Hey everyone, thankyou for all the feedback... it's great. I know this is only a very short chapter and not much happens, but think of it as an instalment and hopefully I'll have time to post the next chapter soon.
When Neil Manson opened his eyes, he wanted to believe that the Andrea, Gabriel and the fire had all been one vivid and particularly nasty nightmare. He wanted to find himself in Andrea's comfortable double bed with Andrea herself, safely held in his arms, but it was not to be.
Rather, as his eyes eventually adjusted to the blinding glare of the hospital lights, they came to focus on the stern face of Inspector Gold. He found that he was not in Andrea's bed at all but a thin hospital mattress and the burning pain from his lungs suggested that the fire was all too real.
As his eyelids flickered, Gina gave a relieved sigh. "It's nice of you to have you with us again Neil." She didn't tell him about the anxious moment two nights ago when the doctors had said he wouldn't make it. She didn't mention that his wife wasn't here today because she had an important hearing, but now he was awake she glanced at him with interest.
"The Super has given strict instructions, that the moment you're capable of questioning he should be informed." Inspector Gold was slightly annoyed over this point. For the past two days Adam Okaro had refused to tell her why he so urgently needed to speak to the DI.
Meanwhile, the words held no two meanings for Neil. How clearly he remembered the Superintendent's ultimatum the morning of the blast.
"You must choose between her and your career."
Neil laughed to himself. It shouldn't be a hard choice for a selfish workaholic like the man he'd become, but it was. He very much doubted he would nave made it through till now if not for the memory of Andrea's face. Her cheeky little smile and those big serious eyes and the dark ringlets that never managed to stay where she pinned them, and more than anything, her voice, amidst all her own pain, encouraging him on, "Neil…"
And at this memory, he suddenly realised that the last time he had seen her was unconscious in a burning corridor. With grim determination, he lifted one hand, surprised to see it covered in bandages and slowly removed the oxygen mask.
For a moment, that was all he could do, then he whispered, "The others… did they make it?"
Gina paled a little. "Ken Drumond died at the scene, Marilyn, yesterday." Glancing again at his expectant face, she sighed, "Smithy's still in hospital and Miss Dunbar is unconscious."
And with a satisfied smile Neil fell back into the soft embrace of slumber.