lorraine; you only think you want this because of everything that's happened…'
Lorraine shook her head 'No Nicki…no that's not why..' Nicki entwined their fingers 'You may think this now Lorraine but when I'm better you may change your mind again' Lorraine was shaking her head vehemently 'No…no' Nicki smiled sadly, 'There is a possibility Lorraine' Nicki squeezed her hand 'When I'm better, when I'm out of here…then we'll talk about this. Us' Nicki winced again 'Lorraine?' Lorraine's head shot up looking at Nicki 'Yes?' 'Would you be able to go and get a nurse for me please my head is pounding.' 'Oh, of course…I'm sorry I should have thought' Nicki smiled slightly before relaxing back onto the bed and letting go of Lorraine's hand for her to leave. Lorraine smiled slightly at Nicki, wiping her tears quickly before walking around the bed and towards the door.
Lorraine stood outside of Nicki's room while the nurse was in speaking to her, she watched as Nicki was nodding slightly and answering questions. It seemed like a long time before the woman left the room smiling at her as she went back towards the nurse's station at the bottom of the corridor. Lorraine pushed open the door slowly 'Would you like me to leave now and give you some rest?' Nicki smiled tiredly 'No please sit.'