The heat of the night before had long gone and all was replaced with a crippling cold cruelty for Maxine, despite the fact that the weather had improved considerably overnight. She, Danni and Sienna held hands firmly as they were taken to see Maxine's baby boy. They entered the room he was being kept in and they had broken down in tears before reaching him. They peered over the walls of his crib through unstoppable tears. His tiny body was truly lifeless. His skin was befouled by red burn marks but he seemed so angelic and at peace. Sienna and Danni allowed Maxine to approach him first as they mourned the death of their baby step-brother who they never really got to know. He was unnamed and therefore still pure in Maxine's eyes.

She reached in to his cradle and held his miniature hand before leaning over to kiss it. It was becoming too much for her and she had to turn away. Danni caught her in an embrace as she continued to sob dramatically into her shoulder. Similarly, Sienna carefully approached the baby's body and seemed more angry than upset. Her father had done this. This innocent life was lost because of his ongoing torture and final abandonment when he left them to die. She wanted him to be alive purely so she could cause his death over and over again. It was unjust that Patrick was now dead and didn't have to live with the consequences. It was impossible to tell whether he escaped hell or was now suffering in it. She retreated to Maxine and also pulled her into a hug.

Danni wanted her moment with her step-brother whom she had only known for a few days. She wrapped his little fingers around one of her fingers and took in his striking innocence. "We love you, baby bro. Don't you ever forget that!" she snivelled.

Maxine wanted to stay with him in the room and neither Sienna nor Danni could deny her that. They secretly felt that it would only make everything much more difficult for her but she was a mourning mother and she cherished these moments with her son. "I'm going to go and find Ste and Sunil and tell them what happened." Danni mentioned to Sienna. Both girls had lost their voices slightly from crying. "I'll stay with Maxine. She needs me right now." Sienna croaked back. Danni nodded her head and turned to search for Ste and Sunil's room. She had to ask a few people but she did find them. They were still lying on Sunil's hospital bed and were chatting quite happily with their fingers intertwined above their heads. Danni knew this was going to be tough but she knocked and entered bravely.

"G'morning, my dear! How are you feeling?" Sunil greeted. She didn't respond with words, which immediately worried them both. She sat down and cleared her throat. "Is everything all right?" Ste asked. They sat themselves up against the wall at the head of the bed and examined her face. She had obviously been crying excessively and she struggled to make eye contact. She looked up eventually and spoke. "The baby… he didn't make it…" she uttered. There was a long silence that followed her words and she turned her eyes to the floor once more. "He's dead?" Ste muttered. She shook her head before burying her face in her hands. Sunil squeezed Ste's hand and rested his head on his shoulder. The news was truly devastating and there was really nothing that could be said about it. "Maxine and Sienna are with him now. I don't know if you want to go and see them or not…" she said after another silent pause. "We will, of course… I think we'll give her some time first, though." Sunil assured. Danni left to get some water and to return to Sienna and Maxine.

Ste and Sunil didn't know what to say, they just lay in shock. "That's rough, ain't it?" Ste mumbled. Sunil replied with a sombre sigh. "What if that were my kids? I've put them in danger before." Ste realised. "You won't anymore, though. You're going to be a great dad. You've got a job now!" Sunil smiled at him. Ste thought about the time when he was a very good father. He wanted nothing more than to see them right now. Maybe he could call their mother, Amy and beg her to let him see them again. It had been months since he last saw them.

Sunil and Ste wanted to wait for another while before going to see Maxine so they had bought some food and drinks from the cafeteria. They took their food back to their room and Sunil discussed everything that had happened when he was held hostage in the flat. Ste couldn't help but think about his past with domestic abuse; both as an abuser and a victim. There really was so much that Sunil and Ste had to learn about each other. They had the time to do that now, though. Ste knew he would have to open up about his past eventually, but it would have to be done in stages. Sunil had a fairly turbulent past, something he never opened up about unless it was with Danni. It was inevitable that he had been through so much seeing as he did travel so much. Coincidentally, Ste had suddenly asked him to speak about his past.

"Well, what do you want to know?" he replied shyly. "I just want to know what you've been up to. What your story is, where you've been… I feel like I just talk about myself all of the time." Ste smiled. It took Sunil a moment to figure out what he was going to say or where he was going to start. He told Ste about his distant relationship with his parents and how that lead to him being so close to Danni and her family. He had also spoken about how he had built a life for himself. With the lack of supportive parents, he relied on himself from a young age to make it. He got his first job at fourteen with a family friend to start saving up for university. This family friend turned out to be an overly-aggressive man who used to physically and mentally abuse Sunil (which made Ste uncomfortable). He found solace in music and used that as an escape method. He paid for his own piano and guitar lessons for years. Travelling was yet another way for him to be away from everything. Ste listened in wonder and felt like he was beginning to see the reason why they gravitated towards each other so much. They were nothing like each other but they both had suffered and had made mistakes.

Once they felt ready to go and see Maxine, they headed through the wards to find her. They met Sienna near the bathrooms. She was just returning to Maxine and Danni so they followed along. Sienna seemed sterner in her tone and facial expressions than usual. As they approached the children's ward, they spotted Maxine and Danni sitting outside the baby's room. Maxine's eyes were blank and appeared to be very sore. "Maxine has arranged for someone to come and collect the baby this evening and he'll be taken to a funeral home." Sienna uttered before they were within hearing distance. Maxine did not look up as they arrived nor did she begin to cry again. She seemed vacant and wasn't responsive to anything anyone said. Danni held her close. They had all been through something rather intense but Maxine had been dealing with this since she first got together with Patrick. She was never going to be the same again.

Sunil and Ste went to see the baby one last time by themselves. Ste was deeply affected by the image of the baby's body completely still. He was lost for words. The baby appeared angelic even to them. He symbolised innocence, tragedy, injustice and peace all at once. Sunil stood back a bit because he knew this moment was hitting Ste much harder. He was a father and his children were still practically babies. Sunil rubbed Ste's shoulder in support and comfort as they paid respect for the unnamed baby.

The following few hours were tremendously stagnant. They all just wanted to go home and sort everything out. It was at a certain point that Sienna and Maxine realised that they no longer had a home. Maxine hadn't spoken for hours, but in yet another period of silence, she spoke. "I'm leaving." Everyone looked to her. Tears were appearing in her eyes again. She had obviously been thinking deeply about where to go from here. "I'm going to America. I'm going to go and live with my sister there." she nodded. Sienna grabbed her hand. "Are you sure about this? What about your son?" she asked. "He has to be buried here. Definitely. I won't be able to stay here, I won't! I won't be able to live around the corner from my dead son. I'm not selfish, am I?" she turned to Sienna and Danni for their response. "Not at all!" Sienna reassured her. "You've dealt with so much here. You always wanted to go and now you can. I'll be here to care for his grave. He'll never be alone. You need this."

Maxine almost smiled but it quickly turned into more tears. She collapsed into Sienna's shoulder. She knew this is what she had to do.

The weather over the following few days was annoyingly decent. The presence of scorching heat all day was totally unwelcomed by Danni, Maxine, Sienna, Sunil and Ste. The funeral for Maxine's baby was understandably tough. The majority of the village showed up to pay their final respects and to show support for Maxine. His tiny wooden coffin looked almost unusual and was decorated with flowers people had brought. As it lowered into his grave, Maxine took one last look before closing her eyes and lifting her head to the sky. In a few days, she could take her memories with her son to America and she could begin to build her life once again.

Ste was once again limping in pain as the adrenaline that fuelled his heroic efforts had long worn off. He and Sunil walked home together arm-in-arm as Danni and Sienna did the same on the opposite side of the street. Danni had offered Sienna her room to stay in until she had sorted out a new place to live. They past Sienna and her father's former flat on the way home. The walls were blackened from the fire and the ground below was still flooded from the amount of water that was blasted in to control the fires. Nothing was said about whether Patrick's remains were recovered or not. Sienna looked bitterly at what was left of her home but let her face lighten up as she looked away. It was a new beginning for her, also.

The day had arrived that Maxine was set to leave for America. Her sister, Mitzeee had previously left the village and was happy in America. Everyone wanted the same for Maxine. Maxine had lost the vast majority of her belongings in the fire so this could not have been a fresher start. Danni and Sienna bought her one final outfit to get her there and a new handbag to carry on the plane with her. After that, she was a free women. They had arranged for Dodger to drive her to the airport that afternoon. Danni and Sienna wanted to see her off so they took up the remaining two seats in Dodger's car. Maxine stood at the door of Dennis' house and everyone queued up to hug her goodbye. Dennis and Blessing were first. They had been through a lot together when Patrick was abusing Maxine. She had already began to cry. Usually, this would make her furious because her make-up was ruined but she had not been the bubbly Maxine everyone knew since recent events. She had to rediscover herself now. Others from around the village arrived to say goodbye, also. She crouched into Dodger's car, struggling with her new high heels which Danni had bought her. They were her favourite peachy colour. "You ready, then?" Dodger smiled at her delicately. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. "Yes. Yes, I am." she exhaled. Sienna and Danni jumped into the seats in the back and they were ready to go. Everybody waved as the car drifted off around the corner and out of sight. Ste slipped his hand into Sunil's. "Bless her," Sunil smiled, "she'll be fine."

Dennis and Blessing re-entered the house and were visibly upset. Blessing had her arm around Dennis' shoulder as he sobbed. "I'm just going to miss her so much!" he exclaimed. "We all are, babe! Be happy for her!" Blessing smiled.

Ste pulled Sunil away from the commotion and into the living room for a moment. "I have something to tell you." he grinned. Sunil had no clue what Ste could be talking about but allowed him to continue. "I've just been on the phone with Amy… She's going to let me see the kids this week!" he beamed. Sunil's face lit up. "That's so great! What did you say to her?" Sunil gasped. "I told her I had a job and that I was drug-free since she last spoke to me and then I spoke about you a bit, y'know…" he blabbered in excitement. "What about me?" Sunil asked. "Well, like, just that I had someone looking after me, someone good. I think she'd be a lot more comfortable leaving them with me if there was someone like you here, too." he explained. "Oh, so you want me to look after them with you?" Sunil laughed. Ste's face dropped with worry. "You do want to, don't you? You don't mind."

"Of course not, dope! Come here!" Sunil pulled him into a hug. Ste shrieked in pain and Sunil let go and panicked. "Sorry! Sorry!" he said. "Do you think the kids will like me?" Ste twinkled a smile once more and kissed his boyfriend lovingly. "Of course they will!"