"Molly, Molly can you hear me?" There was a loud and irritating voice in her ear that she just couldn't quite place. She blinked trying to open her eyes but it was like someone had glued them together. She tried to get some air in her lungs to answer them, in the hope that maybe they'd leave her in peace if she did, but she didn't seem to be able to catch her breath. The searing pain that was ripping through her stomach made her want to scream, but she couldn't get any words out.

She was trying to focus her mind, to work out what on earth was happening. Where was she? Who were all these people? The last thing that she could remember she'd been standing in the compound talking to Charles, waiting to intercept Badrai….

Shit.

It clicked in her brain, the involuntary gasp causing her to cry out in pain.

"Molly, where does it hurt?" The voice was in her ear again and she could feel hands all over her. She felt vulnerable and exposed, lying there unable to move with all these strangers around her. She didn't even know if she was still in Afghanistan or in the U.K.

She struggled again to peel her eyes open, succeeding this time and being met with blinding lights and a friendly looking face.

"Molly, my names Rhian I'm a doctor, you're in the hospital at Bastion. Can you remember what happened?" The pretty young blonde girl smiled down at her.

The only thing that came into her head was that Artan would probably screw the doctor given even half a chance.

"Molly?" The doctor prompted.

"We were at the checkpoint." She struggled.

"Good." The doctor nodded, leaning over her and smiling reassuringly. "Can you tell me where it hurts?"

"Everything." She mumbled in reply, trying to get her eyes to focus. Her head was fuzzy and she was so, so sleepy.

"Stay awake for me Molly." Rhian prompted, shaking her gently as her eyes slipped shut. "Molly?"

…..

He didn't think he'd ever run as fast as he had when they had finally got back to Bastion. The atmosphere had been tense the whole way back, not even smurf had said a word. Everyone had been left reeling from what had happened on the bridge.

Charles had found himself struggling to sit still as they crawled back through the Afghan desert, making agonisingly slow progress on their journey back to Bastion. The grim expression of the medics who had airlifted Molly out had made his stomach churn. He couldn't even begin to think about what would happen if Molly didn't come through this. He'd never forgive himself.

He'd run across the base, running through the long corridor of the hospital in desperate search of Molly. He was vaguely aware of the fact he was still covered in her blood and Smurf was following after him, struggling to keep up, but none of it mattered. All he was concerned with was seeing with his own eyes that Molly was still alive.

There'd been a horrifying moment, just after the sound of the gunshot had echoed off the mountains around them, where everything seemed to stand in slow motion as Molly had crumpled to the ground and everyone had reached for their weapons. It felt much the same as he ran through the hospital, trying to find someone who could tell him where she was.

He came to a stop in the middle of the hallway as he saw her being wheeled through on a trolley. She was wrapped in a foil blanket, an oxygen mask over her face and blood everywhere.

"Molly?" He rushed forward, following them through into the small room. "I'm her Captain-How is she?" He asked quickly as one of the doctors turned to look at him.

The woman looked him up and down for a second then stepped away from the bed and walked towards him, folding her arms across her chest. "I'll be straight with you Captain, things aren't looking that great. We're waiting on some scan results now, but they had to resuscitate her twice in the helicopter on the way back here and she keeps dropping in and out of consciousness now. I'll know more once I've seen the scans."

"Thank you." He mumbled, his eyes fixed on Molly as the doctor left the room quietly. Smurf had the sense to wait outside, which he was glad of as his eyes started to fill with tears. He stood beside her bed, clutching her blood stained hand in his own. "I'm so sorry, Molly." He whispered. He should've been there to protect her, he'd walked away and left her standing there, vulnerable and exposed.

"Charles?" She croaked, her eyes opening just enough to make out his figure hunched over beside her.

"I'm here, I'm not going anywhere. I promise." He said softly, squeezing her hand. "You get some rest okay?"

"Mmmm… 'Kay." She mumbled in response as he struggled to work out what she was saying. She tightened her fingers around his for a few seconds, then they released their grip as she fell asleep again.

He stared for a few seconds, watching her chest rise and fall and listening to the rhythmic bleep of the monitors that reassured him she was still alive. He squeezed her hand again, reluctant to let her go. He wasn't even allowing himself to think about the fact that in a matter of days- or even hours- she'd be back in the UK, and he still had the rest of his tour to finish.

He dropped her hand at a knock on the door, turning to find Smurf standing in the doorway with a sympathetic smile on his face. "Sorry boss, Major Beck has been on the phone. He needs you ASAP."

Charles turned and cast one more look back at Molly. "I'll be back soon." He said quietly, squeezing her hand again just in case she was awake and could hear him, before reluctantly following Smurf out of the door.

….

She blinked her eyes open, closing them again in an attempt to shut out the blinding light. She felt groggy and her whole body ached like she'd suffered through one of Captain James' PT sessions when he was in a bad mood.

Hesitantly she opened one eye again, peering at the room she was in. Where even was she? She'd got some vague and very hazy memories of the hospital at Bastion and that was it.

"You're awake." A voice came from beside her.

"Charles?" She mumbled, still not really awake.

"I fucking knew you were sleeping with him." Came the response from beside her through gritted teeth.

She opened her other eye slowly, praying that this was some kind of hallucination from the drugs and she was actually still in Afghan. Unfortunately for her, she was definitely at home, and Artan was sitting by her beside, looking very very angry.