Polly and Jeff dropped off their patient to a grumpy Patrick.
'I don't understand why he's so annoyed at everyone- the love of his life is here.'
'What?'
'Oh- Patrick had a bit of an affair with a police woman- Rachel. She died around two years before he did. But then he fell in love with a doctor Lara Stone. He proposed not long before he died.'
'Right.' Jeff felt reluctant to talk. Every time he started to talk to Polly the conversation always gravitated towards death, a concept he was still uncomfortable and unfamiliar with. He worked the rest of his shift in awkward silence.
Home. It was just as he left it. It really was an incredible match. He lay alone in his bed and sobbed. He cried for the friends he left behind, for the family, for his life. He would never be able to play with little Abs again, wouldn't be able to tell Tamsin just how much he loved her, never would be able to call her his wife. He cried for what could have and what should have been.
As he fell into a deep sleep he saw Dixie. She too had been crying, her eyes were red and swollen. Neither said a word but both reached out for an embrace. It felt so right, like it was never going to end, like it never should end.
But it had too- it always would.
Jeff awoke in his bed, a photo clutched close to his chest. He pulled it away from his chest- it was the photo from a couple of summers ago- he was pouting and Dixie was laughing. It was one of his happiest memories, but remembering it made him miss her even more and only saddened him further.
Dixie awoke in her bed, she too had the same photo clutched to her chest. For a moment she thought that he was still alive. He was here. He would always be there. It took seconds. Seconds for the world to tumble yet she could still feel his strong arms around her, his warm breath tickling her ear.
Yes maybe it was just a dream but it was a dream that connected the dead and the living. It was beautiful.