All Summer Long
Chapter 11: How to Save a Life
Sorry for the lack in updates, I got a little carried away and I've been a little distracted by Torchwood this week!
Thanks again for all the reviews. Hope you enjoy this chapter! Xx
By the time Zain arrived at the hospital, Kayla was already stable and in her own room. They doctors had given her painkillers and sedatives, so when Zain reached her bedside she was already fast asleep. He told Libby and Stuart to go back to the hotel, thanking Stuart for his support and telling them that he'd stay with Kayla until she awoke. He didn't want her waking up and feeling disorientated in a strange hospital far away from home.
He pulled up a chair and sat by her bed, holding her hand loosely in his. He breathed slowly and deeply, feeling relieved that she was going to be okay. He didn't know how long he had been there, but he felt his eyelids grow heavy, and when the nurses turned off the light he felt himself drifting off to sleep too.
The team assembled at six am, clutching paper cups of coffee and trying to stay awake. Nikki had suggested that Diane stay behind at the hotel and rest, but the younger woman was having none of it. Her head may be pounding continuously every time she moved but anything was better than laying in bed all day and thinking about Callum and Nikki. Gina stood at the front of the bus and made sure that everyone was there. They were, with the exception of Zain who was still at the hospital but Libby had come along too to take his place.
"Today team," She announced loud enough for the people at the back of the bus to hear her, and the ones at the front to cringe at the volume. "We're going a little further up the coast to a place where we can practice our life-saving skills. When we're back at Sun Hill and someone jumps, or is pushed, into the Thames, we'll have a much better chance of rescuing them without endangering ourselves. It's also meant to be fun, so try and enjoy yourselves."
When they arrived at the centre, they climbed off the bus and were paired off by the instructor. Phil glared and gritted his teeth when he saw that Sam had been paired with Nate, but said nothing. Although when the instructor teamed him up with Stuart, he was close to protesting. Gina had said that this activity was meant to be fun, but he was beginning to doubt that, especially when he saw Sam laughing at something Nate had said, and touching her arm.
"Alright mate?" Stuart asked, noticing the way Phil's hands had curled into fists.
Phil desperately wanted to point out that Stuart wasn't his 'mate' but their fights in the past had never gotten him anywhere. "Fine, thanks." He said coolly, instead.
Millie was pleased to find she had been paired with Jo. They two of them were getting on well, much better than Millie had believed they would. It seemed like they had formed a connection that was about far more than just sex and she was looking forward to getting to know Jo better. Today seemed like the perfect opportunity for that.
"Do you like to swim?" Millie asked, zipping up her lifejacket and pulling in the cords at the side.
Jo shrugged. "I guess. I'm not really into exercise." She admitted.
"Really?" Millie looked surprised, perhaps because of their intimate physical relationship she had expected that Jo was a frequent user of the gym. "I love it."
"Oh," Jo replied, suddenly feeling too old for Millie's youthful exuberance. They were prevented from saying more by the instructor calling the group to order.
Kerry pulled her shift dress over her head and smiled at Smithy's reaction to her bikini. She wasn't sure she understood, seeing as she had been wearing a bikini for the majority of the week when they'd been on the beach. Maybe it was the fact that he was getting to play her hero, rescuing her from the big bad ocean that was turning him on. The smile continued to tease at her lips, making her want to laugh. Smithy smiled too, although not understanding Kerry's amusement. It was hard not to smile when she was stood there in nothing but a skimpy bikini.
"Okay," Their instructor, Tim, shouted, walking up and down the small beach. "I want all of the 'victims' to step forward and stand on the water's edge." Kerry left Smithy's side and went to join the others.
"I can't believe Dan made me be his damsel in distress," Honey moaned to Kerry, glaring back up the beach towards her boyfriend. "How much does that suck?" She ranted. "Like, because I'm a girl, I couldn't possibly save his life. I'd leave him to drown anyway." She muttered viciously.
Kerry smiled, fighting back laugher again. "It's kind of sweet that he wants to be your knight in shining Speedos though." Honey raised an eyebrow at her. "Smithy is really getting off on the hero fantasy."
Honey snorted out a laugh, putting her hand over her mouth so the instructor wouldn't see or hear. She had a feeling that he wouldn't appreciate it.
Gina sat with one of the lifeguards, watching the team as they got ready. She scanned the beach, seeing Stuart and Phil in what appeared to be a semi-friendly conversation, Kerry and Honey gossiping as usual, Libby helping Diane with her lifejacket and Neil...She had to look twice, squinting in the bright sunlight towards the end of the beach where Neil stood with Andrea. He had one hand on her bare waist, and the other in the dark curly hair while his mouth devoured her's. Gina was surprised, of course she knew that Andrea and Neil were involved in some sort of affair, but after Andrea had been exposed as a journalist, she had thought that things had come to an end. Andrea and Neil's jobs had both been on the line and she was surprised that they had rekindled their affair, especially since Philippa was still in the dark.
Phil was surprised by how well he and Stuart managed to get on. They talked a little about Libby and how Stuart had met her. They talked about the holiday so far and how beautiful Majorca was. Yes, it was just small talk but at least they were having a conversation that wasn't fuelled by jealousy or hatred, or trading punches over the handling of a case, or over Sam. It certainly made a change, and Phil was beginning to realise that perhaps Stuart wasn't the monster he had made him out to be in the first place.
Zain was there by Kayla bedside and awake, when she finally emerged from her unconsciousness. He had spent the whole night in her room, sleeping fitfully for a few hours and only leaving twice for coffee and water from the machine in the hall. She smiled when she saw him, but soon enough the confusion set in and she looked around at the machines she was wired up to with fear and concern in her eyes.
"Zain?" She questioned, panic making her voice a few decibels higher. Zain was glad he was here, this was exactly what he had wanted to prevent. "Where am I?"
"You're in hospital," Zain said soothingly, squeezing her hand a little tighter now she was awake. "Something happened to you yesterday when you were at the spa with Libby and they rushed you to hospital. The doctors say you're stable for now, but we won't know more until the doctors do their rounds at eleven." He explained.
Now she knew what was going on and where she was, Kayla felt more relaxed but still her hand moved subconsciously to her stomach.
"All of those times, and you never let me save you. I always had to be the victim." Honey stormed up the beach, away from Dan who followed after with a lost look in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," He apologised, now quite sure what he was supposed to be sorry for.
She turned back to him, his half hearted apology had only made her angrier still.
"Do you think I'm not up to this, that if a situation like that occurred on the job, that I'd just run away and get one of you guys to help?" Honey demanded, not caring if she was making a scene.
Dan tried to pacify her, taking her hands in his but she pulled away from his touch.
"I'm sorry that you're upset Honey," He said, and as much as she hated to admit it, Honey could tell he was being completely genuine this time. "I just want to protect you, I guess."
"You have a funny way of showing it." Honey muttered, walking away from him and this time he had the good sense not to follow her.
"So," Stuart asked, when he and Phil swapped lifejackets for the last time. "Did you and Sam ever make a go of things after we split up?"
Phil laughed bitterly. Usually this topic would have made him want to punch Stuart's lights out but he could tell that the other man was actually interested, not mocking him.
"Not exactly, no. She's not interested, she doesn't trust me not to let her down." He couldn't believe how brutally honest he was being with Stuart of all people.
"I've heard stories," Stuart admitted, it was impossible not to have learned something about Phil's past during his time at Sun Hill. "But everyone can tell that you're different not."
"Sam can't." Phil sighed. "Or maybe she just won't, I don't know."
Stuart looked over to where Nate was making Sam laughed and he shook his head. "And she thinks she can find what she's looking for in a boy like that?" He asked, almost rhetorically.
Phil was surprised, Stuart was actually taking his side on something. Even more surprising still was that he was taking his side in something that involved Sam. As much as he hated to admit it, he was beginning to seriously consider the possibly he really had been wrong about Stuart.
"Good work today," Dale said, as Kerry slipped her dress back on and handed the lifejacket back to Tim.
"Thanks boss." Kerry smirked at him, finding it amusing that even all this way from home on a sun soaked beach he could still manage to sound like her sergeant.
"I enjoyed spending time with you today." He admitted, stopping a few yards away from the bus that would take them back to the hotel in time for dinner.
"I did too." Kerry smiled, finding herself warming to him more and more.
"Buy you a drink later?" He offered, desperately wanting to reach out and touch her, or kiss her. He did not though.
"Okay." Kerry replied with a smile, kissing him quickly on the cheek before turning on her heel and walking towards the bus.
Jo and Millie rode back to the hotel in relative silence, neither of them knowing quite what to say. They were both beginning to see the flaw in their new found relationship; communication. They were both very different people, into very different things and had very little in common. Millie was beginning to wonder if their relationship would fade away to nothing as soon as they returned back to London. She didn't want that, but she was starting to think it was for the best. There was no way they could carry on a healthy relationship when they didn't know what to talk about. She wanted more than just something physical but knew she had to accept that that might be all they could share together.
Diane sat with Honey and Kerry on the way home, pretending she didn't see when Nikki waved her to a free seat beside her. She needed to be with people who would gossip and laugh and take her mind off the man and the woman that were constantly occupying her thoughts. Callum caught her eye across the bus and she instantly looked away, before realising it was rude and that he hadn't done anything wrong. The next time she turned around she made sure she smiled back at him, not realising that she was giving him completely the wrong message.
Hope you liked it! :)
