Part 8

Rachel searched for Eddie's hand and it was resting on the bed, where he placed it in an attempt to get gradually closer. Eddie saw her look at his hand and he immediately felt guilty; this caused Eddie to move his hand away from the bed, while looking in Rachel's eyes to see her reaction when he did this.

However the reaction he received actually surprised him because rather than looking pleased and relieved she actually looked disappointed and to a certain extent hurt.

Rachel then did something that actually surprised her; she held her hand out and looked into Eddie's brown eyes with almost desperation, he immediately took the hint and took hold of Rachel's hand. This pleased Eddie however he wished he could tell whether she felt anything for him or whether she just felt lonely so she needed someone and Eddie was the one person who was the closest. However for the moment Eddie didn't care.

"Hello Miss Mason, glad you are awake, however your visitor is going to have to leave as it is the end of the visiting times and you need your rest" stated the nurse, Mandy, whose daughter was at Waterloo Road.

Eddie's and Rachel's eyes were locked together and the sadness that they both felt was shown clearly through their faces.

Eddie contemplated whether he would be able to kiss Rachel on the forehead as he had for the last few days when he left but with the decision that he had already made significant progress being allowed to hold her hand, he decided to use this to his advantage and kissed her hand.

Rachel woke early the next morning so she leant across and was surprised to see a vast range of cards and endless bunches of flowers that were spread round the room. She read the cards and saw the usual ones from friends at the school but was more surprised at the ones which were from Bolton and Candice and Chlo and Donte. She knew that the pupils liked her before the revelations but she had no idea that they still liked her; actually she knew it was more than like but would never admit it to herself let alone anyone else.

She realised that it was only about 30 minutes until it was the start of the visitor's hours, just as she was starting to think about Eddie returning she stopped herself. She had been independent this long, she could continue being by herself a bit longer.

The doctor came into the room and explained how Rachel was able to go home within a few days as there wasn't a lot which she could do for her as the collarbone and the ribs would heal themselves and her breathing wasn't as laboured as it was previously. She looked through the window onto the corridor and she felt herself smile inside as there was Eddie, who had returned with flowers.

"Ah, looks like you have a visitor, Mr Lawson has come every day for the past two weeks" disclosed the doctor. Part of Rachel, wished he hadn't said this because it made her confused about what Eddie wanted from her.