An hour passed; Danny had spent most of the hour crying silently, thinking of how things may have been different and how he so wished they were. He couldn't bear it; the fact he couldn't protect her, the fact she had to get hurt, the fact he couldn't protect his family when it mattered the most. Eventually his tears has subsided and all he could do was sit watching Alice, holding her hand as he waited for her to wake up. He swallowed nervously; would she know? Would she ask him? Could her tell her? The questions whirled round in his head but no one answered them, no one gave him direction.

Suddenly he felt the tiniest amount of pressure on his hand. His mind automatically shut out his negative thoughts and every ounce of his attention focussed on the woman lying in the bed. He noticed her eyes beginning twitch slightly. His breath caught and continued to hold as she opened her eyes.

"Danny..." She whispered, her voice hoarse and dry,

"I'm here sweetheart, I'm here." He whispered back, his own throat constricted as he held her hand tightly.

Alice gazed at him intently, observing him. In that moment she knew; she didn't need to ask him... they're baby was gone. His eyes were red and puffy; evidence of a long time crying. His voice itself held so much emotion and heartbreak. Despite the fact he was injured and in a wheelchair she could see that his stature was small and almost cracked.

"Water?" She asked, her voice cracking slightly despite her attempts to hold her emotion in. She watched as he nodded, gently turning round and grabbing her cup of her side. He handed it to her gingerly before resting back once again. The minute she'd finished she placed the cup down and looked at him. Their eyes held. "I know."

"Know what?" Danny asked her, stroking her face with one hand.

"I know..." She cast her eyes downward before lifting them to meet his, one tear rolled down her face as she did so.

Danny; speechless simply nodded before he too cracked. As Alice's emotion burst the barriers and rolled down her face, Danny did too and despite the excruciating pain from his ribs, he leant forward and held her tightly. Both broken hearts clung together, trying to fix the one love they eternally shared. Neither person spoke a word; neither person could. Alice could only feel numbness clouded with anger and sadness. Questions whirled round her mind as she hid her face further into Danny's shoulder... why her? If she'd just... Alice took a deep breath before pulling back from Danny. She'd lost his child.

"We'll get through this Alice." Danny told her, "It won't be easy but we'll do it."

"I'm sorry Danny..." Alice cried, "I..."

"Alice, it's not your fault." Danny replied, "It's whoever caused that explosion."

Alice stayed silent for a moment, refusing to meet his eyes. She racked her brains for something else to say... she wanted to talk about it, yes of course she did, but she wasn't sure she could express herself. She'd just lost her baby! Despite all of her emotion, a part of her felt dead, lifeless.

"How about you?" She finally managed, "What are your injuries?"

"Burns, left arm's damaged and broken ribs... you're on with cuts and bruises, a nasty cut to your back and a possible onset of asthma... and well..." Danny gestured to her stomach sadly, his eyes dropping. Alice simply nodded, her eyes fell to their joined hands.

"You rang the girls?" Alice mumbled as she glanced at her engagement ring. It was fully intact, full of blood and dust, but intact. She felt a moment of happiness before it was squashed again. They must have missed taking it off any way she thought as she thought of all that ring held.

"Not yet... I should probably go do that but..." He looked to her, not wanting to leave her alone. He knew she wasn't in a good place. He wasn't either but Alice had to come first, right? She was his fiancée, he didn't matter.

"I'm old enough to be left alone, I'm tired anyway." Alice told him, her tone and voice flat and monotone. "Go ring them then get some rest yourself."

"Ok." Danny whispered, feeling as though she'd thrown him away, dismissed him almost as though he was some petty child! "I love you..." He murmured kissing her cheek gently.

"Love you too." She whispered back before turning her head away from him and shutting her eyes tightly... Danny grit his teeth together before catching a nurses attention to take him to a phone. If he'd turned around, he'd have seen her tears falling and staining the white, crisp bed sheets... instead, all he saw was a woman shutting him out.

(x)

"Yes we're fine..." Danny insisted for what felt like the thousandth time. His daughter was such a worrier! She reminded him of Alice sometimes... never bloody satisfied. He sighed as she thought of Alice...

"Dad?" Rosie tore his attention away, "Why do you sound so upset?"

"Because I've a lot to be upset about!" Danny spurted out, he immediately tried to cover, "I hate being sat around all day."

"Nice try Dad."

"Rosie... please... come on. I've just been in an accident..."

"There's something... and I'll find out what it is."

No you won't Danny thought mentally...

"Whatever Rosie, look I'm gonna go rest. I've called Clare too, she's going to come over as soon as she can." Danny told her, "Love you."

"Love you too Dad." Rosie told him before hanging up. She turned immediately to Charlotte who was staring at her, a question in her eyes. "They're fine... lucky by the sounds of it! They are in hospital for a bit but they'll be ok."

"Good, what do you mean by Danny sounded upset?" Charlotte asked her.

"He's hiding something... something else has happened. I don't know what but it has. I can tell! He was like that when Mum found out about her cancer..." Rosie stopped...Alice.

"What?" Charlotte shrugged.

"Nothing." Rosie said quickly; she didn't know for a fact and well Charlotte was too young to be worrying about her Mum, "C'mon, we'll go watch some TV." Rosie told her as she began to run through the possibilities in her mind.

A/N – I'm mean... I know!