Part 5:) I didn't mean for this to turn out quite this long, I hope you're not all getting bored! Let me know what you think, and I'll update as soon as I can :)
Love Flossie xxx
Sheila goes out with her mate Stella,
Gets poured all over her fella,
Because she says that he ain't no better,
Than the next man kicking up fuss,
Drunk, she stumbles down by a river,
Screams calling 'London',
But none of us heard her coming,
Guess the carpet weren't rolled out.
"Harry?" you whisper into the phone. Your voice is hoarse from all the sobbing, yet somehow full of anticipation; anticipation that's been building up all night as you've waited for this call. You thought he didn't care, you thought he was going to leave you abandoned out here all night. But he still might do that, you tell yourself. He might be calling to tell you to back off, to stop pestering him and leave him alone. You wouldn't blame him if he was.
"Nikki?" His voice sounds tired, confused. "Nikki, are you OK? I'm so sorry, I stayed over at my mum's, left my phone on the kitchen table, just came down for some water and found you've been trying to call me all night. I'm sorry. What is it, a new case? Do you need me to come and meet you?"
There's something about his oblivious that comforts you, makes you forget all the bad things and the impossible situation you've found yourself in, just for a moment. You almost don't want to reply, don't want to break the bubble you're existing in at present.
"Harry, I…" you try to explain, but you can't control yourself, and before you know it you're sobbing hysterically once again, trying desperately to calm yourself down, but you can't. Maybe it's the alcohol, maybe it's the shock of everything that's happened this evening, or maybe it's the relief of finally being able to hear the sound of Harry's voice, the emotion of it all. You don't know. All you know is that you can't seem to stop.
"Nikki? Nikki, it's OK, it's all going to be OK," he tries to sooth you. "This isn't about work, is it? I'm so sorry, I should have kept my bloody phone on me, I should have spoken to you hours ago. What's wrong? Nikki, tell me what's wrong."
"I… I d-don't know w-w-where I am!" you stutter, unable to hold it all in any longer. "I'm l-l-lost in the mid-le of b-bloody nowhere and I d-don't know w-where I am!"
"Aren't you at Andrew's?"
The mere mention of his name sets you off again into full on hysterics, refusing to calm any time soon. You don't want to think about him- he's a bastard. He's a bastard and you hope you never see him again, as long as you live.
"Oh Nikki, I'm sorry," Harry sighs; he's clearly read your mind on that one and realized that Andrew's out of the picture. "What happened? Start from the beginning, tell me what happened."
"Harry, it's a long story…" you begin tiredly, shivering as the rain starts to pelt down even harder, but he cuts you off.
"Nikki, where are you?"
"Harry, I t-t-told you, I d-don't know!"
"I know that Nikki, I know, but where roughly? Please god, don't tell me you're outside."
Damn, he's seen through you. You know he's going to flip when he realizes where you are, but you don't have the strength to try and hide it. "Harry, I…"
"Nikki, it's chucking it down with rain out there, it's the middle of November for god's sake!" You can hear the concern in his voice now, and guilt is beginning to set in. How could you have thought he didn't care? How could you have doubted him, hearing the soft concern in his voice now? God, you're lucky to have him, you know that much.
"Right, I'm coming to get you," he decides. "I'm going to come and get you, you can't stay out there in the cold, you'll get ill. Do you have a rough idea where you are?"
"I don't know, I was by the taxi point near the bars in town, where we normally go, but now I'm by a river somewhere in the middle of nowhere…" You're starting to panic now; hearing the concern in Harry's voice has pulled you out of your depressive, self-destructive mood, and suddenly it hits you just how cold you really are. Not that you didn't feel the cold before- you did- but now you feel frozen.
"Harry, you're not going to be able to find me," you sigh hopelessly, pulling your knees up to your chest as you shiver. "I don't even know where I am, how are you supposed to find me?"
"I will, of course I will," he's reassuring you now, and you can hear background noise at the other end of the phone. "I'm going to head into town, it's going to be a bit longer since I'm at Mum's, but I'll be there as soon as I can, OK? Why don't you have a wander around, try and find your way back to the taxi point? That'll warm you up a bit as well."
"OK," you manage, holding back the tears, determined to regain some of your dignity. "OK."
"Just hang on for a bit longer, I'll be there as soon as I can," he promises again. "It's all going to be OK."
You want to believe him, you really do. But right from the moment the line goes dead, the moment you're left by yourself once more, fear begins to set in again. Harry's mother lives ages away from London, who knows how long it's going to take him to get here? And now you've come to your senses a little, your current location seems a thousand times more terrifying. There are no street lights down here, no houses, no buildings, no one to turn to for help. It scares you, the mere thought of trying to retrace your steps, purely and simply because of the number of places like this you've been called out to by daylight at work, to examine the body of some poor soul who met a tragic end at the hands of a drug-addled psychopath. What if that's you tonight? What if by the time Harry gets here, it's too late?
You're not sure quite what's gotten into you; you're not usually this jumpy, far from it, in fact. You blame the alcohol; it's left your brain addled and your senses in a tangle. Nothing bad is going to happen, you tell yourself. You're in the middle of bloody nowhere; there's no one around to pose any threat. Harry's right, you realize, as another wave of shivers hits you. You need to get moving, get your circulation going again, try and find your way back to the city centre. It's going to be a while before Harry gets here, and you know you can't keep relying on him to be your knight in shining armour. You're going to have to look after yourself for a while, until he gets here, and then hope and pray he keeps the drowned rat jokes to a minimum. The more you begin to sober up, the more you realize that you're never truly going to live this one down.
I have one more chapter planned after this, in which Harry arrives, but if you would like a Harry taking Nikki home and looking after her etc chapter, then I would be more than happy to write that too :) Let me know via a review/PM if you want more, I always love to hear your feedback! xx