The air was no longer warm and comforting on her face, and the throbbing in her skull caused her to groan in pain. She knew straight away that she'd come crashing back down to reality, back into her scotch covered dress, back to the darkened room. The sunlight from outside was feebly shining against the drawn curtains telling Cora that she'd slept through the night. She shielded her eyes as she brought a weakened hand to her face, the stale stench of scotch burning her nostrils and causing her stomach to twist. She pushed herself up against the wall she was slumped down, a stab of pain shooting down her neck. She peered through her foggy gaze around the room, her eyes flickering over empty bottles on the dressing table, the pile of clothes in a heap in the corner, the drawn curtains blocking the sunlight. Her head throbbed as a pang of shame stabbed at her. She imagined Sarah's scowl at the state of the room and shivered. Doing her best to ignore the churning of her stomach, she pushed herself to her feet and got to work

The first thing she stumbled towards was the bathroom, the half drunken bottle of scotch in her hand. She unscrewed the top shakily, trying not to inhale the smell as she tipped it away. "Will you wait for me?" "Only if you promise to stay off the scotch. You've never been able to handle it, you bloody noodle!" A slight breath of laughter escaped her pale lips as the last drop of it disappeared. She moved back into the bedroom and placed the now empty bottle beside its equally empty brothers. Her gaze flickered to the mirror, and she caught her own eye. The journey ahead was going to be crippling, but she had no choice but to prop herself up. Sarah's words rang in her head. "... you have so much of life left to see." What good would it do for her to sit in darkness all the time? Would Sarah's sacrifice not be in vain?

Cora sighed, rubbing her face roughly. Baby steps, she thought, baby steps. She spent the early morning tidying about the room(as best she could). She opened the curtains, allowing the morning sunlight to flood through the open windows. She attempted to fold the pile of unkept clothes and put them back into place. She gathered the broken shards of the thrown glass and shuffled them into a small pile, and tidied up any odd bits that were littered on the floor. She rung the bell, unlocked the door and placed herself at the dressing table, fidgeting nervously with the hem of her nightgown. Then there was a timid knock on the door, and Mrs Hughes appeared around it.

"M'lady?"

Cora watched her through the mirror, trying her hardest to push a small smile to the surface of her face.

"Good morning Mrs Hughes... I was wondering if..." She paused, watching the housekeepers face desperately for any sign of judgement or disapproval. "... If you would help me prepare for the day?" She felt like a child, small and shy under the gaze of the older woman. Her worries were brushed away when a pleasant smile met her through the mirror.

"Oh course, m'lady." Her gentle exterior put Cora at ease, and she relaxed as Mrs Hughes headed towards her and began working on her hair. She worked in silence for a few moments, before looking up.

"It's good to see you up again, m'lady."

Cora said nothing for a moment, feeling a sudden rush of affection for the housekeeper. Sarah had never seen eye to eye with Mrs Hughes... In fact, she often expressed a few disgruntled opinions while stood in that exact place, but Cora was certain Sarah would appreciate Mrs Hughes gentle treatment of her at this moment.

"Life must go on." she muttered simply, her eyes dropping to her knees.

"Aye, it must, my lady."

Cora's appearance at the breakfast table caused a couple of uncertain glances from everyone in the room. She opened her paper, keeping her gaze on the words on the page. She found herself reading the same line several times, no information entering as her concentration focussed on the pressing atmosphere at the table. She put the paper down , glancing at Robert who immediately dropped his gaze to his own paper.

"You're up early, Mama." said Edith from beside her. Cora felt several pairs of eyes on her, and she brought her cup of tea to her lips self consciously.

"I have a couple of matters to attend to, I thought I'd start early." She gave Edith a small smile from behind her cup. She glanced quickly at Robert again, who this time held his gaze.

"It's good to see you." The corners of his mouth twisted into a small smile, and he returned his attention back to the paper.

Cora finished her breakfast, and instead of taking the usual route to her bedroom, she made her way downstairs into the servants hall. She presumed most of the staff were off performing their morning duties as the hall was empty. She tentatively stepped into the room, straining her ears for any sign of life. There was a sudden scraping noise, and the door leading to the back yard opened.

"Thomas."

The footman froze, a look of confusion appearing on his usual smug face. Cora noticed the lines around his eyes, the pale tones of his skin. He slowly closed the door behind him, the smell of a fresh cigarette wafting from his uniform. He said nothing, his calculating eyes watching her carefully.

"I was looking for Mrs Hughes..."

"She's upstairs in the drawing room, m'lady." His gaze never left her, and Cora felt a sudden uncomfortable shiver run down her spine. "Perhaps you could wait in her office while I fetch her?"

Cora gave a small smile. "I would appreciate that, thank you Thomas." She followed him back into the corridor and he led her to Mrs Hughes' office. He held the door open for her, but before he turned to leave, she looked back at him.

"Thomas... How are you?"

He said nothing for a moment, a small frown creasing his fod. His eyes raked over her face, and he seemed almost confused.

"I'll survive, m'lady." His lips curled into a small, appreciative smile, and with a small nod, he backed out of the small room. Alone, she stood somewhat awkwardly. She had been in this room a few times in the past, but she'd never been left alone, and she felt as though she was prying in the housekeepers private area. She wrapped her arms around herself, when something caught her eye on the opposite wall. A photograph. It was only small, propped up on a small shelf. Cora looked closer. The photograph had several people in it. The first she noticed was Carson - tall, and proud. Then Mrs Hughes next to him. Anna, Bates, Thomas, the various housemaids, Mrs Patmore, Daisy... And there, grumpy looking, unsmiling, scowling... Sarah O'Brien. Cora held back a choke at her expression. Typical O'Brien! She ran a finger carefully over her, tears prickling her eyes.

"I'm sorry to have kept you, m'lady!" Mrs Hughes suddenly entered looking rather flushed. Cora spun round, catching Mrs Hughes eyes flickering between her and the picture. "What can I help you with?"

"I was just wondering... About, well," she paused, trying to recompose herself. "Have you sorted Miss O'Brien's belongings out yet?"

Mrs Hughes watched her, a tiny frown flickering across her face. "Not yet, m'lady." she said quietly, dropping her gaze. "His Lordship thought it best for us to leave her room for now... He thought you'd want to go through it, being the person she was closest to."

She found it difficult to stop herself welling up at the housekeepers words. "May I..." Mrs Hughes nodded, flashing the Lady of the house a small smile.

"Of course, m'lady. I'll show you up there."

Cora followed Mrs Hughes up the stairs to the servants corridor in silence. They stopped only when they reached a door, which Mrs Hughes carefully opened. She stepped aside, allowing Cora to peer in from the door frame. Mrs Hughes said nothing else, but gave Cora an understanding nod. She turned away and left Cora in the corridor.

She could feel her legs trembling slightly as she stepped over the threshold of the room. The first thing she noticed was the low temperature... The room obviously hadn't been heated at all since Sarah had gone. The bed was made, but crumpled at the based where someone seemed to have been sat. There was a small box surrounded by all sorts of needles and rolls of cotton littered on the surface of the bed, and Cora recognised a couple of buttons that were identical to the ones on some of her dresses. One of the doors of the wardrobe stood ajar, and Cora could see the blackness of a dress poking out. She opened the door wider with a creak, running her hands down the rough material that Sarah had once lived in. There was a tattered pair of shoes at the bottom, and under that, a small brown box. Cora frowned slightly, taking the box out and placing it gently on the bed. A wave of guilt hit her, and she glanced at the door. Did she have a right to be looking through Sarah's thing like this? Well, surely someone had to do it... And the idea of anybody else touching Sarah's things suddenly sent a flash of anger through her.

She carefully took off the lid, peering inside to discover many pieces of paper, some yellowing with age, some quite new. Her hands trembled as she reached inside, pulling one out that seemed young.

'C,

Words cannot describe the enormity of my love for you at this very moment. As I write, you are downstairs, planning your daring escape from dinner, and I am here, so very wishing that the night will hurry so I can be with you again. The happiness I feel when your hand is in mine is indescribable, and I shall never be sad again so long as I have your face in my memory. Oh darling, I love you so much. I am eternally yours,

S'

Cora's breath caught in her throat, and she covered her mouth so she wouldn't be heard. Her eyes stung with tears, and she knew there was no point in her trying to hold them back. Her hands trembled as she raked her eyes over the words again and again, each time causing the flow of tears to thicken. She reached into the box again and pulled another letter out, then another, then another. Each new piece she read caused her heart to shatter and ache. 'I'm so scared, the Doctor isn't hopeful that you are going to wake up', 'You opened your eyes today... Only for a split second, but you are there, I know you are going to be back soon.', 'You seem to be back to your normal self... You smiled today for the first time in weeks.' She put the letters back into the box, sure that she could not carry on any more. These small relics, these tiny pieces of paper were all she had left to prove that Sarah O'Brien had indeed once existed, once lived and breathed, once sat at her desk and expressed her fears and hopes. Cora placed the lid on the box and picked it up. Before she left the room, she turned around for one last sweep. She could almost see Sarah sat at the end of her bed, some sort of needlework in her hand.

"Wipe your eyes, then." she could hear her saying, looking lazily over her work at her. "You don't want anyone seeing you like that, do you?"

Cora quickly wiped her face with the sleeve of her dress, attempting to dry away the wetness from the fallen tears. She held the box tightly to her chest.

"Goodbye, Sarah O'Brien." she whispered. The Sarah in her mind, sat at the end of the bed, looked up at her. She gave her a small wink, the corners of her mouth twitching into a small smile as Cora turned away, closing the door gently behind her.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this story. I haven't written anything in such a long time, so all I can do is apologise for any rustiness you may have come across in any of the chapters! :P I really enjoyed writing this, and I'm such a big fan of Downton Abbey(especially Sarah O'Brien and Cora!) Hopefully my writing will improve with every story, so I can't wait to get typing again! :D

And thank you so very much for those wonderful people who left very lovely reviews! They absolutely made my day. :)

All the best,

L xx