Thank you for the reviews.

Another what if... I did have this one to come a bit later on but I felt like it was probably best to have all the what-ifs together. I think it was meant to be after a happier chapter so I think we would probably want to get this chapter over and done with as soon as possible. I guess that you have guessed by the title that you might not like this chapter...

Just in case... This is set Christmas 2016... You know. That Christmas.

It Could Be Worse

Eddie was about to walk out the door when the doorbell rang. It stopped the argument between him and Melissa as he huffed when he realised that she wasn't going to get the door. He only took in the woman standing on their doorstep.

"Is Melissa Ryan in?" She said.

"Melissa." He shouted as he left the front door.

Eddie was thinking about his next move when he noticed that it was more than just this woman. The woman followed Melissa into the front room as well as a police officer with a young boy in his arms. The boy looked like he had been crying and it was the only reason Eddie followed them in.

"Ms Ryan. We understand that you are the mother of a Philip Ryan." The woman said.

"What's happened to Philip?" Eddie asked.

"He has been involved in an assault. He is currently on hospital and although he is conscious, they believe it is best to keep him in overnight as they believe he has concussion and just want to monitor him. We would usually have placed Tommy in foster care and contacted you in the morning but… we believe that with what has happened, it would be best he was with family."

"With family?" Melissa question.

Eddie blinked at the boy as he could see the likeness in him.

"He's Rachel's." He whispered.

"What?"

"Your sister, Rachel Fleet, is… currently in a serious condition and unconscious. We don't know exactly what has happened except that her husband, Adam Fleet, has been taken into custody. Tommy needs support at this time and if Philip wasn't involved, then I am sure that is where he would be now. It has taken us a while to find you, Ms Ryan."

Eddie's heart dropped. He wanted to drop onto the sofa next to Melissa but instead, he walked over to the police officer with Tommy. The likeness in the boy, even at his young age, was scary. All he could see was Rachel and once again, all Eddie could think about was how he had failed her.

"Hey, Tommy. I'm Eddie. I'm a friend of your mums."

He could only assume that Tommy was in the house when whatever happened, happened. The boy looked scared and Eddie knew that some strange man wasn't going to help him feel safe. Part of him wished that he never gave Rachel those photos but he knew that he had saved one. For the days that he felt lonely.

Grabbing his wallet from his coat, he spotted Sophie on the stairs. He knew that he had to apologise to her for all the things that he had said to Melissa, making it sound like he was going to walk out on her but he also knew that he didn't know how much she had just heard about what had happened to Rachel and Philip.

Eddie returned to the living room as the woman and Melissa spoke and he got out the only photo he had left of him and Rachel. It would spark many questions from Melissa and probably end in another argument but there was just the small way that the boy smiled at the photo.

"Eddie? Like Edward?" Tommy said as he held onto the photo.

"Yes."

Tommy smiled more. "My middle name is Edward. Tommy Edward Fleet."

It took all Eddie's strength not to cry. Of course, she would do something like that.

"Come on mate. Shall we set you up for the night?"

Eddie hadn't slept well because Tommy hadn't slept well. The young boy had seemed to attach himself to Eddie and was refusing to let go. Not that he really minded. If he couldn't be there for Rachel, he needed to be there for Tommy.

With the doorbell ringing, he was glad when Sophie ran down the stairs, shouting that she would get it, even if her shout made Tommy grip on his shirt grow tighter.

"Micheal," Sophie said. "Alison. He is in the kitchen."

Eddie smiled as he watched his son and daughter run up the stairs. The half-siblings got along well, even though he knew that Micheal didn't like Melissa. He was meant to be picking Micheal up but after what happened last night, Eddie thought it was best if Alison dropped him off, along with any clothes that she might have lying around from when Micheal was about six, even though he was now 12.

"He isn't mine," Eddie said as Alison entered the kitchen.

"Sure?"

"30th May 2011. There is no way he could be mine."

"So who's is he then?"

"Rachel's."

Alison smiled at him. "What are you doing with Rachel's son? Is she here? Are you two finally going to sort this out?"

"She… She's in hospital."

Her smiled dropped. "Christ Eddie. I can look after them if you want to head down there."

"We are planning on going later. Philip was involved as well. Going to take Sophie and Tommy to see him and hopefully, I can leave them with him for a moment while I try and find out what has happened to Rachel."

"What happened?"

"We don't know exactly. Only Rachel, Philip and Adam would know. But it is believed that Adam has done this. Adam… Adam is Rachel's husband. The house is a crime scene so, at the moment, we can't get any clothes for Tommy and I don't fancy braving the Boxing Day sales."

"I managed to find some things that I have been meaning to throw out for a while."

"Thanks."

"She is going to need you again."

"I know."

"Just… Eddie. Don't let her down this time."

"I know."

Eddie knew that Philip was surprised to see them. Tommy was still holding tightly onto him until he saw his cousin. He placed him on the bed where Tommy moved over to Philip. He was glad when Sophie didn't make too much of a fuss about being in one of the chairs.

"How are you feeling?" Eddie asked.

"Fine. They are going to let me out later. Although they will want someone to be there to basically check up on me."

"What happened Phil?" Sophie asked.

"Adam just lost it. Rachel tried to stop him but… Do you know where she is?"

"We were told last night that she was in a serious condition and unconscious," Eddie said. "I was going to try and find her once I knew that you were okay."

"I've never seen her that scared before Eddie."

"Come home for a bit. Tommy has, unfortunately, been put under Melissa's care. He will need you and I need to make sure you are okay as well. Just put up with her for Tommy's sake."

Philip nodded. "Go and find her. I can look after these two."

Eddie could hardly recognise her. He spouted a load of lies to have the chance to see her and he couldn't recognise her. The left side of her face was so swollen that he knew that she wouldn't have been able to open her left eye even if she was conscious.

He would have grabbed her hand after he sat down by her side but he was met with a cast that would starve him of the skin to skin contact that he missed so much.

He hated seeing her like this after the fire and he hated it even more now.

Someone that was meant to love her and care for her and look after her had done this.

Eddie would have loved and cared for and looked after her if he hadn't blown his shot.

He should have asked more questions when Philip told him that Rachel was getting married. He should have insisted that they could have made it work when she broke up with him. He should never have had that drunken night with Melissa. He should have waited for Rachel to be ready.

"Rach. I'm back. I'm here for you now. And I am never letting you go again."

If she hadn't already done it once in her lifetime, Rachel was sure that she would have been in more of a panic when she woke up. The fact that she could only open one eye properly reminded her of everything that had happened and she spent a few moments piecing it together.

The last thing she expected to see, once she realised that she should probably alert someone to the fact that she was awake, was Eddie sitting in the chair next to her bed, with her son curled up in his arms, both asleep.

The tears freely feel as relief washed over her. Tommy was safe and the man that she wanted most was back in her life.

"Eddie." She said gently.

The door to the ward opened.

"Eddie, Mum has been… Rachel." Philip said.

Eddie started to stir and Rachel prepared herself for the moment that he noticed that she was awake as well. He checked that Tommy was still asleep before his eyes met hers.

"Hi." She said.

"Hi." He said before he cleared his throat. "He's been as good as gold."

"He usually is."

"A right little you."

She tried to smile. "He has never been like that with Adam."

"As Philip has said."

"How?"

"I showed him a picture of me and you. The only time he hasn't clung to me is when Philip is about." He paused. "Tommy Edward?"

"I don't think you would believe me if I told you that I didn't choose his middle name."

"Philip seems to think you could never tell Adam about me."

"He didn't deserve to know about you. He was the man that I married. He wasn't the man that had my heart."

"Sorry to break this all up. Eddie, Mum has been trying to get a hold of you. Apparently there is this meetup that has been in the diary for ages and at this rate, Sophie is going to be left on her own. I would go but she doesn't want me there, does she?"

"Phil, she does."

"You don't have to lie for her."

"I'd better get back."

"You took the chance then." Rachel said.

"Our broken hearts couldn't be for nothing."

Tommy started to wake up as Eddie moved and the smile that he had on his face when he saw that she was wake was something that she would keep with her forever.

"Melissa you are being ridiculous," Eddie said.

"Eddie, we'll find somewhere else." Rachel said.

"No, you are staying. You need someone to look after you. Philip was only discharged because I said that I would look after him over the next couple of weeks and both of you aren't capable of healing and looking after Tommy."

"So I have to go," Melissa said.

"And you haven't said why."

"Because the Adam Fleet that I knew, if he is the same Adam Fleet, would never hurt a fly. He adored Rachel. This is just another way that she is planning to rip us apart."

"You are something else."

"So this all conveniently happens the same day that you say that you can't live with us any more."

"I said I couldn't live with you. I wasn't walking out on Sophie. I would never walk out on her."

"Shut up!" Rachel shouted. "Just stop arguing."

Eddie watched her as she sighed and sat down on the bed.

"Adam wasn't the same person that we knew at school. I am just realising that he was a control, jealous person who changed everything about himself because I unknowingly rejected him. I married him because he wanted it and he wanted me and at the time, that was all I wanted. I still don't know whether he wanted Tommy." Her eyes met Eddie's. "I knew how you would have reacted but Adam... Adam's reaction and behaviour still confuses me even now.

"I should have known we would never have been a good match. We argued constantly over Waterloo Road, so much so that it became the reason I left. Found out later that it was Ruby that somehow convinced him to go to the town hall to marry me. I never told him that the two truanting kids that he thought I had no reason to worry about, had made a suicide pact to drown themselves. He would just constantly tell me how controlling I was."

"You are," Melissa said. "But I saw you trying to run that school to the best of your ability. Even I could see the passion that you had. Didn't he?"

"I don't know. Melissa, I know I haven't been the best of sisters."

"I can't say I have been any better."

"I… I can't feel that alone again. I get it. You two have only got on for Sophie's sake. Like our parents only got on for ours. And if this didn't happen, I would still only be with Adam for Tommy's sake. Can't we sort this all out? Make it work for all of us. I need you. Both of you."

"I've already said that I am not leaving your side again," Eddie said.

"We know a number of a good lawyer."

"I need my sister." Rachel sighed. "Maybe we should finally sort out the last 25 years instead of keeping glossing over it like it hasn't affected our relationship at all."

Eddie hadn't seen Rachel look that vulnerable before. If he thought that she was shaken up after the fire, she was near enough having a meltdown now.

"How about I go and make us a cup of tea and we can start to sort this out? I am sure that Philip will be okay with Sophie and Tommy while we do." He waited for them to nod at him. "And maybe you two can start while I am doing so."

He wasn't certain that they would start talking but it had stopped Melissa from running away again and Rachel had a point. They all had to try and sort out their differences. If it was only for the sake of Sophie and Tommy.

Don't usually do this at the end... not that often but I felt like it didn't fit in at the top.

I have made a few decisions, especially now that I am back at work and life basically back to normal after the Christmas break.

The first decision is you are going to get a chapter from this story every five(ish) days. I have quite a few chapters backed up and if I keep going the way that I am, I will have enough to have a more regular timetable (i.e. we will see how it goes and how impatient I get).

The second decision is that tomorrow I am going to give you the first chapter of Push My Luck. I am over halfway through writing it and I feel like I can start posting it (or otherwise I will reread what I have written for the fifth time in the last two weeks and that isn't that productive). The plan is that it will be a new chapter every day for the moment (mainly due to my impatientness) but we will see how it goes with posting on Tuesdays and Thursdays (bloody karate).

And the last thing is, I have started to write another fic (I have three things on the go. Not unusual for me. Just not the things that I originally planned to write. Maybe I need to stop watching Waterloo Road and try and throw myself back into the Doctor Who, Merlin and Class fandoms...). This is the little what if/(more to begin with) extra chapters, going from S03E07 to S04E10 (for the moment. Haven't decided yet whether to go further). We will see how it plans out.

So that is what you have in store from me for the next couple of months... We will have to see how things go.