Rachel found herself laid in one of the most uncomfortable beds she had ever had the displeasure of sleeping on, courtesy of the Rochdale General hospital, where she was being treated for burn trauma and smoke inhalation due to a rather unfortunate event of her school blowing up and setting on fire, through no fault of her own though.
Doctors and nurses came and went checking her progress and OB's and asking mundane questions on how she was feeling, did she need anything for the pain or her favourite to date do you want your pillows fluffing up. Though none of her family or friends had attempted to visit, she could understand that some of her colleagues wouldn't want to see her as they had enough of her every day in work, but she would have thought that her family would at least make an appearance even after everything that had happened in the past, bridges had been built once again, she guessed they just weren't strong enough for her family to come running to her side after a near experience or that her injuries could have been so severe that she wouldn't be making a small rushed visit at Christmas.
She had no such luck, so she was stuck to the monotonous routine of sitting in bed watching really bad and I mean really horrifically bad daytime TV, when all she really wanted to do was be outside in the sun basking in its warmth and having a laugh with her friends, a cold beer in hand and not worrying about the school or a certain Deputy Head.
Sighing at the lack of anything remotely interesting being on TV yet again no big surprise, she thrust the clicker back onto the bedside table and huffed in annoyance at the lack of things to do for a patient or visitor in fact who were so used to moving around and exercising, not being cooped up in a small sterilized room with very bleak scenery outside the window, her only consolation was the beams of sunlight that drifted through at around midday, coating the room with a more welcoming look, than the look of death and decay.
Frustrated with the lack of mobility the Doctors would allow her she started, against Doctors orders, to climb out of bed and walk around looking for the nearest flight of stairs that led to the exit, just so she could feel the wind in her hair and the sun on her face.
After managing to dodge a few nurses and other patients, Rachel finally reached the back entrance to the hospital. She made her across the grass area surrounding the ambulance bay and sat on one of the memorial benches, listening to the roar of life around her, not caring if anyone found her just that she was free from the depression that the hospital provided free of charge.
Hospitals to Rachel always signified death, as when she was little she had to come and visit her Grandmother who was dying of Lung cancer as she had smoked her whole life. They always made her squirm and uncomfortable, just knowing that somewhere in the building someone's family member was dying and there was nothing the Doctors and their fancy equipment could do to prevent it.
Leaning back into the back of the bench she failed to notice a familiar person as she shut her eyes and just listened to her surroundings. The person took a seat next to her as she turned her head to look at one who had intruded into her quiet time away from the slow pace of the ward, they had put her on.
"Rachel, what are you doing out here?" Came, the question from the person next to her, startling her out of her thoughts and making her twist to look at the other occupant of the bench.
"Eddie?" She said confused at hearing his voice.
"Yeah. What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be in bed resting?" He questioned not sure how to approach the sore subject of her stupid move by running back into a burning building.
"I had to get out Eddie, no big deal, just couldn't stand doing nothing anymore, needed to stretch my legs a bit." She answered, closing her eyes again and turning towards the sun to soak up some of its heat.
"Let me guess, Doctors orders."
"Unfortunately they even have the nurses on alert if I try to move an inch a whole squad of them come running into my room with about half a dozen Doctors trailing close behind them." Rachel whined as she retold the story of her confinement to a very unpleasant bed and the torture of being watching 24-7.
Laughing at her obvious discomfort with the place Eddie, took her hand and pulled her gently off the bench and back towards the doors that led to her impending doom, in her mind any way.
Finally it dawned on her that Eddie was here, with her holding her hand, looking at ease in his normal relaxed clothes curtsey of the summer heat.
"Eddie what are you doing here?" She asked, with a puzzled look on her normally beautiful face.
"Visiting you, of course." He replied as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Why?"
"I know this sounds funny, but I kind of got used to having you at my side this past year and it feels kind of funny to look around and you not be there, so I decided that I was going to visit you and have a nice long chat and try to take your mind off being stuck in this place."
"You couldn't have come to break me out could?" She joked trying to lighten the atmosphere at is calm and obvious answer, that had unnerved her with how honest he sounded and the look in his eye.
"Nope sorry, my invisibility cloak is at home in the back of my wardrobe for now." He laughed as he continued to tease her on her out right displeasure of hospitals.
"Haha you're hilarious." Rachel retorted, trying but failing to keep the smile off of her face at the sight of Eddie laughing so freely with her, away from the everyday pressures of work.
"Come on you, let's get you back into bed before the nurses find out you're missing and send out the search party." Eddie urged still trying to get his laughter under control at the face pulled at the thought of going back to that bed.
"Fine." She huffed, causing Eddie to once again break down into laughter.
Leading her by the hand they gradually made their way, through the maze of a hospital to her room, as they got settled Rachel once again back in her bed, and Eddie in the chair at her bedside, the nurse walked in to find them both with flushed faces from the heat outside and huge grins in their faces laughing about something stupid Eddie had managed to do in the last 7 days.
"Sorry to interrupt but I need to check you vitals." She announced drawing their attention away from one another and onto her, causing Eddie to laugh at Rachel's earlier statement that the nurses here were like hawks.
"So have you seen the damage done to the school?" Rachel asked quietly, ready, but not willing to talk about the fire.
Sitting up straight in his chair at the change in subject, Eddie studied her face for any indication that she was uncomfortable with where she was leading their once light hearted banter.
"Yeah, a couple of us went down yesterday, after the Fire Chief declared it safe to go near the building. About a third of the school is completely destroyed and will have to be rebuilt. The Firemen say the fire originated in the Kitchens, from some of the gas taps for the ovens and spread quickly into the science gas lines causing the explosion." Eddie replied solemnly, knowing that it would be a while before Rachel was ready to talk about what was going through her mind when she went back into the burning school, to save a man who had caused her so pain.
"Wow, there really is a lot of work to be done then." She whispered in awe of how much destruction the fire had caused to her school.
"Yeah, but the LEA have promised that the school will be up and running come September."
Quietly as not to disturb the two talking the nurse checked over the Vitals and listened with half an ear in on their conversation. After all this man whoever he was, was the first visitor Rachel had had in her weeklong stay.
Knowing that he had to try and get an answer for a question that had bugged him none stop for the past week, Eddie looked her dead in the eye. "Just what the hell were you playing at, going back into the school, you could have been killed Rachel." He said all joking tone gone from his voice, needing to know, just what possessed her to do what she did.
"I don't know. I wish I could tell you, but I honestly don't know."
Hearing the desperate tone in her patient's voice, she made her presence known to Rachel and Eddie.
"Rachel the Doctor will be in shortly to assess whether or not you are fit to be discharged." With that she turned and left, hoping that whatever issues the pair had, they would put them aside and let themselves fall in love, hells knows they deserve it after what they had just been talking about.
"Eddie" Rachel said, taking his hand forcing him to look up at her. "I don't know why I did it and I'm sorry for scaring you, but once I do figure out why I did it you will be the first to know." She finished and tears were glistening in her eyes, but what amazed her was the fact that Eddie also had tears in his eyes.
"I understand and if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call me." He said as he locked their fingers together not ready to relinquish the hold he had on her, knowing that she safe and holding his hand was all he needed to calm the fears that his nightmares bring forward every night.
The tension that was once again back in the room and leaving it very hard for either Rachel or Eddie to come up with a neutral subject to talk about, so there they were sat in an uncomfortable silence with only the TV as background noise.
After 10 minutes of their self imposed silence they were given a reprieve when Rachel's Doctor strolled in ready for examination for discharge the next day.
"Okay then Rachel, all your tests look good and if your burn is healing nicely. I have no problem with discharging you providing that you change the dressing every day and take the prescribed meds, you shouldn't be doing any heavy lifting yet, but give it a few weeks and you'll be back to normal." Doctor Wilson said as he entered the room and picked up her chart not noticing the other body in the room.
"Thank God, I can finally get back to my own bed." Rachel sighed dramatically causing Eddie to laugh and alert Doctor Wilson to his presence.
"Oh hello, I'm Doctor Wilson, I've been overseeing Rachel's recovery since she got released from the burn unit." He said whilst sticking out his hand for Eddie to shake, which he did giving it a good firm shake, too firm as he made the young Doctor wince due to the pressure Eddie put on hand.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Eddie Lawson me and Rachel work together at Waterloo Road." Eddie attempted to be nice, but there was just something about the young Doctor that he didn't necessarily like.
"Eddie play nice." Rachel warned as she caught the brief flash of pain in her Doctors eyes.
"Right then Rachel, I need to take a look at your burn, just to make sure that it is healing properly and then hopefully we can ship you out of here by tomorrow morning." Doctor Wilson said as he walked over to her bedside and waited for Rachel to loosen the tie on her dressing gown.
"Mr Lawson I think it would be best if you leave for this part."
"No, I want Eddie to stay." Rachel said glaring at the Doctor.
"Alright then, but stay out of the way." Doctor Wilson conceded as he addressed Eddie.
Reaching for tie of her robe, with shaky hands Rachel untied the knot and let the dressing gown fall open and the plain white dressing covering the right side of her chest came into view. With careful and practiced hands Doctor Wilson, gently pulled away the dressing and exposed the injury to the cool air of the room.
Seeing the burn, Eddie couldn't take his eyes off of it, making Rachel feel vulnerable and exposed under his gaze. Reaching out Eddie took her hand in his and held on tight, lending his support unwaveringly. Doctor Wilson took his time with the examination, making sure that the burn was healing on its own and that no further treatment would be needed to help speed up the healing rate. Feeling satisfied with the amount of progress she had made in the short period of time she had been under his care Doctor Wilson carefully reapplied a new dressing and left the room in complete silence not wanting to disturb whatever was going on between the two teachers.
"Rach that looks really bad." Eddie commented as he never took his eyes away from hers for a second to even look at the recovered scar tissue.
"It was worse this is the worst part that wouldn't respond to short term healing, it may take years before it full goes away." She said as she cast he eyes down, ashamed of how it looked.
"Hey, you don't have to be ashamed or disgusted by it." Eddie said as he hooked a finer under her chin and made her meet his gaze again. "That doesn't make you who you are it's just a trophy of where you have been, okay." Seeing her nod her head in acceptance Eddie reached over and pulled her into a hug as she cried out all her fears and frustrations that had accumulated since she had woken up in a hospital bed.
Gently rocking back and forth Eddie let slip and few tears of his own as he thought about how he had nearly lost her and the thought of never seeing her again made his chest constrict in pain.
Rachel's sobs slowly quieted to the occasional hick cup and shuddering breath, but eventually the steady sound of Eddie's heart beat in her ear lulled her to a sure and sound sleep, one that wouldn't be filled with nightmares, thanks to the calming presence of the man holding her. Protecting her, from the fears that plagued her nights, chasing them away, so she could finally rest easy, if for but one night.