Ellie and Kate went back to the waiting room. They were in a very glum mood.
"Ellie?"
"Um, yes, Kate?"
"Please, let us talk about something. I can't just sit here and wait."
"But.. Kate.."
"Please!"
So they sat there and talked. They talked about their lives. And they talked about Alec. Kate told Ellie what a loving father Alec was. Ellie was overhelmed.
The stories Kate told were wonderful. It really showed how much Alec loved his daughter. Suddenly Ellie's guilt feelings came back. She should have told him. She wouldn't be here with Kate right now if she told him!
After an hour Dr King finally came to them.
"The surgery went well! You can now go and see him."
Ellie and Kate jumped up. Finally good news!
"Is he awake? Can we talk to him?" Ellie asked.
"Not now, but he'll wake up within the next 30 minutes."
Dr King led them to the recovery room. They went to Alec, who was still sleeping. He looked sick and pale.
"I let you alone with him now." Dr King said and left.
"Okay, thank you." Ellie answered.
Kate and Ellie sat down on two chairs next to Alec's bed. Kate smiled. She was happy that he survived. She ran her hand across his cheek.
"Hey dad, it's me, Kate."
No reaction.
"Please, dad, come on. Wake up."
"Let him sleep, Kate. He'll wake up when it's time for him to wake up." Ellie said.
"I just want to... okay, yes, you're right."
They just sat there and waited for him to wake up. Kate was holding his hand.
"Oh, Ellie look, his hand! He just pressed my hand!"
"Wow, that's very good!"
Ellie smiled at Kate, who was beside herself with joy. Then she looked at Alec's face. He was still sleeping.
Suddenly the alarm went off. Dr King and two nurses ran into the room.
"Cardiac Arrest!" The doctor shouted. He immediately began the resuscitation. One of the nurses pushed Kate away from Alec.
"Come on, get out!" The nurse said to Kate and Ellie, who were speechless. What the hell is happening?
Unable to contradict they did as they were told. Ellie put her hand on Kate's shoulder as they walked towards the door, but the girl didn't want to leave her dad alone. She wrested from Ellie and ran back to her father. She bent over him and laid her hand on his hair.
"Please, don't die! Please... no..." Tears ran down her cheeks. She took her father's hand. "Please daddy, if you can hear me press my hand!" But there was no reaction.
Then she looked at the doctor, who was still trying to resuscitate Alec.
"Please, don't let him die! He's my father!" The doctor looked at her briefly and saw how desperate she was. He couldn't tell her truth right now. He decided not to say anything.
Ellie was still standing next to the door. Although she constantly watched Dr King trying to bring Alec back to life, she couldn't believe it. All this. It was so unreal.
It seemed to be hopeless. There were no signs of life anymore. After 30 minutes of several attempts of resuscitation Dr King gave up. Alec's heart didn't start beating again. He was dead.
Dr King looked at his wristwatch. "Time of death: 11:30."
He looked at Kate. "I am so sorry! You see, I tried everything to bring him back to life, but in the end it was all too much for his heart."
Kate didn't respond. She was still sitting next to her father, holding his hand. Dr King had never seen anyone so broken before.
Then he looked back to the door, where he expected to see Ellie, but she wasn't there anymore. She went out on the corridor. She was full with guilt and grief. She leand against the wall and sank slowly to the ground. She hid her face in her hands. Why the bloody hell is all this happening?
Throughout the following months everything went back to normality. Ellie wasn't working on the Latimer Case anymore. She gave the case to her collegues. She could no longer work on it.
She started working on another case. This helped her to forget.
And Kate? Kate went back to her mother. Ellie had never heard from her again. Sometimes she is on the verge of writing Kate a letter, but she never did it. It would be stupid to write her a letter,
Ellie thought. And what could she have written? "Sorry, it's my fault that you had to lose your father again." - this was the only thing Ellie could think of, but of course this was not an option.
Kate was living her old life in Glasgow now. Without her father, like she did the years before. The only thing is that this time there was no chance to see her father again.
She lost him again.
And this time, forever.
Note: So this was the last chapter of my Broadchurch fanfic! I hope you liked it! Please notice: I have absolutely no idea of medical stuff, so please forgive me if I've written some illogical things in the last chapters.