DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN EMMERDALE OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS. THEY ARE THE PROPERTY OF ITV.

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LATE-NOVEMBER

A/N: SURPRIZED: I've logged on to several PM's regarding poor Stu. What's with the love for Jackson and Stu?

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He'd done it. He'd DONE it...he had actually pushed his best mate (correction, ex best mate) over the belcony.

It was 4 floors. There was just no way he'd survive that height of a fall in the state he was in. Although the ground was kind of sofa. It was a patch of grass. But that wouldn't be enough to cushion the blow.

It was done and dusted. There was no turning back now, there was no good at worrying over the outcome of it now...what was done was done.

Nathan paced about the lounge and looked at the blood around the flat, that needed sorting for a start. He couldn't leave the appartment in this state.

And the white persian rug...there was blood all over it...FUCKING STU...that was his fault too. No doubt he bleed on that deliberately.

With a happy sigh, he put his treasured wedding DVD back into it's box and kissed the front of it. Then put it back, pride of place, on the shelf.

"Can you ring that doorbell over there! I don't know go and bang on the window or sommit..."

Nathan stood stock still. WTF. It was past 11 for goddness sake, there was NO ONE around this time of night usually...and it was pretty dark out back.

He quickly switched off the low lamp and edged towards the french doors, They were still open, the curtain flapping about in a gentle night time breeze, although it was quite bitter.

There was two voices now.

"I just found him here...lying here...he's still warm..."

The voice was female. Then he realised. It was only that old bag from down stairs. FUCKING BINGO! She was always saying she'd never go and the night she DOES go, is tonight!

How inconciderate of her.

But his heart began to race as the neighbour spoke some more.

"Look, go up to number 68...Nathan...he's a nurse, he might be able to help...have you rang 999?"

"Course I flaming have woman, what do you take me for...ROCKY!"

Nathan stood in the darkness of the flat. Rocky was that man's dog. That was another thing, he ALWAYS walked that dog at 9...just typical...it happened to be 11 tonight he decided to walk it.

Nathan's a nurse. Bollocks.

He went over to the door. Then stood there deciding what to do. That old bag knew he was in because she had seen him earlier on the landing.

There was a knock.

Uh-oh.

Another knock.

Nathan felt sick. What if the police came now. They'd be wanting witnesses to a crime, because obviously it must've looked like Stu was attacked outside on the grass.

Another knock.

FUCKING STU! COURSING YET MORE TROUBLE.

Well. He lept into the bedroom and threw his clothes off, then put on his a Tshirt and sweat pants. He closed the door and went into the bathroom to check his face. Infact, he checked all of himself down in the mirror.

A smear of blood on his arm. He washed it off. His face was okay by a miracle.

Forcing on a deadpan face, he went to the door and unlocked it, and yawned for effect as he opened the door.

"Nathan?"

Nathan nodded, regarding the man. It WAS Mick from the building across the grass, "There's sommit happened outside mate...I'm sorry to wake yah...but Regina from number 54 said you're a nurse..."

Nathan rubbed his eyes sleepily, "something happened? What something?"

"Some poor lads been attacked just out the back, there's a lot of blood but the ambulance IS on the way...but you being a nurse and everything..."

Why'd he choose that career for? Now look where it's landed him.

"Errrrrrr...yeah...outside you say? Okay...errrrr...I'll be right out"

The bloke seemed to hang about on the landing, so Nathan closed the door up, intook a few deep breathes and then went out and closed the door behind him.

XXX

Stu was lying on the grass. He was on his side. There was blood all over his face. Regina from number 54 was crouching over him, she looked up when Nathan and Mick came over from the front of the building.

"He's in a bad way, I wish that ambulance would hurry up", worried Regina.

Nathan stared at Stu as he passed through the railings that lead to the back, his belcony was above them with 3 others.

Nathan swallowed, "Well, I don't want to be funny, but...by the look of him we are too late...I don't think I can do any much more than you guys to be honest"

Regina put her hand to her mouth, Ohh please try...look at him...my grandson must be the same age as him..."

Nathan hesitated and crouched down to Stu. God, how did it come to this? When you killed someone...that's ment to be it...not all this faffing about, it always looked so easy in the films. Not that this was a film.

It was real life.

Nathan shivered as he put a hand over Stu's warm neck. He made sure he got a bit of blood all over him to cover anything on him he had missed, because there would be a convincing excuse for how it got there now.

His heart nearly beated right out of his chest. His eyes couldn't get any wider. He felt dizzy and sick.

Because...by his horror, there was a pulse.

"So...is he dead...?", asked Mick, "Who could've done this? Flaming hoodies or sommit, he's taking a right beating, him, poor lad"

"Or them new polish rabble, a group of them have moved in last week" told Regina.

"Yeah but they wouldn't of done this, would they? Would they?", asked Mick.

Nathan was silent. All this dribble of a conversation was in the background for him.

Stu was alive. But he MUST be dying surely? He was...he fell from up there...he had kicked him, smashed him over the head. Admittedly he hadn't drunk all the wine with the tablets in it, but surely his injuries would have been enough.

There was STILL time...there was no sign of the ambulance...by the time they got here, Stu would be dead. That was it...there was always hope.

People always clung onto life if they could. If they were strong, and Stu was pathetic, not strong.

Maybe Stu would die in the ambulance. Maybe his heart would give out. A CA. MOF. Multi organ failure. It was a long time since he did a rotation in A&E.

Then he could hear the sirens.

"Oh thank the lord", breathed Regina.

Nathan stood up and forced on a smile for her, "We shouldn't move him...or...we'll course more damage..."

"So he IS a live?" asked Mick, untying his dog from the railings and looking out for the ambulance, readying himself to guide them when they finally arrived.

The words stuck in his throat. But at this present time, regardless how Stu looked, or what damage there was, there was only one answer.

"Yes...he's STILL alive...", he muttered.

XXX

Jackson couldn't sleep. He lay there wide awake. Staring at the shadows on the ceiling was boring him now.

He rolled his head to face Stu's side of the bed. That silly brown teddy bear of his was sitting on the pillow. It usually gave him the creeps. When they had sex, he had made sure the thing was chucked under the bed or something, seeing since Stu had had the thing since he was 5 years old.

Something was bugging him. He didn't know what it was, but there was something not right with all of this.

He swallowed down and looked back to the ceiling again, wishing morning would come and he could talk to him.

He felt incrediably protective of Stu. More so then any bloke. He wanted him here with him safe.

My Action man. That's what Stu called him. Silly.

But Babe? He used babe, not Stu...why would he text him babe...and then there was something else. He signed his name. Why? He had Stu's number in his phone, so why would he think that he wouldn't think the message was from him?

He sighed again. Sunrise couldn't come up soon enough.

XXX

Nathan stared about. The blues lights of the ambulance were flickering and bouncing across the shadows of the flats.

And on his face.

The paramedics were around Stu.

He stood well back with Regina, Mick and a few others who had come out to have a look. Nobody knew anything, they ALL assumed Stu had been 'attacked'.

Words like, spinal board, straps and adrenaline he could pick up on.

And of course the older paramedic saying to the younger paramedic that his output was low and his pulse was weak.

He was still in for a chance that Stu would croak it soon.

When Stu was carted off on the trauma board with an oxygen mask slapped over his nose and mouth, Nathan made himself scarce and practically ran up those stairs back to the flat.

Nathan looked about the flat as he slammed the door and leaned up against it.

What a first class disaster!

It was dark. He reached over and switched the light on.

The blood.

The blood was everywhere. At an instant, he went and binned the bottle, then cleared up the mess that had fallen off the coffee table when Stu had fell.

He then had to clean up the blood. Bleach. Hot water. A mop. Scrubbing brush. Stus's DNA and finger prints were all over this flat, but that was okay, because he came here a lot.

But getting on his hands and knees and scrubbing the floor. Damn that Stu, it was all his fault, this.

Damn him, damn him.

Just die. Please.

Just die...

XXX

IS THIS A TWIST? WILL STU CROAK IT...FIND OUT NEXT CHAPTER.