A/N – sorry for the delay in updating this story but whole family has been ill and that rather put writing on the back burner, hope people are still enjoying

Chapter 21 –

Somehow Alice managed to balance her hot drink alongside her crutches, feeling slightly light headed and tired it took all of her energy to manoeuvre herself onto one of the hard plastic chairs. Taking a deep breath Alice rested the crutches on the vacant seat next to her before she cradled the cup of coffee, keeping an eye down the corridor for any movement from the room where Sam and Rachel were recuperating. Quickly Alice grabbed her mobile phone from the pocket of the hooded sweatshirt that she was now wearing and with her swollen thumb scrolled through and started checking her emails that had swarmed in since she had had her accident.

Linda had her head bowed as she reached the reception desk, concentrating on the notes that she had in her hand as she felt Noel moving closer, completely oblivious until he spoke.

"Uh Linda, I didn't think that we'd see her for a while?"

"Eh?"

Linda slowly lifted her head as she rested her hands on the desk.

"Crap, give me a minute Noel."

Linda handed him the paper notes as he quickly nodded his head, pretending to carry on with his work but in reality he was keeping a close eye on the conversation between the nurse and the detective.

Linda smiled as she picked the crutches up and held onto them as she sat down next to Alice.

"I would have thought that you'd have been resting upstairs."

"I heard what happened, I was hoping to catch a word with Sam and Rachel."

Linda nodded her head as she carefully looked at the detective, quickly noticing how tired she looked.

"How are they?"

"Ok I guess, Doctor Nicholls has got some burns to her hands and is suffering from smoke inhalation."

"And Rachel?"

"She's going to need to recuperate for a while, the girl has been through a lot."

Alice nodded her head as she slowly sipped her coffee, taking a deep breath before she looked back at Linda.

"So I should give it a while before I speak to them?"

"It would probably be for the best."

"Ok I'll go and see what is happening at the station, tell them I'll be back to see them soon."

"Of course do you want me to ring anyone for you?"

Alice shook her head as she took a hold of her crutches form Linda and stood up.

"I'll grab a taxi, see you soon."

"No doubt."

Linda nodded her head as she turned and walked back towards Noel, glad that she had managed to keep Sam and Rachel from answering any questions for the time being at least.

Sam waited until Rachel was resting comfortably again, satisfied that the drugs would keep her asleep for a while she nodded to Robyn before Sam stood up and walked out of the room, anxious for some time alone to gather her thoughts she headed straight to the staff room and collapsed on the sofa. Sam stretched out, her head rested on one arm of the sofa while her feet dropped just over the edge of the other arm. Quickly Sam closed her eyes and rested her bandaged hands on her stomach, she couldn't actually remember the last time she had slept, at least had had a rest that hadn't been punctuated by nightmares. Sam ignored the noises that carried through from the corridor outside and occasionally interrupted the staff room but nobody came near her, everyone let her rest, collect her thoughts, that was until she heard an all too familiar gruff cough.

"I suppose the fact that I'm lying here with my eyes shut doesn't indicate to you that I want to be left alone?"

Sam kept her eyes shut as she spoke, she could feel his presence encroaching further in on her personal space and guessed that by now he was sitting on the coffee table but she didn't want to open her eyes and give him any satisfaction whatsoever.

"Sorry."

Dylan spoke quietly, he had shut the door upon entering and knew that nobody would be coming in for a hwile, he watched as Sam raised an eyebrow but her eyes remained closed as he spoke.

"I shouldn't have said anything earlier Sam, I was upset and angry and wrongly I blamed you."

Dylan bowed his head as he spoke but his words were enough to prise Sam's eyelids open and a large sigh left her mouth.

"I couldn't leave her Dylan and I'm sorry if that upsets you but she is just a child, nobody has ever shown her any love they have just abused her. Somebody needed to rescue her otherwise she would be dead."

Sam's voice trembled with emotion as she swung her legs around and sat up as slowly Dylan brought his head up to meet her gaze. Dylan nodded his head as he swallowed hard, clasping his hands together he intertwined his fingers tightly as he watched Sam bring her head closer to his.

"I'm sorry too Dylan."

"Do you want me to take you home?"

Sam shook her head firmly as she lifted her head and looked at Dylan, quickly noticing the small smile that had crept across his face.

"You want to stay with her?"

"I just want to make sure that she is ok that she feels safe."

"Ok but don't overdo it Sam, you need to look after yourself too Sam."

Sam smiled and nodded her head as Dylan stood up and started to walk out of the room.

"Thank you Dylan."

Dylan just stopped for a second, his back facing Sam as he gave a slight nod of his head before he carried on walking. Sam blew out her cheeks as the door shut once again, curling back up on the sofa Sam closed her eyes once again, hopeful that this time more pleasant thoughts would invade her unconscious mind.