11:59am

Harry dropped the phone onto the floor and it broke into pieces but he didn't stop to pick them up. He hurried to the front door and threw it open. And there she stood. Real and alive and breathing on his doorstep. At that moment he couldn't have moved had his life depended on it. The sight of her had frozen him to the bone and they spent a full minute standing still, staring at each other in disbelief.

"Am I hallucinating?" he asked, voice very soft when he finally found the will to speak again.

"No," she whispered, her eyes shining with tears that she was trying not to cry. She wore jeans and a flattering T shirt in navy blue, her hair was tied back out of her face, reminding him of how she used to wear it on the grid years before. He knew he was focusing on the details to try and cope with the enormity of her truly standing in front of him.

She swallowed twice to try and clear her throat before speaking. "Hello Harry." Her voice sounded thick with emotion and he felt near to tears too. He walked the three steps between them until he could reach out and touch her. Very slowly he moved his right hand until his fingertips touched her palm very gently, feeling a powerful shock run through him at her warm skin. She was real. He joined their hands, his fingers lacing though hers. He'd been watching their joined hands for countless moments and he drew his eyes away, back to her hypnotic beautiful blue eyes.

"Oh, Harry," she said, wiping away a tear that fell down her cheek. He couldn't stop himself and he pulled her into an embrace. They were both breathing heavily, trying to keep the tears from falling. His breathing was ragged into her shoulder as he tried to keep himself from falling apart. He could smell the scent of her hair, bringing an echo of so many times in the past.

He let her go and before he'd even made the conscious decision, he'd kissed her, lips soft against his in the most beautiful way, the most delicious few seconds he'd known in years.

"Ruth, where've you been?" he pleaded, arms resting on her waist, unable to let her go.

"I think we should go inside," she said. They broke apart and she wiped her face dry again and he wanted to kiss her again, but he resisted with difficulty, nodding towards the house.

"Come in."


They sat around the kitchen table in a highly charged and uncomfortable silence. He couldn't tear his eyes off of her figure, sitting in his house. He was almost afraid if he blinked she'd vanish again. She was looking at him in a similar way, her eyes flicking over him with an intensity that surprised him. He broke the silence first. "Ruth, where have you been?"

"It's… well, it's a long story and I don't remember bits of it. A lot of it, actually."

"Ruth, I need to know," he said urgently. "Are you in trouble?"

"No," she said. "I remember waking up in hospital. Apparently…" she suddenly seemed hesitant and then carried on. "Apparently Lucas drugged me?" she waited for him to nod in agreement before she continued. "I don't remember that day. It's all black, but the doctors told me that I was very near death. My brain didn't get enough oxygen from the overdose and I suffered memory loss." She swallowed and looked away from him, focusing on the table instead. "I imagine you had people on the grid looking into the hospitals?"

"Yes," he said.

"At the hospital, they didn't know my name," she said. "I didn't know my name which will be why I'm guessing I never turned up on any hospital lists.

"Amnesia?" he asked, trying to keep his cynicism out of his voice.

"Yes," she said. "The doctors said that the lack of oxygen… well, I was lucky to be alive and if my memory had gone that was a small price to pay. Or that's what they thought anyway." She sighed heavily. "You're a hard man to find, Harry," she said.

"I'm hard to find?" he questioned in disbelief.

"I didn't know where you lived," she said, speaking quietly. "I've been looking for you since I was discharged from hospital. I…" She shook her head, brushing the tears away. "For a long time… I didn't even know your name. I could see your face, but… that was all. You have no idea how frustrating that is."

"Ruth, I have an idea," he murmured, voice heavy with meaning. "How's your memory now?" he asked. "Where've you been living for the past two months?"

"My memory isn't great," she said sadly. "I've got chunks of it back, but I'm still missing a lot more pieces than I'd like. I keep having therapy to try and help, but I don't know how useful it is. They tell me it'll come back in time." She bit her lip in a move he'd seen so often and was so familiar to him that a rush of relief that she was sitting here with him washed over him. "As for where I've been living… you're not going to like this Harry." He looked at her, waiting for her to explain further.


More soon. Thank you so much for the reviews so far.