A few hours later and Erin had finally succumbed to the exhaustion and was curled up under the mass of blankets. Leo had not left her side, he did not think he could or would ever leave her side again

"Leo?" a voice came and he looked up to see Harry there with a concerned look on his face "You should take a break"

Leo shook his head "I'm not leaving her" the reply was firm and definite

Harry was undeterred "You look almost as exhausted as she does. Go and get yourself a drink or something. Do you really want her to wake up and see you in this state?"

Leo sighed knowing he was beaten. He gingerly pushed himself up off the sofa, where he had been sitting next to Erin. When he was finally in his office and out of earshot Harry turned to the sleeping Erin

"I know you're awake," he said quietly "So you can stop pretending now"

A pair of pale eyes flickered open and stared at him defiantly

Harry chuckled "I can't believe you sat still for so long" he said incredulously

Erin shrugged but shifted her position so Harry could sit down next to her

"So do you want to tell me why you were pretending to be asleep?" he asked gently

"I can't talk to him…" the reply was whispered

"Leo?" Harry asked and Erin nodded in conformation

"I hurt him so much, I've hurt all of you, I didn't mean…."

Harry cut her off swiftly "I know" he smiled at her "Leo's not cross with you, he's just glad you're back safe and sound"

Erin nodded and pulled the blankets closer around her

"Still feeling cold?" he asked placing his hand on her forehead, her skin felt warmer than it had earlier that morning but Harry knew they had to keep her core temperate at a suitable level

"Harry…" Erin said suddenly after a moments silence "What happened about the Nora's trial?"

Harry paused and didn't speak for a while "You don't need to worry about that now" he said quietly

"But what happened?" Erin said alarmed at the change in Harry's mood

The pathologist sighed knowing he wasn't going to get out of this one "The trial went ahead without you Erin" he said slowly "When they were sure your disappearance was of your own accord they decided to go on without you"

"What was the verdict?" Erin asked, feeling a pit of nausea rise in her stomach

"Erin I don't think we should be really talking about this now"

Her stomach was churning now

"I want to know," she said slowly

"Without your evidence, they found her…" Harry paused hating himself for revealing the next two words "…Not guilty"

Erin would have screamed at that moment but the minute she opened her mouth, the bile rose up her throat and she was violently sick on the floor


"Leo's taken Erin home" Nikki said sliding her arm around her husband's waist

"I shouldn't have said anything," Harry muttered

"She would have found out sooner or later" Nikki said gently and pressed a kiss on top of Harry's mop of dark hair

"She didn't need to find out that soon though"

"It's probably best that she knows now" Nikki said "At least she knows where she stands now and there are no secrets so she can start fresh"

"Can she though?" Harry asked already knowing that his and Nikki's answer would be of the same.


When Erin next opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Leo sitting on the chair next to her. She gave him a tired smile and pushed herself up in the bed and looked around the room

"I had it redecorated" Leo told her "I hope you don't mind"

Erin glanced around the room taking in the freshly painted walls and new furniture. She also noticed she was in a new bed, since the incident with the old one but her old soft toy dog was propped up next to her giving the bed an already familiar feel despite its newness

"How did I get here?" she asked

"You fell asleep in the car" Leo told her "I carried you in" he internally shuddered as he remembered how light Erin felt and had resolved to make sure she got back to a healthy weight sooner rather than later

"When can I go back to school?"

Leo sighed, "Don't walk before you can run Erin. Anyway, it's the half term holiday so you've got no choice but to stay here and get better"

Erin just shrugged and nestled back down under the covers, clearly she hadn't regained enough strength to argue back, something Leo was grateful for

"How are you feeling now?"

"Rubbish" she said pulling the duvet closer to her frail body

"I've called the Doctor in to check you over" Leo told her

"Why can't you do it?" she whined

"Because it's a while since I had a patient who's alive and I want a second opinion. You've not got enough strength to get down to the doctor's surgery so he's coming here," Leo said firmly

Erin just shrugged and shuffled in the bed. The tiredness was back again and this time she fully welcomed it


A few hours later, the doctor had been and gone much to Erin's relief and she had resumed the activity of the day: sleeping. Leo had taken leave down to the kitchen and was currently in the process of making dinner

"So what did the doctor say?"

Leo turned around to face the woman sitting at his table "She's going to be fine"

"Leo…" the voice chided

The older man looked at Janet and knew that she wasn't going to take no for an answer "She's quite weak at the moment but that's understandable. Her body temperature is just about fine now and the cuts and bruises should clear up in a few days"

"How's her leg?" Janet asked

"Not as bad as it could have been" Leo said looking relieved "But she's set back her recovery time by quite a bit"

"At least she's back home now"

"Back where she belongs," Leo said firmly

"So she knows about Nora?"

Leo nodded "I did try and explain that Nora isn't allowed to come anywhere near her but I don't think it's helped all that much. She needed to see Nora locked up for good"

"Give her some time, it's a lot for her to take in" Janet told him "Have you told her about us yet?"

Leo shook his head "I was going to mention it over dinner if she's up to coming down here"

"Time to face the music then" Janet smiled but Leo noticed the lines of concern in her face


"Do I really need all these layers?" Erin moaned as Leo made her put another warm top on

"Just like the other five times you asked me, the answer is yes" Leo replied

When Leo had gone to check on Erin the two of them had decided that she had just enough strength to make it downstairs. Shakily she had managed to get out of bed and adorn herself with the contents of her wardrobe as directed by Leo.

"Oh no…" Erin sighed as she spotted something in the corner

"You heard what the doctor said" Leo said passing her a pair of crutches, "You're meant to be keeping weight off that leg"

Erin mumbled something Leo was sure he was glad he was unable to hear but she slipped her arms into the crutches and slowly started to make her way out of her bedroom and downstairs. The whole journey took a long time since Erin was still quite weak and her joints hadn't quite unfrozen yet but eventually, with a number of stops along the way, they made it downstairs.

"What are those?" Erin said suddenly pointing to a pair of shoes near the door

"Those are shows Erin, you put them on your feet" Leo told her but Erin frowned at him

"Those are ladies shoes" she said slowly as she pieced it together "But I'm the only girl in the house and those aren't my shoes…"

"There's something I want to talk to you about" Leo said realising he would have to tell Erin sooner rather than later, "Janet and I have decided to move in together"

It came as such a shock to Erin that she nearly fell over "What?" she exclaimed

"Janet and I have moved our relationship on" Leo told her slowly "We've decided to move in together"

"Here?" Leo nodded

"Please Erin…" he began

The young girl just shuffled about on her crutches but didn't' reply for quite a while "It's okay…" she said at last

"Really?" Leo said apprehensively

Erin nodded "You were lonely when I was gone and I guess it makes sense that you wanted some company"

"So you're fine with the idea then?"

Erin sighed, "I'm not fine with it but I think I can get used to it"

"That's all I ask" Leo said gently guiding her into the kitchen where this new family would come together for the first time