oOo
Three weeks after Will had finally told Sam and Jack the whole story, his life had settled once again into a fairly predictable routine. He'd escaped suspension, mostly because, much to his surprise, Sergeant Stone had put in a good word for him with the inspector. Working the front desk was pretty boring, but at least it allowed him a fair amount of free time, most of which he'd spent visiting Emma at the hospital. Although he wouldn't consider himself fortunate where his encounter with Mercury was concerned, but he'd still fared considerably better than Emma, who had lapsed into a coma shortly after being admitted to the hospital. The prognosis was uncertain, too little was known about the drug for the doctors to be able to tell him more than that they'd have to wait and see.
For three weeks, Will had spent every late afternoon at the hospital, telling her about his day at the station or about the latest gossip. Other times he'd read to her, or simply sit in silence at her bedside. In the first week or two most of the officers of Sun Hill had come by at one point or another, but by now, the visitor list had dwindled to a steady few, including Mickey and Sergeant Stone. Emma's father dropped by most days as well, but since Will had gotten the impression that the CPS detective didn't particularly like seeing him at his daughter's bedside, he usually made sure that they didn't meet.
Normally, Will stayed until the end of visiting hours, or even longer, depending on how sympathetic the nurse on duty was, but today he had to cut his visit short as he had another appointment with the neurologist. He had another EEG scheduled and if that came back clear he'd be able to return to his previous duties. It wasn't that he wasn't looking forward to go back to doing what he loved, but somehow it didn't seem fair that he should escape unscathed when Emma was still lying unconscious in a hospital bed, possibly never to wake up again.
Will sighed and closed the book from which he'd been reading. Elbows on his knees, he leaned forward, watching Emma's still face looking out for any sign of change, no matter how minute.
"I'm sorry Emma, but I have to leave early today. I'll be back tomorrow. Don't go anywhere, right?" He reached out and squeezed her limp hand firmly, like he did every day before he left for the night. No matter how often he'd told himself to stop expecting a reaction, he kept hoping that this time, she'd squeeze his hand back.
Still, when her fingers suddenly clenched around his, he was almost convinced he'd imagined it. Not letting go of her hand for a second, Will leaned in close.
"Emma?! Emma? Can you hear me?" Will's heart was pounding hard against his chest. He watched Emma closely, but there was no sign of her having heard him.
"Emma, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand," he tried again, hardly daring to hope for a reaction.
The miracle happened, and he could feel her fingers tighten around his once more. This time, he was sure he hadn't imagined it. Still not letting go of her hand, Will pressed the call button, his appointment with the neurologist completely forgotten.
oOo
After calling for the nurse Will had stayed with Emma, keeping a hold of her hand and talking softly to her until Emma's doctor had arrived and he'd been told to wait outside. The first thing he'd done was call the station to ask them to pass the news on to Emma's father. As much as he disliked the man, Will couldn't imagine what he had to be going through. Nikki Wright had promised to pass on the message, but almost two hours later, Will was still waiting for news on his own. The hands of the clock on the opposite wall seemed to have reached a stand-still, but somehow, another hour passed agonizingly slow. What could possibly be taking so long, Will wondered. The more time passed, the more worried he grew. They couldn't be taking this long if nothing was wrong, could they?
"Mr Fletcher?" Dr. Pearson, who'd also been the physician treating Will after his overdose, came walking up to where Will was sitting. Will immediately got to his feet. "How is she?" he asked.
"As well as could be expected, really." Dr. Pearson replied.
"Can I see her?"
"Not so fast," Dr. Pearson raised a hand. "What Emma needs most at the moment is rest. She appears to be suffering some minor memory loss, but given the traumatic experience she's been through..."
Will nodded. He would never forgive himself if Emma wasn't going to be all right. It was because of him that she had gotten involved in the case in the first place.
"You can go and see her now, but don't expect too much. It will most likely be a few days until she's fully cognizant of her surroundings. In the meantime, you should try not to upset her. If she has any questions about what happened, feel free to answer them, but keep down the level of detail until she is better. For the same reason, I won't have your detectives question her just now. From what I understand, that can wait."
"Thank you, Dr. Pearson, thank you very much," Will stammered, overwhelmed by the news.
oOo
"There you go," Alyana declared with a kind smile. Emma gratefully sank back against the stack of pillows.
"Do you need anything else?" the nurse asked.
Emma shook her head. "No, I'm fine." She still hadn't gotten used to the way her voice sounded - weak and rough - but she had been assured that it would be back to normal in no time. It would take a little longer until she got her strength back, but Dr. Pearson was confident that with intense physical therapy she should be able to return home fairly soon.
"Do you feel up for visitors?" Alyana asked, interrupting her thoughts. Emma hesitated. Almost every time she'd been awake during the past three days, someone had been there. Often it was her father, who'd taken some time off work, until she was better, or friends and colleagues from the station came to visit. She really hadn't had much time to think.
"Well, if you need some time alone. I'll just tell him to come back another time." Alyana regarded her with sympathy. "He's been here every day and I think he can do one day without you," Alyana laughed.
Emma looked at her in surprise, trying to figure out who she was talking about. So many people had been there to see her, almost everyone from uniform and most of CID. There were well-wishing cards on her bedside table signed by everyone at Sun Hill, even people she hardly knew. She didn't want to seem ungrateful for all the support she was getting.
"No, no, it's fine. I could do with some distraction," Emma lied.
She was just going to close her eyes for a moment, but when she opened them again, Will was sitting in a chair next to her bed, reading a newspaper. She'd probably fallen asleep, Emma thought guiltily.
"Emma!" Will had obviously noticed that she was awake and put away his newspaper. "How are you today?"
"Okay," Emma replied curtly. It wasn't that she didn't like Will visiting, she just felt generally uncomfortable speaking around her colleagues with the way her voice still sounded.
"Is everything all right? Do you need the nurse?" There was instant worry on Will's face
Emma shook her head, not meeting his eyes.
"Emma, what's wrong?" Will asked, the concern in his voice genuine. "If you need some time alone, just tell me and I'll leave you be."
"No, it's not...that." Emma struggled to articulate the words. It was always more difficult when she was tired, but she didn't want Will to leave. For some reason, she felt safe when he was there. Still, like everyone he was walking on egg-shells around her, treating her like she was going to break any moment. Emma couldn't stand it. She knew it was well meant, but the more people tiptoed around her, the more worried she had grown about the wholes in her memory. Dozens of possibilities, one worse than the next had tumbled through her mind.
"There is something," she began, for once not caring how her voice sounded. She needed to know and she trusted Will to give her an honest answer. "I need to know what really happened to me." Emma looked Will in the eyes. He held her gaze. "Emma, I'm not sure this is such a good idea. At least for the moment, I think you should just try and get as much rest as you can. I promise I'll tell you everything I know. Just give it some time," he said gently.
Emma shook her head. That was what everyone had been telling her.
"I need to know now, Will. It's driving me crazy that there are these holes in my memory. What is so bad that no one can tell me?!" her voice broke down to a hoarse whisper as she was pleaded with Will, but she didn't care.
Will put his hand over hers.
"All right. I'll tell you everything I know," he promised and started talking. Will spoke for almost an hour and Emma listened in silence, drinking in every word. It was like a weight was being slowly lifted. By the time he finished, Emma was laughing with relief.
"What's wrong? Are you all right?" Will asked concernedly, clearly not understanding.
"It's just...," Emma struggled to speak, "I've imagined so many terrible things that could have happened," she giggled, pulling Will into a hug. "Thank you, Will. Thank you so much! You saved my life!"
"I was only returning a favour." Will held her tightly.
The End
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and/or review this story. I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you've enjoyed it as well! And, in case anyone was wondering why I chose Racheengel as the title for one of the fictional novels, it is the title of the Tatort episode that inspired this story and its English translation, Avenging Angel, became the title of this story.