Ok so next part is up. As always, any characters you recognise from The Bill are not mine, I'm just pulling them out of storage, dusting them off and giving them an airing for a little while. Promise I'll put them back, still as poor as I am now, when I've finished putting them through the proverbial ringer.
Please do let me know what you think, if you're still hanging in there reading this fic. And thanks to all those who have reviewed/read. Enjoy :)
"There's no other option, the boy must be released, alive, or there is no way that I will be able to convince any of my officers to drop his case." Heaton implored his contact to understand that his proposal was the only logical course of action given the circumstances and the awkward questions that were beginning to be asked. His meeting that morning had been tense as he sought assurances that there would be no chance of any comebacks, nothing which could jeopardise the existence of the Order.
"Our clients will not be pleased to loose such an asset so soon after acquiring him," the man persisted tetchily.
"I understand that but I'm sure it will be preferable to them than a visit from the officers in charge of this investigation would be. You knew it was a risk when the boy was taken, it should never have been allowed to become personal. By keeping it anonymous and non-traceable the Order has survived many previous close encounters. With this one infraction, it has opened the whole Order to the risk of discovery. If you want to be annoyed with someone, I suggest you look to the one who arranged for the boy's capture." Heaton barked, letting his own frustration show at being dragged into the centre of the mess. "Now, the boy will be delivered to that address along with the paraphernalia to make it look like he has been kept there the whole time. Once the scene is set up, a 'neighbour' will anonymously telephone the police and report their suspicions that they know where the boy is being held. Nothing will be traced back to us so long as you make sure the payment terms are met by close of business today. I suggest we stop wasting time and get to work putting an end to this. And I strongly suggest refraining from posting any further new videos for a day or two until we can be sure that all monitoring of the website has been closed down."
"A wise suggestion, I will certainly put it to the Order and impress upon them the wisdom of such action. Keep me informed of any complications at your end and we shall see to it that the rest is taken care of." The two men ended their call, each of their minds racing with the implications and the consequences of the plan they were to execute. Both knew that it was for the best but couldn't avoid the frisson of disappointment that coursed through their veins at having to backtrack. Heaton straightened his uniform jacket, taking one last look in the mirror to assure himself there was no trace of the guilt he felt to be seen and left his home ready to face a new day at Sun Hill station.
"Good morning, I was calling to see how Jo Masters is doing? I'm her partner, Lucia Sorella." Lucy toyed nervously with a loose thread on the cushion she was slumped against as she waited for news of her lover.
"Miss Masters had a comfortable night; she slept well and has had some toast for breakfast this morning. The doctor will be doing rounds shortly so we'll know more later today but it's looking likely that Miss Masters will be moved onto one of the oncology wards to continue her treatment." The nurse sounded busy but patient for which Lucy was grateful. It had taken all of her willpower to hold off on calling the hospital until after breakfast, at Sam's insistence that she eat something.
"Would it be possible for me to visit Jo briefly this morning before I go to work?" Lucy asked hopefully, almost overwhelmed by her need to see the brunette for herself, to see with her own eyes that Jo was indeed pulling through after her operation.
"I'm afraid that's not possible. If you call back later in the day, someone should be able to advise you of which ward Miss Masters is being moved to and what time visiting hours are. Would you like me to pass a message on to Miss Masters for you?" The nurse was apologetic but knew that no visitors would be admitted to the ICU unless the patient they were visiting was in a critical condition.
"Could you just let her know that I phoned and I'll see her later?" Lucy tried to mask the distress in her voice, tears threatening to fall, knowing that the nurse was simply doing her job and not trying to be obstructive but hating the enforced separation all the same. The young sounding woman assured Lucy that her message would be delivered before hanging up to attend to her patients. Lucy curled into a tighter ball in the arm chair in which she sat, wrapping her arms tightly around her knees and pulling them as close as she could to her chest, trying to fight off the sudden shiver of cold that washed over her. The tears she had been trying to stem trickled down her smooth olive cheeks leading her to bury her face in the gap between her knees and her chest.
Sam trailed after Lorna and Katie as they made their way to the front door. Lorna glanced into the lounge, intending to say a brief goodbye to Lucy but the sight of the young woman's distress had her veering off course and crouching down beside her, all thoughts of leaving fleeing her mind only to be replaced by fears that Jo had taken a turn for the worse overnight. Seeing Lucy herself moments after Lorna, Sam joined the two women, her own face reflecting Lorna's worries back at her. Katie hung back awkwardly, not knowing what was going on or why the young woman she had enjoyed chatting with the previous evening was so upset.
"Lucy, honey, what did the hospital say? Is Jo ok?" Sam spoke softly, not wanting to startle the younger woman. She rubbed a hand across the back of her shoulders soothingly, exchanging concerned glances with Lorna when Lucy simply released a quiet sob. "Lucy, please, talk to us." Lorna could hear a hint of desperation creeping into Sam's voice and reached for the blonde's free hand, squeezing it supportively.
"I can't visit her… they won't let me see her until she's moved to a ward later," Lucy finally replied at length, misery lacing her voice. Sam felt relief wash through her to hear that Lucy's distress was not caused by a deterioration in Jo's condition.
"We'll find a way to make the time pass and you'll be able to see her before you know it," Sam hastened to assure the younger woman that she wouldn't be alone, that if she wanted company, Sam was willing to offer it to her for as long as she needed.
"I just miss her so much Sam and I really wanted to see her, just for a few minutes so I can see for myself that she really is ok. I've got to work this morning but I've no idea how I'm going to concentrate to get anything done." Lucy fixed a watery gaze on the two older women looking her with such compassion it made a few more tears trickle over her smooth cheeks. She watched Sam nod in understanding, surprised when it was Lorna who answered.
"You might find it easier than you think to throw yourself into your work, to lose yourself in it and use it to block everything else out. And when you do that, time passes in the blink of an eye. That tricky problem you've been trying to tie down that you were telling us about last night, why don't you give that another go and see if you can't get to the root cause of it? I'll bet you'll be surprised at how quickly time will go and then it'll be time for you to ring the hospital back, see which ward Jo's on and visit with her." Sam couldn't help but wonder if that had been how Lorna had dealt with James' death, by throwing herself wholeheartedly into her work, into mothering Katie, into anything and everything in order to avoid dealing with the realisation that her husband would never be coming home again. She was suddenly very grateful to the Scot for being there and for speaking up. "And you have Sam's number, I'll gladly leave you mine so any time it threatens to get to you, pick up the phone to one of us and we'll be there to talk to for as long as it takes. I know Sam has to head to work shortly, but I'm not in work until this afternoon so don't not call just because you think we're busy, ok?"
"Thank you," Lucy gushed as she awkwardly semi-unfolded herself and reached out to wrap Lorna in a swift hug. "You are so different to my friends, they'd be telling me to get my shit together and stop whining!" Lucy attempted to joke as she pulled Sam too into a tight embrace.
"Well I could do that too if it would make you feel better?" Lorna quipped wryly, earning a genuine chuckle from Lucy.
"I think I like your own brand of comfort better," the brunette admitted a little shyly.
"Good, because I don't think I could pull off the heartless bitch act very well." Lorna watched both Sam and Lucy's eyebrows shoot up and she cast a glance in the direction of her daughter smiling before she told Katie, "you didn't just hear me say that although I'm sure there are occasions when you'd disagree with the sentiment!"
"Mum! I never… I know you're not heartless, no matter if we fall out sometimes." Katie looked genuinely distressed that Lorna would think her worthy of such thoughts until she saw the older version of herself winking at her. "A slave driver sometimes and totally out of touch," she continued with a dramatic roll of her eyes. Peels of laughter rang around the room from the three older women at the pouting pre-teen's words.
When they had calmed, Sam turned the conversation back to Lucy, "seriously Luce, if your friends won't support you through something like this without expecting you to be able to switch off your feelings, they're not very good friends to have. I know we all need someone sometimes to just tell us bluntly to get a grip but this is not one of those occasions. Now we won't let you drown in a sea of self-pity, but Lorna and I will never be as callous as to expect you to just shrug off your feelings about Jo or her illness."
"And any time you get fed up of the oldies, I'll be more than happy to whoop you're ass on the Wii again," Katie piped up, earning a stern glare from her mother which was completely undermined by the adoring grin accompanying it at the young girl's attempt to offer what support she could too.
"You're all amazing," Lucy told them, feeling far more put together and capable of facing the day without falling apart.
"Why don't you run upstairs and finish getting ready for work?" Sam was aware of time marching on and knew that both herself and Lucy needed to be making a move shortly if they were to stand any hope of arriving on time. Lucy excused herself and Lorna rose to her feet again, making another attempt to leave Sam's house only to find herself pulled into a warm hug. "Thank you for that, Lucy's right you are amazing," the blonde whispered into Lorna's ear as she held the Scottish woman close. Their embrace was chaste and over too soon for either of their liking but both were conscious of Katie standing only a short distance away.
"Thank you for dinner last night, Sam and for letting us stay over. It was nice meeting you." The young girl tentatively approached the diminutive blonde her mother seemed close to, not sure if she should also hug her or not.
"You're welcome. It was lovely meeting you too, Katie." Sam too felt unsure of how tactile she should be with the young girl, who knew nothing of the blossoming relationship between Sam and her mother. She settled for smiling warmly and gently squeezing her slim shoulder. Lorna draped her arm around her daughter's shoulders as Sam let go and manoeuvred her towards the front door, not wishing to be the reason Sam was late to work.
"I'll give you a call later, see how Jo's doing," Lorna informed Sam as she opened the door and ushered Katie through it. The two older woman shared a charged look before Sam nodded and closed the door behind them.
"She adores you, you know that right? Tell me you guys did actually talk about that thing between you this morning?" Lucy had slipped back down the stairs as Sam was letting Lorna and Katie out and had witnessed the silent exchange between them.
"We did and we're going to take it slowly but we both want to see what there is between us and where it might lead," Sam admitted with a soft smile, feeling her cheeks burning slightly.
"I'm really pleased for you both. She seems like a wonderful woman and Katie is adorable." Lucy offered Sam a genuine smile as she gathered her bag and belongings together in readiness to leave.
"Mum, are Lucy and Jo in love?" Katie posed a question which had been at the back of her mind since she had seen how upset Lucy was about Jo being in hospital.
"They are, very much so, yes," Lorna answered, keeping her eyes on the road.
"Does it bother you that they're both women?" Katie kept firing her questions out, never having really discussed relationships of any kind with her mother.
"Not at all. Love is love and anyone to find it is very lucky." Lorna paused for a moment before asking, "does the thought of two women being in a relationship bother you?"
"I'd never really thought about it, I just assumed that everyone was like you and Dad were. How come some people are attracted to their own gender?" There was no disparaging note in the girl's voice, just a pure desire to know what drew some people to enter relationships that were not considered 'the norm'.
"Attraction is something very personal to each person – what might be attractive to me, you might not find attractive. No one knows for certain what causes us to feel the way we do about certain people or why what we find attractive in a person might change over the course of our lives."
"Do you think anyone can develop feelings for anyone then? That any of us might be capable of having feelings for someone else regardless of their gender?" Had they been having this conversation a few weeks previously, Lorna would have denied it but her own recent experiences had led her to reconsider the fluidity of sexual preference.
"I think that it would be a shame for anyone to close themselves off to any chance of knowing a happy, loving relationship because they were too scared to consider acting on an attraction to someone of the same gender if it happened. But again I think it all depends on the individual person; some people go through life knowing who they want to have relationships with and never have that challenged, others are open to trying anything and then there are some who think they know what they want until someone comes along and changes their mind." Lorna coasted to a stop at a set of traffic lights, glancing across at her pensive daughter. "This is a very deep conversation for this early in a morning, what's brought this on?"
Katie shrugged, turning to look out of the window as her cheeks grew warm. "Lucy and Jo's relationship just got me thinking is all."
Suspecting that there was a great deal more to the young girl's inquisitive questioning, Lorna opted to back off a little but made sure to leave the door open in case Katie wanted to discuss it further, "whoever you develop feelings for, whenever you do, you will know if it feels right to act on those feelings and no matter who you do care for, you can always talk to me about it. I promise I will never judge you, no matter who you want to share your life with."
Katie was silent for a while but as the lights changed, she asked, "don't you ever get lonely, Mum? You've been on your own since Dad died, don't you ever wish you had someone to love you again?"
Lorna had to wonder if her daughter was perceptive enough to have picked up on the underlying attraction between herself and Sam. "A little sometimes and perhaps one day it will happen but I've never been alone because I have you and the love that you give me."
"But that's not the same as loving someone your own age. I do love you Mum but sometimes, I just want you to find someone to make you happy, someone you can share adult things with so you don't have to do it all on your own. Does that mean I'm being unfair to Dad?"
"No, no sweetheart it doesn't mean anything of the sort. I'm sure your dad would be very proud of how grown up and caring his little girl is getting to be. I know that I am." Lorna felt a lump in her throat as she listened to her daughter expressing her concerns regarding Lorna's own happiness.
"I don't think he'd want you to spend the rest of your life without love just because of what happened to him, not if he loved you at all. If I loved someone and I knew I wasn't going to be around for them, I'd want them to find someone else to make them happy. Promise me, Mum, that you'll stop being closed off to the idea of letting someone love you?" Katie turned in her seat so that she was partially facing Lorna, eyes imploring her to make the promise sincerely and not simply pay lip-service to her request.
"Baby, I promise you that I am open to the idea of being loved and loving someone in return," Lorna assured her daughter.
"Good, 'cause I like Sam, she's cool." Katie dropped the comment casually as she reached for the door handle and exited the car which had pulled up outside of her school. "See you later, Mum. Have a good day. Love you," she called with a grin as she bolted, slamming the door shut behind her and leaving a shell-shocked Lorna in her wake.
Until next time, don't resist too hard the urge to press that button and leave a few thoughts ;)