"DC Masters, is it true that you gave the defendant's partner your telephone number, inviting her to call you for a chat?" The oily solicitor representing Andrew Braxton asked, his client sitting beside him attempting to keep the smug grin off his face and failing miserably.

"No, it is not. I gave Ms Lord my business card with my contact numbers on and told her that she could call me any time if she needed to discuss the case." Jo stated plainly, her eyes firmly fixed on the solicitor questioning her, refusing to be intimidated.

"Is that normal procedure? Would it not normally be the solicitor in charge of prosecuting the case to which any such enquiries would be directed?"

"In most cases that is correct yes…" Jo began only to be cut off.

"So what was different in this case? Why did you invite contact after the arrest was made on this occasion?"

"I knew that Susanne… Ms Lord… was struggling with her decision to press charges against Mr Braxton. I wanted to make sure she had the support she needed to see that decision through to its natural conclusion." Jo articulated, feeling as though she were under a microscope.

"What did you do when Ms Lord failed to contact you?" The question caught Jo off-guard, her frown indicating that she was unclear what was being asked of her.

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand the question," she stated simply.

"Did you make any attempt to reinitiate contact with Ms Lord when she did not telephone you?" The solicitor enquired sharply, as though suspecting Jo of knowing exactly what he had meant.

"In response to a missed call on my mobile, I did telephone Ms Lord to see if she was ok."

"Where did this missed call originate from? Was it a number you recognised as being Ms Lord's?"

"No, it was a withheld number. I had a hunch it was Ms Lord trying to get in touch with me." Jo attempted to remain calm in the face of being painted as the one who had pursued prolonged contact with the victim.

"Do you regularly follow your hunches DC Masters? Even when there is no concrete evidence to back up your theories?" Jo's eyes flickered to the person representing the prosecution, half expecting them to intervene. She saw a distinct disinterest in return though and realised she was very much on her own.

"No, I wouldn't say regularly."

"Did Ms Lord discuss with you at any point what her occupation was?" The change in line of questioning threw Jo momentarily.

"I seem to recall her telling me on one occasion that she was a nurse." She answered carefully, not wishing to unwittingly offer any ammunition which could be fired back at her.

"And did you discuss her place of work?"

"Yes, she reported Mr Braxton arriving there and threatening her on a few occasions."

"Allegedly threatening her. Where did Ms Lord work DC Masters?"

Heart beginning to hammer in her chest, Jo's eyes flickered into the room once more, this time settling on Sam who had insisted on attending the hearing, to decide whether their case could proceed, to offer morale support to Jo. "She told me she worked at St Hugh's Hospital."

"And how often have you yourself visited St Hugh's in the last two weeks?" The judge seemed to grow tired of the seemingly random questioning, warning the solicitor that he had better prove that this was relevant or change his line of questioning. After a brief assurance that the relevance would become clear very soon, the judge invited Jo to answer the question posed to her.

"I don't really recall, a few times I suppose."

"We have collected CCTV footage which suggests you were in attendance at the hospital no less than ten times during this period of time. Would you say you were on official police business during all those visits, DC Masters?" Jo squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, wishing for all the world that Sam was not in the room.

"Not every visit no."

"Indeed not. On Friday 9th November 2007, you were at the hospital for a number of hours. Is it mere coincidence that it was following the end of her shift that day that Ms Lord decided to return to her parents' house in Leeds? What was your business at the hospital that day DC Masters?" Jo felt her chest constrict. So that was it. Whilst she was being put through the most degrading and distressing experience of her life, they thought she had been badgering their key witness? If it wasn't so pathetic, it would have been laughable, she thought to herself.

"I was there on a personal matter, one which I don't wish to discuss here today." Jo stated with more conviction than she felt.

"Did you go to the hospital that day to speak with Ms Lord and persuade her to continue with the prosecution, even though she had expressed doubts to you during a conversation a few days previously?"

"No…"

"Was this not just another in a string of visits you had made to the hospital with the sole intent of ensuring your conviction would not be ruined by your only witness failing to testify?"

"No!" Once again Jo was cut off from saying anything further by another question being fired at her.

"If you insist that you were not in the hospital to intimidate my client's partner into testifying against him, then why will you not tell us why you were there DC Masters? If necessary, I can request a subpoena for your medical records to prove you were not there as a patient." The solicitor looked so smug with himself, so self-assured that his interpretation of Jo's behaviour was correct that part of Jo wanted to tell him to do just that. The satisfaction of seeing that smarmy half-grin wiped off his face would have been almost worth it. She willed herself not to show the extent of her distress, swallowed down the hurt and hate she felt for the toad-like man standing before her, badgering her to answer his question and knowing that whatever she gave as her answer would devastate someone; if she lied, she would be left devastated for perjuring herself, if she told the truth, Sam would be beyond hurt that she had heard in such a manner about Jo's condition. As it was, the DI would already realise that Jo had lied to her about being in bed with flu on that day.

"DC Masters, if you cannot provide us with a satisfactory explanation for your attendance at hospital that day, this court will have to assume you were participating in the intimidation of a key witness and issue sanctions accordingly." The judge stated, leaving Jo with even less room for manoeuvre.

"I'll ask you again DC Masters, what exactly was the nature of your business at the hospital on Friday November the 9th 2007?" The solicitor paced before her. Watching him and his sanctimonious self-satisfied smirk made Jo sick.

Finally, through gritted teeth, she admitted, "I was attending an appointment at the Oncology department. I was there so long because I had to have numerous tests and a biopsy done on a tumour I recently discovered." Throughout her speech, Jo had locked her eyes on Sam's, imploring her to understand why she had chosen not to tell her. Truth be told, the brunette couldn't really understand why herself. The hurt in Sam's eyes was unbearable. It was the diminutive blonde who severed eye contact first, suddenly finding something in her lap intensely fascinating.

"If that's true, why so coy about your reasons for being at the hospital? That would seem to be a cast iron alibi, why would you not want to shout it from the rooftops?" Jo turned back to her tormentor, venom in her eyes and a steely determination in her voice.

"Because, you self-absorbed pathetic excuse for a human being, I have just been diagnosed with breast cancer. I hadn't told my colleagues or my best friend, who happens to be sitting in this room right now. I didn't want her to find out this way." The judge called for order, issuing a reprimand to Jo for her disrespectful attitude but taking it no further, informing her that her ordeal was over and she could step down.

"Does the prosecution have any further evidence to present to support its case against Mr Braxton?" The judge invited as Jo hurried from the room.

"Jo!" Sam called as she rushed after her friend, needing to speak to her, to hold her, to throttle her for not talking to her. "Jo, wait please! Don't shut me out again!" The plaintive tone in Sam's voice cut through Jo's internal mental war, slicing straight through to her core with the efficiency of a laser. She slowed her steps but still could not bring herself to turn around, to face the woman she had grown to love as a sister and whom she had hurt so very badly. "I thought we were friends." Sam stated, standing behind Jo, no more than ten yards from her back.

"I'm sorry, Sam." Jo's head was bowed, both women oblivious to the world around them. She willed her feet to move, to carry her far away from everything and everyone. She had never felt so exposed, so naked in her entire life. She was terrified of looking into Sam's eyes and seeing beyond the hurt, of seeing what she had become not just to Sam but to the world now: a victim to be pitied. Though she had lived with labels for the majority of her life, accepting a new one was never easy or comfortable and this was one she was determined that she would not succumb to. Her shoulders begun to shake as she faced the enormity of how her life was about to change, feeling surprisingly unselfconscious despite being in the middle of a busy London street as the tears coursed down her cheeks.

Sam folded her arms around Jo, enveloping her, wishing she could take away every ounce of pain and distress from the amazing woman she had been lucky enough to befriend. As she had listened to Jo's strained confession, Sam had fully understood the anguish Lucy must have been going through. She had obviously known what the diagnosis was and had been sworn to secrecy. She was unsurprised when her own tears sprung forth from her eyes, tracing similar paths down her cheeks to Jo's own.

Sam pulled up outside the station, looking across at Jo who had been silent during the short journey back Sun Hill.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you home? You've had a hell of a few days." The blonde DI reached across and squeezed one of Jo's hands where they lay listlessly in her lap.

"As much as I appreciate the offer Sam, I need to keep going. I need things to be as normal as they can be. I am a Taurus after all, I don't do change well!" Jo attempted to inject a little levity into the atmosphere, an emptiness having settled deep inside her, a void she feared would never be completely healed.

"Can we talk once the shift is over? You can come to me for dinner if you like?" Sam was determined to reach out every bit as far as Jo retreated, wanting nothing more than to help her friend through what was bound to be a difficult immediate future.

"I promised Lucy she could come over tonight." Seeing Sam's disappointment, Jo offered, "why don't you join us? I'm sure Lucy could use an ally against my stubbornness!" She conceded that she needed Sam's support every bit as much as her lover's. They had sat in Sam's car for a long while following their joint breakdown in the street, talking through the events of the last week. When Jo had finally plucked up the courage to look Sam in the eye, she had found none of the pity she expected. Instead she was almost overwhelmed by the immense love she saw reflected in her friend's gaze.

"I wouldn't want to intrude. I'm sure you two have a lot to discuss." Sam answered in response to the brunette's invitation.

"Nonsense, you'd never be intruding Sam, you know my door is always open for you." Jo insisted.

"This is slightly different though. I mean, this is something that you're both going to have to come to terms with, to explore what it means for you both. I don't want to end up being in the way of you figuring that out." Sam retrieved her hand, worrying at a tiny thread on the steering wheel cover. She felt a warm palm envelope her own as Jo pulled it back towards her.

"I'm going to need you both in on the plan of action if I'm going to beat this. Whilst I probably could do it alone, I'm realising that I'm lucky enough not to have to. I have two amazing women by my side helping me fight my corner." Both women exchanged a tender smile as Jo pulled Sam's hand towards her mouth and kissed the knuckles affectionately.

"DI Nixon, a word?" Inspector Gold motioned for Sam to follow her into her office as the DI and DC entered the station. Obediently, Sam trotted along in her wake leaving Jo to climb the stairs into the offices housing CID.

"What can I do for you Inspector?" Sam suspected that the grapevine had been busy as soon as she and Jo had fled the court.

"A little birdie told me that DC Masters gave quite the performance in court this morning. Thought you'd want to know the judge threw out the application for the charges against Braxton to be abandoned. I believe his exact words were 'your client will be exceedingly lucky if he sees the outside world again in his lifetime. Not only has he shown little regard for the justice system but he has shown contempt for the value of human life in his intimidation of the key witness in this case. Since his strong arm tactics directly resulted in her death, I strongly suggest the prosecution look to charge your client with murder on top of the existing charges brought against him. He might as well have tied that noose around Ms Lord's neck himself.'" Gina finished reading the notes she had scribbled on the notepad beside her phone. "Apparently, he was less than impressed with the defendant's solicitor too, sends his apologies to DC Masters and threatened him with contempt if he attempted such bullying again!"

"It didn't stop him from letting him badger Jo on the stand though did it?" Sam spat, recalling how excruciating it had been to watch Jo have her privacy destroyed as she was questioned.

"Can you let Jo know from me, if she ever needs to talk to someone who's been there, my door is always open?" Gina asked, knowing only too well how difficult it could be to juggle a career with treatment and trying to keep it under wraps.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate that offer, I'll let her know."