Chapter 19 - The Past and the Future
Hannah stared at Liam with shock for a moment before her motherly instincts kicked in and she rushed over to him to retrieve her son. The music stopped and the dance floor cleared as it became apparent what was happening. Liam put Danny down on the floor but kept a hand on his shoulders and Hannah stopped suddenly, she knew that this was a threat, come any closer and he would hurt her son.
Her mouth was dry but she tried to swallow, she tried to take a deep breath and calm her nerves at seeing the man who had abused her but the memories came flooding back and they were painful.
'What are you doing here?' she asked coldly, wishing her voice were firm and icy, trying to imitate how Jac might have sounded, but her voice came out barely above a whisper.
'I'm here to wish you congratulations.' he grinned, he swayed slightly and it was clear that he had been drinking. 'You were the best thing that ever happened to me Hannah Hanssen, you and this little guy.' he grinned before pushing Danny roughly to one side and moving towards Hannah.
She made to rush past him to her son but he grabbed her arm roughly and tightened his grip when she tried to shake him off. She heard scrapes of chairs and scuffles as people made to come to her defence but it happened too quickly.
'Mind if I kiss the bride?' he laughed before pressing his lips to hers, forcing his tongue into her mouth and holding her close. She pushed against his chest with all of her might, trying to wrench herself away from him and his foul smell, but she wasn't strong enough. The kiss only lasted a split second before she was being pulled back and someone was standing between her and her attacker.
She barely had a chance to see that her saviour was her father before she was being whirled around again and she found herself in John's arms. She clung to him, unaware that she was even crying until she saw her make up smudging his shirt and dampening his tie. She forced herself to look around, everyone had stopped and seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for something.
Dom and Lofty seemed to be trying to creep around at one side of Liam and Ollie was looking like he was heading for the other side as he tried to catch Danny's eye and call him over to him, to get him out of harms way.
Hannah's view was blocked by her father who was stood completely frozen as if he was waiting for Liam to attack him or something, Hannah was confused. She tried to move slightly away to see why everyone had frozen, why Liam wasn't just being hauled out of the venue as she stood there, but as she shifted slightly she saw the glint of the metal and knew that Liam had a knife. Her chest began to ache and she struggled to breathe evenly as the painful reminder of her standoff with Tony Langdon resurfaced. She looked down at the floor and began to mutter her mantra in her head but it wasn't working, she couldn't go through this again, not on today of all days.
She took a couple of shaky steps forward and Liam saw her and grinned.
'Come here, come here baby...' he said, he sounded out of breath and delusional, Hannah thought there must have been something more at play there.
'She's not going anywhere, it's time for you to leave.' her father spoke clearly, adopting his authoritative tone and Hannah felt John's hand slip around her waist protectively, he knew she would rush forward instantly and put herself in danger to protect her father and he wouldn't let her get hurt, not today.
'You're not in charge anymore old man.' Liam sneered and Hannah put a hand to her mouth, she knew that this was all going to go south, she could feel it, it was her bad luck returning again, her curse.
'Alright, that's enough.' John called out, sensing Hannah's growing anxiety.
'This guy?' Liam asked, his attention diverted for a moment as he peered around Henrik to where John was stood with Hannah. 'You picked this guy to marry? Out of all the young, attractive doctors, this guy?' he was unable to comprehend the situation and laughed, rolling his head back.
Henrik moved quickly, darting forward to try and bat the knife out of the younger man's hand, but Liam was too quick, even with his destabilised, drunken mind. He lunged forward at the last minute and the knife missed Henrik by an inch. Hannah cried out and made to rush forward but John held her back, wishing he could go forward to help himself but there was nothing he could do, if he let go of Hannah she was sure to get hurt.
Ollie, Dom and Lofty all moved forward quickly to try and diffuse the situation, but they were all a little too far away. The struggle between Liam and Henrik lasted only for a moment before Liam made a quick jerk of his wrist and the knife slid neatly into Henrik's side.
It wasn't deep and mainly went through tissue but Henrik cried out, more in shock than anything else and fell to the floor. Hannah cried out again and desperately tried to break free from John's grip but Roxanna had joined him to help restrain her for fear of doing more damage.
Dom and Lofty tried to move forward to help Henrik as Ollie made a beeline for Danny but Liam was a fraction of a second faster. He grabbed his son again and held the blade which was slick with Henrik's blood up to the child's throat. Everyone stopped again, except for Henrik who groaned on the floor and tried to shuffle away slightly, to get out of the firing zone to be hurt any more.
Hannah sobbed and tried to struggle against her husband and mother who held onto her tightly but she knew it was no use, there was no way they would let her go.
'Please, please don't hurt him...' she begged, hoping that this madman would have enough humanity left in him not to harm his own son, but she was unsure.
'What do you want?' Roxanna asked calmly but it was clear that she too was anxious to rush forward to help Henrik who had given up trying to move away and was now simply lying on the floor and trying to control his breathing while staunching the wound with his own hands. Ollie moved his attention and tried to inch closer to Henrik but Liam met his eye and shook his head, bringing their attention back to the knife held up to Danny's throat.
'I came here peacefully, it's not my fault that everything has to be turned into a damn drama with you people.' Liam smiled confidently and Hannah took a deep breath, she knew that the only way to get through this would be diplomacy. Sensing that she was a little calmer, Roxanna loosened her grip a little but John didn't dare let her go.
'Alright, Liam, just let Danny go and we can talk, let him go and let me help my dad.' she suggested and Liam actually snorted with laughter.
'You really think I'm letting you come over here? No, I don't want the blood to ruin your pretty, white dress.' he sneered and looked around at the crowd of people who were all waiting to be given orders, everyone who wanted to help, but nobody had a clue what to do, they had to follow Hannah's lead.
'Alright, not me, but please just let someone help him, let someone call an ambulance for him. Come on Liam, you were a doctor, I don't know you still might be, we swore an oath to help people so let me help him, let someone!' Hannah pleaded and Liam looked at her with an expression of curiosity.
'When I first met you, you hated your dad more than anyone else I'd ever met who harboured some grudge against their parents. It was a nightmare, you'd never shut up about how your dad was doing this and doing that and how much you resented him for it all. What the hell changed? It's not been that long, did he buy your love suddenly? Or did you just give up on your ambition to beat him?' Liam asked slowly and Hannah shook her head.
'You're wrong, there might have been a time where I resented my dad a bit, but I've never hated him. Growing up in his shadow was hard, he wasn't around much and that was hard, but he's my dad and I don't want to lose him. Please, just let me come to help him.' she replied with a desperate tinge in her voice and she immediately knew she shouldn't have let her desperation show. A smile played on Liam's lips and he looked to John, nodding at him slightly.
'He can help, not you.' Liam said and John froze for a moment. There was no shadow of a doubt that this was a trap, that as soon as he got anywhere close to Henrik Liam would attack him too; but if he refused then Henrik would go without help. Hannah was looking at him expectantly, he had to make this choice and he knew which choice she would never forgive him for.
'Alright.' John said quickly, he gave Hannah another look, he didn't want to die in this moment without looking at her face one more time. Roxanna took her hold on Hannah again and Sacha came close by just in case she would need help in detaining her. Everyone knew which direction this was heading in, it wouldn't end well, but what choice did they have but to play the game in Liam's way.
John slowly came forward, Henrik finally seemed to realise what was going on and turned his head to his friend, shaking it violently.
'No, I'm alright John, stay back.' he called but John shook his head, his eyes dancing between Henrik's wound and Liam's movements. The knife moved away from Danny's throat and the boy took the opportunity to duck down underneath a table out of harm's way but Liam wasn't paying attention anymore, his attention was transfixed entirely on John.
Once John got close enough to Henrik, Liam also began to inch closer, his face expressing a morbid fascination as John began to survey the wound and decide on how he could help. He switched immediately from friend to doctor as he pulled off his blazer and began to wrap it around Henrik's waist to staunch the flow of blood. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and pressed down on Henrik's wound, causing him to cry out in pain.
'I'm sorry, Henrik, I'm sorry.' John muttered and everyone's attention was fixed on them for a moment, including Liam's as he edged forward, peering curiously over John's shoulder like a medical student keen to survey his professors work.
As Liam edged closer and closer, Hannah grew more concerned for the fact that John seemed to be completely unaware that he was there. For a little more than a minute it seemed like Liam was content with watching John care for his friend, but then something switched in him and he remembered why he was there and what he was there to do.
'John look out!' Hannah yelled a fraction of a second too late as Liam raised the knife and swung it at John who turned in the same moment and lifted an arm to protect himself. Luckily, he moved quickly enough and the knife only sliced across his arm instead of stabbing into him, but he yelled out in fury all the same. He didn't waste a moment though, he knew he was still in danger as Liam lifted his arm to strike again so John rushed forward and grabbed him around the waist with one arm, ignoring the pain searing through his left arm, and then reached out and grabbed his wrist which held the knife.
Liam shouted in rage as the two men struggled and, seeing that he was losing the advantage, he dropped the knife and brought his other hand up to strike John across the face, they both sprawled to the ground as Dom ran forward and kicked the knife further away before making to help Henrik and take over where John had left off.
Liam and John struggled on the floor, throwing punches and doing general damage to the other as people began to come to their senses and rush forward to help. Roxanna and Sacha still held onto Hannah to keep her out of the way but in the midst of the chaos, everyone had momentarily forgotten about Danny, assuming his safety under the table. With the courage that only a child can possess, he ran out now and threw himself onto Liam before anybody else could reach the men. Sensing the opportunity to end things, Liam grabbed Danny and held him up in his arms as the child struggled in vain. John didn't dare try and attack him again for fear of hurting Danny, and once again everything stopped.
Liam looked around at the crowd of people who had gotten closer in their efforts to help and he sighed, spitting blood from a burst lip.
'You know what, Hannah?' he asked, looking at her where she no longer struggled but now stood frozen, as pale as her dress. 'I never got to spend any time with this little guy growing up, I think we'll go and get to know one another a bit now, how about it buddy?' he asked, laughing as Danny squirmed in protest.
'Please don't do this.' Hannah whispered as Liam backed towards the door, nobody tried to stop him, nobody wanted to be responsible for the harm that would come to Hannah's son. Liam had his hand around his neck, it looked like he could snap it in an instant, and that he wouldn't hesitate to in his anger how he could see he had lost whatever battle he had come to fight that day.
'Don't try and follow me, I don't want to hurt my baby boy, it would be such a shame to scar his beautiful face.' he laughed slightly and as he sensed the real threat in his father's voice, Danny stopped squirming and began to cry.
'Mummy! Mum!' he called out and Hannah's heart broke as she longed to tear him out of his father's grasp but as she took a step forward Liam shook his head and tightened his grip around Danny's throat, making him choke a little on his tears.
'Don't hurt him!' Hannah called but Liam had began to run as he rushed from the room and suddenly everything fell into motion again.
Someone was calling the police and an ambulance, Roxanna was rushing forward to Henrik with tears pouring down her cheeks as she tried to act in the capacity of a doctor but Sacha had to take over as she couldn't so she just took his hand and tried to comfort him. Without having anyone to restrain her now, including having nobody to prop her up, Hannah sunk to the floor as people rushed around her but everything felt like it was moving in slow motion; she was forgotten amongst the legs of the guests of her own wedding. She was numb, oblivious to the mess around her as she stared at the door where her son had been taken hostage.
'Hannah? Hannah?' someone was calling to her through the mist of her own mind, everything was in a haze, she couldn't focus. Someone was crawling towards her, he put an arm out and her dress was stained red, she looked down at the red stain and then up at John's bruised and battered face, he had taken some hits. He was looking at her with concern, his eyes wide and filled with tears and she struggled against herself. She knew she had to reconnect with reality, to come back to him or else she would slip back into her own head and that was dangerous, but it was so hard.
She reached up slowly, barely registering her own hand, and touched her fingers to John's face. Seeing how disconnected she was brought John crashing down and he began to sob, putting his hand to her own face and gripping at the back of her neck, pulling her forehead to his.
'Hannah, Hannah please...' he begged and Hannah felt like she was trapped inside of herself, screaming to be let out.
'John?' she heard herself mumbling but it sounded like her voice was so far away.
'Hannah, I need you to get up, I need you to come over to your father.' John tried to speak calmly but his voice was thick with tears. Hannah slowly moved back and studied his face, she wanted to block out the worried shouts and the talk all around her but she couldn't, she had to let it in even though it felt like screaming to her ears. In the moment she decided to let it all in everything suddenly snapped back to normal volume, normal speed, the chaos was dialled up to eleven and switched onto high-definition and she felt a pang of pain in her head as she tried to take it all in.
'Dad?' she asked suddenly worried but John saw that she was back and then her attention turned to him. 'Jesus, okay...' she wrenched off her veil, her hair falling out messily as she did so, and stripped off the more solid piece of fabric rather than the gauze. She didn't care that she was ruining her wedding clothes, she was more concerned with John's well being. He made to stop her but she batted his arm away before grabbing his other arm and wrapping the fabric around his arm tightly. The white was immediately dyed red and she knew it wouldn't be enough to staunch the blood flow for long but it would slow it down.
'At least we'll have matching scars?' John attempted a joke and Hannah looked up at him for a moment before giving him a weak smile and then breaking back down into sobs. She clamped her hands to her face as she released all her pent up emotion and the flood gates opened. She hunched over slightly but John's arms were around her in a moment and he held her against his chest.
'I'm sorry, that was tasteless, I'm sorry.' he whispered and it took her a minute but she managed to pull herself up, shaking her head as she did and wiping at her face desperately. She didn't want to lose control now, she wanted to keep everything together and be strong, she needed to be strong and direct things.
'No, no it was funny. Well, funny in a morbid kind of way...' she tried to explain as she took a couple of deep breaths and steeled herself against letting go again. She had to keep herself under control, she could let go of everything later in privacy but for now she had to be strong and put all her own emotions aside.
'Are you okay?' she asked him and he tried to raise an eyebrow but grimaced as his face was in pain. She gave him a sympathetic look before taking his arm and raising it, bringing his other hand to his elbow. 'Keep it elevated, has someone called an ambulance, and the police?' she asked as she helped him stand and he nodded.
'Yes, they're on their way, ambulance should be here any minute.' he explained as Hannah stood on shaky legs, she took a couple of steps in her father's direction and found herself steadier as she approached the small crowd. She sat back down beside her mother and put out a hand to her father's shoulder, he looked at her and attempted a small smile but she could tell he was in pain.
'Well, there was always going to be some kind of drama at your wedding, wasn't there?' he asked her and she laughed, a tear escaping her eye as she did but she brushed it away quickly. Henrik noticed that she was covered in blood and concern came to his face immediately as his eyes searched her for signs of damage.
'Are you hurt?' he asked and she shook her head, becoming aware herself of how much blood she had on her and she realised it was on her hands too so was probably on her face.
'No, I'm okay, it's John...' she explained as John sat beside her and she clutched at his good arm with one hand and her father's shoulder with the other.
'I'm sorry this happened, Hannah.' Henrik said but Hannah shook her head.
'This isn't your fault, this is how things were always going to go with Liam sooner or later.' she said and a new look of alarm flashed in Hanssen's eyes.
'Danny?' he asked and Hannah took a deep breath as she tried to keep control of herself.
'Liam can't have taken him far, we'll find them.' she forced herself to sound calm when she actually wanted to scream and sob.
'Paramedics coming through, make some room please.' Hannah knew the voice of Iain Dean well enough by now to know she'd gotten lucky with the paramedics. He appeared with the new young paramedic in tow, she was blonde and looked a little lost but Hannah didn't think she actually knew her name. Sacha moved back to allow Iain to get to the wound but the other's didn't move on his other side.
'Sorry, excuse me...' the new girl said as she tried to get close. Hannah moved back a little to allow Roxanna to stay by her father's side and the new girl noticed John.
'Oh, um... hi there, my name is Ruby.' she said as she moved away from Henrik and towards John, Hannah dithered between the two, unsure of who deserved her attention more.
'Hello Mr Hanssen.' Iain smiled and Henrik attempted a smile. 'Looks like you've got yourself into a bit of a pickle here, what happened?' he asked and Roxanna answered.
'He was stabbed, the wound looks primarily superficial but we've kept him still and applied pressure just in case of any internal damage.' she said and Iain nodded his understanding.
'Will he be alright?' Hannah asked, she hadn't had the courage to look at the wound properly yet.
'I think you probably know more about that than I would, Hannah.' Iain said reassuringly and Hannah nodded before returning to John's side where Ruby was examining his face.
'So you two got married today, did you?' she asked, trying to distract John as she gently touched his facial wounds.
'Yes, it was supposed to be the happiest day of our lives.' John said as Ruby finished and turned her attention to his arm which was more pressing. She looked at his arm for a moment whilst Hannah dithered nearby before she jumped in.
'The bleeding has calmed a little, I don't think it hit the vein but it's still deep so I'm worried about tissue damage and possible tendon damage. We should phone ahead just in case you need theatre.' she explained and Ruby looked up and looked between them.
'Alright, Hannah, calm down I doubt it's that bad.'
'Well you can't exactly afford to lose the use of your arm, can you John?' she retorted and Ruby did a double take.
'Oh! You're Professor Gaskell, and Hannah Hanssen?' she asked and they stared at her in shock for a moment before nodding.
'I wasn't aware we were famous...' Hannah commented drily and Ruby shook her head quickly, suddenly embarrassed.
'No, I just mean, well, the whole hospital talk about you guys after everything you've been through. I personally think that your whole story is very romantic.' she said softly and Hannah smiled despite everything that was happening.
'I don't know whether to be flattered or concerned that the hospital has nothing better to discuss than our relationship.' John said coldly and Hannah hit his good arm playfully with a small smile, in that moment it felt like everything was fine, or that everything was going to be fine.
In the next moment she caught sight of Ollie who was talking to the police with Dom and Lofty, explaining how Danny had been taken, giving a description, and Hannah came crashing back into the moment again. She wanted to shut off again and allow everything to be numb but she had to keep fighting to stay present, it would give Danny the best shot.
She wordlessly took John's good arm again and leant her head against his shoulder for a moment before looking back up at Ruby.
'Is he going to be alright?' she asked for the second time that evening as Iain, with Sacha's help, began to load Henrik onto a stretcher to get him onto the ambulance.
'I can't see any nerve or tissue damage, I think you should be fine but we'll take you to the ED and you'll probably need an X-Ray just to be safe.' she explained and John nodded his understanding as he made to follow Henrik towards the ambulance. As they passed the policemen one of them stepped aside and intercepted Hannah.
'Excuse me, Mrs Gaskell, can we talk to you for a moment?' the policeman asked and Hannah watched as John was guided away.
'Listen, I want to talk to you about finding my son but my husband and my father are being taken to the ED, is there any way you could meet me there and we could talk there? I really want to be with my family.' she explained, realising how bad it sounded, like she cared more about them than Danny but all of her family were going, she couldn't not go with them.
'Of course,' he replied with an understanding smile and Hannah didn't stop to consider whether she was really being judged or not, she just hurried after her husband.
John and Henrik were taken in separate ambulances and Hannah had to choose who to go with. Roxanna went with Henrik so Hannah decided she could go with John and it would be even, but she had never felt more divided in her life, on the day when she was supposed to feel like everyone in her life was coming together in unity.
She repressed her emotions as much as she could, she didn't want to worry John any more than was necessary but he could see the fear in her eyes as she kept letting them wander away from him and he knew that her mind was playing over the worst possible scenarios. He couldn't imagine her pain at seeing her son be taken away like that, he felt attached to Danny, he loved him and was frightened for him too but he was much better at hiding things.
Once the ambulance doors opened, Hannah allowed herself to be helped out and then traipsed along behind John as he was led into the ED and taken straight through to Resus 2 to have his wounds treated. Hannah followed behind, not saying a word, looking sickly pale as she watched the young doctor look over his arm and assess the damage. She didn't know the doctor and it was clear the doctor didn't know her either but they knew John, of course they did he was the illustrious Professor Gaskell.
Hannah tried to pay attention to the medical jargon but she couldn't focus, she needed to sort out her head a little and she knew the first step towards doing that would first and foremost be to find out the condition of her father.
'Excuse me?' she called aside a kindly looking nurse. He smiled at her and gave over what he was doing to another nurse so that he could speak to her without distractions.
'Are you alright? Are you hurt?' he asked and she shook her head and took a deep breath.
'My father was brought in too, he was stabbed. Uh, Mr. Hanssen, could you tell me where he might be?' she asked, her mind flitting from one thing to the next as she tried to make sense of things.
'Oh, you must be Hannah!' the nurse deduced and Hannah glanced at his name tag to determine his name, David Hide.
'Yes...' she muttered, obviously distracted.
'Hannah?' John called from the bed and she seemed to snap out of it and went to his side immediately, taking his good hand and looking at him with concern.
'Listen to me,' he said calmly and when she looked into his eyes now she felt her focus returning to her. 'Go and find your father, find out how he's doing; and then find the police and talk to them about finding Danny. I'll be fine, I promise.'
Hannah looked at him for a moment, conflicted whether to follow his advice and go or stay with him.
'We'll take good care of him Ms. Hanssen...' the doctor smiled before clocking her dress and correcting herself. 'Mrs. Gaskell.' she added but Hannah was incapable of the smile she would usually have given in response. She looked at John and then back at the doctor before finally resting her gaze on John again.
'I'll be back as quickly as possible.' she promised before leaning in to kiss him quickly and then hurrying off before she could change her mind about leaving him.
David took her to the nurse's station to find out where Hanssen had been brought and, because he was such a high profile case, someone knew immediately. David then took her back to Resus 1 where, through the doors, Hannah could see her mother stood beside Connie Beauchamp in front of a bed. She thanked David hurriedly before rushing through the doors and into Resus.
Connie and Roxanna turned as she entered the room and Connie made to begin protesting but stopped when she saw who it was.
'How is he?' Hannah asked as she rushed to her father's side before noticing that he was still awake and even smiling.
'He is still fully conscious thank you very much.' Hanssen scolded her slightly and she managed to muster a small smile as she took his hand and held it tightly.
'Sorry,' Hannah muttered but turned to Connie for some explanation.
'We're waiting for the results of the scans to make sure there's definitely no internal bleeding but the wound does look primarily superficial. At worst it should leave a nasty scar, but we'll keep him in for obs for a little while just to make sure.' Connie told informed her before turning to give the family some privacy. Roxanna came around the other side of the bed and put her arm around Hannah, squeezing her a little, and Hannah appreciated the comfort and rested her head on her mother's shoulder.
As the two women stood by Hanssen's bedside, concerned for his safety, he couldn't help but think about the way it looked - the family unit. It was something he had always wanted for Hannah, for himself too he supposed but mainly for Hannah. He had always wanted her to have some shot at a normal life but he was so frightened of seeing her get hurt and destroying Roxanna's life too that he couldn't bear to bring them all together and now here they were, on Hannah's wedding day nonetheless. He gave her a proud smile and squeezed her hand tightly and she smiled back but her face quickly transformed as she began to cry, unable to keep a cap on her emotions any longer.
As soon as she felt her shoulders shaking from her sobs, Roxanna pulled her daughter in closer into a tight hug and Hannah let go of her father's hand to cling to her mother as she cried. Hanssen watched them for a couple of moments and allowed them to have their time even though his heart broke to see his daughter crying and he was almost utterly helpless to comfort her from the confines of his bed. After a few minutes he reached out and tapped her to bring her attention back to him. She disengaged herself from her mother and allowed him to take her hands and pull her in close but she couldn't look him in the eye. Instead she kept her gaze downcast and sniffled slightly as she tried to gain control of herself, she reminded him of the child she had once been as she tried to gain his sympathy or when she pouted in protest of his scolding at some wrongdoing she had committed.
'How is it that even when you're crying you're the most beautiful bride I've ever seen?' he asked her softly and she looked up at him in surprise, she hadn't been expecting him to say something along those lines, her father's usual form of speech in times like this ran along the lines of scolding her until she pulled herself together.
'I can't stop thinking about Danny...' she whispered, 'he must be so frightened.'
'Your son has inherited some of the best qualities from you, he's a brave lad and he'll be alright. Once the police arrive then they'll find him in no time.' he reassured her and she wanted to believe him but images kept swimming into her mind and she couldn't focus on anything for more than a few seconds before another thought of Danny clouded her brain.
'Uh, sorry to interrupt, but the police have arrived.' David announced as he poked his head through the door and opened it to allow John to come through and join them, followed by two police members. Hannah's legs felt a little weak and she shook slightly as she felt all eyes on her and she knew she was going to have to reveal her entire history with Liam in front of all of these people.
If she just had to tell the police she would be fine, but to have to admit her weaknesses and trials to those who cared about her felt painful to Hannah. Her father already knew most of the story, though not all, and her mother knew a little but John knew hardly anything about Hannah's past relationship with the father of her child and she hadn't intended to tell him for a very long time. The truth of it was, the memories were painful to her and she didn't like dragging them up. She hated to admit that she was grateful to Liam and the relationship they had because it had given her Danny, but that was the end of any positive emotion she had toward Liam.
Her father saw her shaking and shifted slightly on the bed before patting the edge of the bed so she could sit there; strangely it was the most fatherly thing she thought he had ever done. John stood beside her protectively and Hannah kept her hands firmly gripped in her fathers', she needed his support then more than ever since he knew the past, he had been the reason she had been able to escape from it. Roxanna was a little more relegated to the sides but Hannah was appreciative of her support all the same and knew it would be just as painful to have to tell her the story as it would be to have to tell John and her father.
'So, Mrs Gaskell?' the same police officer whom Hannah had spoken to at the reception was addressing her and Hannah did her best to compose herself even though she knew she must look a mess. Her wedding dress was smeared with blood, her face was tear-stained and her hair was bedraggled and coming loose.
'We've got a description of the man who took your son and we've seen CCTV footage so we know what they both look like, we just need you to go through your history with Mr. Cloak and your account of what happened today. Let's start with how you and Mr. Cloak met?' he asked and Hannah nodded and licked her lips, trying to get some moisture back into her mouth which suddenly felt very dry.
'We met at medical school, we were both studying to be doctors.' she told them and they nodded, jotting down her words.
'And you developed a relationship?' he asked and Hannah nodded in response. 'How long was the relationship? Was it serious?'
'We moved quickly, in a way we were both eager just to be adults and start our lives, it was serious in that way. We went away together and I found out he was cheating on me and I tried to end things but it didn't quite work out...' she trailed off, she knew it would be better just to be blunt but it felt so hard to speak plainly whilst she sat amidst her family.
'What happened?' the police officer asked and Hannah looked down again and took a deep breath.
'At first he was just mean, like he would say things with the intention of hurting me but then he would apologise and I forgave him and it was fine. After I caught him cheating he hit me, after the first time it was like the flood gates opened or something and he hit me more and more. I always forgave him though, I didn't know what else to do, or how else to react. He was like an anchor to me, someone who was a constant in my life and I didn't want to run the risk of losing him. Of course, he grew more and more violent...' she trailed off and had to take a moment to catch her breath again as she fought back tears and she brought one of her hands up to the back of her head, tracing the small scar behind her ear that Liam had given her.
John watched her as she did so and it finally clicked for him. He had seen the scar many times and vaguely remembered Hannah alluding to its origins once upon a time but he hadn't been entirely sure of it until now. He couldn't help it, keeping his injured arm elevated against his chest he reached around Hannah with his other hand and squeezed her shoulder, bringing her head to his lips so he could kiss her. She relaxed a little against him and it was clear that this small act of comfort had helped her get through those few moments of struggle and she was able to continue.
'I fell pregnant with Danny and that was when my dad found out that Liam had been hurting me and he encouraged me to leave him. I was frightened of him, but I also wanted my child to have the best shot at life and I thought he would have that with two parents instead of one.' she stopped again suddenly as she realised the implications in her words and Roxanna looked away. She hadn't meant to allude to her own upbringing and how it had been harder with only one parent but she now realised that everything had stemmed from that, her whole life had been comprised of how she had been brought up. Despite the uncomfortable pause, Hannah couldn't stop now, she needed to finish her narrative.
'When Liam found out I was pregnant he left me and ran off somewhere, I don't know where. The next time I heard from him he sent me this letter, I don't want to go into what he said but it drove me to do something I've regretted ever since. He made me unstable, he made me feel like I should be dead, that it would be better than living and failing my son. After, I got help and I got better and I haven't heard from him since. He wasn't invited today, I'd completely forgotten about him to be honest.' she told them and they noted down her story. She felt the eyes of her family on her and she knew that they were all pitying her, it made her feel worse somehow since she'd kept so much hidden from them for so long.
'And what happened today?' the police officer asked and Hannah had to brush away a tear.
'I don't know, not really. He turned up and there was a fight and he took Danny. I'm sorry, everything just seems like such a blur and all I can think about is Danny... Please, get him back for me, I need him back.' she begged, she knew that it was a futile response to the situation and that it was their job to do what she was requesting anyway but she couldn't help it; the words were tumbling out of her mouth before the rational side of her brain could stop them. She sniffed back tears which threatened to dissolve her into another sobbing fit but a squeeze of her hand from her father brought her back to her composure, she knew it was what he wanted from her and she would always obey him.
'Alright,' the police officer said with a kindly smile. 'Thank you for telling us everything you could. I understand that it must be a very difficult time for you. I want to assure you that we are going to do absolutely everything in our power to find your son as quickly as possible. If any of you think of anything at all that could help us further we're going to keep an officer posted outside your door so you can tell them. They'll also serve as your protection in case Liam decides to come looking for you, okay?'
Hannah nodded and took a deep breath, feeling oddly calm now that she had told her story in its entirety. The police officers moved away and talked in low voices between themselves and Hannah turned back to those who were supporting her.
'Do you think Liam will come back?' Roxanna asked her and Hannah shrugged.
'I haven't known him for the past eight years. I don't know how he thinks anymore, I have no idea what he might do...' she said in a small voice, her thoughts revolving around Danny again.
'He'll be alright.' John said softly as if he was reading her thoughts. He gave her shoulders another squeeze as David re-entered the room and gave John a smile.
'Can I just have another look at your arm please, Professor Gaskell? I just want to give it a clean and change the dressing and then you'll be good as new.' he said and John looked to Hannah who nodded. He kissed her lightly once more before following David out of the room and Hannah returned her full attention to her father.
Roxanna and Henrik shared a look as they both watched Hannah's inability to think of herself and Roxanna in particular noticed how pale she was. She put a hand on Hannah's shoulder and gave her a tight smile.
'Why don't you and I go and get a cup of tea?' she suggested and Hannah looked between her and Henrik for a few moments, her eyes wild as she struggled to make a decision as to whether it was worth leaving her father's side.
'Go.' he encouraged her with a gentle smile. 'Bring me back one.'
'You're nil by mouth and you know it.' Hannah scolded him but smiled slightly. She leant forward and kissed his cheek before taking her mother's arm and allowing her to lead her out of the hospital room and towards the cafe in the reception. Hannah wondered if the tea would live up to the tea from Pulses.
Roxana tried to talk to Hannah, just to fill the silence with words of encouragement and comfort and Hannah half listened, grateful for her mothers efforts. She thought she could hear Danny's voice in the back of her mind, prattling on in his way. Then he sounded frightened and stubborn, angry in his funny little way. She half smiled to herself and then grew worried when the voice didn't seem to die away, but got louder. It wasn't in her imagination. She turned around suddenly just as a woman screamed and the crowd dispersed from the middle of the ED reception.
She ran forward and around the divider in the middle of the room where Liam was stood, holding his knife up to her son's small throat.