Ros was on a mission, absolutely hell bent to bringing to account, the people who had all but murdered not only her boss but her friend. After her ridiculous meeting with Dolby she had acted quickly, and within a day, Section D was rebuilt and at full strength. Each and every one of their original and now new staff had been advised that tired or not, turning up late on their first day as a new team was not an option. Dimitri Levendis and Callum Reid, both who had worked with them the first time that Harry had been away had been recruited, Dimitri because Ros was looking for new blood with fresh ideas and Callum, although she thought him arrogant, had proved himself to be a good analyst. It would be days, maybe weeks before their forensic team would have completed the investigation at the hotel, but as far as everything else was concerned, speed was of the essence.

'Meeting room now,' she barked at them, as they stood huddled round their desks with their first cups of coffee. 'Right,' she said, to gain their full attention. 'I am aware that this is personal and I know that you are all very angry, but we put aside the fact that Harry is currently fighting for his life and we stay focussed.' This was followed by a general shuffling in their chairs and an unspoken nod of agreement. 'Tariq and Callum, I want you to look again at the CCTV. Piece together every bit of footage from outside the hotel and catalogue anything and anyone that you can or can't identify. Jo, talk to people, listen to the chatter and get onto GCHQ. Dimitri and Lucas, you're with me.'

The Home Secretary had already called her and offered his full support. He was enraged that Harry had seemingly been targeted and had asked that she keep him fully updated as to how he was and when he would be well enough to receive visitors.

'Lucas, we'll go in your car,' she said, as they headed down to the car park. She still didn't trust him and she wanted to keep him close, but for now, she intended keeping that idea to herself. It was the first time since the explosion that she had been back to the hotel and it surprised her how peaceful the scene now looked. It was still ringed by police and there wasn't a cat in hells chance that anyone other than those with recognised ID could cross the tapes. The few press that were lingering had been corralled together about fifty metres away, but that didn't stop the questions, as Ros and her colleagues filed past.

'I want your eyes everywhere,' she told them, 'and tell me what you see.'

Malcolm arrived back at Harry's just as Jo was about to leave. Ros had called him to say that they had managed to contact Catherine and that she would be arriving later that day. She came with the same handle with care warning as her father, but as Malcolm had known her for years, Ros had apparently decided that he was best qualified to give her the news that her father had recently acquired a new family. Despite his protests that he hadn't seen Catherine since she was about ten, Ros was adamant and he knew better than to argue.

The walk from Harry's room to the exit of the hospital was a long one and with every step, Ruth found herself battling, not to turn back. It had been twenty four hours since she had last seen Nico and she knew he would be missing her, but as soon as she closed Harry's door, the tears had come. She drove carefully, barely functioning as she tried to fight the exhaustion that was overwhelming her. Hurrying along the road from where she had parked, she was relieved to see Malcolm's car still outside. Her plan was to spend a short while with Nico before Malcolm took him to school and then go back to Harry. The moment that Nico heard the door, he raced down the stairs and flung himself against her. She didn't even get a chance to take off her coat or say anything, before he looked up at her and with questioning eyes and asked her the one question that she didn't know how to answer. 'Where's Harry?' She fished in her handbag for her phone and asked Malcolm to ring the school. 'Make an excuse,' she said, 'he can't go in today.'

'I'll be five minutes,' she told Nico, 'you show Malcolm how I like my tea and I'll be right back.'

She dragged herself upstairs and into the shower, trying to compose herself and decide what to tell him. Walking into the bedroom to get changed only made it worse, as everything around her screamed of Harry. Fighting the urge to throw herself on the bed and bury her head in his pillow, she pulled on clean clothes and headed down the stairs where Nico stood waiting for her. With her freshly made cup of tea in one hand and Nico's hand in the other, she followed Malcolm into the sitting room and sat down. No more lies she told herself, this time she had to tell him the truth, albeit watered down. Doing her best to reassure rather than scare him, she took a deep breath and attempted to smile.

'Harry's poorly and he's in hospital,' she said, 'so he needs you to look after Scarlet, can you do that for him?'

She was totally unprepared for his response and for the look of sheer desolation on his face.

'Is he going to go to heaven, like Daddy?' He asked her, in such a quiet voice that she could barely hear him. It was the first time that he had mentioned his father and she just didn't know what to say. Please god I'm right she thought as she pulled him close to her, answering as much for herself as for him. 'No sweetheart,' she said, 'Harry's going to be fine.'

Malcolm stood up and left the room. This was far too private a moment for him to stay, he couldn't bear it. He was completely overwhelmed by Ruth's obvious love for this child and his for her as they clung to each other. 'Come on Harry,' he said to himself, 'you heard what Ruth said.'

Coincidence, telepathy, call it what you like, but in his hospital bed, Harry was dreaming about Ruth and about Nico. It was a beautiful sunny day and they were on a beach together. Ruth and Nico were running ahead of him, splashing him with water and Nico was squealing with laughter. His legs hurt and he couldn't keep up, but Ruth had stopped and come back for him and was holding his hand. 'You're kissing her,' Nico said giggling, and ran away from them. Somewhere in the distance he could hear Scarlet barking and he could see Nico kicking a ball, and then Ruth's hands were round his neck and Nico was right, he was kissing her.

'Doctor Robert's,' called Harry's nurse, 'he's starting to respond, his eyelids are flickering.'

'Increase the obs,' he told her, 'this is much sooner than we expected, but it could well be, that by the time his wife comes back tonight, he'll be awake.'

Ruth, Nico and Malcolm had had a very quiet day. For a good deal of the time, Ruth had slept with Nico cuddled in beside her. Malcolm had done some shopping and made them some lunch but by early evening, Ruth was desperate to get back to the hospital. Promising Nico that she would ring him before he went to bed, she closed the front door and waved to him, as he Malcolm and Scarlet crossed the road and walked into the park. Taking a huge breath, she climbed into her car and turned on the ignition.