Busman's Holiday

"This is just beautiful isn't it?" Shannon looked across at her boyfriend, and smiled at him.

"Oh, yeah, and the beach is nice too."

Shannon realised that Alex wasn't actually looking anywhere but at her, and she blushed. They hadn't been together very long, and his comments still had the ability to embarrass her. "Thank you." She lowered her eyes, not realising, that for Alex, that made her all the more beautiful and desirable.

"You know, I feel so at home here, I love to walk along the sand, and look out at the ocean, it must be wonderful to actually live here. Think a newly qualified doctor could afford one of these places?"

"Ah, how can I put this?" Shannon smiled at him, enjoying herself enormously. "No."

"Yeah, I thought as much, still I guess we're lucky that Doctor Sloan and Steve let us come and join them this weekend." The open house at the beach had started for Alex and Shannon just a little earlier on the Saturday morning, but already they were having a great time.

"Weren't we supposed to be walking up to the store to get some milk, cream and salad?" Shannon smiled to herself, Alex had been almost over eager to volunteer their services to get the groceries, and she knew that he had wanted to get her to himself, for just a little while. Now though she looked around her and for a moment she was completely lost.

"See that pink house just along there a way?" Alex pointed with the hand that wasn't holding tightly to hers.

"Yeah, every little girl's dream, why?"

"Because, there is a path up to the road right by the side of it, we walk up there, and then Mr. Lewis' store is just across the way."

"Oh, so you didn't walk along the sand because it was romantic and dreamy and all that sort of thing, but because it was a quick route."

Alex smiled and then pulled her towards him, running his fingers into her almost jet black hair, and beginning to kiss her before she had a chance to even realise what he was doing. He felt her respond, and as her kisses got stronger he gently bent his knees and they sank to the sand together.

Suddenly Shannon shivered, and began to laugh, and Alex pulled back. "What, what did I do?"

"Nothing, but look around you, what do you see?"

"Sand." Alex was still puzzled, and Shannon was still giggling.

"And that is what I see too, but out of the whole beach you chose to sit me down here." Slowly she raised herself up and pulled out a huge piece of very shiny, obviously wet, seaweed.

Alex smiled, the top that Shannon was wearing didn't have very much back to it, he thought it was called a halter neck, but that might have something to do with horses, anyway whatever it was he bet her skin felt awful. Alex suddenly realised that he should have been paying attention to Shannon, and not letting his thoughts wander, as the offending item was shoved up the back of his t-shirt.

"Shannon, urgh, that feels …" Alex shuddered, and pulled at his top hoping that the cold slimy thing would fall to the ground.

"Come on, dairy stuff, lettuce, tomatoes and scallions, otherwise the lunch will be done and we won't be back." Shannon laughed as she watched her boyfriend's obvious discomfort, and then taking pity on him pulled the seaweed out and grabbed him by the hand.

"You wouldn't last five minutes on a desert island."

"Oh, I would, if you were my girl Friday."

Shannon just smiled at him, and pulled him to his feet, and then together they moved

off towards the pink house.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Steve looked out at the ocean and breathed in deeply. They hadn't been using the beach house at all while his dad was staying with them, but the idea had sort of sprung up in his father's mind that they would open it up for the weekend, and spend the time enjoying the warming weather. They could walk on the sand, even surf if they felt really energetic, and his father could see that his house was still standing. As Steve stood there he felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Rae next to him.

"Hey, Partner, have you missed this?"

"Yeah, I have, I've lived here since I was eleven, but it won't be my house for much longer, and as much as I love Jo, and let's face it her house is just wonderful and it's my home now, but  this was, is, always will be, well, home too, I guess."

"You are lucky to feel that way, and to know your dad does too. You will always be welcome here, but I guess you know that. Now, would you like to come with me and see your goddaughter discover the sand for the first time?"

A smile split Steve's face and he just nodded, but then a thought occurred to him. "What about Jesse? Shouldn't we wait for him to come out?"

"He's already on the sand. Come on, you two made up, it will be ok." Rae reached over and took her partner's hand. "We have plenty of time before lunch, and Eliana will get fed up long before Alex and Shannon get back from their walk." Rae paused for a moment, and a look of anxiety crossed her face. "Steve, he will be ok won't he? It's not that long since he was stabbed, and it can be tiring walking on sand."

"Rae, neither Dad nor Jesse would have let him go if they didn't think he could cope with it, you know that. Now, sand, ok, Sweetie?" Rae had her daughter in the car seat she had travelled over in, and Steve guessed that it was too heavy for her to carry very far. Eliana was still tiny, at almost eleven months old she was about the size of an eight month old child, Steve knew that Rae was worried about it, but he also knew that she understood why she was so small.

"Want me to carry her down?"

"Yes please, the living room to the deck is about my limit right now."

With an ease that she envied, Rae saw Steve pick up the seat, and her daughter, spotting her Uncle Steve right next to her, began to kick and make the seat rock. "Shhh, we are going to go find your daddy and then we'll see what you think of sand, ok?" Steve was instant goo as he smiled at the little girl, and then with a happy sigh he headed for the steps and moved down towards the beach.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sylvester Lewis was not having a very good day. He was definitely coming down with a really bad head cold, his milk order had been late and when it finally did arrive it had been short. So now it was eleven in the morning, he had no milk left, a black coffee he didn't want sitting in front of him, and a pounding headache. The bell on the door clanged, and he was sure that it was much louder than normal. With a barely concealed growl the store keeper looked up at the two young people who had just entered the shop.

"Hi, Mr. Lewis." Alex smiled at the man in front of him, but it turned into a frown. "Are you all right?"

"No, do I look all right? You should know, you're that young doctor fellah that visits with the Sloan's aren't you?"

"Yes, one of them. You sound as if you have a cold and maybe a fever, I don't know, but black coffee won't help it, you should have orange juice, something with lots of vitamin C in it."

"Oh yeah, now why didn't I think of that, and how much is that consultation gonna cost me?"

Alex looked over at Shannon, the store owner wasn't usually all sweetness and light, but he was normally nicer than this, he must be feeling ill.

"Ok, we'll get out of your way real quick, why don't you just shut up shop for the afternoon?" Alex heard the bell clang again as he spoke, and then another voice cut through the air.

"Yeah, old man, why don't you put up the closed sign, and then you can empty your till and your safe and we can be on our way?"

Alex spun round, and heard Shannon gasp as he did so. "Alex."

The voice belonged to a tall young man; his hair was hanging to his shoulders and looked as if it had seen neither comb nor water for a very long time. He was wearing a pair of frayed blue jeans with bleached out patches on them, a very baggy t-shirt with a yellow smiley face on the front, and he was holding a gun to the back of Shannon's head.

"Now, nobody moves, my buddy will take the money, you and your pretty girlfriend will be able to get your groceries, and we'll be gone."

Alex just nodded his head quietly. He looked at Shannon and locked eyes with her. "It'll be ok, Honey, just do as he says."

As Shannon was about to answer she saw Mr. Lewis out of the corner of her eye as he moved across behind the counter, the gunman saw it too, and the pressure on her head was removed and a loud explosion rocked the air.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Eliana was sat on the sand, her bare brown feet making little semi circular patterns. Although Rae always made sure she was protected from the Californian sun the little girl had naturally dark skin, and always looked like she had just returned from a tropical holiday. Eliana had a grin on her face, and was squeezing a handful of the grains as hard as she could. Steve, Rae and Jesse were all grinning with her, and Rae leant back against her husband and smiled at him.

"I guess it's the simple pleasures in life that are the best. It costs nothing for her to do this, and she just loves it. And when she gets a little older it will be sand castles, and burying her daddy up to his neck, wonderful stuff."

"Yeah, well it won't take long; a couple of bucketfuls and the hole will be big enough for Jess to disappear in." Steve dodged the blow that was aimed at him as he finished speaking, and laughed.

"You know, we need to get a still of Steve and Tony next to each other and pin it up somewhere at Jo's house, from the wedding video." This time it was Jesse who moved. The way that his best friend had puffed his chest out and straightened up each time Rae's ex-husband had come near him had been a constant delight to Jesse, and he mentioned it whenever he got the chance.

Rae was just sitting enjoying the re-kindled friendship between the two men when she saw Mark and Texas on the deck, Steve's fiancée had a telephone receiver in her hand. "Steve, one of us is wanted, and as you are so obviously the tallest and can get there the quickest do you want to go see?"

Steve smiled down at her, "Yeah, I can see how it would be dark before Jess got there." He took off across the sand then, his long legs covering the distance in no time at all, and Rae chuckled to herself. In just over five minutes he was back. "Rae, that was the station on the phone, someone triggered the silent alarm at Lewis', which is where Alex and Shannon went, and we got a 911 as well, reporting a shot being fired." Steve's voice floated away, and Jesse moved instinctively to protect his wife.

"Jess, take Rae and Eliana into the house, and stay there until I get back, ok?"

"Steve we'll be fine don't worry about us." Rae was surprised at how disappointed she was, and then she saw her husband's face and knew that real life had turned on him again. Ever since she had been injured in the hospital he had been over protective of her and their daughter, and now a simple, social gathering had been turned into a police matter once more, and Rae knew that Jesse would have a problem dealing with it.

Very slowly, because her injuries prevented her from moving any other way Rae carefully got to her feet, and watched as Steve headed back towards the house, then she heard her little girl complain as Jesse picked her up from the sand and placed her back in the car seat. "Honey, will you be able to walk across the beach on your own? I don't want you to hurt yourself again."

"Jesse, it might take a while, but if I don't have to carry anything I'll be fine. Now go, take Eliana inside and I'll catch you up."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Steve ran through the house, stopping only to kiss Jo tenderly on the lips as he passed, and grabbing his gun and badge from his nightstand, where he had left them when he and Jo had arrived the previous evening, he headed back up the stairs and out towards his truck. Five minutes later he was pulling in next to a black and white and getting details of the situation.

He was the only detective on the scene, and took immediate command. "Ok, what have we got?"

"Two shooters in there, one with a gun to a hostage's head, there are two other hostages in there, and one shot has definitely been fired."

"Ok, have you made contact with the people inside?"

"No, Sir, not yet, I knew you were coming from just down the road, and so I decided to wait."

Lewis' Store had a gas station attached to it, but that was closed, and had been for months. The police cars, Steve's truck and an ambulance were all parked in the once empty parking lot, and the grocery store, which was positioned at right angles to the disused pumps was, for the high classed area, in a tatty state. Silvester Lewis had served his country and was a Vietnam veteran, just as Steve was, and the two men had often discussed the state of the world, or rather Silvester had discussed and Steve listened and nodded in, he hoped, all the right places. The store didn't make much money but with his pension it kept Silvester Lewis off welfare, and that was all that worried him. Steve wondered how the man was coping with having two robbers in his store, but he knew that the chances of him playing the hero were remote. He just hoped that Alex and Shannon, for he was sure it was they who were in there, didn't get foolish either. Shaking himself out of his thoughts he looked around. "Right, give me that megaphone, and let's see what we can find out." Steve took a deep breath, and then positioning himself so that he could just see in through the glass began to speak. "This is the police, release your hostages and come out with your hands up."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex heard the voice as it floated through the air, and although it was distorted by the megaphone he knew exactly who it was.

"Don't say a word, golden boy, or your lady gets a bullet in the brain." The gunman had shot Mr. Lewis, or at least Alex presumed he had because the storekeeper had disappeared behind the counter when the gun went off, and he hadn't seen nor heard from him since, and Alex had no reason not to believe that Shannon wouldn't be next.

"Hey, Zeke, there is hardly any dough in this till, an' this guy is bleedin' all over my sneakers, where's the safe?"

"How the hell do I know?" Zeke began to move Shannon closer to the counter, and once again Steve's voice came into the store.

"This is the police, you can't get out of there, let your hostages go and give yourselves up."

Pulling Shannon by the hair, Zeke changed direction and moved closer to the doorway. Making sure that he was never in the direct line of fire of any of the cops outside he began to yell. "Go to hell, pig, unless you leave we ain't."

"Arghhh." Shannon couldn't help but cry out as Zeke changed direction again and went back towards the counter. 

"Shut up." The gun was raised behind Shannon's head, and for a moment it seemed to Alex as if the world stood still, and then Zeke crashed it down against her head and she fell, lifeless, to the floor.

"No! Shannon!" Alex went to move but heard the click of the gun and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Stay where you are, golden boy. If you want her she can come to you." And without another word he put his foot under Shannon's limp body, and lifted and pushed her across the dusty floor towards where Alex was standing, too horrified to move or say anything.

Zeke then turned his attention back to his partner in crime. "Daniel, find the damn safe and open it, this is turning in to a real drag."

"A drag, you shoot someone, knock out my girlfriend and you call it a drag?" Alex was amazed, and it showed in his voice. He crouched down, and was relieved to feel Shannon's pulse steady and strong. He had a feeling that she was probably far better off being unconscious at the moment.  "Let me go round and see to him, if he's still alive, maybe I can stop you having a murder charge hanging over your head. Although why I should bother to help you I have no idea."

"Oh yeah, golden boy, and what can you do about him anyway?"

"I am a doctor, and my name is Alex, NOT golden boy. Now move." He had no idea where he got his bravery, or stupidity from, but Alex moved in front of Zeke, past Daniel, and knelt down by the side of the store owner. "Mr. Lewis, it's Alex, can you hear me?" Alex had his fingers on the man's neck, and could feel a faint but steady pulse, but he knew that he would get no reply from the wounded man. "Ok, I need to get both of them out of here, so I suggest that you two go give yourselves up, and then I can get treatment for your victims."

Alex could see that the man behind the counter with him, Daniel, was seriously considering his words, but unfortunately, he wasn't the one with the gun. He also wasn't a man, because now he was closer to him, Alex could see that he was just a boy, maybe sixteen years old.

"You think I'm gonna give myself up, golden boy? You are dumber than you look. I shot that guy, we held up a store, they ain't gonna pat us on the head and let us go home to momma now are they?"

Alex leant back on his haunches, and his head touched the wall behind him. "No, they aren't, but I know that I would prefer to be facing time for what you've done so far, than murder. Think about it, if you give yourself up it will look way better than the cops coming in here all guns blazing, I can get this guy to the hospital, maybe even save his life, but if you stay here any longer, well, it will be murder, no doubt about that."

"Zeke?" Daniel's voice was hesitant, and he looked at Alex and then his partner in crime.

"Shut up, Danny, I'm thinking…" The room was silent for a moment, although to Alex it seemed like hours. "Ok, golden boy, if you are so smart and brave, you go to that door, and tell them that we will come out, but no shooting, and we gave ourselves up, make them realise that, we gave ourselves up."

Alex carefully felt Silvester's pulse once more, and realised that it was a little fainter and more irregular than before. He stood up and began to move towards the door, and as he did so he felt, with horror, the muzzle of the gun as it was pressed against his neck.

"Zeke, don't." Daniel had followed Alex out from behind the counter, and his voice was shaking as he spoke.

"Shut the hell up, Danny, I know what I'm doing." Zeke moved Alex towards the door, and carefully began to turn the handle.

Steve had decided to wait just about five minutes before he called out to the two gunmen in the store, and he was just preparing himself to begin speaking again when one of the uniformed officers closer to the store waved a signal at him.

"The door is opening." Every gun in the place was raised slightly, and then Steve saw his young friend being propelled through the door.

"Hold your fire!" Steve called out through the megaphone, praying that none of his men got trigger happy. "Hold your fire… Let him go, you're out of the store, put your weapon down on the ground, and let him go."

"Cop, there is no way I'm goin' to jail, now let me through, or I will kill him."

"Zeke, no, don't, let him go, Zeke, please, let him go." Daniel's voice was full of tears, and just for a second Alex felt the man beside him hesitate, and the pressure was released slightly on his arm. Without really thinking of the results of his actions, Alex thumped his foot down on the one directly behind his own, and then hurled himself off to the left. As he hit the floor he heard gunfire echo around him, and then he rolled himself up as small as he could and waited for it to stop.

"Zeeeeeeeeeekkkke!" Daniel's voice screamed out and seemed to cut through the sound of the gunfire, and then as suddenly as the noises started there was complete silence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alex began to unroll himself, and he looked up into the concerned eyes of his friend. "Steve, I have to get to Shannon, he, he knocked her out with the gun butt, and Mr. Lewis he was shot, I have to get up… Steve."

"Alex, no. Listen, there has been an ambulance here the whole time, and Mr. Lewis has already been taken away, so has Shannon."

"What, but it just stopped, the gunfire just stopped."

"No, it stopped about five minutes ago, you were out cold, I didn't want you waking up in the ambulance, not knowing where Shannon was, so I made them take her and Mr Lewis first, there is another ambulance for you. Come on, let them take you and check you over."

Steve moved out of the way and Alex could see the gurney waiting for him, and with a sigh he let himself be gently placed on it, and wheeled away towards his transportation to Community General. As he got there he thought of something. "Steve?"

"Yes, Alex, what is it?" His friend was by his side almost instantly. "Zeke, and … and Daniel?"

"Zeke didn't make it, when you leapt out of the way, well … he was gunned down, but Daniel was ok. He'll be charged, and do time, but he'll be ok."

"It … it wasn't him, he …" Alex couldn't make his words work, and he shut his eyes for a second. "Steve…"

"Alex, I'll be in to see you in about an hour or so, close your eyes and let them look after you, it'll be fine, you'll see." Steve watched as the young man nodded his head, and then the gurney was put in the ambulance, and with its lights flashing and siren blaring it disappeared up PCH towards the hospital.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Steve knew that he had to go into the station to write up a report, but he also knew that there was a house full of people who would be anxiously waiting for news of what had happened. He pulled his truck into the space he had vacated about an hour before, climbed out and headed for the house.

Mark and Jo were sitting at the table, and Steve saw them before they saw him. His dad was playing solitaire, and by the way he was slamming the cards down on the table top he could tell it wasn't going well. Jo was talking, but he couldn't see to whom. Steve quietly opened the door, and not wanting to scare anyone, cleared his throat.

"Steve, Honey, I didn't hear you come in, an' I've been goin' to the door every five minutes too. What happened? It was Alex an' Shannon wasn't it? Are they all right …" Jo tailed off and Steve moved across and, relaxed in the presence of his friends and family, stopped her words with a kiss.

"They are both ok. Shannon was knocked unconscious by one of the gunmen, and she should be at Community General by now, Alex is on his way too. He passed out but he'll be fine. Silvester was shot in the shoulder, he lost a lot of blood, but I'm guessing he'll survive."

"And the gunmen?" It was Rae whose voice Steve heard, although he couldn't actually see her, and he realised that she was sitting on the sofa, and it had been her that Jo was talking to.

"Only one of them had a gun, and he was killed. The other one, who is only fourteen, he wasn't hurt, he's been taken to the station to wait for a social worker."

"Honey, we'll shut up here, an' I'll take Rae an' Eliana home, then your daddy an' I will go back to Michael. I'm guessin' that you will be goin' to write your report." Jo was standing with her hand in Steve's, and he could see the disappointment in her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm afraid the weekend is over before it really started. We'll do it again, once Alex and Shannon are out of the hospital, until that happened it was going great. Where's Jesse?" Steve realised, a little belatedly, that Jo had said she was going to take Rae home.

"He went into the hospital, in case Alex or Shannon needed him." It was Rae who spoke, and the relief and amazement was evident in her voice.

"He went to work, and left you here? How did you manage that?" Steve was equally incredulous.

"I quoted the Hippocratic oath!"

Steve laughed and turned to leave. "Ok, guys, I guess I'll catch up with you all again soon. Oh, Dad, you had better call Amanda, and tell her not to come." Although CJ and Dion had wanted to spend the whole weekend at the beach, their mom had insisted that until they had finished their homework they would be staying home. As they had both had sports practice the night before, Amanda had said she wouldn't be arriving until after lunch.

"Already done, Son, now go, the quicker you get to work, the quicker you get home." Mark smiled and waved as Steve left the room, still holding Jo by the hand.

"Don't get tied down with anythin' else at the station, we can still have a nice day, an' I guess you'll be workin' tomorrow anyway, so whatever it is, will keep." Jo leant in through the truck window and kissed Steve gently on the lips.

"Ok, I'll try, but you know what that place is like, it sort of glues you to the desk for the first three or four hours."

"Three or four hours! Don't you dare!"

"No, Ma'am, see you later." Steve chuckled to himself, and drew out into the light Saturday traffic, wondering just how long it would be before he was back with Jo again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jesse was assessing Shannon when Alex was brought in, and he saw Wil Collins take the young man into the trauma suite next to his own. Jesse was a little concerned that the nurse was still unconscious, and he knew that she would have a severe concussion that would require at least a week off work. The telephone number of her mother had been inside her purse, which an officer had retrieved from the scene, and Mrs. Farley was on her way to the hospital to be with her only daughter. As Jesse signed the papers for Shannon to go and have the required x-rays and tests he heard Wil raise his voice slightly through the wall.

"Alex, there is nothing you can do, or find out about Shannon until Jesse has finished checking her over. Now, if you don't lie still I will have you restrained…. That's ok, I know you're worried… Nurse, would you go and just check next door for me?"

Jesse moved to the door to stop the nurse from entering. "I'll be in to see Doctor Collins in just a moment; could you please tell him that?"

"Yes, Doctor." The nurse, who Jesse had a feeling was one of Shannon's friends, nodded and then paused. "How is she, Doctor Travis?"

"She's ok, once I have spoken with her mother, then I can tell you more." Jesse and the nurse moved to one side as two orderlies came to take the gurney towards the elevator. As they did so the doors opened and a slightly older version of Shannon raced out.

Jesse moved to intercept the obviously worried mother. "Mrs Farley? I'm Doctor Travis. Your daughter is just going for some tests, won't you sit down?"

"Can I go with her? I need to go with her." Debbie Farley tried to move away from Jesse, but he shook his head and she stopped.

"No, not really. As soon as they have finished with your daughter she will be admitted, and then you can go see her, sit with her, and stay for as long as you like, but for now, there is an extremely agitated young doctor in trauma two, who is causing a whole lot of problems because he doesn't know how his girlfriend is. If you could just wait a moment or two, I will tell the both of you together."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

An hour later Shannon was tucked up in a private room, her mother by her bedside, and Alex was in a room just across the hallway. His heart rate had been very irregular, and Wil, worried by the closeness of the attack to his recent brush with death had decided that there was no way he could let him go home. Alex had been secretly relieved that he didn't have to return to his apartment with no one for company except Kira, so he hadn't argued, and now he was lying, his head resting back onto cool, crisp pillows, and he could feel himself begin to relax a little. There was a knock on the door and opening his eyes, Alex saw Steve standing there.

"Hey, Alex, how are you feeling?" Steve was glad to see that his friend, at least, had some colour back in his cheeks, and a small smile on his face.

"Not too bad, I'm worried about Shannon, but Debbie promised me she would tell me when she comes round, and I know that she has stirred, so it shouldn't be long… Steve, I need to talk to you about Daniel."

"Daniel?"

"The young man in the store." Alex looked at his friend, and waited for some reaction.

"Oh, him." Steve's tone was short and curt, and Alex knew that he wasn't going to really like what he had to say.

"I don't think that it was his fault what happened, not any of it."

"Alex, Silvester Lewis is in the OR right now, and they don't know if they will be able to save his arm. He got through 'Nam, physically, I don't think any of us did mentally." Steve's voice had lowered, but he spoke up again. "And then some punk kid shatters his shoulder socket so bad that they don't think anything will put it back together. You are lying in a hospital bed instead of on a beach, and so is your girlfriend, so don't tell me it wasn't his fault!" Steve realised that he was shouting, and moved a little further into the room so as not to disturb any other patients.

"Steve, hold on. He didn't do anything. Zeke shot Mr. Lewis, he knocked Shannon out, and he had just as much hold over Daniel as he did me. All Daniel wanted was for Zeke to give himself up so they could get out of there. He told him that there was no money in the till. I saw it, Steve, there was plenty in there. He didn't want to do it. Steve, this could ruin his whole life, any chance he has could be taken away from him, and he could end up like Zeke, dead at … at however old he was."

"Nineteen, and Daniel is fourteen." Steve's voice was quiet once again. "Ok, Alex, I'll see what I can do."

"I don't know what Zeke had over him, but there must have been something." Alex shook his head. There had been fear in the young boy's eyes, but something more, he just couldn't remember what.

"They were cousins. That might have something to do with it. I'll keep an eye on what happens to him for you, will that be a start?"

"Yeah, thanks, Steve." Alex was about to say something else, when he saw Debbie standing behind his friend. "Debbie, is she?" He couldn't continue, suddenly his throat constricted, and he was scared to ask.

"Yes, Alex, she is conscious, doesn't want her mom at all, just you. I told her that you had to stay in bed, so she said to say that she loves you, and will see you tomorrow." Debbie came over and placed her hand over his. "Don't worry about her, she'll be fine."

"Thank you. The doctor in me knows that, but, well, the Alex in me needed to hear it. Thank you." Alex knew he was repeating himself, but he didn't care. With a sigh he put his head back on the now not quite so crisp pillows and shut his eyes.  Steve looked at Shannon's mom, and with a smile each they left the room.

"Steve." Alex's voice called him back and he turned to see his friend looking straight at him. "Kira, could you go feed Kira? I know you're allergic, but by tomorrow she will be hungry and … well, dirty too."

"Alex it's a good thing I like you! Yeah, I'll do it on my way home, whenever that will be."

"Thank you." Alex's eyes closed again, and this time Steve saw his breathing begin to deepen and he knew that in a few minutes he would be fast asleep.

Steve had visited with Jesse and picked up some of his allergy tablets, they had been given to him with a big grin and a hearty pat on the back, and Steve realised once again just how much he had missed his friend.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jesse had headed home once both Alex and Shannon were settled in their rooms, and Shannon had regained consciousness. It hadn't been that late, and he and Rae had spent a quietly pleasant evening together. Just after eight Eliana had begun to get sleepy, and so they had taken her to the nursery to get changed.

"Jesse, look, and I put her into a clean set of clothes when we got home." Rae held up the small vest that their daughter had been wearing and a little pile of sand slid off it. "She had it in her nappy too."

"Where?" Jesse tried to look puzzled.

"Diaper, I know you're kidding me, you know what I mean." Eliana was now in her crib, and so Rae moved over towards her husband and kissed him tenderly on the lips. "You really missed him didn't you?"

"What, who?  Missed what … who?" This time Jesse was genuinely puzzled.

"Steve, in some ways you have been getting more and more relaxed since you and he made up. You missed him, he's your best friend, I'm glad you sorted it out."

"Yeah, me too… Look she's going straight off, guess the sea air did that for her." Jesse had pointed at the small form in her bed, and they watched together as her eyes closed, and she drifted off.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

By the time Steve had written up his report, put a call through to juvenile services to ask to be kept informed about Daniel and what happened to him, it was very late. He drove through the light traffic to Alex's apartment fed the cat, and, with almost total disbelief at what he was doing, he cleaned the litter box, and even petted the creature for a moment before locking up and heading home.

As he had thought the house was in darkness when he arrived, and once again he made his way through the laundry room and towards the stairs. As he did so he saw a pad with Jo's handwriting across it and stopped to read it. It was ten minutes before he put it back where he got it from, and as he did so he knew, without a doubt, that he couldn't go through with the wedding, there was just no way on earth he could do it.