Chapter 10.
"Molly, get up. We have a busy day today." Shouted Alex through the closed wooden door.
"Five minutes." Replied a groggy voice.
"You've been saying that for the past hour, get up." There was no answer. Alex, gave out a loud, annoyed sigh and went back into the kitchen; continuing her conversation with Evan.
When Molly had got out of bed and declared herself as ready, all three of them set off for the short drive to Alex and Molly's home. They stopped outside the house, Alex looking up at it. Certainly isn't the flat above Luigi's. Evan stayed with Alex and Molly for the rest of the day, helping to clean away the build up of dust. Luckily, Alex had cleaned the house toughly before she was shot on July 20th, which had meant the clean up operation had gone rather well. Alex had left Molly with Evan, so she could go to the corner shop and buy the basic food supply for sandwiches and breakfast in the morning. When she reached the shop she searched for coffee, tea and sugar, bread, jam, butter and milk. That should do, we'll have a take-away for tea.
They ate an Indian take-away for dinner, Evan declined Alex's offer of staying the night; he had work in the morning, this left Alex alone with Molly for the first time in a very very long time. They sat on their sofa, the TV on a low volume.
"Isn't it strange to be home Mols?"
"Suppose. I got so used to staying at Evan's, popping in and out of hospital several times a day."
"Well, all of that can be forgotten now. We can start our new life." Molly nodded, it was late and they were both very tired.
"What was it like? In the coma"
"Well, after I was shot, I went into my coma, I dreamed a very long dream. It was just like a very long sleep."
"What did you dream about?"
What do I tell her? She wont understand. "It's difficult to explain. But I dreamt that I was a DI, working for Fenchurch East in 1981."
"What did you do? Who was there?"
She thinks that it was only a dream, what harm is there telling her? "Do you remember me talking to you about Sam Tyler?"
"Yes? But what has he got to do with anything?"
"He was hit by a car, he went into a coma, whilst in the coma, he dreamed that he was a DI too, he worked in CID with DCI Gene Hunt, DS Ray Carling and DC Chris Skelton and WPC Annie Cartwright." Alex paused
"I still don't understand."
"As you already know; I am using Sam Tyler's case notes to write my book. I haven't gone into detail with you about the case notes because I want to keep work and us separate. But now they have merged together. When Layton shot me, my brain did the only thing to save me; it put me into the dream world that Sam Tyler had created."
"I read the notes, I know I shouldn't but I did. He went back to find his dad, is that right?"
"In a way."
"Well, doesn't that mean that you went back for a reason too?"
"When I arrived there, I did everything I could to get back to you, I didn't know how. But it was 1981; the year my parents died. I thought that if I could stop it from happening and I could come home to you."
"And did it?"
"No, my dream just continued. I didn't wake up until months and months after."
"Could you hear me?"
"Yes, I could. At least, I think I could hear you."
"Could you hear Evan? He said you could, he said that you would be able to hear everything we said to you."
"I could only hear you, and I could hear the paramedics too, but only you."
"What did you do?"
"In 1981?"
"Yeah, it was just a dream right, dreams aren't real, right?"
"Right." Alex smiled back at Molly. "Well, the usual CID things."
"Who was there?"
"You're so full of questions Mols."
"Well, it is the only thing to talk about isn't it? You were gone for five months. You know what I did, what Evan did. I don't know what you did." Molly started to cry.
"Mols, don't cry. It's OK, we're OK. I know it was difficult for you. What do you want to know?"
"Who was there?" Molly asked again.
"DCI Gene Hunt, DS Ray Carling, DC Chris Skelton, WPC Shaz Granger. There were others to, in 1981; there was Caroline Price, my mother, your grandmother, Tim Price, my father, your grandfather and Evan."
"Evan?"
"Yeah, he was there."
"Have you asked him about it? Told him what you're telling me?"
What would he say? I know everything; the affair, the fact that my Dad was prepared to kill himself and his family because of it. "It was a dream Mols, nothing more."
"You said his name?"
"Who's name."
"When you were in the hospital, you said 'Gene'. The nurses asked us if we knew anyone, I didn't, Evan said no he didn't either, but I know when he is lying."
It can't be real. It was a dream. But what Steve said 'strange case'. I need to speak to Evan. Alex watched Molly as her eyelids grew heavier, she let out another yawn. "Mols, it's time for bed."
"No. You need to tell me."
"I don't know Mols, dreams can't be reality can they? Now off to bed."
----=^_^=----
Molly had gone back to school early January, leaving Alex alone in the very large, empty house. The snow which had lain on the ground for days after it had fallen had finally melted away. In the past week, Evan had popped round a few times, dropping off the shopping and various other items, Alex hadn't had a chance to ask Evan about what she had dreamed about, whether it was all a dream or whether it was all real. If it was all real, then how could she possibly been there, time travel was the obvious answer, but how? By mid January, Alex was sick and tired of being cooped up indoors doing nothing with her time. It was incredibly boring for her to be sitting around all day watching day time telly, and not having anyone to talk to; she actually looked forward to the hospital visits, it was company and something to do. Alex had a hospital visit every week, she had had three already, all the scans clear, nothing wrong, just as she and the doctors had suspected. The scar on her forehead was just a pale pink scar, not particularly obvious and was easily covered by foundation. She had asked about work again, and they had told her not to even ask that question again for a very long time. They had told her 'the scans may be clear, and you show no side affects to your injury; but psychologically, you are not ready. How are we to know that when you go back to your duties as a DI that you will see a gun and cause serious damage to your mental health?'. After this Alex had persuaded them to let her have a psychological test, and her psychiatrist had said the same thing. Alex and Molly had had a few visits from close work colleagues; Jenny, CID's second DI and Max, a young DC which Alex had helped to train. They had brought a card and flowers to her from the rest of CID. Alex had only heard Gene once, only for a very short amount of time. She now knew that Gene was alive, she heard him telling her about what had happened to him, that night she saw him standing in her bathroom.
----=^_^=----
It was a cold late January evening, Evan was coming over for dinner. Molly suspected that she would be shooed away soon after they had eaten.
As Alex put the final touches into the pasta sauce, the door bell rang.
"Mols! Get that will you?"
Alex could hear from the kitchen that Evan had arrived, he was asking Molly about her day at school and he was telling her about his day at work. They both made their way to the kitchen.
"Hi Alex." Evan came over, giving her a hug and a kiss.
"Dinner is almost ready, why don't you take the wine through to the dining room and put it in the glasses. Molly you can set the table and then I will bring the food through."
Every one did as they were told, Alex quickly plated the hot pasta and took it into the dining room. It was late by the time that the dinner conversation had died down and the table had been cleared.
"Molly, you have school tomorrow; you need to go and have a bath or a shower."
"Mum." Molly complained. "Evan hasn't been around here for tea in ages. I want to stay."
"I know, but I need to talk to Evan, I've not had a chance to do that yet."
Molly remembered their conversation about what happened when Alex was in a coma.
"OK, night Evan, see you soon." Molly walked around the table, gave Evan a hug and a kiss before leaving the table.
"What is it that you wanted to talk to me about Alex?"
I can't say Gene, it is too obvious "Mum and Dad."
"Why? It has been years and years since their deaths, I don't know if there is anything more to say."
"I know, it's just I have a memory, and you are the only person who I can ask about it."
"A memory? A memory of what exactly?"
"I think it's a police station." Evan just nodded, "The day that they died, was it you that came to me, took hold of my hand and carried me away from it all?"
A thousand thoughts rushed through Evan's mind, which was visibly clear to Alex.
"No."
What? It is supposed to be yes! "No?"
"Who?"
"What do you remember?"
"I remember being in the arms of a man, who I believed to be you. He made the pain go away. I don't remember their faces, there were two police officers, in an office, I think. One is just stood their, I can't see properly, they are stood behind a man. The man is stamping on something, a tape I think. Is it true?"
The pause from Evan seemed like an eternity to Alex, "Yes, it is true. A DCI, took you to the station."
"What was he called?" Evan just looked at Alex. "Was he called Gene Hunt?"
TBC...