Disclaimer not mine. Sorry for delay. I've been off line for a while.

Something or other?

"She's going to be alright?" Ellie stared at the doctor as Richard rested a hand on her shoulder. He had no idea what to say to the kids if the doctor shook his head. He felt as though he stopped breathing while the doctor ushered them towards the chairs in the corner of the family room.

"Please, sit down."

"But."

"Ellie." Michael watched as his little sister's eyes filled with tears. "Let the doctor say what he has got to say." Helen huffed as she folded her arms. The doctor swallowed hard knowing the little girl was desperate to know what had happened to her mum.

"Janine is still very unwell."

"Still?" Emily glanced at Richard. "So she's alive then?"

"Yes," The doctor smiled. "She's alive. The surgery was more complicated than we thought. A part of her brain that was injured was bleeding. We had to preform an operation called a crainiotomy. We stopped the bleeding but the pressure in her head is still a little higher than we would like."

"She's ok?" Michael asked as he felt Ellie almost crush his hand in her smaller one.

"She's breathing on her own." The doctor smiled as Richard let out a sigh of relief. "Still very weak. But she is making progress."

"Thank you." Richard smiled. "Thank you."

"She's being transferred to neuro intensive care. I'd go home and get some rest, she's going to be with the nurses for at least another hour before you can see her."

"Yes Doctor." Helen spoke for the first time. "Michael, Eleanor."

"She shouldn't be on her own." Ellie snapped. Richard stood up.

"I'll stay."

"I see." Helen snapped.

"Oh for goodness sake," Michael snapped. "He is her friend and someone did this to her. Richard just happens to be a copper. If he can talk to Mum maybe they can catch the scum that did this. Come on Ellie, we'll go and check on Tom and Lucy."

"Ok." Ellie sighed as she glanced across at Richard and smiled. He sighed heavily before closing his eyes. She was going to be alright. It wasn't over.

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"Oi!" Kat yelled as she ran after the bouncer who was yards ahead of her. She had no idea how far back Butchers was.

"OI! Police!" She tried again as he turned and ran down an alley. "Butchers!" She had no idea where he was. The man in front of her stopped abruptly and started looking around for an escape.

"Ian Jones." Kat yelled as she reached him. The sound of Butchers wheezing in the background as he called for back up. Jones stopped and turned to face her.

"I ain't done nothing."

"Yeah?" Kat sighed. "Most innocent people do an impression of Hussein Bolt too."

"Ian Jones, you are under arrest on suspicion of the murder of Kezia." Butchers wheezed. "Dubronovic and the attempted murder of DCI Janine Lewis. You have the right to remain silent, it may go against you however if you fail to mention, when questioned something you can later rely on in court."

"Piss off."

"Charmed." Kat glared at him as the sirens of the police van could be heard in the background.

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Richard stood in the doorway of the room where Janine was laying in bed. She was as pale as death as the machines all around her monitoring just about everything her body was doing. He closed his eyes and sent up a silent prayer to a God he had long since stopped believing in.

"Hi."

He snapped his eyes open as he heard her voice.

"Hi."

Janine smiled slightly as he stepped into the room. Her eyes seemed to search his as he took in the bandage around her forehead and the tubes and wires all around her.

"The kids have gone to check on the little ones. I know Tom was refusing to go to bed until he heard how you are."

"Oh."

"You ok?"

"Yeah." She sighed as he touched her hand. "You?"

"Janine? You know who I am? What I'm talking about when I say kids."

"Yeah." She sighed, "Lucy, Thomas, Ellie and Michael." She seemed exhausted at just mentioning her kids names. She held his gaze as he smiled slightly.

"Yeah, that's them."

"Us?"

"Us?"

"You and me?" Janine sighed as she looked away.

"What do you mean? Us? Janine? You remember me?"

"I." Janine looked away for a moment. "You're Richard. Apart from that?"

"Oh." He paused, ready to move away, give her space when she tightened her hold on his hand. His eyes fell to their joined fingers as she paused.

"I mean." Her voice was quieter than ever. "There's something isn't there? Something between us? I remember bits, kissing in my hallway. You shouting at someone who upset me. Hogg saying we should be seperated. Who is Hogg? Why can't I remember?" Her eyes widened in fear as he met her eyes.

"Yes, those things happened. When you and Pete had split up. Not before." He sighed as he remembered the night a gunman had tried to kill them both. "You're right, there is something there. Rest. You'll remember."

"Yeah." She sighed as her eyes fluttered closed. "Yeah."

Richard let her hand drop to her side before kissing her forehead gently and slipping out the room to phone the kids and Shapps. He looked back, certain that he had seen the ghost of a smile on her features for the first time in a while. Something? He shook his head and smiled. Yeah, there's something there, as far as I am concerned. Just wish it didn't scare the Hell out of me. He turned and walked away as Janine fell into a peaceful sleep.

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A/N Did Jones kill Kezia and where is Shapps? More soon.