Disclaimer not mine

Wide Awake

Sam closed his eyes and sunk to his knees as he tried not to think about what was going on a few feet away. All he could hear was the hum of the television in the corner and Gene stating he was going to find out who did this to their Annie. Alex rested a hand on the small of Sam's back.

"Sam, don't give up on her. This is Annie we are talking about."

Sam nodded his eyes screwed shut. He knew she was dead. He knew that the car crash had been so severe there was no way anyone could have survived. It was a miracle she had got to the hospital in the first place. All he could think of was Danny and how he would tell him his Mum was never coming home.

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Ray glared at the wall in front of him and tried to order his thoughts. Before Maya he would have cheerfully punched the living daylights out of Keates but he knew that would achieve nothing but giving him sore knuckles. Chris shook his head and flopped down in the chair beside his desk.

"Ray?"

"Yeah."

"What was 'e doing 'ere?" Chris shook his head.

"Rubbing our noses in it. 'Ow he got in 'ere is more the point. Call Viv on the front desk. Him or Phyllis have to have seen something." Ray curled his hand into a fist as he spoke, the anger at seeing the former copper beginning to get the better of him.

"You think he is something to do with this? My flat, Shaz being scared and Annie's car crash?"

"And the murders of two men? Yeah." Ray ran a hand over his face. "No idea how but he is in this up to his neck."

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"I just spoke to our Shaz." Gene stated as he sat down. "The kids are fine. Danny is sleeping and Molly is halfway through her history homework." He smiled slightly as Alex held his gaze.

"Ruby?"

"Sleeping." Gene smiled as he thought of his youngest daughter. "Now, any news on Annie?"

"No." Alex glanced at Sam who just seemed to have shut himself off from the world. "Not yet." She bit her bottom lip as Gene took her hand in his and squeezed. Alex smiled slightly before resting her head back against the cool white wall wondering how long it would be before they found out what had happened to Annie.

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"Right, all seems in order." The overweight, middle-aged nursed smiled at Annie. "You look like death warmed over."

"What happened?"

"Bump in the car." The nurse smiled. "I'm Mary, you'll be ok. The doctor will see you before long."

"What time is it?" Annie asked as she looked around the room.

"Eight o clock." Mary stated calmly. "Next you'll be asking me what year it is."

"Well?" Annie smiled wryly, her head hurt and everything felt wrong. Mary took a deep breath.

"It is 8pm on Friday 30th May, 1968."

"What?" Annie felt sick. "Say that again."

"It is 8pm on Friday 30th May, 1968. You are in St Mary's Casualty. Do you want a cup of tea?"

"Please." Annie nodded as she looked down at her hands. Panic began to settle in as she realised she was so far away from home. The coma dreams Sam and Alex had told her about had seemed strange, her psychology training telling her their brains had been dealing with a trauma from their childhood. She hadn't been born in 1968, she had no idea why she was there. "My husband?"

"Sorry?" Mary turned to her.

"My husband? Sam is here somewhere. My boy, my son Daniel."

"I'm sorry luvvie. The only identification on you were a police ID badge and your purse. No wedding ring, no contact numbers. Are you sure you're a married woman?"

"Yes." Annie struggled to stand, grabbing the bed for support. "Yes, I am certain. What did my ID badge say?"

"Annie Rose Cartwright. WPC." Annie shook her head in disbelief before falling back on to her bed. It was all too much. Somehow she had to wake up, she had to get home.

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Chris and Ray marched into the hospital as the doctor called Sam's name. Ray rested a hand on Chris' arm as he saw Sam and Alex step towards the younger man with the stethoscope around his neck.

"Give them a minute." Ray spoke quietly. Chris bit his bottom lip, watching as Alex covered her face with one hand while Gene pulled her into his arms. Sam nodded as the doctor said something before sitting back down on the plastic hospital chair. Chris stayed where he was while Ray walked up to his friends.

"What did the doctor say?" Ray looked as he realised all the colour had drained from Sam's face. "No, not Annie. Not her." Ray sat next to his friend.

"She had a brain scan before being taken to theatre. They anesthetized her while they did the scan."

"Ok." Ray nodded. "I get that."

"She lost a lot of blood, inside." Sam's voice choked on the words. "They,"

"She's not dead." Alex stated firmly. "Annie is not dead."

"Then?" Ray looked from Sam to Alex. "That's good, innit?"

"Yes. Raymondo, that is bloody brilliant. What we have now is a girl in a coma. It seems she was loosing so much blood that her heart stopped beating when they operated on her. They were about to do the scan when she went off." Gene explained as Sam wiped his eyes. "They got 'er restarted again and managed to repair the damage a bit but they are keeping her in a what did they call it?"

"Medically induced coma." Alex sighed.

"Yeah, that until the morning at least. Give 'er body a chance to rest. Nurse is going to come to get Sammy boy once she's safely in ITU." Gene explained. "Now why are you two 'ere?"

"Keates." Chris stated as he wiped tears away from his eyes. "He's back."

"We know that." Sam looked up.

"Yeah but."

"But what Chris is trying to say is that 'e was in the office. In CID, sat there larger than life and twice as ugly smirking. How I didn't knock that bloody smirk off his face I dunno."

"What?" Alex frowned. "Oh God."

"He didn't say much and Viv and Phyllis have no idea how he got in. Viv is going through the CCTV for the front desk."

"Ok." Gene took a deep breath. "And?"

"And 'e didn't say much." Ray explained. "But he did leave this." He handed Gene the small white envelope.

"What's this?" Alex asked.

"A signed confession. He had Drake and Price killed. Not because they were gay or anything else. Just because of their surnames." Chris watched as Alex turned away. She had known Keates would never give up. The man was like the devil himself as far as she was concerned. The group fell silent as a nurse roughly the same age as Shaz walked towards them.

"I'm looking for Annie Tyler's husband."

"You found 'im luv." Gene nodded to Sam as the younger man got to his feet.

"I'm Meg. I'm looking after Annie tonight. Do you want to follow me? You can spend some time with her, if you'd like."

"Ok." Sam nodded. "Ok, thanks." He followed Meg away from the group as Alex rested a hand on her baby bump. Once Sam and Meg were out of ear shot Gene turned to the three police officers with him.

"Right, we look after Sam." He stated as Annie nodded. "But we also find Jimbo. I am not 'aving him planting evidence under our noses and laughing at us. If he killed two men and then put Annie in a coma I want more than just his balls on a plate. Am I making myself understood?"

"Yes Guv." Ray nodded as Chris stared at his feet. Alex narrowed her eyes and nodded. This time Keates had gone too far.

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A/N More soon, not much left.