CHAPTER TWENTY

Alf sat at his desk with his head in his hands. He sat up a little and rubbed at his tired eyes. He hadn't slept a wink during the night; all he could think about was Martha and Jack. All he could hope was that they were both still alive, and that they would come back safely.

Deep in thought and in a world of his own, a loud shrill ring rang through the room and startled him from his thoughts. Who could that be? Alf thought to himself.

"Hello," his tired voice answered the phone.

"Granddad," a female voice cried to him.

Alf jerked up. He'd know that voice anywhere. "Martha, are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm fine," Martha told him. "But Jack isn't. He's been shot," she sobbed.

Alf stood up and started pacing back and forth across his office. "He's alive isn't he?" he questioned her.

"Yeah, but he keeps slipping into unconsciousness. I don't know what to do," Martha panicked. "The closest hospital is back in Yabbie Creek, so I should just take him there, right?" she said to him.

"No. No hospitals," Alf shot out. "Take him back to your place and I'll have one of my doctors meet you there. Taking him to the hospital wouldn't be a very good idea. They'll start asking questions and probably call the police. We don't need that right now," he explained to Martha over the phone.

"You have a friend on the force don't you; someone who can fix all this for us?" Martha rambled on. "Because people are dead granddad. Me and Jack; we had to kill a few people," she cried.

"Don't you worry about that. I'll get that all sorted out," Alf promised. "I'll call a few people for the clean-up okay. All traces of you and Jack will be gone. As far as anyone knows; you were never there. You've been here in the bay the whole time, okay?" he explained to her.

"Thank you," Martha sounded grateful.

"Okay, I'm going to go and inform the boys on the latest. I'll give you a call back in the next few minutes and then you can tell me where you and Jack have been. That way I'll know where to send the others so that they can clean up the mess," Alf said to her. "Now, all you have to do is worry about Jack. Just try your hardest to stop the bleeding. Can you do that for me?" Alf said in a soothing voice.

"Yes, I can do that. I'll try," Martha cried.

Alf went to hang up the phone, but was stopped by Martha's voice. "It's over granddad. Corey's dead," she told him.

"I'd figured as much," Alf nodded. "You done good," he exclaimed.

A few moments later he heard the dial tone. Martha had hung up. As he turned, he noticed Charlie and Tony standing by the door.

"Who was that?" Tony asked.

Alf smiled. "It was Martha. It's over. She's coming home," he answered.

"What about Jack?" Tony frowned.

Alf sighed. How was he supposed to explain to his best mate that Jack might not make it home alive?

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The closer to home Martha got, the more anxious she grew. The thought that Jack wasn't going to make it home alive had implanted itself in her brain. And if that happened, then she'd never forgive herself.

She was the reason Jack had gotten himself into this mess. She blamed herself for him getting shot. All he had wanted to do was the noble thing and protect her. He felt that he had an obligation to her, just because she was Alf Stewart's granddaughter.

She should have snuck off when she had the chance. She should have made him leave; go home and let her sort it out herself. But he hadn't. He'd stayed with her and put his life at risk. He'd protected her. He'd loved her in more ways than one. But now it looked as though he was going to be taken from her. And she couldn't even bare to think of that happening. It gave her a pain in her heart every time she thought about him being dead.

From beside her, she heard a wheezing sound and then a cough. "Jack," she looked over at him; hoping that he had woken up. But no luck. He was still in the same state that he had been in for the last hour.

She reached over and took his hand in hers; placing it on his thigh and squeezing it tightly. "Just hang in there Jack. We're nearly home," she cried in a hushed tone. "Please don't leave," she whispered.

Twenty minutes later and Martha was speeding up the driveway towards her home. She'd never been so relieved to see it. As she neared the mansion, she noticed the group of people standing there; awaiting her arrival. As she pulled the car to a stop, they swamped the car.

"Martha," Alf reefed the car door open and pulled her out and into his arms. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yes, I'm fine," Martha pulled away from him and turned to look at the people removing Jack from the car. There was a woman checking Jack's pulse and ordering the others around her to carry Jack into the house. Martha guessed that she must be the doctor.

"Just help Jack," Martha cried. "Don't let him die," she said.

"Jack will be fine," Alf soothed Martha. "He'll be fine. He's being taken care of by the best. Don't worry," he hugged her to him again.

"Mac," more voices were heard yelling as they came running from the house. Charlie, Bruiser, Macca, Tasha and Kim lunged themselves at her; pulling at her and demanding hugs.

They spent a few minutes talking about what had occurred the last few days. Martha explained to them about Zoe, Johnny, Sam and Corey; and how their deaths had come about.

"So, I'm not going to have the cops turning up on the doorstep looking for me or Jack, am I?" Martha asked her grandfather.

Alf placed a reassuring hand on Martha's shoulder and squeezed it. "I told you that it's all been taken care of. You don't need to worry about it anymore," he told her.

"Thank you," Martha touched his hand softly. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go and see what's happening with Jack. He needs me," she said in a soft voice as she turned away and walked off into the house.

Charlie turned to Tasha and gave her a weird look. "Did you pick up on that?" he said to her.

Tasha nodded with a slight smile. "I think our Martha has become quite fond of Jack Holden. Something happened out there," she said. "I'll find out," she smirked.

"Let's just hope that the poor guy survives," Charlie sighed. "Martha will be gutted if he doesn't pull through".

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