Chapter Six

Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Nikki…" Jack said gently as he leaned in towards her.

From that distance he could see she was shaking all over leading to her shoes tap-tapping on the floor.

"I'm fine," she said to his silent question.

He raised an eyebrow in response

"I know Edward Hooper is Emily's dad," she said bluntly, changing the subject

"Nikki…" Jack warned again "I told you to keep your mind off work. You're not well enough to come back yet,"

"Don't tell me what I can't do!" she said angrily and Jack sighed

"Okay, okay," he said raising his hands in submission "I know you're strong enough to beat this Nikki, but don't run before you can walk. You came back too soon after Mexico and look what happened- you landed up in here,"

"I will come back to work," Nikki said as she felt her throat tighten with emotion

"Sure you will," Jack agreed "But you need to let us help you and that includes Doctor Redford," he said gesturing towards the office door "You need to talk to her today. Not storm out,"

"She pressed my buttons," Nikki said quietly

"She's a psychiatrist. They're meant to probe. You can't blood test a mental illness. She needs to talk to you to find out what's up,"

"Jack, I-" she began but the door opened and Doctor Redford stepped out

"Nicola, would you like to come in for a chat?" Doctor Redford said "And I see you've brought Jack with you. Excellent. We can all sit down together," she said as Jack and Nikki stood up and went into her office.

The office was airy and bright; painted in cream with a painting of a sea-view on one of the walls. The majority of the room was taken up by Doctor Redford's desk, on which sat a computer which Nikki could see had opened up her file on it.

"Right Nicola, how have you been feeling?" the question was straight to the point

"Fine. I'm feeling ready to go home,"

"We talked about this Nikki," Jack said "You need more time to get well,"

"Jack is right, Nicola," Doctor Redford nodded "You're better than you were two weeks ago but you've still a while to go before you get dischraged. For one thing we need to get your medication titrated to a level where it is beneficial to you and secondly, I would like to see you engage in talking therapy as a complimet to the medication,"

"What's there to talk about?" Nikki said "It's not like the is the first time I've ended up in a dangerous situation. I got through it then and I'll get through it now,"

"That's true in itself," Doctor Reford nodded "But this is the first time that you've ended up in a psychiatric hospital because of it. Why do you think that is?"

Nikki reamained silent.

"Nikki," Jack began "Do you remember what happned in the cutting room that day?"

Nikki looked down at her bandaged hand and sighed softly "I remember the scalpel in my hand and then I remember Thomas shouting my name. The toilet door was kicked open and you came in Jack,"

"Why did you take the scalpel Nicola?"

"I wasn't self-harming if that's what you are thinking. I took it for protection. The thing is I gripped it too hard and it cut into my hand,"

"Do you remember what you told me Nikki?" Jack asked, but she shook her head "You told me you could see El Buitre in the cutting room. You told me you could hear him laughing at you. You ran out of the cutting room with a scalpel. Thomas was calling your name and checking the offices whilst I checked the toilets,"

"I pointed the scalpel in your direction," Nikki said slowly as she remembered "I could have hurt you!"

Jack shook his head "You were just scared," he said gently "But you're right, the scalpel had cut into your hand. So that's why I took you to hospital,"

"For a mental health act assessment you mean"

"For both. Nikki, you hadn't been yourself for weeks. You'd been barely sleeping or eating. You told me that in hospital. You also told me you didn't want to go on like this and you wanted to get back to the old Nikki," Jack said

"And I can help you do that," Doctor Redford said "But you need to accept our help. Not just mine but also your friends,"

"I want to get out of here,"

"We can look at getting you more time off the ward. But for now I think you need to stay on your section until I am sure you will comply with your treatment regime," Doctor Redford said "Now, I think that's enough for today," she said firmly "I'll see you again on my next ward round"

Nikki and Jack stood up and exited the office and walked back to the ward

"You did well in their Nikki," Jack praised

"I could see him in the cutting room that day," she said softly

"But he's not here. No one can hurt you here, not whilst you're in hospital,"

"Someone's hurt Emily," Nikki said "Her Father is dead,"

"That's not something to concern yourself with," Jack said "Focus on getting better,"

"But he is her Father?" Nikki asked and Jack nodded "She's my friend and I need to help her,"

Jack sighed loudly. He knew when he was beaten "Just go carefully. You're not well yourself but I know that when you find a cause to help, nothing can stop Nikki Alexander," he said

"True," she gave a small smile "And you better not forget it Hodgson,"

"You'll get better Nikki. It'll just take time"

Nikki nodded. She had resigned herself to staying for a while. But she was going to make the most of her time here. And that meant investigating Edward Hooper's death. Well as much as she could. That would show them she was getting better.

She'd show them all.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews/follows :)