Bonnie Sveen Fan, Ethan might have a panic attack - he really is very scared for Kate. I'm glad you feel Kate doesn't deserve this. She's made a few mistakes, but the last thing she'd want is to hurt someone. Thank you for your review.

Tanith Panic, thank you for your review. It was selfish of Kate, but letting a complete stranger in to see a dying relative isn't necessarily a good idea either. I don't think there's an obvious right answer. Either way, it could have led to trouble! We don't know if the experience changed Judy or if she was always like this.

InfinityAndOne, thank you for your review. It really is horrible for Ethan. He needs to convince them somehow - Judy might not be thinking clearly enough to control her actions and Kate might not be strong enough to defend herself. But Cal often does brush Ethan's concerns aside.

X-Sammii-X, thank you for your review. I'm really glad you like Kate and dislike Judy. Kate made a mistake and Judy has a reason to be angry, but that doesn't mean Kate deserved Judy's reaction. It would be nice to see Ethan and Kate happy together!

Thank you to Nike02cool and MDonnes for the follows.


"Security!" said Ethan desperately. "Call security!"

Alicia looked upset. "Do you really think… oh God, this is all my fault!"

Cal shook his head. "It's not your fault, Alicia. It's okay."

"Of course… yes… Alicia!" managed Ethan.

"I'm so sorry," whispered Alicia, her hands over her mouth. "Is there anything we can do? Can we go up there?"

"Security!" Ethan almost shouted the word.

Cal put his hand on Ethan's shoulders. "Ethan, we can't. Everything's probably fine. We can only call security if we have reason to believe Kate's in danger."

"Danger!" said Ethan in frustration. The words were in his head, but they weren't coming out. "Judy… bully!"

"She seemed so lovely," said Alicia with tears in her eyes. "But anyone can pretend to be lovely for a couple of minutes." She looked at Cal in concern. "I really am so sorry. I never should have let her go up there. I'll call security, Ethan. I'll call them right now."

Cal shook his head distractedly. "No, Alicia, don't call anyone! It's not your fault. Anyone would have done the same and we can't even be sure you've done anything wrong."

"Yes!" said Ethan. He wanted to break free of Cal's hold, but the leaden feeling caused by the depression was still there and he wasn't sure he had the strength.

But he had to find the strength and he had to find his voice.

"But I knew," said Alicia, beginning to cry. "I knew Kate's boss was… difficult. I knew Kate was fired from her last job. I didn't know very much – Kate's not really a gossip. But if she's up there now and she's hurting or upsetting Kate in some way, I'll never forgive myself."

Ethan didn't think he'd ever forgive her either, but there was no way he could manage to say so.

"It's not your fault, Alicia," said Cal, stroking her arm.

Ethan disagreed, but he had more important things to think about. "Kate… now?" he said, grabbing Cal's hand.

"Well… I suppose there's no harm in calling the department and asking them to check on Kate," said Cal. "But we can't call security when we don't know for certain that there's anything wrong. Even if this is all true, it could be Judy felt guilty and wanted to apologise."

Alicia was sobbing. "But it is worth taking the risk?"

"No!" said Ethan. He didn't know why they were still here; why they were still talking about it. If there was the smallest chance Kate was in danger, he needed to be there. He probably wouldn't be able to do much as he was completely useless, but he couldn't leave Kate up there all on her own with Judy.

"We're not taking a risk," said Cal. "We're notifying the department there might be a problem. And if there is, they can call security and then call us back."

"No! Too long!" For the first time in what felt like a long time, Ethan's body seemed to come to life. Energy pulsated through him. Putting one foot in front of the other was no longer a problem, or at least not for now. Ethan threw himself forward, running for the lift. He heard Cal calling him back and knew he had little time; if Cal caught him and physically restrained him, Ethan had little hope of getting to Kate. To his relief, the lift doors were open when he arrived. He ran inside, nearly running into the people who were making their way out of the lift. Ethan heard their murmurs of disapproval and gave them a quick apology, then he hit the button to close the doors followed by the button for Kate's floor.


"People like me?" echoed Kate blankly. "What do you mean, people like me?"

"Homophobes!" Judy spat the word.

Kate stared. "I'm not a homophobe"

"That's not what your mother thought."

"I don't know why she'd think that – perhaps we didn't discuss how I felt about it, but I'm sure I've never given her a reason to think that," said Kate.

Judy's eyes narrowed. "Do you really expect me to believe that? You can't tell me you didn't know your mother was gay."

"My mother wasn't gay," said Kate. "I wouldn't have minded if she was, but she never mentioned it to me and I'm sure she would have done." There hadn't been any men since Kate's dad, but there hadn't been any women either, to Kate's knowledge. Her mother had had a lot of female friends, but that didn't mean she'd dated any of them.

It couldn't be true. Her mother would have told her… wouldn't she? Kate had always thought they were close; that they could talk about anything.

"Are you saying I'm lying?" Judy was leaning over the bed now, her face twisted with rage.

"No, of course I'm not," said Kate, trying not to cry. "I'm just saying my mother didn't mention it to me."

"Clearly because she knew what you were like and she was afraid you would reject her!" shouted Judy.

Tears started to roll down Kate's cheeks. "I would never have done that. But perhaps you're right. Perhaps she was afraid."

"And you must have given her some reason to be!" said Judy.

Kate fought back sobs. "Judy, please believe me. If I had known you and my mother were in a relationship, I would have been happy for her and for you. I would have let you into the house and seen her. I'd have told you where the hospice is; you could have visited her every day. But I didn't know and I'm so sorry."

"You don't know how it felt," said Judy. She sounded different now. Sad. "Sitting there and waiting for her to contact me. I went to the house every day, but no-one answered."

"I was probably at the hospice," wept Kate. "I was there most of the day. Every minute I could be. I'm sorry, Judy."

"And then I heard she'd died, and not one more word from you," said Judy. "Until you arrived at the café. I saw you coming and I thought you'd found me somehow. I thought you'd brought me a message. Even when you asked for a job application form, I still hoped."

"I'm sorry," said Kate. "I remember the incident now you've reminded me, but I didn't remember what you looked like. And as I got your name wrong, I just didn't make the connection."

"All that time you worked for me," said Judy. "All that time."

"I'm sorry," sniffled Kate. "If you'd told me who you were-"

"Oh, so it was my fault, was it!" Judy seized Kate by the shoulders and shook her.

Kate cried out in shock and pain. "No! No, of course not. I didn't mean that, Judy! I know it was my fault."

"Good! Because it was your fault. You shouldn't have lied to me. You shouldn't have taunted me."

"I didn't taunt you, Judy!" cried Kate. "I promise. I've never done that."

"You taunted me with your presence; you taunted me by existing!" said Judy. "I wanted to make you suffer too; I wanted you to feel what I was feeling."

"I probably did," said Kate. "I loved my mother too."

"Don't you dare tell me you felt like I did!" Judy pushed Kate backwards so her head crashed against the headboard. "You had no idea what I felt. At least you got to be with her!"

"I know I did. I'm sorry. If there's anything I can tell you about-"

Judy hit Kate's head against the headboard again. "I tried to get back at you, but nothing worked. You were always so happy. I hated you for that. Could you really have forgotten her so soon?"

The room was spinning. Kate wasn't sure if it was from hitting her head or from the shock. "I haven't forgotten her, Judy. I think about her every day. Until I got the job here, I went to her grave every day. Even when I did move here, I went every week. Ethan's been going since I've been in here. Since he got ill, his brother-"

Judy went on as though Kate hadn't spoken. "I tried and tried to make you feel something, but even when you cried, it gave me no satisfaction. I sacked you when I had the chance – you really were a terrible worker and I have no idea why the ED employed you – but it didn't help. I knew you'd be just as happy here as you were there. I couldn't make you feel sad so I decided to make you feel fear."

"What do you mean?" asked Kate.

Judy smiled, as though impressed by her own cleverness. "I asked some of my regulars in the café to find you and bring you to me, but they messed it up. They said you'd got hurt and I hoped you would die, but you didn't. And so I've been waiting; wondering what to do next. Wondering if anything will ever help. And I knew the only way of making this end was if you died too. So that's what's going to happen, Kate. Now."


Ethan burst into the room and gasped in shock. Judy had Kate pinned down on the bed, her hand against Kate's throat. Kate in her weakened state was no match for an angry Judy who wanted to hurt her. Kate struggled limply, her eyes filled with desperate fear.

The shock lasted only a second. Ethan rushed forward, caught Judy around the shoulders and pulled her away from Kate. She cried out in rage and kicked and scratched, but Ethan didn't let go. He couldn't.

He wanted to let go. Kate was crying and he wanted to go to her, but he had to keep them both safe and that meant he couldn't let go of Judy. He half-carried her towards the door, shouting for help. Almost immediately, he heard running footsteps and Cal was there.

"Hold her!" gasped Ethan, almost shoving her into Cal's arms. He ran back into Kate's room and put his arms around her, but gently. "Kate, are you hurt? I'm here now, darling. Cal's got Judy. You're safe now. I promise."

Kate clung to him, trembling and sobbing. Ethan tried to soothe her, but he didn't expect it to work.

He was crying too. "I'm here, sweetheart. I'm here."

He could hear Judy shouting from outside and he held Kate closer to him. He heard more people arriving and guessed Cal had called security after all.

"I love you," said Ethan, suddenly feeling very tired. His depression was threatening to overwhelm him again. He'd got there in time to stop Judy from strangling Kate, but Kate was still terrified and upset and he hadn't been there in time to prevent that. "I'm sorry, Kate. I'm so sorry."