A/N --- Right...firstly. Thank you ALL for your amazing reviews. Although I have the story worked out for several dozen more chapters, all your reviews help me shape how those chapters are written. Let me know the good or bad bits etc. so that I can keep improving.

Now...I am starting a new aspect to this fic. MUSIC!

Each chapter will have a title and the title will be a song title and artist. I have spent AGES working out the PERFECT songs for each chapter.

They can either be listened to and read and the lyrics fit perfectly to the action and emotions of the chapter. And/or can be played as you read and the music acts as a score to add atmosphere.

I've got a couple of people who have been helping me make sure all the songs are perfect and I really hope all you guys will enjoy the music, I think it really adds to the dimensions of the fic.

Not all chapters have been sorted with music but they will be asap. So please if you can, reread and see how the fic is changed by the music.

ENJOY!

Danielle shifted again in her chair. Her muscles felt uncomfortable, heavy and yet restless. Her eyes were sore, she rubbed them again, her fingers dripping with tears as she did. Her whole face felt swollen from the amount she had cried.

"I think that's enough for today don't you." Christine smiled at Danielle. She leant forward and put her hand on Danielle's knee. Danielle smiled back at her. She liked Christine, she reminded her slightly of Ronnie, just the way she moved her hands and the way she dressed, but it was enough to make Danielle feel more open to her.

"You'll probably be in here for a while won't you? Until you feel strong enough." Christine joked as she rolled her eyes mockingly at the doctors' keeping Danielle in. She got another watery chuckle from Danielle.

She had been honest. The whole time they had talked Danielle had tried to be as honest as she could. It had taken time though. To begin with she had simply slouched in her chair, folding herself as small as she could and letting her baggy clothes envelop her. But as Christine had talked, she had made her smile, asked her stupid things about television shows, joked about Stacey's dramatic entrance. She had managed to fall into an ease with Christine and soon found herself opening up.

She told Christine about the fight she had with her mother at the wedding, the things that Ronnie said on the street, she told her about leaving her mother crying on the platform, about how her dad didn't even have time for her, about coming home to find Ronnie not there. She spoke about the abortion, about Paul and Stacey. She opened up and let it all out. It was awkward and painful but soon Danielle had been sobbing and howling out the words that had haunted her since the abortion, everything that had been said or done flowed out and she hated herself for saying it all. After keeping the secrets for so long, she felt weak that she was spilling them once again.

There was the biggest sense of relief that everything was out of her head, there was somebody to help her make sense of all the feelings, everything that had happened. But Danielle couldn't trust anyone completely. There wasn't a single person who hadn't let her down. Why would this stranger be any different.

"Right. Do you want me to talk to your mum?" Christine ventured. She had grasped that their relationship was more than slightly tenuous but from talking to Danielle she realised that this was what Danielle wanted more than anything. A real relationship with her mother. She could feel slightly wary about trusting Ronnie with Danielle after all that they had been through but Danielle wasn't in any immediate danger, it was clear that what she had done had been through panic, through sudden pain and confusion. It wasn't planned. It wasn't more than it was.

Danielle put her head in her hands and closed her eyes. She didn't know what she wanted. She didn't know what to do to make things better. Everything seemed such a mess. For so long she had just wanted Ronnie to know the truth, know who she was. Now she just wanted to shove the stupid cat back in the bag and unsay everything that had been said.

"I don't know." Danielle said shaking her head which still lay in her hands. "I don't know if I should do it or…I don't know. I want things to just be alright. I don't want it to be so hard."

"How about I speak to her with you there? You two can try and talk and if things get tough I'll be there to help you out?" Christine suggested. Although she felt confident that with ongoing counselling Danielle would be fine to go home, she felt a bit uneasy about her leaving the hospital with so much unresolved between her and her mother.

"No. I just…I need to do this myself. Or not do it. It's my choice. And it has to be on my terms and when I'm ready." Danielle spoke emphatically but mostly to herself.

"Ok. But Danielle, I do think that you two need to work things out. And it might help to have somebody there to help you both." Christine continued as she closed her notepad.

"But it's always going to be your choice and at the moment our main focus and your main focus has to be you, ok?" She watched as Danielle nodded, not catching her eye.

"And Danielle. You said that you just want to hold your mother?" Christine added, she didn't want to miss the chance to help Danielle before she shut down completely again. But Danielle just flinched uncomfortably, clearly embarrassed about what she had said in the midst of her emotional outpour.

"Danielle, she's your mother. She wants the same thing. It's a natural instinct for both of you. You'll both probably want to be as physically close to each other as possible. The feelings can be overwhelming but don't let yourself feel that they're strange or wrong." Christine implored her words to Danielle.

She had worked with a few cases of young people finding their adoptive parents. She had worked in family therapy with them and knew that it was often the case that both parent and child worried that their feelings were 'dirty' or 'wrong' because for two adults to want to cradle each other, hold each other, sleep in the same bed, those were usually actions of lovers, not parent and child. But missing out on the intimacy of childhood was often something that both parties would want to recapture. She wanted to make sure that Danielle could truly acknowledge and accept this. And hopefully Danielle would feel comfortable enough soon to bring Ronnie to sessions to help them work through things together.

It took another fifteen minutes for Christine to talk Danielle through the issues and when she felt comfortable enough that Danielle understood not to question anything that she felt, Christine let the subject rest.

"As soon as the doctors are happy with you physically I see no reason to keep you here. But I think some counselling for a while would be good." Christine said. As she spoke Danielle slumped down in her chair again. Christine knew that Danielle was shutting down again. But she could see how much both mother and daughter cared for each other and she felt confident that once they got things into the open and cleared the air that although it could be a while, they could have what they both wanted.

"I don't need it." Danielle said, her voice showing her frustration. "I just want to put this whole thing behind me. If I need anyone to talk to I've got Ronnie." It was a lie. She knew that right now she could barely look Ronnie in the eye, let alone talk to her about how she felt. But there was a part of Danielle that just wanted to hide away.

"Well then we can talk about tv, music, anything you want. But you're going to have to see me once a week for a while. Just to make sure everything's going well and nobody's causing any problems…Stacey said her mum baked you weapons didn't she?" Christine asked raising an eyebrow jokingly. Danielle barely smiled at her in response.

"Ok. Can I go? I'm feeling really tired." Danielle almost whined. Every time Christine questioned about her and Ronnie, Danielle shut down more. Danielle felt like she had said too much, like she had betrayed Ronnie by telling this stranger about them. She felt more guilt as she began to think of how Ronnie would react if she knew.

"Yes. Yeah, I'll come and see you before you're discharged to work out our next session alright?" Danielle nodded and mumbled in response as they both rose to their feet and made their way out to the corridor.

Danielle paused as she got to her hospital room.

"You'll be fine." Christine said, laying her hand on Danielle's shoulder which Danielle promptly shrugged off. She didn't want support now. It was too hard for somebody who reminded her of Ronnie to be so sweet to her when Ronnie wasn't.

Danielle watched as Christine walked away over to the nurses' desk and behind it to speak to Nicola.

She walked over to Christine quickly. Feeling slightly dizzy at the sudden action, Danielle stumbled slightly and watched Christine turn to her.

"Thank you." Danielle said, Christine smiled in return before Danielle turned back and made her way across to her room.

She took a deep breath and pushed down the door handle to face Stacey and Ronnie again.