Hello, World Pt. 6

Sorry for delay. Stuff came up! Don't worry,I punished myself by spending a night in the cells(my room) writing this. Please R and R as always,and shoot me for more cliffhanging!

Ben, Mel and Nate had arrived on the estate in their patrol car seconds before Inspector Gold and Sergeant Weston. It hadn't taken them long to spot Stone's patrol car and go park up next to it. All five of the officers got out of the two patrol cars at the same time. Tim was waiting by Callum's car.

"Thank goodness you are all here now. I was starting to get worried." He called to the group of officers, causing all of them to whirl around. "It's flat number 57 you want."

"Thanks, sir." Rachael reacted the quickest. "Ma'am, how shall we proceed?"

"You take Nate and do door to door, Mel and Ben, you go up to the flat. I'll stay and talk to this man here. At the very least, he might have heard what's going on and be able to fill us in, even if he didn't see anyone do it." Gina laid out the plan.

"All right, ma'am." The sergeant nodded. "Ok, you all heard her, let's get going!" The four officers went to do their respective jobs, leaving Gina alone with Tim. She quickly went over to him.

"Inspector Gina Gold, Sun Hill." She introduced herself formally to him.

"Mr. Tim Ardeman." Tim mirrored her formality, except supplying his name instead of hers.

"All right Tim. Can you tell me what happened here?" Gina asked.

"Yes, inspector." Tim cleared his throat. "It started when I was about to go out and feed Bella, my cat, when I heard breaking glass, so I decided to wait for a bit. Then I heard shouting. I thought it was just kids, so I decided to wait a bit. Then I heard a woman screaming and a door slamming, so I ran outside to see what the hell was going on. I wasn't quick enough to see who it was coming out, but I know it wasn't whoever had screamed."

"How did you know?"

"Because I could still hear her moaning and wailing inside."

"And you didn't go to help her yourself?" Gina raised an eyebrow.

"The door auto locks. I tried getting in. If I had known that she was pregnant, I'd have tried harder." Tim cast down his eyes.

"What did you do next?" The inspector pushed.

"I turned around, and I happened to see a police patrol car glinting in the moonlight on one of the roads. I just ran as fast as I could towards it. I led your sergeant – Callum, I think he said he was - to the flat. That was when he told me the woman was a colleague of his, Sally." Tim continued. "He had to break in to reach her, the poor man."

'Heh. That sounds like Callum.' "Then what happened after he had broken in?"

"Nothing." Tim answered quietly.

"Nothing?" Gina echoed questioningly.

"Yes, inspector. He asked me to call an ambulance and went in there. When I got back, he still hadn't emerged yet, so I waited 'til he did. That's when he come out an' tells me she's gone into labour." He shook his head, swallowed, before continuing, his accent finally slipping back into his words. "If your sergeant wasn't there, I'dve panicked. He just kept calm an' tol' me to get some towels – to make 'er comfortable, I think. I then agreed wi' 'im that I'd wait for the paramedics an' direct them to 'im."

"Ok, sir. That's all I need for now. But you will have to come down to the station later to make a formal statement." The inspector let out in a sigh.

"Of course. Anything to get the person who put Sally in this mess in the first place, that poor girl." Tim whispered determinedly. "You know, that sergeant of yours - Callum – he's a nice guy really. He's still up there with her, the kind soul."

"Is he now?" 'He really does care for her, doesn't he?' "Well, he won't be alone for much longer." Gina stared up at the walkway, watching Ben and Mel run towards Sally's flat. She wondered briefly if sending Ben up with Mel was such a good idea.

"Is Stone still in the flat?" Ben made conversation with Mel as they finished climbing a set of stairs before jogging down a walkway.

"When he last gave sit rep, he said he was still in the flat." Mel answered, easily keeping pace with her beat partner. "I hope they are both ok. I mean, who'd be sick enough to stab a pregnant woman? No wonder why she went into labour."

"Well, some people just aren't right in the head, are they?" Ben frowned. "And some are just plain cold hearted. It was number 57, yeah?"

"Yeah." Mel nodded affirmative.

"Good, just a couple of doors to go, then." The pair stopped outside of a door that was ajar.

"This looks like it might be it."

"I think you might be right, Mel. Wait here and I'll try calling Stone." Ben stepped forward, before raising his voice for a shout. "Sarge! Are you in there?"

The constable took a cautious step inside the flat.

Callum half rose immediately after hearing Ben's voice echo into the flat, making Sally jump. She grabbed into his arm in surprise.

"What the heck is he doing here, Cal?" She whispered quickly.

"Well, I called for backup didn't I?" Callum replied in an annoyed tone. "If I'd known he'd be coming..."

"Callum, he can't know! Not until I get a chance to explain to him." Sally pleaded.

"Of course. You'll be all right on your own for a moment?" He asked her.

"I should be. Don't be too long."

Callum nodded, rising fully to go and meet Ben in the hallway. The sergeant managed to startle the constable as he came towards the door.

"You gave me a fright, sarge!" Ben jumped at the sight of Callum coming towards him. "Are you alright?"

"Perfectly fine. Did you come alone?" Stone asked.

"No. Mel's just outside, Sergeant Weston and Nate are doing a door to door and Inspector Gold is just talking to a man down by your patrol car. Is the woman alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine as well. Do you think you could bring the inspector up here?"

"I should be able to..." Ben broke off, getting a glimpse of the scene behind Callum. "Sarge, is that...?" He was interrupted by Callum roughly turning him around and ushering him towards the door. "Is that Sally?"

"We are not having this conversation here. Out." The sergeant hissed.

Ben stumbled out of the flat, almost falling into Mel, who dodged out of the way in surprise. Callum came out right behind him, looking a right state. The sergeant looked generally messy. One of his hands looked swollen like it had been crushed; the other looked limp and was bruised. As he stepped into the night, the outdoor light reflected off a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"Sarge!" Mel barely contained her gasp at his state. "Are you all right?"

"Never been better." Stone grunted in response. "Ben's just taking me to the inspector. Do you mind looking after her?" He indicated to the flat.

"Not at all, sarge." She watched Sergeant Stone and Ben march off down the walkway before entering the flat.

Mel walked cautiously through to the kitchen of the flat. A strong smell of blood and other fluids greeted her before she had even gotten into the kitchen fully, almost knocking her out. She gagged, biting her tongue desperately to hold her stomach in check. Finally, she came into the kitchen proper, and the last person she expected to be sprawled out on the floor, cradling a tiny baby in her arms, was Sally.

"Sally!" The exclamation burst out before Mel even knew she had opened her mouth. Her northern accent filled the room instantly.

Sally gazed up at her colleague. "Mel!" She mirrored the exclamation.

It took a good ten seconds for Mel to gather herself together, before she rushed to her friend's side, kneeling beside her.

"Sal, I didn't even..." She trailed off, swallowing. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I look a lot worse than I am, trust me." Sally nodded weakly.

"But your arm...!"

"It doesn't hurt. Though, I can feel the dressing sticking to me. Do you think you could change it?" She nodded at the kitchen roll.

"Sure. It might hurt." Mel got to work straight away.

"Nothing can hurt as much what we've just been through." She kissed Cally on the forehead, before showing her to Mel.

"Aww, looks just like you!" Mel smiled, tying the last of the knots on the new dressing. "Have a name yet?"

"She's called Cally. Cally Rose."

"Such a perfect name for a beautiful little girl. Hey there Cally. Welcome to the family." She stroked Cally's cheek, before gently hugging Sally. "Congratulations Sally."

"Thanks, Mel." Sally buried into her friend's shoulder, crying fresh tears of joy.

It wasn't long before Ben had taken Callum to see Gina and an ambulance had arrived for Sally. While the paramedics were sorting out Sally, and checking her over, Sally had opted that Cally be left in the care of Mel while Callum was busy filling in Gina.

"She's all right, though, right?" Gina asked Callum frantically.

"Of course ma'am. You don't need to fret; Sally's a fighter." Callum replied calmly.

"And you?"

"Me? You know me, never been better."

"What did she have then? Did you get a boy or a girl?" Gina asked.

"Ma'am! Keep your voice down!" He replied in a harsh, but hushed tone, glancing at Ben, who was stood by a patrol car, mere metres from them. "He doesn't know about me and Sally yet. And I'd prefer to keep it that way until either of us gets to explain it to him."

"I'm sorry, Callum...I thought he knew." Gina shook her head slightly. "After all, I thought Sally and Ben were close."

"Their closeness is the very reason why we agreed not to tell him in the first place. They had a thing in the past until Sally ended it. The only people who knew she was pregnant were myself, you, Beth and Millie. And the only people that knew..." Callum lowered his voice further. "...I was the father were Sally, me and you – albeit by accident, in the latter case – as far as I knew. If he knew I had fathered her child without a proper explanation of how it came about it would destroy him and drive him mad with rage. Finding out she was pregnant just now is sure to have angered him enough tonight. I'm begging you ma'am, don't go saying anything else until Sally or I can explain ourselves to him."

"Don't worry, Callum, I won't. But you two need to talk. And I know how much you want to go to the hospital, but I think it would be wiser if you went back to the station first. You look like you could do with sorting yourself out." The inspector nodded meaningfully.

"It's fine, ma'am. It's the end of my shift, so I need to be getting back there anyway." The sergeant nodded in agreement. He was about to open his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by the sound of both his and Gina's radios sparking into life.

"148 to 30." Mel's voice crackled down the line.

Callum unhooked his radio from his stab proof vest, planting the mouthpiece near his lips. "30 receiving; what's up Mel?"

"The paramedics are taking Sally down to the hospital now. Something about a check up and to get the knife out, they said. Better safe than sorry, I think, sarge." Mel reported to Callum.

"All right. You go down to the hospital with her. She still needs to make a statement about what happened." Stone sighed. "Go easy on her, Mel."

"I will, sarge. There was one more thing."

"What was that?"

"Sally's been asking to see you."

"Tell her I'll be up there in a minute, 30 out."

"Will do. 148 out."

Callum hooked his radio back onto his stab proof vest, spying Gina giving him a 'I do hope you know what you are doing' look. For the second time in five minutes, Callum sighed.

"Ma'am. It's only going to be for a few minutes." He spoke softly, reading the inspector's mind. "Besides, you heard Mel – Sally really wants me."

"I'm not saying anything." Gina held back her protest. "You're all grown-up; you don't need the likes of me running after you. But I will say this; you and Ben definitely need to talk, and settle your differences, sooner rather than later. And I'm not asking." There was a momentary pause during which Gina smiled, and nearly laughed. "Well, don't just stand there like a lemon. Run along, before I drag you back to the station myself."

"Thank you, ma'am." Callum nodded, before dashing off to go see Sally.

It didn't take Sergeant Stone long to dash up the stairs and down the walkway to his and Sally's flat. Ahead of him, he could see the brightly dressed paramedics wheeling his love out of the flat in a wheelchair. In her arms rested a treasure wrapped up neatly in towels, a treasure Callum knew instinctively was his daughter. And behind them, shutting the flat door, wearied, but still with a smile on her face, was Mel. Callum could hardly contain his grin that stretched from ear to ear when Sally's beautiful blue eyes locked with his own. Before he knew it, he was running to her, and only stopped himself when he remembered Mel was still there.

"Sally!" He had to physically restrain the romantic part of the excitement from his voice. "Are you both all right?"

"I'm fine, if having a knife stuck in my arm classes as fine." Sally nodded. "Are you coming to the hospital?"

"Not right now. I have to go do something at the station first, as well as get out of my uniform."

"Well, I'll see you later then."

Callum stepped aside to let the paramedics wheel Sally past him. Mel hung back beside him for a moment.

"You know, sarge, the paramedics said that the makeshift dressing you used for Sally's knife wound probably saved her life." She remarked casually to him.

"Really?" He hid his shock. He didn't realise how close he had come to losing boh Sally and his daughter. "You look after her and the baby both, you promise?"

"Of course, sarge. You can count on it." Mel gave him a knowing look, before smiling and sauntering off.

He watched her walk away, wondering if he had possibly given himself away, before smiling. Even if he had, he knew his secret was safe with Mel. He also knew that Sally couldn't have a better friend watching over her. Spinning on the ball of his foot, he checked to see if the flat was secure, before following in the direction of where Mel had left. It was time to head back to the station and have that chat with Ben. It was time to settle some differences.

It was time for Callum Stone to confront his demons and face his fears.