DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN WATERLOO ROAD OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS!

Rachel's ears rang as she lifted her head. For a moment she felt dazed as she looked around the field, her sight a little fuzzy, before everything came rushing back to her. Bianka, the caravan, the explosion...Rachel's head swam as she looked down, quickly realising that she was still laying on top of Bianka. She rolled off and took a deep breath before sitting up and making sure that Bianka was okay.

"Bianka, are you okay love?" Rachel put her hand on her shoulder as she nodded in response. Bianka turned her head and looked at Rachel, a sadness immediately filling her eyes.

"Okay, let's get you sat up." She began to help Bianka while her mum, along with a couple of police officers and paramedics, made their way over and surrounded them. As they began to check them over, Rachel turned and looked at the now burning caravan. Only moments ago she had been in there, while Gary Vale had held her captive. Only moments ago she had been sat with Bianka while the two were slowly suffocating, fearing for their lives. Rachel suddenly felt sick as she thought of how close she had come to dying, and she felt her eyes well up a little. Consumed in her thoughts, she jumped as someone touched her arm. She looked up and found herself staring at one of the police officers.

"Miss Mason? I need to take your statement." Rachel nodded and stood up, feeling a little lightheaded, before following the officer.

The next hour passed in a blur, and suddenly Rachel found herself on the motorway heading back to Rochdale. Tears filled her eyes as she thought about the day's events and she gripped the steering wheel tighter, taking in a few deep breaths. All she wanted to do was get back to the school, grab her stuff and get home. At least she'd be safe at home; no abducting, knife-wielding psychopaths to deal with. The fear she felt earlier began creeping back up her spine as her thoughts turned back to the explosion. If that lighter hadn't failed to light then she'd be dead. One flame. One little flame was all it would've took for her school to be left without someone in charge, for her kids to be left without a headteacher. She felt sick as she shook the thoughts from her mind and focused her mind back on the journey home.

Pulling into the gates of Waterloo Road School, Rachel felt a sense of dread as she immediately spotted Kim and Chris waiting in the office. She'd hoped that she'd be able to avoid seeing anyone until at least tomorrow. Well, better to face the music, she supposed. As Rachel opened her car door and stood up, a wave of dizziness washed over her, and she felt a slight burn in her chest. She gripped the door while she waited for the dizziness to clear, before making her way into the school. She rushed up to the office, taking a moment to gather herself before stepping inside. Immediately, Chris bombarded her with questions.

"Rachel! Are you okay? Are you hurt? How could you be so stupid? Running off after a madman, you - " Kim cut him off, looking sympathetically at Rachel.

"Chris, now's not the time. Are you okay Rachel?" She got up and moved towards her, placing a comforting hand on her arm. Kim noticed how she seemed to flinch at the contact. Rachel moved her hair out of her face before speaking.

"Yeah, um, yes I'm okay. Actually guys, could you just give me a moment?" Kim nodded and motioned for Chris to leave too, before smiling at Rachel and closing the door. Now that they'd gone, Rachel made her way over to the sofa and sat down. Her heart leapt in her throat as she thought about the day again, and didn't stop the tears as they began trailing down her face. Her breath hitched, and suddenly she found herself sobbing as the shock of the day's events hit her full force. She drew her knees up and grabbed a cushion, holding it to her chest in an attempt to muffle her cries. Chris had been right, it was really stupid of her going after Gary Vale, but she couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if she hadn't have been there, if anything would've ended up different.

After a few minutes, Rachel's sobs subsided and she began to gather herself. As she looked up and wiped her eyes, she realised that the office window was open, and Kim and Chris were stood outside looking concerned. She stood up, about to ask them to come back in, when another wave of dizziness washed over her. Black dots began to appear in her vision and she put a hand against the wall to steady herself. At that moment Kim and Chris came back into the office, each with a bottle of wine in their hands. Chris looked up at Rachel and took in her pale complexion and dazed look.

"Rachel, you okay?" He asked, concerned. He put the wine on table before moving over to Rachel and grabbing her arm to steady her. She looked up at him. "Come and sit down, before you pass out."

"No, no, I'm fine." She sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"You're not fine, you look like you're about to faint."

"Honestly Chris, I'm fine. I'm just tired after today. I think I'm just going to head home and get an early night." She moved to the desk and began gathering her things. Chris looked at Kim, concern written on his face. She looked up at Rachel and held up a bottle of wine, "At least stay for a drink. You've had a hell of a day and look like you could use one. I know I could do with one."

She looked up at Kim, giving her a small smile and shaking her head slightly.

"I just want to go home, to be honest. Sorry guys." She bent down to grab her bag, but as she stood up a wave of nausea washed over her. Dropping her bag, she pressed the back of her hand against her mouth and breathed deeply. Chris looked up at Rachel before quickly moving to her side and helping her to sit down in her chair.

"Take some deep breaths, Rachel. Kim, can you go and get her a glass of water?" Kim grabbed a glass off the table before leaving the room, looking at Rachel sympathetically.

"Do you feel sick?" Chris asked gently, seeing Rachel pale considerably. She nodded her head as the nausea spiked and she felt something rushing up her throat. She moved to get up, but Chris, noticing the signs, quickly sat her back down and grabbed the bin from beside her desk, holding it on her lap as she began to retch violently. Chris stood next to Rachel feeling helpless, not really knowing how to aid his colleague and friend. He moved a little closer to her and placed a hand on her back, rubbing small circles hoping it would offer some sort of comfort.

Kim returned quickly with the water, placing it on the desk in front of Rachel and moving to the other side of her.

"Oh Rachel...What are we going to do with you, eh?" She placed a hand on her shoulder.

After a few minutes Rachel stopped heaving. With a shaky hand, she grabbed the glass of water and took a tentative sip, whilst keeping hold of the bin on her lap. She put the water back down and leaned into her chair.

"Oh God." She closed her eyes for a moment. Kim took her hand off her shoulder and grabbed the bin.

"Do you still feel like you're going to be sick or can I take it away?"

Rachel grabbed a tissue from her desk before muttering, "No, it's okay, you can take it." Kim nodded before moving the bin to the side.

"I'm really sorry you guys had to see that, I don't know what's wrong with me, I just felt ill all of a sudden."

"Don't apologise Rachel, you're not well, you can't help it. Let's give it a couple of minutes and then I'll drop you home, okay? No arguments." Chris said, rubbing her back again. Kim grabbed the wine, putting it in one of Rachel's cupboards.

"We'll keep it for another day, eh, when you're feeling better." Rachel looked up at Kim. She nodded her head and muttered a quiet "thanks", before picking up her bag and standing up with Chris' help.

"Right, let's get you home."

"Hey, you okay?"

They'd only been driving for a few minutes, but Rachel was being unusually quiet. He looked over and saw the slight pained expression on her face, and noticed her absent-mindedly rubbing her chest.

"Rachel?"

"Hmm? Sorry, yes I'm fine. I just want to get home, hopefully sleep this off." She took a deep breath and shifted in her seat.

"What's wrong with your chest? It looked like you were in pain just then." He looked at her again, concern spread across his face.

"I'm fine." She smiled again, trying not to let on just how crappy she was feeling. In truth, her head was pounding, the burning sensation in her lungs had returned, worse than before, and she felt a bit breathless. Rolling down the window, Rachel felt a tickle in her throat and started coughing.

"Do you need me to pull over?"

Rachel shook her head as she dug through her bag for her bottle of water. As soon as she found it she took a few sips and cleared her throat, feeling a bit worried. Her mind tracked back to earlier when she was in the caravan, breathing in the gas. Although the paramedics had given her the all-clear, she couldn't help wondering if that had something to do with why she was feeling so crappy. Of course, it could just be shock; it's not everyday you almost get killed in an explosion.

Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, Rachel took a few more sips of water, starting to feel sick again. She saw Chris looking at her out of the corner of her eye, so she turned and smiled at him.

"Rachel, if you don't mind me asking, what happened at the caravan with Bianka? The police didn't give us anymore details about it after they told us that you were okay."

She sighed, hoping to have been able to avoid this conversation until tomorrow.

"Or we can talk about it another time if - "

"No, it's okay. I was going to talk to you about it tomorrow, but I suppose it'll be better talking about it now." Rachel breathed deeply before continuing. "I tried to talk Gary into bringing Bianka back to the school, but he wouldn't listen. He kept saying that his ex-wife needed to know what it felt like to lose something." She ran a hand through her hair as images started flashing through her mind.

"Lose something?" Rachel nodded. "So he was going to run off with her then?"

"I don't know. Possibly. To be honest, I think that he might've killed her and himself even if I hadn't have been there."

"Hold on, he tried to kill you?" Rachel nodded again, eyes filling with tears. She wiped them away before Chris could notice them.

"He cut the gas pipe so it was leaking into the caravan. At first he didn't know I was there, he thought I'd gone, but when I saw the pipe I knew I had to do something. I tried to get Bianka out, but Gary threatened us with a knife. He made us sit in the caravan while it filled with gas." Nausea bubbled in her stomach as she thought about the explosion, and for a moment Rachel considered asking Chris to pull over. She took a sip of water and continued, her voice shaky. "He, um...he had a lighter and when he tried to light it, it didn't. So I grabbed Bianka and ran. We managed to get out before Gary blew up the caravan, but he took his own life with it." Tears trailed down her face, and this time Rachel made no attempt to wipe them away.

"Oh God, Chris, I could've died." She sniffled and tried to stop herself from breaking down again, but she couldn't stop the flow of tears as they continued to fall.

"Why did you follow the van though, why not just phone the police and let them deal with it?"

"I just...I don't think I could have beared the guilt if something worse had happened to her, knowing that I sat back and did nothing while she was being abducted or killed by her father. I just couldn't let that happen." She wiped her eyes and drank some more water.

"Well, at least she's safe, and you're safe. That's all that matters now, eh?" Chris turned and looked at Rachel, giving her a small smile. She was about to reply when the nausea rose sharply and she felt the bile rushing up her throat.

"Chris, pull over!" She cried urgently as she unbuckled her seatbelt. Chris quickly pulled over and Rachel shot out and ran over to some bushes before throwing up the water she'd drank. He grabbed her bottle and walked over, a hand on her back as he waited for her to finish. A couple of minutes later she stopped throwing up, letting out a series of dry heaves before accepting the water from Chris. She took a swig to rinse the disgusting taste from her mouth and spat it out, before taking some small sips.

"Sorry," she muttered. She moved away from the bushes and sat down for a moment, running a hand through her hair as she felt the pounding in her head intensify. Chris came and sat down next to her.

"You feeling okay now?" She gave a slight nod, taking another couple of sips of water.

"We're not far from your place, do think you'll be okay for the last few minutes in the car?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I feel a little better after that actually."

"Okay, let's go back to the car then, and I can get you home." Chris got up before helping Rachel to stand. As she stood, the world began to spin and she grabbed Chris' arm.

"You okay? You feeling dizzy?" she muttered a quiet "yeah" in response. Wrapping one arm around her waist, Chris guided Rachel to the car. Still dizzy, Rachel gripped the door as black dots began to cloud her vision again.

"Chris..." Her voice sounded muffled, as if she were underwater, and Rachel tried to keep hold of the door as the world tilted sharply. Her vision grew darker as she felt herself being lowered to the ground. She thought she heard someone calling her name as she closed her eyes and was consumed by darkness.

Chris heard his name and turned to see Rachel pale considerably and start to sway. Knowing what was coming, he quickly grabbed her arms as her legs went from beneath her and she began to fall, gently lowering her to the ground. He called her name, watching as her eyes closed.

"Rachel? Can you hear me?" Luckily, as a science teacher he was trained in first aid. He checked her pulse and grabbed his phone, dialling 999.

"Which service do you require?"

"Ambulance, please."

"Ambulance service, is the patient breathing?"

"Hi, yes, she's breathing."

"Okay, do you know what the problem is?"

"Yeah, my friend was involved in an explosion earlier. She was checked by paramedics and told she was fine, but since then she's been sick and she's just collapsed. She's unconscious at the moment."

"Do you know if she hit her head at all when she collapsed?"

"No, she didn't hit her head."

"Okay, does your friend have any other symptoms?"

"Her breathing sounds quite wheezy and earlier it looked like she was having chest pains." He turned away from the phone as he heard Rachel groan. "Hold on, she's waking up.

"Okay sir, we have an ambulance dispatched to your location, the paramedics will be with you soon."

"Okay, thank you." He ended the call and turned his attention back to Rachel.

"Rachel? Rachel, can you hear me?" She groaned again and opened her eyes, looking a little bit confused.

"Chris?" she whispered timidly.

"Yeah." Rachel moved to sit up, so Chris put his hands on her shoulders and gently laid her back down.

"No, Rachel, stay down and wait for the ambulance to arrive." He took off his jumper, folding it quickly and placing it under her head.

"I don't need an ambulance, I'm okay." She sighed as he looked at her, concerned.

"You're not okay Rachel, you just passed out. You're going to let the paramedics check you out when the ambulance gets here." Rachel just sighed again.

Hi guys! This is the first fanfic I've written in ages. Please R&R, any constructive criticism is welcome.

Thanks, Tia! x