Chapter 3:

Gill was in the bath when her phone went off. She ignored it and began to relax again. She had shut her eyes for about 5 minutes, before it buzzed again. Then again. Then again. "Alright, I'm bloody well coming" she got out of the bath and got dressed. Before picking up her phone she went into the kitchen and put the kettle on. As she got back to her phone it was flashing and vibrating. She picked it up and groaned. Who would want to call her this late? She saw she had 5 new messages, 8 missed calls and a voicemail. She was so confused. She had only left her phone for about 20 minutes, and she hadn't heard it ring. She listened to the voicemail at first, it was from Rachel. "Hello Gill, pick up if you're there. Please it's urgent. It's about Janet." Gill froze on the spot. Her head creating images of different things. She then read the messages, all of a similar thing: Gill call me back ASAP. Urgent. The phone calls were all from Rachel as well, apart from 2 which were from Andy. Her heart started beating faster. Andy never phones her unless it's someone important to do with the case. She called Rachel back as fast as she could. As soon as Rachel picked up Gill could hear the panic in her voice.

"Rachel, what's going on love?"

"It's...it's...Janet. She sent me a text earlier saying help. I have been trying to ring her, text her everything but she's not picking up. I've also had a phone call from Elise asking where their mother is and I've had a text from Taisie asking the same thing half an hour later. I don't know what to do Gill, what if she's hurt? We can't lose her Gill we can't..."

"Okay, meet me at the station as fast as you can"

"Goodbye Boss."

They met outside the station 20 minutes later. Rachel was an emotional wreck. It reminded Gill of when Janet had been stabbed. Rachel stood outside the hospital shaking and babbling. She couldn't control herself. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was trembling with fear. Gill had to remain strong. For Janet and for Rachel. They didn't even know if Janet was hurt at the moment, they had nothing. They had phoned division to get a search team together, just in case, and they would begin in the morning – they had phoned the hospital to see if anyone had been admitted following Janet's description – but that went nowhere. It was about 1:30am now, both Gill and Rachel had massive bags under their eyes, Gill decided there wasn't anything they could do until it was light, then they would have to leave it to division anyway. Gill had asked Rachel back to her flat, so she could rest up – because neither of them really wanted to be alone – and if, if anything was to happen they would both be in the same place.

They got back to Gill's house at about 2am, gill set up the fold away bed in the living room and Rachel made drinks, they didn't talk, they didn't know what to say. Their best friend was out there somewhere, lost, hurt and alone. Gill said night and went to go upstairs, pulling the door shut behind her. She heard a great sniffle and a sob and her heart throbbed. She went back into Rachel and sat on the edge of the bed, wiping her hair away from her face. "Come here" she said, softly. Rachel sat up and leaned in, it was very unlike Gill to show any emotion, so this was a first. They both began to sob, Gill a lot quieter than Rachel. She didn't want anyone to see her cry. Not like this. It reminded her of what she thought when Janet got stabbed: if this is the last thing I do for Janet, and I hope to God it isn't, I'm going to do it properly. She shut her eyes and leaned back, against the wall, Rachel still curled up next to her. They both fell to sleep instantly.

They were awoken by a phone call. Gill didn't know the time until she saw it when she flipped her phone up. 9 o'clock. Shit. Shit. Shit. They should've been in work 4 hours ago, then all the reminders of last night's events came flooding back. Oh God, Janet poor Janet. Where was she? Gill tried to stand up, shuffling Rachel over, who had now also woken up. Her neck was sore after sleeping up against a wall for the night, but she didn't care. They didn't even bother trying to make herself look presentable. They got into Gills car and drove as fast as they could to the station. They ran up the stairs, mascara covering their cheeks from last night's crying. They hadn't brushed their hair, or changed their clothes. They walked into the office, whilst everyone stared at them. They knew something was up. Andy rushed forward. "Where have you two been? What's the matter? What's going on? Boss?" Gill just stared into space. Rachel nudged her, but she didn't move. She was staring at Janet's desk. Janet's empty desk. No food, no glasses, no bag by the chair, nothing.

Rachel decided to take control. "Everyone, into the briefing room, now" everyone got up and walked in, no arguments, no jokes and no backchat. "Right, last night, I received a text from Janet. It sounded like she was in danger. I have tried calling her since but no reply. We have got the search teams out this morning up on division, and we have the hospital on full alert if anyone matching her description is admitted. The Jasmine Brown case has been put on hold, and may possibly be handed over to syndicate 3, where DCI Dodson will take control. We've just got to remain calm, and hope for the best. We all know Janet, she's a little fighter and we'll find her, but during the meantime we all need to support each other, and stick together ok?" They all nodded in agreement. No-one knew what to say.

Kevin had decided to launch his own private investigation into Janet, making little models of Janet's car, and what looked like a yellow blob (supposedly Janet) whilst he tried to work out on a map of the roads leading to and from Janet's house to the police station.

Gill had just come off the phone to Dorothy, who was told to tell the girls her mom was working on a case so she would be staying with Rachel for a few days, even though Dorothy knew what was actually happening. You can't keep that sort of thing from her mother.

They were all moping about in the office, until there was a phone call. A phone call from the one person they really didn't want one from. The Chief Con. "Hello, DCI Murray, I'm afraid I've got some good and bad news, depends on how you want to look at it. A woman was found about an hour ago by a farmer, who had come to sort out his crops when he came across a car which matches DC Scott's. He phoned for an ambulance and the fire service so they could rescue her quickly, and he managed to grab her hand until they came. She has been taken to the Royal Oldham, and is currently undergoing surgery to stop the internal bleeding. Her injuries are fatal and she could go into a coma. It's too soon to tell. The next 48 hours are vital. Your team can take as long off as they want, we can get division of another syndicate to take over any calls that are reported. I'll keep you updated."

"Thanks Mr. Rutterford. Stay in touch" Gill put the phone down, shaking. By this time, everyone was looking into the office, wondering what was going on. Rachel's eyes were filling up with tears and she started breathing heavily. Gill grabbed her coat and Rachel did the same. "Janet's been found, currently undergoing surgery. I'm going to get down there now. I need to be with her. You lot can go home if you want, take leave whatever I don't care. Or you can wait here, for any news, I'll call you later. Andy? You're in charge. I've got to go. Rachel, you coming?" Rachel nodded furiously, fighting back the tears. They ran down the stairs, two or three at a time practically jumping down the last flight. They ran out of the double doors and got in the car; Gill stuck her foot down and didn't even bother with seatbelts. They raced through the streets of Oldham, as if it were a race against time. It could well be. They didn't want to think like that but it was always there, in the back of their minds. They got to the hospital in record time, and Gill shoved her pass at the receptionist, mumbling "DCI Murray MIT, I'm here to see DC Janet Scott, bought in this morning following a car crash." The woman told them which way to go to, towards the family waiting area. They had to wait for her to come out of surgery, it could be hours. They didn't care, so long as Janet pulled through, that's all that mattered.

They were there for a good few hours, Gill had spoken to Andy, who was considerably calm, and told him to dismiss the team, and go home – all of them and get some rest, in case they needed to be contacted later. "Andy says everyone's a wreck, they've taken to this harder than when she got stabbed. Even Kevin. He is now making 'little models' of everyone, and is trying to find out what happened, bless him." Rachel gave Gill a weak smile. They were both as tired as hell. People were coming and going from the family room, some letting out sighs of relive, others bursting into tears.

Their thoughts were interrupted by a doctor, coming up towards them. "DCI Murray, DC Bail-?" "Yes?" Gill didn't have time for the formalities, "What?" The doctor gave a small smile; he'd obviously seen it all before, the impatience of victims' relatives. "Would you like to come through here? And we can talk about what's happened/going to happen?" Rachel nodded, taking Gill's hand and followed the doctor into a small room. He shut the door and sat down. "Ok, Janet has suffered some very fatal injuries. She has a broken right leg, fractured left wrist and three broken fingers. She has internal bleeding to her left kidney, and has a bruised rib-cage. We have stopped the head injury from bleeding, which reduces her chance of brain damage but it's still touch and go. She is still in theatre, and depending on how that ends, will give us a more accurate result on her percentage survival rates. She's been pretty lucky so far. Lucky? How does he think this is lucky? She has been in intensive care twice in the same year? Bloody hell, if that's lucky... the next 24-48 hours are vital; if she pulls through surgery it will increase her chances. "Wha...what are her chances at the moment?" Rachel stuttered. The doctor sighed, "Well...I'm afraid to say not brilliant, about 30-40% chance of survival. I'm sorry" his beeper beeped, and he jumped up "look, I've got to get that, it's important, I'll be back in a bit" he rushed out the room, leaving both Rachel and Gill dumfounded.