Chapter Twelve

A/N: No reviewers.

Simon stormed through the doors of Waterloo Road, speeding along as if he were fighting through crowds of students, even though the last of them had piled through the gates hours ago. His purposeful strides took him to the headmistress' office in only a minute.

Simon rapped his knuckles against the door three times before pushing it open, not even waiting for the summons from the woman inside. Christine seemed startled as he strode into the room, but quickly rearranged her features to a simple expression of neutrality. Perhaps she was trying to avoid confrontation. Perhaps she had realised that any sympathy would make his anger increase further.

"Hello, Simon." Christine greeted, her voice as professional as one she would use with a parent come to complain. She did not wish him a 'good afternoon', as she would usually do. She must have sensed that it was not one.

"She's awake, just about." Simon informed her, not bothering to build up to the conversation nor giving her the chance to ask. "It was touch and go for a while, but she's going to be alright. Sprained wrist from the fall but no serious damage."

"Well, that's good to hear." Christine gave an encouraging smile, but it was not reciprocated. Instead Simon gritted his teeth, clearly seething with anger.

"The rest of it wasn't." he responded, his tone harsher and more clipped than the headmistress had heard in a while, a stark contrast to his usual conversational charm. Christine vaguely recalled the time Sue had slipped and fallen in the corridor, straining muscles in her neck, the last time that she had seen Simon anywhere near as angry. It seemed that only his protectiveness of his wife could awake the fury beneath the smooth exterior.

"What do you mean?" Christine asked, slightly fearful about the answer, and how much further her colleague's anger could be pushed by it.

"They ran tests on her, to try and find out why she fell." Simon explained, trying to disguise the slight crackle behind his voice. Years of listening to children's excuses and parents' complaints told Christine this was no longer about his anger. "They couldn't find any evidence of her eating in the last three days. Her stress levels were through the roof. She'd been surviving on the occasional cup of coffee to keep her awake and functioning. We're lucky that she had this fall today, you know, because otherwise we might not have found out in time. The pressure she's been under ever since you threatened to kick her out made her work so hard it nearly killed her."

Christine blinked once, twice, thrice, trying to force her brain to process this information. A sense of guilt awoke in her- after the accusations Simon had levelled at her it would have been impossible for her not to at least question her role in Sue's current condition- but it was not as obvious as the guilt pulling at the deputy head, who seemed to be almost slumping from the weight of it.

"Simon, I didn't realise." the blonde spoke, her voice quiet as she awkwardly attempted to catch Simon's eye. She prepared herself for the onslaught to follow, the explosion of anger that was sure to be suppressed beneath his calmness. Instead, he seemed to slump further.

"You shouldn't have had to realise." For such a loud man, it was unnerving to hear him speak so quietly, his dejected voice barely a whisper. "She's my wife. I live with her, I work with her. If anyone should have noticed something was wrong, it was me. Actually, it's worse than that. I did realise she wasn't coping; I just never thought it would get this bad."

"Simon, you're not to blame." Christine told him, although the emphatic tone he had heard her use with rogue students in the past was absent. 'She doesn't really believe that. But then again neither do I.'

An awkward silence overtook the room, both of them aware of her lie, however comforting she had intended it to be. Both of them had found some fault in what had happened that afternoon, as had poor Nikki, who had phoned Vix a number of times to check on Sue's progress; although how she got Vix's number he was not entirely sure.

"I've got to go and pick her up in a minute." he informed his boss, placing his hands into his pockets, his stance a little more like the Simon Christine had gotten to know and tolerate. "They wanted her overnight, but there's no real damage and she wanted to go home. I'll just have to keep an eye on her."

Both of them recognised the deeper meaning behind his words, although neither saw fit to comment on it, and Christine gave an encouraging smile. She stood to move with him as he made for the door, laying a comforting hand on his arm.

"I won't have a meeting with Sue when she comes back." Christine explained, prompting a raise of Simon's eyebrows. "I think it would just frighten her more if I'm honest. She always has a look of a rabbit in the headlights when she's in this office. But I want you to make sure she knows that, once she's ready to come back, she doesn't need to be afraid to ask for help, from anyone. I'd rather that than what happened today."

Simon nodded his agreement. "Thanks, Christine. I really appreciate it."

With that he left the office, pulling his phone from his pocket as he approached the car.

Just seen Christine. She's not upset, she just wants you to get better
She said everyone's there for you if you need help
That includes me

He waited a few minutes for the response, as to be expected when it was coming from a place where mobile phones were technically banned, and the vibration of the phone against the seat was almost enough to make him jump. He glanced at the message and smiled.

Think I'm going to be okay then. Love you 3

A/N: Little bit cheesy at the end, but I think they're a cute couple at heart (just think of the chocolate bar scene!) Please review!