Chapter 10 -

The doors of AAU slammed wide open. Fully expecting an array of gurney's to come through, the doctors, nurses and surgeons ran to the doors, but stopped. There were no gurneys, no paramedics, or even patients. Just a single person, covered from head to toe in black and holding something that would chance the lives of every single person on AAU that day.

Nobody said a word, nobody dared even to breathe. The man simply took two steps forward and raised his gun. Two shots were fired, the first one missed. The second one, found a target. The man ran away. Dropping his gun and laughing.

Jac's head was reeling. She fell to the floor. In a pool of blood she knelt and cried. Joseph Byrne had been shot in the liver. She held him tight as Michael grabbed him. "You have to let go, Jac. Come on." Jac did as she was told; the life blood of the man she loved covered her arms and clothes.

"Get him into theatre. NOW!" Michael barked. He ran over to Jac and held her face in his hands. "I'll save him, Jac. I'm not gonna stand by and let you lose anybody else, you hear me?"

Jac simply nodded. Tears fell down her face, mixing with Joseph's blood she wept and she wept. Frieda sat beside her.

"I'm being punished aren't I, for everything thing I've fucked up in my life." Jac sobbed.

"No. You are not punished. You feel remorse. That is all you can do. Joseph forgive you, he love you. Never forget that, okay?" Frieda had never been close to Jac or Joseph, but like everybody there on AAU, she felt as though her soul had been torn to shreds. Penny and Oliver held each other and sobbed. Sacha let Jac cry on him and Greg stood and consoled the nurses, while calming his own tattered emotions.

"Let's get this right. Joseph's one of us and we will not let him die. You understand! Jac needs him. We all need him." Michael rallied his team and set to work on the new father. "He has to get through this, for himself. For Jac, and for Harry."

Tirelessly they worked on, through the night to save Joseph. They managed to fix his ruptured liver, but the shock and strain of the trauma was too much for Joseph. He got through the operation… just, however Michael had no choice but to ventilate him and put him on a life support system to keep him alive. Michael knew there was nothing that could be done to save Joseph. This was all that he could do. He did it so Jac had a chance to say goodbye.

The doors from theatre opened and Jac ran to the bedside. "Micheal, what happened, why's he on a ventilator?" Jac's voice quivered with emotion and fear.

"Jac, I am so sorry. We did absolutely everything we could…" Michael did not know how to tell this to someone who had already lost so much.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Michael. You didn't do enough! Look at him! He's going to die… and It's all my fault." Jac's tone lowered. "She said I would. She said it and we completely dismissed it."

"Who said what, Jac?" Michael asked.

"Lady Byrne. She said… 'You will live to regret this.' That was the last thing she said to us before she left."

"This isn't your fault, Jac. None of it. You've done your part and you and Joseph moved on. "

"No… but you don't get it do you. If I hadn't of let myself back into Joseph's life, he'd be with his son right now, and Faye. He'd be looking after them instead of fighting for his life!" Jac's body could take no more, her legs gave way and she fell to the floor. Screaming and crying for Joseph. Michael picked her up and took her to Joseph's side.

"Look at him Jac." Michael said.

"I can't!" Jac screamed.

"Jac! Look at him!"

Jac looked at Joseph and immediately she stopped crying and screaming. She took his blood stained hand in hers and squeezed it. "We were going to spend the rest of our lives together. He was going to be an incredible Dad, and now baby Harry's only going to have Faye who for the foreseeable future is going to stay in the psyche unit. We were going to be happy, together, forever."

The whole ward was inconsolable as they watched Jac Naylor kiss Joseph Byrne on the forehead. Jac nodded to Michael as he turned of Joseph's life support machine. As Joseph Byrne took his final breath Jac told him that she loved him, and would do everything in her power to make sure his son had the best life possible. As the machine beeped for the final time. The whole ward sobbed, apart from Jac. Who stood up, nodded at everyone and walked out of AAU and towards Holby Care where she presumed Faye still was.

Michael thanked everybody for their work and told them to either stay if they were on shift or to go home. He stepped beside the body of Joseph Byrne and spoke softly to him. "Thank you, Joseph. For a while, you made Jac happy. You are a great guy, and like she said, Harry's gonna be fine. We love you buddy." Michael detached Joseph from the machines and covered him over. The Morgue didn't seem like the right place for him, so instead he took him to the chapel of rest where he would be surrounded by peace and tranquillity, something of which he had given to Jac over the past weeks.

Jac stood outside the room where Faye was and looked inside. Faye was turned away from the crib in which Harry was lying. She was completely unaware of what had just gone on and for a second Jac wondered if it was best to leave it that way. But she had to tell her, that way Jac would have a better chance of getting Harry. Jac knocked on the door.