Alex had another funny turn on tv last night...made my night when Gene almost gave her rescue breaths (kiss of life). unfortunately in this she doesn't need mouth to mouth.
The stats on speeding and mortality rates are accurate. something to think about...especially the difference between 30 and 35.
Oh and by the way...the little box that says review...be a dear and click on it.
Gene caught her before she hit the floor and helped her back to her feet, leaning her against his desk and keeping a close watch on her in case she fell again. It didn't look likely with the way her hands had a death grip on the table's edge but she wouldn't move her gaze from the floor so he didn't really know what she was feeling, be it dizzy or anything else.
"Did they say…is she…?" Shaz knew what Alex wanted to know, what she couldn't bear to put into words. Was her daughter dead?
"Sorry ma'am, they didn't tell me anything. But if she's asking for you she must be awake. " Alex took that small crumb of comfort and held on tightly. When Molly had arrived at hospital she'd been conscious and aware enough to give her mother's name and rank. The fact that the Molly she left behind knew she was in an induced coma didn't register in Alex's mind.
"Shaz, flask of tea. Plenty of sugar."
"Yes Guv." Shaz knew she was being dismissed but she also knew how horrible hospital tea was, especially when it came out of a vending machine.
Gene's eyes never left Alex.
"You in there Bolly?"
"It can't be happening. It's impossible. She's not here, she can't be. It's not Molly. I'd know…if something happened to her, I'd know." She finally made eye-contact with him. "Wouldn't I?" It was the vault all over again, only worse this time, because it wasn't her own life she was worried about, it was her daughter's. Gene wanted to put his arm around her again but he knew better. It wasn't comfort she needed right now, it was transportation to the hospital. Her eyes went back to the floor.
Alex tried to concentrate on her breathing and not fainting. Her heart raced in her chest, beating so hard it felt like it would break her ribs. Nothing was making sense. She hadn't seen Molly in so long; the girl in her coma hadn't been Molly. It hadn't been real. Now she and her daughter might be in the same world again…only not the world either of them should be in. How hurt was she? A wave of nausea hit her at the thought of how hurt and scared Molly could be and she groped for the car keys on the desk. Gene snatched them out of her reach.
"I don't think so. You can barely stand, let alone drive." Her heart plummeted into her shoes. Gene had his moments but she never thought he was such an unfeeling bastard.
"I need to see her Gene. Please…can't you understand?"
"Sometimes I wonder what you bloody take me for. C'mon." He put an arm around her shoulders and steered her out of his office grabbing a spare radio from a nearby desk. Ray and Chris stood up, ready to make for the Quattro if need be. "Shaz?" At the sound of the Guv calling her name Shaz came out of the kitchen, fixing the cap on to a second thermos flask, the first being under her arm.
"Tea's done Guv." She'd filled all two of the department's flasks. There was a lot of waiting in hospitals and vending machine tea was minging.
"Good. Grab Drake's handbag…an' your own while you're at it. You're comin' with us."
It made sense, Gene thought, to take another bird along. Shaz idolised Alex and would know all the right girly things to say. She could provide the comfort while he took care of all the practical stuff. Like finding out who ran over Molly and giving them the same treatment. Of course there was also the small issue of him having damn near said Alex's daughter was either a figment of her imagination or she didn't give enough of a shit about her only child to see or even try to contact her…that might have had something to do with having Shaz tag along. If Alex threw him out on his arse because of what he'd said, at least she wouldn't be left on her own.
"Ray, hold the fort until I get back. Don't let me down."
"I won't Guv." Gene gave him a nod and steered Alex to the Quattro, ignoring Viv's enquiring look, and waiting until she was situated before getting in himself.
Alex seemed to regain some of her fighting spirit during the drive, to Gene's relief and annoyance.
"Gene for God's sake! If you hit somebody at this speed they are going to die!"
"I won't hit anybody. I am a good bloody driver."
"For a pissed up crackhead, maybe. Please Gene." Something in her voice made him capitulate. They reached a compromise. He stuck the stupid blue light on the Quattro's roof and put on the cassette recording of a police siren. He'd never seen the point of letting police mechanics mess with his baby's inner workings when he had no intention of ever drowning out the roaring engine with that annoying wailing. The tape had been another compromise, one he'd made with Mac.
Unbidden and unwelcome speeding mortality rates floated to the surface of Alex's mind.
"Hit by a car at twenty miles per hour, one out of forty pedestrians will be killed, ninety-seven percent will survive. Hit by a car at thirty miles per hour, one out of five pedestrians will be killed, eighty percent will survive. Hit by a car at thirty-five miles per hour, one out of two pedestrians will be killed, fifty percent will survive. Hit by a car at forty miles per hour, nine out of ten pedestrians will be killed, ten percent will survive."
"You stop that morbid bollocks right now Alex. Do you hear me?"
"It's not bollocks. It's true. Hit by a car at-"
"That's enough. Molly is going to be fine. You need serious bloody help…but your daughter is going to be fine."
"How can you know that? The hospital didn't say anything."
"They don't call me the Gene Genie for nothing."
"You don't grant wishes Gene."
"Depends on who's doing the askin'." In the back seat Shaz did her level best to act invisible.
"I already wished you'd cut down on smoking, drinking and hitting suspects…that's my three gone."
"Yeah well, sometimes I don't count."
"None of them actually came true."
"Sometimes I don't listen either."
More than one person in the car knew he was listening now.