Chapter 33

Jenny was sat back in a very uncomfortable rickety chair beside Nick's hospital bed, staring blankly up at the long artificial light above her. She had a luke-warm coffee clutched in her hand that Abby had got for her before she had left, but Jenny only continued to sip it to have something to do with her fidgety hands. Her stomach felt horribly clenched, full of nauseating terror that re-doubled every time she glanced down at Nick's drawn and ill-looking face.

If he dies, that's it . . . she thought to herself, I can't go on without him . . .

Truth be told, they hadn't been at the hospital very long. The ARC medical team had worked furiously to keep Nick alive until the hospitals re-opened, and he had then been transferred to the nearest one immediately. Connor and Abby had been by, and she had vaguely heard them telling her that the remaining creatures had been contained, and the anomalies had disappeared entirely, not that she even really cared at this point. Apparently, the creatures bodies had been destroyed, and the after-team were in the midst of cleaning up the city before the evacuated public could be all moved back in.

All meaningless, Jenny had thought to herself, but she had nodded along as best she could, trying to look like she actually gave a damn about the public.

But now, quite frankly, a million anomalies could open up all around the world and she still wouldn't move from beside Nick's bed. As she stared at him some more, she did notice that he looked a little better since he had been given the anti-venom; at the very least, he had stopped having fits, which she was sure was a good thing. But the doctors had told her that, even with the anti-venom and with his wound stitched up, his chances of survival were slim.

Both Abby and Connor had wanted to stay with Jenny as she waited for Nick to regain consciousness, but she had insisted that they go and check on how everything was coming along, not being able to cope with anyone else's emotions on top of her own. Begrudgingly, they had left, leaving her to her own horrific thoughts.

Why hadn't she been able to forgive Nick when she'd had the chance? Why couldn't she have just swallowed her bloody pride and accepted his apology? Now, she may never be able to take it all back. She may never get to tell him that she still loved him.

And it was killing her.

Sighing heavily, her thoughts unwillingly drifted to all those times when they had been happy. There were too many to count of course, but one in particular seemed to float to the front of her mind, causing her to smile faintly.

x x x

Jenny tapped her pen impatiently against the bulky file in front of her, unable to summon the will to keep filling in all these soul-crushingly dull reports. She glanced up absently, and her eyes rested on a disgruntled-looking Cutter, who was making his way across the ARC main room. She laughed to herself as she noticed that he was covered in some sort of slimy gunk. Something must have happened at the anomaly he had just come back from. She watched him as he said something to Lester, before turning his heel and walking of towards the locker room - probably to wash all the muck off him.

She looked back down at her file, and the small part of her that was still an immature student whispered to her that the mound of work would still be there when she got back. Smiling to herself again, she stood up and straightened out her pencil skirt, before strutting off in the direction of showers.

When she reached them, she could hear the water running heavily, and she was greeted with a face full of steam when she pushed the wooden door open. There were several cubicles in there, but only one of them seemed occupied, the curtain of which had been haphazardly pulled across. In the gap between the curtain and the tiling; she could see Nick showering, completely oblivious to her presence.

Stifling a laugh with difficulty, she reached up and pulled the curtain back in one swift motion. Nick looked round, his eyes widened with surprise, but as soon as he saw it was her, his face relaxed into a smile.

"Get a bit messy at the anomaly sight, did it?" she asked, leaning against the cubicle with an amused grin.

"Aye," he nodded, his eyes twinkling. "Are you here to supervise me to make sure I bathe thoroughly?"

She chuckled slightly and folded her arms. "Actually, I'm here to make sure that my fiancé didn't do himself serious injury before our wedding. I can't very well walk down the aisle if my husband-to-be has a head missing or something."

"But as you can see, I'm all here," he laughed, gesturing down to himself.

She looked him up and down, inhaling slowly. "Yes you are," she stated with a sweet smile.

"Well, now that you're here . . ." he trailed off, gesturing behind him. "Care to join me?" he asked cheekily.

She laughed ruefully. "Well now that you mention it . . ." she said slowly and deliberately, reaching up and beginning to unbutton her white blouse, ". . . filling in reports all day is dirty work . . ."

He reached forward and pulled her into the cubicle with him, grinning from ear to ear as he closed the curtain behind them. The hot water cascaded over them both as they kissed, and his hands travelled up her body slowly, before ripping the saturated blouse from her shoulders with a sense of urgency.

He pushed her up against the cold tiles as their kiss deepened -

The shower room door suddenly burst open and they broke apart quickly, both automatically looking around to see if the curtain was going to be pulled open. As Jenny strained her ears, she heard a cheerful-sounding whistle over the sound of running water.

It was Connor.

Jenny exchanged a look of mingled shock and amusement with Nick as the sound of a second shower being turned on became discernable. They could hear Connor shuffling out of his clothes, still whistling loudly.

Finding the whole situation rather hilarious, Jenny giggled slightly, putting her forehead on Nick's shoulder.

"Ssh!" he hissed in her ear, still keeping her pressed against the wall, looking completely mortified.

Then, unexpectedly, Connor started singing at the top of his lungs.

"And when you get the chance . . ." he belted out, badly out of tune, ". . . you are the Dancing Queen! . . . Young and sweet . . . only seventeeeeeeen!"

That was it - Jenny couldn't contain herself. She burst out laughing before she could stop herself, and immediately, Nick clamped his hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her.

"Dancing Queen!" Connor continued, completely oblivious to Jenny's hysterics. "Feel the beat from the tambourine . . . OH YEAHHHHHH!"

Jenny doubled over in a silent fit of laughter, and Nick even smiled himself as he desperately tried to shush her.

"Youuuu can dance! Youuuu can jive! Having the time of you're life . . . OOOOOHHH!"

"Stop it woman!" Nick chided Jenny in an undertone, as she still shook with the effort of suppressing her laughing.

Trying in vain to calm herself, Jenny took a deep breath, only to inhale a large mouthful of water as she did so, causing her to cough loudly.

"Jesus Christ!" Cutter moaning in a resigned tone, clapping his hand to his forehead.

However, Connor still seemed a completely unaware of their presence, and before long, he had left the shower room all together, taking his out of tune song with him.

Jenny and Nick both looked at each other, and burst out laughing in unison. When they had finally composed themselves, Cutter reached up and brushed her drenched fringe away from her face. "Now . . . where were we?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.

Later on, when she was dry and changed, Jenny headed over to the Anomaly Detector, holding a thin file in her hands. She reached Connor, who was swivelling casually in the chair, and dropped the file onto his lap.

"Paperwork for you to fill in," she said, answering his quizzical look.

"Great . . . thanks . . ." he mumbled sarcastically as he picked up the file and began skimming through it.

"You're welcome," Jenny replied as she turned to head back to her office, "Dancing Queen," she added with a grin.

His head snapped up immediately, and his eyes were wide with shock. "But how - how did you - ?"

"Oh don't worry - your secrets safe with me," she said in a forced-serious voice, before giving him a wink and sauntering off, leaving him gapping in disbelief after her.

x x x

What she wouldn't give to go back to that time. Everything was so much simpler back then . . . she had known exactly what she wanted out of life, and she had known that, no matter what, she and Nick were just meant to be. That was before she found the photograph of Clauida of course. God, how much she wished she'd never found it; then she and Nick would still be as happy as they ever were. Maybe ignorance certainly was bliss . . .

Straightening up and wincing slightly as her bandaged ribs gave a particularly nasty twinge, she put the polystyrene cup down on the table a little harder than she meant to, causing the now stone-cold coffee to slop everywhere. Cursing under her breath and shaking her damp hand, she didn't notice that Ben was in the room until he was standing right next to her.

"You okay?" he asked her, making her start.

"God, you really need to break this little habit you've got of creeping up on me!" she snapped, clutching her chest as her heart struggled to return to its normal rate.

"Sorry," he murmured, his cool gaze turning to Nick. "How is he?" he asked in a strained voice.

"Not good," she replied quietly, leaning back in the chair and focusing on Nick again. "They said that he's in a critical but stable condition. I mean, what the hell does that even mean? Surely you can only be one or the other?"

"They probably mean that he hasn't got much better, but he hasn't got much worse either," he replied in a tone that could be construed as comforting.

Jenny snorted and ran her hand over her forehead, feeling both physically and emotionally drained. She only looked up again when she felt Ben rest his hand on her shoulder.

"He might pull through you know," he said, squeezing her slightly.

"Do you even care?' she bit back, probably unnecessarily.

He withdrew his hand abruptly. "Well I'm here aren't I?"

"Well, it wasn't so long ago that you were talking about gassing him," Jenny pointed out, for some reason, finding arguing a good distraction.

"I saved his life," he snapped angrily.

"Begrudgingly," she muttered, jerking her foot impatiently. "Where have you been anyway?"

"With your boss," he answered, walking away from her and over to the window.

"James?" she asked, distracted as she looked round at him. "Why?"

"He was just informing me of his plans for myself and my colleagues," he replied, still gazing absently out of the window.

"And?" Jenny pushed.

"Well . . ." he began, turning round to face her and leaning back on the low window-sill. "My colleagues are to be kept here, in the ARC cells. Apparently, your boss wants to create a cover story for the media around them - say that they're the caught terrorists and all that."

"And you?" Jenny asked in trepidation.

"I'm to return to my own time," he said, not quite meeting her in the eye as he did so.

Jenny stood up, probably a little faster than was really wise considering her injuries. "But . . ." she began, not quite knowing why this information was as painful to hear as it was. "But you can't . . . too much will have changed - "

"I don't belong here mum," he interrupted in an unnaturally gentle tone. "Well, at least this version of me doesn't."

She walked up to him, and for the first time, he looked her in the eye, and she saw a flicker of sadness stare in their depths.

"You don't want to go," she guessed, making a statement, not asking a question.

He seemed to hesitate slightly before replying. "No," he conceded. "No I don't. But I've got to go. I can't just make a life for myself here."

"Why not?" she questioned.

He smiled slightly. "God, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually didn't want me to leave?"

"Well . . ." she said, shrugging slightly, "maybe I don't . . ."

His grin broadened. "Really? I though you hated me."

"You know that's not true," she said, shaking her head. "I - I - "

He reached over and rested his hand on her arm. "I'll miss you too," he said slowly, as though he didn't quite enjoy saying it, but sounding genuine all the same.

She returned his smile with a gentle one of her own. "Well, I knew that anyway," she said, raising her eyebrow at him. "I mean, how could you not?"

He chuckled slightly as he dropped his arm back down to his side. "God, one thing you can't be accused of is being modest is it?"

She shook her head slightly with a rye smile. "Not a chance. So when are you leaving?"

"Well . . . that's the thing . . ." he said, shifting his gaze to the floor again, looking rather guilty. "I've got to go now. I'm hear to say goodbye."

She snapped her head up, feeling unreasonably upset. "But - "

"Let's not make this any worse than it has to be," he cut her off, his usually cool eyes looking a lot warmer as he surveyed her. "I've done what I came here to do, and now I've got to go. Let's just leave it at that."

He held out his hand, taking her by surprise by his formality. Slowly, she put her hand in his, and he shook it briskly.

"It has honestly been a pleasure meeting you," he said, keeping a tight grip on her hand. "And even though half the time you made me want to bang my head against a brick wall, I honestly wouldn't take back getting to know you."

She smiled again, feeling tears well in the corners of her eyes. "Well, even though you kidnapped me and threatened to shoot me and all, it hasn't been totally horrible meeting you either."

He tittered slightly, and rested his other hand on top of hers. "Take care of yourself, yeah?" he said in firm voice.

She smiled, and with a curt nod, he dropped his hands from hers and turned to leave. She watched him go, feeling an overwhelming sense of loss that she wasn't sure what to do with on top of everything else. Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, he turned on his heel and marched back to her, pulling her into a firm but gentle hug. After her surprise had subsided, she hugged him back as tight as her sore ribs would allow, thinking that despite everything that had happened between them, she really wished that he could stay.

"I'm sorry for everything I put you through," he said in an unsteady voice, speaking into her hair. "I only did it all to - "

"I know," she interrupted firmly. "Thank you for saving my life - for saving both of our lives," she corrected as they broke apart.

He nodded and planted a gruff kiss on her cheek. "Look after little mini-me won't you?" he said with a forced smile.

"Of course I will," she replied, looking to the ceiling to fight back the tears.

He nodded again, giving her a reassuring grin before backing away, and leaving the room without looking back again.

Breathing hard to calm herself down, Jenny ran her fingers back through her hair, feeling like she'd aged twenty years in these last few days. As her eyes absently travelled the room, they rested on a telephone sitting on the bedside table, and immediately, she walked over and picked it up, dialling quickly.

Ring ring . . . ring ring . . . ring ring . . .

"Hello, Felicity Lewis speaking?" a very familiar posh voice answered.

"Mum, it's me," she said, aware that her voice was still shaking, so she cleared her throat to try and restore a bit of normality to her tone.

"Jennifer!" her mother exhaled, sounding incredibly relieved. "Thank God you're okay! The stuff we've been hearing on the news - "

"How's Ben?" Jenny interrupted, not particularly interested in what garble Lester had fed to the journalists.

"He's fine," her mother replied, still sounding overjoyed to hear from her. "He's been asking for you non-stop though - "

"Mum - it's over," Jenny cut her off again. "The threats gone, and they're going to start moving the public back tomorrow. Is there any chance you could come back now?"

"Of course," she replied, sounding a little taken aback. "But if they're not letting anyone in until tomorrow - "

"If anyone gives you any hassle, just tell them to call me," Jenny informed her, knowing what she was going to say. "Come and meet me in the Royal Hospital with Ben."

"Hospital?" her mum exclaimed, sounding suddenly panicked. "What are you doing in the hospital?"

"It's Nick," she explained, her voice wavering again. "He's been hurt really badly."

"Why - what happened?"

"I - I can't say," Jenny replied automatically, although truthfully - she didn't think that 'Oh, a giant prehistoric centipede poisoned him' would be very well received.

Her mother seemed to hesitate on the other side of the phone, as though she wanted to say something, but didn't know quite how to phrase it. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked eventually, actually sounding mildly concerned.

"I - " Jenny began, feeling the emotion build up in her chest. "I don't think so mum . . . not this time . . ."

"Then do you really think I should bring Ben to the hospital?" she asked tentatively. "Do you really want him to see his father like that - ?"

"I don't care mum," she snapped, her sorrow coming out as anger. "I want to see my son, okay?"

"Okay," her mum said hurriedly. "Okay - whatever you think's best. I'll see you in about five hours."

"Thank you," Jenny said shortly, before slamming the phone down with unnecessary force and turning her gaze back to her unconscious husband.