As Nikki lay crumpled in a heap on the floor...she thought back over the past few hours...
After previously declining, his invitation to the Halloween party, Ollie had later turned up back at the Lyell claiming he was worried about his Gran at the care home in the gathering storm, and also that he believed she was unwell and wanted a second opinion from Nikki, whom he trusted.
Nikki had no reason to doubt his story at that point, but she didn't feel comfortable driving in the current weather, so she phoned for a taxi. When they got nearby, the road was flooded, so Ollie directed the driver to a back road that Nikki didn't know was there. With hindsight, that and the fact the care home was the same one Robbo had died in should have perhaps been the first sign that something wasn't right, but in reality, she thought nothing of it. It was when they got out of the taxi and ran for cover in the lodge that alarm bells started ringing. Ollie put his hand in his pocket for a tissue – and with it, a packet of pills fell out. Ollie quickly picked them up and stuffed them back in his pocket, while Nikki pretended not to notice. The pills, coupled with his shifty behaviour since they'd got inside, were making her nervous. He was desperate to make sure that no one saw them – why? If he was there to see his Gran?
'I should have run or screamed at that point' Nikki thought bitterly.
When they'd heard voices and people coming, Ollie had opened a door and roughly pulled Nikki through it. To her horror as the door closed, she saw Jack and Simone going past with the residents, but Ollie covered her mouth before she had a chance to yell, so they remained oblivious to her turmoil.
Nikki had found out just how dangerous Ollie was then. He told her to go down the steps to the basement , which was already starting to fill with water – and he'd pointed a gun at her. She did as she was told and went down into the basement with him. Nikki had heard the main house mentioned as everyone went past, so she assumed that must be where they were going and she was determined to keep Ollie away from there. As afraid as she was of being trapped by the storm – of Ollie – and of possibly never seeing Jack again, Nikki was even more afraid of Jack getting hurt. She hadn't known this was where they'd gone and he was far too close to the gun for her liking, not to mention the atrocious weather, but as far as she knew he was safe at the moment. Nikki wanted to know what Ollie's game was. She wanted to find out why he was really there – and why he was armed with a gun and some sort of drugs. Surely he couldn't have had anything to do with Robbo's death?
It went well at first. Nikki managed to convince Ollie that she was on his side, but she was jumpy every time he came to close to her or waved the gun in her direction. She was frightened and he soon picked up on it. He worked out what she was doing. That was when he lost his temper. He struck her with the gun, knocking her to the floor and kicked her relentlessly.
Nikki lay in a crumpled heap, in the quickly gathering water and watched Ollie pacing angrily, waving his arms about and holding his head in an agitated manner. She wondered if he was going to leave her to drown. The water would wash away any DNA. They would find her body eventually and Jack would have no idea who had hurt her. She considered her situation. What would her cause of death be? Drowning or hyperthermia? Internal injuries from the kicking – or maybe the blunt force trauma would cause a blood clot and that would ultimately kill her. It was too soon to tell, but one thing was certain – Jack would hate himself for not finding her in time. He wouldn't be allowed on the case – her case. He was too close, but it wouldn't stop him grappling to try and find some sort of evidence. She saw his confused and devastated face in her mind, trying to work out what she was doing at the care home in the first place. There would be CCTV of her leaving the Lyell with Ollie, so he would be interviewed as the last person to see her, along with the taxi driver. Nikki tried to block out what Jack would do if he found out that Ollie had attacked her. She managed to sit herself up and lean against the wall, so that her head was at least out of the water, but froze as she realised that Ollie was watching her. She swallowed nervously as he crouched down in front of her in the water.
"You shouldn't have made me angry." He said coldly, showing no remorse.
Jack meanwhile, had returned to the lodge in order to find another battery for Beattie's oxygen tank, but he found it and returned to the main house, still oblivious.
Eventually, Ollie seemed to decide to stick with his original plan. He hauled Nikki to her feet, ignoring her pain-wracked groan as she tried to stand on the knee she had twisted when he'd knocked her to the floor. She was cold and wet, battered and bruised – and her water-logged clothes were sticking to her frozen body.
Ollie jabbed the gun into her back. "Move!"
On his return to the main house, Jack was given another change of clothes, before being presented with a hot cup of tea, boiled on the gas stove. The kitchen was on the ground floor, but luckily there was a second on in the staff room on the first floor. His relief at sorting Beattie out and being warm and dry again however, was short-lived, when Ollie burst in with a gun, dragging the limping, bloodied blonde doctor.
"Nikki!" he stammered in horror as the student mercilessly flung his injured friend at the wall like a piece of rubbish.
Nikki hit the wall and collapsed on the floor, wincing from the pain in her knee. She was soaked through and shaking from the cold, but she managed to make eye contact with Jack to tell him she was ok. She needed to make sure he wasn't going to put himself in danger for her.
"Ollie!" Simone exclaimed in shock.
The student was highly agitated."Amitra! Thorpe! Where are they?" He demanded aggressively, waving the gun.
"Ollie!" Katie cried in distress, from over in the corner. "What have you done? You've hurt her."
Ollie faltered upon hearing his upset grandmother. "I'm sorry Gran. I didn't mean to. I just lost it."
Nikki slowly and gingerly got to her feet. Maybe this was a good time to try and talk Ollie down. Before she could speak though, Mary Thorpe, one of the focuses of the student's anger, chose to run in and launch herself at him. As she tried to wrestle the gun off him, it went off and all Jack saw was Nikki stumbling back against the wall in shock.
"Nikki!" he yelled louder than she thought was possible.
"I'm ok. I'm ok." Nikki flung her arms around the panicking Irish man as soon as he got to her. "It missed me. I got knocked and lost my balance. I'm ok."
Jack was unable to stop a sob of relief from escaping as she rubbed his back soothingly. They both turned in surprise as the gun clattered to the floor and Ollie collapsed against the adjacent wall, his head in his hands, apparently shocked by the gun actually going off.
"Jack I need the belt you're wearing" Simone commented, matter-of-factly.
"For what?!" Jack retorted in disgust, still tightly holding onto Nikki who was leaning heavily on him. "It s holding the trousers up!"
"Nikki can hold your trousers up. I'm going to tie him to that chair over there." Simone indicated Ollie.
Jack wasn't happy about losing the belt, but he wanted to make sure the student couldn't hurt Nikki again, so he obediently removed the belt and handed it to her.
They watched Simone and Mary Thorpe pull the protesting student to his feet, take him to the chair in question and tie him to it. Simone appeared next to them.
"Let's get you in some warm clothes Nikki."
Jack wanted nothing more than for Nikki to be warm and comfortable. She was shivering and obviously in pain, but she was also currently protecting his dignity – and he was also reluctant to let her out of his sight.
"Sit down?" Nikki suggested holding the trousers up. Jack nodded and between them they hobbled to the armchair Jack had previously been occupying. Nikki pushed him into the seat and ruffled his hair affectionately. "I'll be back soon, ok?" She shot an angry look at Ollie. "Don't you dare speak to him – or even look at him when I'm not here." She warned fiercely.
The subdued student looked down at the floor.
Beattie indicated Jack. "Go on. I'll make sure he's ok – I'm the other special girl in his life."
Simone offered Nikki her arm and took her to find some dry clothes.