Thank you to everyone that has replied to this story, each one really means a lot. I've had a crazy week at work so for the first time don't have any chapters written in advance, so I apologise if the updates are a bit slower.

8. "Help me now, or hold me down, I feel my world is spiralling, tumbling down. Oh my love I can't let go, something's wrong I can't let go, nature's cruel; she's laughing."

Sitting up on the large hospital bed Nikki tried to focus on anything but the bag of highly toxic liquid that was slowly beginning to make it's way into her system. Something about the whole moment seemed very anticlimactic.

"Is it alright if I come in?" Rhys asked, knocking on the half-open door.

Flashing him a genuine smile Nikki nodded. "Of course."

"Leo … he … her-"

"It's ok," Nikki reassured him, understanding how difficult it might be for people to know what to say in a situation like this.

Cautiously Rhys approached the bed, a large folder tucked safely under his arm. "He also said that you were quite keen for an update on the Chapman case."

"Please," Nikki nodded, desperate for some information.

"Just a few hours ago Leo and Harry released their post-mortem results, at first they suspected suicide-murder, but they've now concluded that it's not possible and it was in fact a double murder," Rhys told her.

Nikki leaned her head back against the pillow. "So we're looking at a triple murder?"

"Yes. Something very terrible happened to that family and I intend to find out what," Rhys fumed, his emotion almost getting the better of him.

"Have you found the cousin; Lisa?" Nikki questioned.

Rhys shook his head. "No. But we do have CCTV footage of Amanda and Steve at a motorway service station at 01.10 on the morning of the 11th."

Nikki sat up straight, her eyes wide in shock. "That's after Sophia was found."

"I know," Rhys agreed.

"So if they didn't kill her, who did?" Nikki wondered out loud.

Rhys looked at his friend. "I don't know."

"Please don't give up, not until you know," Nikki pleaded, needing to know that without her there to keep nagging him Rhys would still keep going.

"I won't," Rhys vowed.

Nikki licked at her suddenly dry lips. "Promise?"

"I promise," Rhys smiled as he reached out and placed his hand on top of hers. "And I need you to promise me the same thing too; I need to know that you're not going to give up?"

"Never," Nikki promised with a smile as she leaned her head back against the pillow and closed her eyes, determined to reserve what little strength she had left for the coming battle.

S - I - L - E - N - T - W - I - T - N - E - S - S

Pulling out his front door keys Harry ran his hand tiredly through his hair, it felt like years since he had last had a proper sleep and even longer since he had felt at peace.

"Harry," he heard Emma's familiar voice call out from behind him.

Wearily Harry rolled his eyes before turning around to face her. "Emma. What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," Emma replied, stepping towards him.

Harry watched as Emma went to take hold of his hands, too tired and frustrated for any physical contact he quickly put his hands in his pocket, trying to make it seem as natural as possible. "Right. Waiting."

"I've been trying too contact you," Emma told him, trying to hide her hurt.

"I've been busy," Harry tensely replied.

Emma nodded. "I know. It didn't stop me worrying through."

Knowing that it was either now or never Harry decided to bite the bullet. "Perhaps you should come in," he began, his heart freezing as he saw the hopeful look that flashed across her face. "I think we need to talk."

Harry could hear Emma babbling on about what she had been up to since they had last seen each other as she practically skipped into the flat behind him.

"I've missed you," Emma whispered, moving forward to kiss him.

Holding up his hands Harry shook his head. "Emma. Please," he sighed, turning his back to her as he busied himself in making coffee.

"You still remember," Emma pointed out as Harry handed her a coffee before sitting down at the table opposite her.

"It's not even been a week Emma," Harry reminded her.

Emma took a sip of her coffee before running a perfectly manicured nail across the top of her cup in am almost seductive manner. "We're supposed to be in a committed relationship."

"I'm sorry but Nikki-"

"I knew this would end up being about her, it always is," Emma spat, her voice full of so much venom that the devil himself would have cowered.

Slamming his cup down on the hard oak surface Harry ignored the flash of pain that shot through him as the hot, liquid splashed over the side. "Stop it," he demanded through gritted teeth.

"I'm your girlfriend, I'm supposed to be your priority," Emma sighed, tentatively reaching out to take his hand in hers.

Balling his hands up into a fist Harry shook his head, when he was around Nikki he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms, but right now, even just the idea of having Emma's hand in his felt wrong.

"Emma. I'm sorry, really I am but I don't think this is working," Harry whispered.

"We can make it work," Emma insisted, not wanting to believe it was over.

Slowly Harry shook his head. "No we can't. There's too much else going on in my life right now that it wouldn't be fair to you."

"Shouldn't I be the judge of that?" Emma asked.

"Maybe, but I know that I can't give you what you want, not now and probably not ever," Harry told her, his voice full of honesty.

Emma looked down at the dark liquid that had splashed across the table. "I can wait."

"It's not going to work Emma," Harry breathed.

"Is it because if her? Is it because I'm not her?" Emma asked, obviously referring to Nikki.

Taking a long deep breath Harry knew that honesty was the best policy. "Nikki is a friend and I care about her a great deal but even if she wasn't sick-"

"Sick?" Emma asked, cutting him off.

"Even if she wasn't sick," Harry continued. "Then it still would have come to this, it isn't going to work Emma and drawing it out any longer is not fair on either of us."

Standing up Emma walked around the table so that she was stood behind Harry in an almost threatening manner. "You don't know that, you've barely given us a chance."

"I know," Harry sighed, the lack of sleep and emotion of the last few days were beginning to take it's toll on his mental and physical state.

"But I love you," Emma cried.

Standing up Harry took a step away from her. "I'm sorry, I really am but it's over. I think we both need a clean break."

"Harry-"

"I'm going to go and take a shower and when I've finished I would like it if you weren't here," Harry told her, trying to keep his voice calm yet forceful which wasn't an easy task given his frazzled emotional state.

Emma watched him go, her shoulders sinking in defeat. "This is really it?"

"I really am sorry," Harry told her, his voice thick with sorrow. "You deserved more than what I had to give," and with that he walked towards the shower, leaving Emma alone to contemplate the latest series of events.

Once inside the shower Harry felt his aching muscles begin to relax under the powerful hot jets, closing his eyes he leaned against the back of the shower the events of the last few days playing heavily on his mind.

Ever since he had found Nikki seriously ill and delirious at her flat the guilt had been eating away at him, as he couldn't help but question that perhaps he could have changed things, if only they hadn't been so estranged. Of course the doctor in him knew that wasn't the case, that Nikki would have still gotten sick, no matter what he did. But that didn't stop the friend in him wondering if he could have stopped things getting so bad before she sought help.

Squirting the shampoo into his hand he rubbed it vigorously into his hair, needing the momentary respite that the action brought, turning up the power on the jets he stood under the water, watching the drain of the shower until it was free if bubbles.

He waited until he was certain he had given Emma enough time before stepping out of the shower, wrapping the plush red towel around his waist he headed straight out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Quickly drying himself he pulled on a pair of tracksuit bottoms and an old university t-shirt before lying down on his bed, glancing at the clock he closed his eyes, planning on just relaxing for 5 minutes.

5 minutes that quickly turned into 5 hours as his sleep-deprived mind and body caught up on some much needed sleep.

S - I - L - E - N - T - W - I - T - N - E - S - S

Standing outside of his daughter's hospital room Victor Alexander paced back and forth across the doorway, even since receiving the cryptic call from his only child his whole world had been sent into a tailspin.

When he'd woken up that morning, made himself a cup of coffee and dressed for work just like every other day he hadn't expected to be here, in fact it was the last place he had expected to be.

"Can I help you?" a man asked from behind him.

"I'm er … that's my … I'm her-"

Leo nodded, sensing the man's grief and frustration. "You're Nikki's father."

"Yes. Not that I've ever been much of a father to her," Victor sighed, as he sat down on one of the empty chairs.

"I'm Leo. Leo Dalton I work with Nikki," Leo told the other man, watching as he picked nervously at his sleeve, something he had seen Nikki do in times of very high stress.

Victor nodded. "Yes. She's mentioned you. Nikki she er … she looks up to you."

"Your daughter is an amazing woman and a brilliant pathologist, I'm honoured to work with her," Leo told him, as he looked towards the room where Nikki slept.

"Nikki called, told me she was sick and that she needed to see me," Victor explained, his mind a jumbled mix of emotions. "I came straight away but then when I got here and I realised it was a cancer ward … my feet wouldn't move," Victor breathed.

Leo nodded. "It's every father's worst nightmare."

"What's wrong with her? What's wrong with my Niks?" Victor asked, desperate to know what battle his daughter was facing, he may never win any father of the year awards but in his own way he loved his daughter more than anything in the world.

"Perhaps you should talk to Nikki about this," Leo suggested.

Victor shook his head. "No … no. When I go into that room I need to be strong, for once in her life I need to put Nikki first so I need to know and I don't want Nikki to have to see me breakdown when she tells me."

"Ok," Leo agreed.

"Perhaps we should go somewhere else," Victor suggested.

Standing up Leo looked into the room, watching as Nikki slept, oblivious to the drama that happened around her as two nurses changed her IV bags. "Sure. Coffee?"

"Coffee sounds good," Victor agreed as he followed Leo out of the oncology ward and towards the cafeteria.

Placing 2 Styrofoam cups down onto the table Leo sat down opposite Nikki's father, a man who even though he had heard less than stellar things about he couldn't help but feel sympathy for. No one should have to watch their child suffer, no matter how old that child may be.

"Nikki?" Victor asked, not quite sure how to phrase the question, so instead he settled on just one word; one word that spoke volumes to Leo.

Leo nodded. "Nikki has been diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukaemia. It's a very serious form of acute leukaemia that is uniquely characterised by it's effect on the blood's ability to clot."

"Oh God," Victor cried, bringing his hand up to his mouth.

"This morning she started treatment, chemotherapy, she'll need 4 cycles in total which should last about 6 months, that's if everything goes smoothly," Leo added.

Victor nodded. "What are her chances?"

"I'm not an oncologist, not even close, but Nikki's consultant said that the recent treatment has shown an 85% success rate," Leo reassured him.

"85%," Victor stammered. "That means that 15%-"

Leo shook his head. "Don't, Nikki needs positive thinking around her right now. We can't think like that. You can't think like that."

"I know, I know it's just-" Victor trailed off, unable to remember what he was going to say.

"Nikki's one of the toughest people I know, if anyone can beat this; she can," Leo insisted, truly believing every word of it.

Victor nodded. "She's always been tough."

"We should get back," Leo suggested, as he looked up at the clock. "The last think he wanted was for Nikki to wake up alone.

S - I - L - E - N - T - W - I - T - N - E - S - S

Rolling over on top of his covers Harry smiled to himself as he ran his hand across his eyes, feeling more rested than he had in days. However his smile quickly faded as he remembered the last few days, as he remembered Nikki.

"Nikki," he whispered, looking over at his clock and realising that it had been 7 hours since he had last left the hospital and that she would be well into her first day of chemotherapy by now, something he had wanted to be there for.

Stepping out of his bed he changed into a pair of jeans and a jumper before pulling on a pair of trainers and rushing into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Entering the lounge in search of his wallet he was shocked to find Emma sat on his sofa, staring at the muted television.

"Emma, what are you still doing here?" Harry asked as he cautiously approached her.

She looked up at him, her eyes red from crying. "I needed to talk to you."

"I said everything I needed to say last night," Harry told her.

"But I didn't," Emma retorted.

Harry sighed, grabbing his wallet from the top of the speakers. "I have to go and so do you."

"Not until I've said what I need to say," Emma insisted.

With a sigh of defeat Harry sat down opposite her. "You've got 5 minutes."

"That's all I need," Emma breathed.

A heavy silence settled around them as Harry waited for Emma to speak, his eyes never leaving the clock as he watched 2 minutes tick by, 2 extra minutes that he was spending away from Nikki when she needed him most.

"Make that 3 minutes," Harry added, his voice tired and weary.

Reaching into her pocket Emma pulled out a long, white plastic stick. "I'm pregnant."

Of all the things Harry had been expecting her to say that certainly wasn't one of them. "Pregnant," he stammered.

"Yes as in with child," Emma replied, her voice almost teasing as she saw the shock and realisation dart across his face.

"Pregnant," Harry repeated, as if saying the word out loud would make it go away.

Emma nodded. "Yes. We've already established that, what we haven't established is what we're going to go about it."

"We?" Harry questioned. "So I'm the father?" he asked, needing to ask the question.

"Yes, you're the father," Emma replied, her voice quiet yet angry.

Harry was about to say something when his mobile phone bleeped, looking at the screen he opened the message from Leo, his heart skipping a beat when he read the short message.

"Need you at the hospital now. Nikki in a bad way. Leo."

Standing up he shook his head. "I have to go."

"Go?" Emma practically shouted. "I've just told you that I'm having your baby and you want to leave?"

"I'm sorry but I have to get to the hospital, Nikki needs me," Harry cried, his voice thick with tears and frustration.

Emma shook her head. "I need you. Our baby needs you."

"I'm sorry," Harry apologised.

"So you keep saying," Emma shouted. "But your apologies mean nothing to me, what I need is to know that you're going to be there for me."

Looking down at the text message Harry felt like Leo's words were shouting at him, taunting him that once again when Nikki needed him he wasn't there. Turning his head he looked towards Emma who still held the pregnancy test in her hand.

"I'm really sorry but I have to go," Harry insisted and with that he was gone, leaving Emma alone as he headed to the hospital and to Nikki.

His head was so full with a mix of emotions as Emma's revelation and the drama of the last few days whirled together like a tornado, threatening to sweep him up. But from amongst all of the noise and chaos in his brain one thing was clear; and that was Nikki and how he needed to be with her right now, probably more so than she needed him.