The only person that came to visit Amy over the next day and a half, Evan was the one the doctors confided to about her progress, which was going torturously slow. Late Friday afternoon they took him aside and spoke quietly too him, concerned frowns shadowing their faces.

They sat down at the end of a hallway, the door to Amy's room still open just metres away. "Has Amy been under any particular stress lately?" one of the doctors leant forward in his seat and looked at Evan worriedly.

Evan nodded sadly, but couldn't find the right words to explain. In the end he just shrugged his shoulders and gave a weak answer. "Work, you know…" he didn't want to elaborate. It was too hard. Too involved. Too much of a mess.

"Her hearing is coming back, which is a good sign, but we feel she might need some extra help in other areas." The worried looks still clouded their faces.

"Other areas?" Evan was almost afraid to ask.

"The hospital psychologist can be of great help with cases like these." They seemed eager to push the idea and stared at Evan intently.

We were always best of friends

Stick together and defend

But Evan was quick to defend Amy and whatever she might be going through. He knew her better than they did. And he knew she wasn't paranoid. "Amy won't need that. She'll be fine. I'll take her home when she's ready and she'll be fine." He stood up and looked down at the doctors. "Her…" he hesitated for a moment, unsure of what Alex was to Amy anymore. Her friend? Her partner? Her boyfriend? None of those things? "Someone is coming to be with her anyway." And with that he walked away, out to the courtyard to get some air.

There he sat down tiredly on a wooden bench, the smell of roses tingling his senses pleasantly. He sat there for half an hour, just trying to think up some miracle solution when a voice could be heard so familiar that it made him smile for what seemed like the first time since he'd arrived in Melbourne that Friday afternoon.

"Thanks for the directions," Alex said, waving off an orderly who had directed him to the courtyard where Evan sat. Evan stood up to meet his best friend, one whom he had maybe drifted a little from in the past year. But he was still glad to see him, and still felt he had the authority to order him in the direction of Amy's room when he protested.

"I can't do it Jonesy," he said. "We split up for a reason." The pained looked that shrouded his face was indescribable. He had seen the same look on Amy's face recently too.

"I don't care!" he growled, keeping his voice down as best he could. "She needs you. Get in there," he demanded, pointing down the hall towards Amy's lonely room.

Alex continued to protest. "I just came here to see if she was ok," he was almost speaking through gritted teeth. "Just tell me she's ok." He pleaded quietly with his best friend, unable to look him in the eye.

"She's not." And with that Evan shoved Alex through the door of the courtyard and back inside where he stumbled reluctantly down the hall to where Amy lay.

When he entered he stepped into the room lightly, trying not to make any noise as it was clear she was sleeping. She lay hidden in amongst the sheets, her forehead creased still with frown lines, despite being in the relative safety of the hospital. Even as she slept she looked troubled and Alex's eyes fell downcast as he sat beside her bed. Had it been because of him? Had she been this unhappy the whole time they had been apart? The way he had?

The day she had left he had avoided contact with her completely, not wanting to prolong the agony and keep on reconfirming for himself that she was moving away, away from him and everything they had shared. It hurt to remind himself all the time that it was over, despite them agreeing that they weren't right for each other anymore.

She had moved to Melbourne, thinking she was leaving him behind in Mt Thomas to focus on his career, and work towards further promotion. And he did plan to do that, but he still missed her. And with everyday that passed it got worse. Used to waking up beside her every morning he now brushed his teeth alone, standing in front of the mirror. There were no more bathroom water fights where one of them would end up slipping over and laugh so much the pain floated away. In the year they had been together, Alex had managed to change many of Amy's previously unchangeable ways, and so while most people wouldn't believe Amy would ever take part in a water fight, she did, and it was one of many secret things Amy and Alex enjoyed together.

On top of that, there were no more sneaked kisses in the hallway or holding hands out to the carpark. No more quiet nights in bed, promising each other that one day they would run away together. He missed her terribly, but she was too far away for him to tell. And besides, would she even want to know? He was sure she wouldn't.

But then she had called. He didn't know why he didn't call her back. He'd meant to, but rehearsing what to say, nothing had sounded right. Now, sitting beside her bed, stroking the top of her hand only lightly enough that she wouldn't wake, he wondered why he hadn't screwed up the courage to return her phone call. By the look on her face, the dark aura that surrounded her as she lay sleeping and the way Jonesy had been so insistent he make the trip to Melbourne to be with her, he caught himself wondering if she missed him the way he missed her.

I hear your voice on the line

But it doesn't stop the pain

She slept all afternoon, and when Evan came to poke his head into the room to see if any progress had been made, he simply gave Alex a nod and a wave, content that he would remain with her during the night. And he did. As the sun set outside Amy's window, he remained by her bedside watching her as she slept.

As time ticked on Amy's frown became deeper as she continued to sleep uneasily. Tugging at his insides, Alex couldn't help but comfort her and he held her hand tighter the more she frowned. Finally he got up and walked around to the other side of Amy's bed, lifted up the sheets and, despite it being a hot, humid night, slipped under the covers beside her, closer to her than he had been in months.

Amy awoke instantly, stirred into consciousness by the differing of weight on her bed. She rolled over to face away from the door and came face to face with the last person she had been expecting to see. The words were on the tip of her tongue, even straight from slumber. "They shot at me," she whispered, her voice croaky and choked up, her face crumpled.

Alex enveloped her into his arms as they lay there, an overwhelming feeling overcoming him, He felt guilty she had felt she had to move here, to become embroiled in such a dangerous side of policing, putting her life at risk, simply because they couldn't, or wouldn't, work side by side anymore. What had he made her do? He thought to himself as he smelt the floral scent of her hair again, and felt her little body next to his.

As they pulled apart several moments later, Amy brushed at her cheeks hastily with the backs of her hands to rid herself of her tears. As she swiped her hand across her face, she caught sight of a scrawl on Alex's chest, just poking out from under his shirt. She stared at it, puzzled for several moments before he caught her line of sight.

Pulling on his shirt, he revealed to her what had caught her eye. A tiny scrawl of curly writing, less than a centimetre high, spelt out 'Amy' over his heart, a tattoo he had gotten just days after she had left Mt Thomas and he had realised how much she meant to him.

"Why did you get it?" she breathed, still unable to tear her eyes away from the tiny little scrawl of permanent ink.

"I wanted something to remind me of you…I didn't want to forget you Amy." He was aware of how lame and clichéd it sounded, but it was all that seemed to come out.

Her mouth opened but words didn't emerge. She simple stared at the tattoo for several seconds before looking back up into Alex's eyes. And he was ready with something to say. "You ran away without me Amy," he whispered, unable to stroke her hair or touch her cheek the way he would've done in the past. "I thought we promised to be together forever?" he prodded her incessantly.

Things aren't the way they were before

You wouldn't even recognise me anymore

She didn't know what to say for a moment, because she knew, essentially, that he was right. "We did," she admitted, still whispering. "But things were different then. We're not the same people anymore Alex."

Alex knew she was right.