"I don't expect so. If I recall, it was you who said we'd not made it," Alec grumbled.
"Well, you're a detective, you went along with it," she reminded him. "I was a bit out of it ya know?"
"Yes, I get that now, well so was I. Seems we had best wait for someone to remember us then? This must be a room they don't use much?"
"Yes, I think that's pretty obvious," Rose agreed. "They forgot the heating to start with. Anyway, we probably didn't feel anything until we woke up and I'm sorry, making ya think we were dead."
"You are forgiven," Alec replied, thinking it had been just as much his fault as hers and if his head hadn't been scrambled, he would have known right away. "About what you said though? I would like to hear more."
"Yeah, maybe I was a bit off my head? Just ignore it," she tried to bluff.
"No way Rose, you were genuinely scared, that won't wash with me. Look, I expect to be out of here soon, when they finally remember us but I would like to come back and see you. I'll leave you my number, you can call me."
"I only told ya 'cos you're in the police, it's classified. Pete's so gonna kill me that I told anyone. So they won't keep ya in then?"
"I expect they will try," he replied. "What's taking them so long?"
"I expect they're discharging those who were in the proper recovery room? I don't fancy their chances of keeping you in," Rose tried to laugh but it hurt.
"Yes and I expect they are locating a private room for Miss Vitex? Rose, I swear I will not tell anyone what you told me, you have my word. I do want to know more though, about what you said. Also, it's not a good idea to tell everyone you thought we were dead when we woke up."
"Yeah, I feel so stupid now," Rose admitted. "So if you still live in Broadchurch, why are you in this hospital?"
"They can't do it locally and I was attending that murder trial," Alec reminded her.
"Oh yeah, sorry. How was it going?"
Alec could have sworn she'd already asked him that.
"Things were not going so well for the prosecution but it could have changed. I don't expect I'll get there tomorrow though but it will only be the closing arguments, then it's up to the jury. Any noise from outside?"
"I can't hear anything, goodness knows where they've stuck us. If they take me off before you get out, leave a card or something with your phone number or ask to see me."
"I expect your parents will be here by now?" Alec wondered.
"Yeah, Sally would have called my mother right away. She must have been frantic if they've not told her anything."
"I expect my ex will be raising a fuss if she bothered to come and see me," Alec mused. "I told her yesterday."
"How long had ya known you were coming in?" Rose asked him.
"A while. I had not seen much of her but I was still working on an old case and I wanted some information."
"You mean Sandbrook?" Rose asked him. "I thought he got away?"
"Yes but I know where his wife is, I was keeping an eye on her to see if she led me to him. I was closing in on them."
"Well good luck with that then," Rose replied, hearing voices outside.
The nurse who was supposed to be watching Rose and Alec had got hold of an orderly. She'd then checked that there was a private room ready for Rose and since she was staying in and Alec Hardy more than likely just staying overnight or going home, decided Rose should go first.
She had the misfortune though of Tess seeing her.
"Are you moving Alec Hardy yet?" Tess asked the poor nurse, who wished the hospital would get organised.
"I'm just going to move the other patient first, then we'll come back for him."
"Is there only you then?" Tess huffed.
"Well no but since Mr Hardy may be going home if the surgeon says he can travel and the other patient is staying in, we have to get her settled first," the nurse tried to explain.
Then they heard talking behind them as Jackie and Pete had arrived, Jackie going to give poor Sally a hug.
"Have they told ya anything?" Jackie asked her when she let go.
"No Mrs Tyler, only they took her into another room because the normal recovery room was full. She's in with someone else," Sally tried to explain.
Ellie heard them talking. If the young woman had said Tyler, was that Rose Tyler, since she thought she recognised Jackie. That would be fun, Hardy in with the Vitex heiress. No doubt they'd attend to her first, seeing who she was. Wait until Tess found out, she could see that going down well.
Tess was just moving away, passing Jackie and had to look twice as the nurse went into where Rose and Alec were.
"Why have we been kept waiting?" Alec asked as they entered and the orderly was taking the brake off Rose's bed.
"Sorry Mr Hardy, I was kept busy in the other recovery room, someone will attend to you shortly. Has someone come to collect you?" she wanted to make certain.
"I expect my ex wife is out there and probably my DS, if you know who I am?" Alec replied, making Rose smile.
"Alec, don't forget that card, will ya?" Rose reminded him as she was about to be moved.
"If I can't leave one, I will ring whatever ward they are taking you to," Alec assured her.
The nurse had to smile to herself it seemed the two of them had been awake for a while and Hardy knew who she was. Trust any male to want to leave their number with Rose Tyler. Jackie was waiting in the corridor and saw Rose.
"Rose! Are you okay sweetheart?" Jackie fussed, trying to get near the bed.
"I'm fine Mum. Is Sally still here? Bring her to wherever I'm taken will ya? She probably saved my life."
"We know that," her mother replied. "Give her your car keys, she can take your car back, someone will take her home from there. I'm not leaving until you get out."
"Yeah, I never thought ya would," Rose managed to smile. "I hope they give me something for this pain."
"It's just everything settling down again," the nurse tried to assure her. "We'll take Rose up to the ward then someone will tell her friend and Mr Tyler where she is," she turned to Jackie.
Pete was sat next to Sally, thanking her for her prompt action earlier.
"It was Rose, she never said anything," Sally told him as he asked why it wasn't spotted earlier.
"Yeah, she does that," Pete had to admit. "Seems her mother must have gone to the ward with her."
Ellie was asking how Tess had got on.
"They were moving someone else first," Tess sounded annoyed.
"Yeah, I think I know who it was," Ellie nodded to where Pete was sat.
"I'm going to see if he can be discharged or if he's staying in," Tess announced as she got up again.
"I wish them luck keeping him in, when he discharged himself twice," Ellie replied.
"I might have known," Tess laughed as she went off.
The nurse had got back to Alec, who was now getting dressed as Tess knocked on the door and went inside, a curtain now around Alec that he'd not known was there before, since it was all the way back.
"Can I go home?" Alec was asking the nurse.
"The surgeon recommended you stayed overnight," the nurse tried to tell him.
"I've spoken to the discharge team, they gave you some painkillers and told you to rest for twenty four hours," Tess informed him. "I expect the painkillers will knock you out."
"I have to go back to court tomorrow," Alec was insisting.
"There won't be anything going on," Tess replied. "Do you happen to know where Claire went Alec?"
"Should I? I told her to leave, I assume she's gone then?"
"I went to the court to see if she'd turned up there, Ellie reminded me where you were."
"So you would not have come otherwise?" Alec wondered.
Tess refused to answer him in front of the nurse, who looked amused if he was giving Rose Tyler his phone number whilst arguing with his ex wife and expecting her to take him home. She thought he had some nerve.
"What do you take me for Alec?" Tess asked. "How could I have told Daisy I wasn't there if you didn't make it?"
Alec thought she very nearly did have to tell their daughter, he'd believed Rose when she'd woken up all confused but her fear of not being accepted into the afterlife still puzzled him. Surely it made no difference, she was here now. He wanted to learn more but the way he was feeling now, he would be out of it tomorrow then Friday, he would have to finish up in court and hope there would be some justice.
Maybe Claire would turn up in court, if she'd left the cottage, since he'd made sure she didn't know where he lived. Maybe he'd flushed her out, she would seek out her husband and now he had nowhere to go, she may give him up. Well he could hope but he was already feeling the effects of the aesthetic had worn off and a pain coming on.
"Take me back home Tess," he asked her, coming out from behind the curtain.
"Well I doubt Ellie would take you home," Tess replied.
"What's she doing here?" Alec wanted to know.
"Maybe because you sent her a text at the last minute?"
"I never told her to come," he complained. "Can I go now?" Then he remembered his promise to Rose but he never carried any cards on him since being on sick leave. "I have to call at the main desk and leave a message for someone."
"Who do you know in here Alec?" Tess wanted to know. "Oh, I heard you were in here with Rose Tyler. What happened to her?" she laughed.
"A burst appendix, apparently, we didn't talk much, the nurse came in," he admitted.
"Then why give her your phone number?" Tess was curious.
"She wanted to know what happens at the court, I mentioned that was where I was going back to when I got out," he lied.
He had made Rose a promise and he wasn't going to break it. Tess took him out to the main desk, Alec taking his notebook out of his pocket that he still carried with him.
"I need to leave a message for a patient," he told the receptionist as he scribbled his name and mobile number then folded it and wrote 'Rose Tyler' on the front.
The woman saw the name. "Are you sure she's a patient here?" he was asked.
"Yes, I'm certain, check your computer," Alec suggested. "She was admitted earlier today, make sure she gets this note, if you will?"
Ellie was watching with amusement as Tess shrugged her shoulders.
"What's all that about?" Ellie asked her.
"I don't know Ellie, he wakes up in the same recovery room as Rose Tyler and suddenly wants to leave her his number. He came up with some lame excuse, not that I actually believe him," Tess replied.
"Are you taking him back to Broadchurch?" Ellie asked, hoping she would.
"I promised Daisy I'd look after him, that's the only reason," she told Ellie.
Rose was settling in her room as Sally and Pete joined them.
"Thanks for all you did Sally," Rose told her. "Can you go back to the hotel, I left my car keys in my room."
"Sure Rose, your stepfather already asked me. I'll see you when you get back to work."
"I could be a while," Rose smiled as her mother sat by her bedside. "I reckon I'm owed a few weeks to recover, Dad?"
"Yes, okay, I get it Rose," Pete joked. "Get fit to travel then decide where you want to go. Sally, can you come back later and give me a ride back, then I'll drive back down tomorrow. Jackie, while I was waiting, I booked a double room at a nearby hotel, just get a cab to it after visiting times are over."
That all arranged, a nurse asked them all to leave while Rose was given something to eat, Jackie saying she would go book in the hotel with Pete and Sally would collect him from there. Rose was relieved to have some time to herself. An auxiliary nurse came in with her food and a note.
"This was left for you at reception Miss Tyler."
"Oh, thanks. Please call me Rose."
She unfolded the piece of paper to see Alec had written his name and number. Smiling, she put it on the over-bed table the nurse wheeled over to her.
"Was it important?" the nurse asked her.
"A little, it was from someone I met earlier."
She felt like adding and not died with but stayed quiet. It still bothered her, what she'd said to him as it was coming back to her. How could she be accepted if she didn't belong there, let alone being called. She knew Alec had only being trying to take her mind off it by saying she was here now and that counted but how could she be on the list if she was never born here?
She had to try to explain that to him, if he'd even listen but he'd not run when she admitted she was from another world but was that because he was still coming round, would he feel different about it when he'd recovered? She couldn't tell Pete she'd told Alec, just in case if she rang him he'd tell her to forget it and she was still under the effects of the anaesthetic when she said that.
As her mother got settled into the hotel and Pete made sure she had enough money for cabs later, Alec was back at his riverside home, Tess making fun of it and he was sitting by the river talking to his daughter as Tess gave him some painkillers.
"So, no more grumpy dad?" Daisy was teasing him.
"Hey, less of the grumpy," he actually smiled. "When I woke up, I was rather hoping you would start talking to me again?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry Dad, I'll answer the next time you call, I promise. Any chance you'll come for a visit?"
"I have some things to clear up then I will, maybe next week eh?" he offered.
He ended the call, handing Tess her phone back.
"You'd better keep your word Alec," she warned him.
"It was you who kept her away Tess," he argued. "Where are you staying tonight since you offered to look after me?"
"On your sofa?"
"Have you seen that sofa? There's a room at the back, it's not much but it's comfortable enough for one night."
"I thought you'd be bragging to Daisy you met Rose Tyler in the hospital?"
"She may not have believed me," he replied.
"Well I'd say you imagined her being there but I saw her parents. Get some rest Alec."
As he got into bed, all he could think about was waking up in the recovery room and Rose Tyler was in the next bed and wondered if she'd got his note. His note had got put on Rose's locker, her mother tidying up having bought her some magazines downstairs and some drinks but just as Jackie was leaving, having brought her phone, Rose asked for her to pass them over.
"Don't ya think he'll be asleep by now?" she was asked.
"Yeah, maybe? He said someone would be collecting him," Rose replied, not wanting to say it was his ex wife.
"Well you need some rest as well, I'll be back tomorrow afternoon, your dad will be back by then. Since you're in a private room, I don't know why ya can't have extra visiting hours."
"I expect the staff have things to do Mum," Rose replied, not wanting her mother there from morning until night since she hoped she'd get a visit from Alec when he'd recovered.
Alec had settled down for the night, Tess putting her own and his mobiles on silent so as not to disturb him, since his bedroom door didn't seem to close properly. She heard his mobile buzzing to see it was Ellie.
"Oh, is he asleep?" Ellie asked when Tess answered for him.
"Yeah, I don't really expect him to come round until sometime tomorrow, he's best sleeping it off. Give me a call tomorrow, let me know how it goes in court so I can tell him," Tess replied.
"I might come over afterwards, I have to go see Tom anyway, he's really upset after the defence used him to try to win."
"Why, what did they do?" Tess asked her.
"Trying to get his dad off by twisting Tom's words, that was low even for them," Ellie told her. "So, how was he when you got him back home?"
"Same as ever," Tess laughed, hoping he wasn't listening. "Maybe he'll be different when he wakes up."
All the next morning, Rose was debating if she should call Alec or not but maybe he was still a bit out of it? She fell asleep anyway and was woken by a nurse bringing her lunch.
"Has anyone rung and asked about me?" Rose asked hopefully, since she'd not given Alec her number.
"No, sorry Miss Tyler, where you expecting anyone to?" she asked, seeing Rose's phone on the bedside cabinet.
"Maybe? It doesn't matter. So, when do I get out of here?"
"I've not been told, sorry," she was told.
Rose waited until late afternoon and decided to at least send him a text to see how he was.
Tess picked up the phone and saw it was an unknown number, Rose forgetting to unblock hers from being sent to those not in her contacts. She saw the message asking how he was though and assumed it could only be from who was in the hospital recovery room with him. She thought she'd better not answer it though. Just after four, Ellie tapped on the cottage door and let herself in.
"He's not awake yet?" Ellie asked Tess.
"No, I expect he'll be up soon though?" Tess mused.
Alec woke with a start, sitting up in bed and it wasn't from drowning in the river all over again or the panic his heart had stopped and it was all over for him. He carefully got out of bed, put his jeans on and a jumper over his t-shirt, though he stood in the doorway as he did so.
"Welcome back," Tess told him, Alec annoyed Miller was there. "I'll make you a cuppa then?"
"What are you doing here Miller?"
"Nice to see you too," Ellie huffed. "I came to give an update on the court. The jury have been sent home."
While Tess was waiting for the kettle to boil, she spotted something on the 'incident' board Ellie had made a few days earlier.
"I knew I'd seen this name before," she realised as she picked up a 'post-it' note with Gary Thorpe on it.
"Tess, did anyone call while I was out?" Alec wanted to know, ignoring her comment.
"Sheesh Alec, this is more important than your social life," Tess replied, getting a smile from Ellie, who would have loved to have seen the two of them when they were still married. "Yes, there was a message from an unknown number asking how you were and I can only assume it was from the woman in the recovery room?"
"It's nothing to do with you if it was," he replied, thinking he'd have to make his own drink since Tess had gone back to the wall.
Alec thought well at least Rose had got his number but she must have forgotten to unblock her number. He'd just have to wait for her to try again or call the hospital and see where they'd put her. As they made more discoveries about the Sandbrook case now Tess was interested, saying she still wasn't re-opening the case yet, Alec was determined he was going to light a fire under Lee Ashworth and Claire. Rose was hoping he'd have woken up by now and before her mother came back later, hopefully with her stepfather, since her mother was a bit overbearing at times, she tried Alec's number again.
Ellie had finally gone to see Tom and Tess was getting ready to leave just before six, assuming he'd no longer invite her to stay.
"You don't have to leave Tess," he relented.
"Yes, I do, I have to get back to Daisy and you don't need me here now. So, what are you doing about Rose Tyler?"
"What about her?" he asked, trying to get out of the fact he'd left his phone number at the desk for her.
"You wouldn't have left your number if you didn't want her to contact you Alec."
"So what if I did eh? She was a bit scared when she woke up, she thought she was on her own and they'd just left her, since she woke before me. I just tried to assure her she'd not been left and someone would check on us," he replied, not wanting to tell her the rest.
"If you say so. Why didn't she leave her number then?"
"You know who she is Tess, she probably always blocks her number and not had time to put my number in her contacts. She's probably only just coming around herself, she'll be on more painkillers than I am, she'll realise when I don't call her back."
"I'm surprised you've not called the hospital then," Tess smiled, thinking she'd leave him to it, he seemed to be infatuated by her.
"I may do if she doesn't call back tonight."
When Tess finally left and had been to get him a few basic groceries, he tried to find out which ward Rose had been put in. Rose's mother and stepfather had gone back to see her, Rose trying to persuade one of them to go home.
"Well I'm staying," Jackie huffed, Rose hoping her stepfather would persuade her Tony was missing them both.
"When are you getting out?" Pete wondered.
"Looks like it'll be after the weekend?" Rose wondered, feeling the medication was wearing off.
"They have to get your pains under control," her mother reminded her, having been told the doctors insisted they stabilised them before discharging her.
Rose was thinking great, her mother would be fusing over her all weekend but would be ten times worse once she got home. Maybe she could ask Alec to rescue her by inviting her to spend a few days in Broadchurch instead of going home? She dare not suggest it to her mother until she was sure he'd agree. They were interrupted by a nurse tapping on the door with a portable phone in her hand.
"Miss Tyler, there's a call for you," the nurse held the phone out.
"Thanks. Rose Tyler here," she continued without thinking.
"Hello, Rose Tyler, still in the land of the living then?" Alec tried to joke, since Miller had repeatedly told him he had no sense of humour whatsoever.
"Hi Alec, yeah, I'm still here," Rose grinned, Pete having been told what had happened and trying to grab her mother's arm and mouthing 'leave her Jackie'.
"Well, I am glad to hear you have not left us then," he replied, thinking that could mean anything if anyone was listening. "I saw your message but you neglected to leave your number."
"Yeah, sorry, I've been a bit out of it and now the painkillers are wearing off."
"I can call back another time?" he offered.
"No, it's fine, they'll get around to it. So, how are you then?"
"Much better, I sent my ex wife back home. She knows it was you in the recover room with me, sorry."
"Don't worry about it. So are you going back to the court tomorrow?"
"Yes, it should all be over. I will try to come and visit you, if you want?"
"Well my mum will be here but I can talk her into taking a break. Yeah, I'd like you to visit, just no talking about not making it."
"Yes, we will change the subject but I meant it, I want to know more as to why you were so worried."
"Then I'll talk to my stepfather about it. You just get that court case over with, yeah?"
"Yes, I'm sure it will all be over tomorrow but something came up on that old case of mine, if the court is over first thing, I have a few things to finish."
"You mean ya might solve it?" Rose asked.
"Well hopefully get most of it out of the way, I may not be finished until late."
"Don't worry about it, do what ya have to do. I'll be here over the weekend, then I was thinking instead of going home, maybe I could stop off somewhere for a few days. Any suggestions?"
Alec let out a laugh. Surely she didn't mean with him, in Broadchurch? No-one, especially him could be that lucky.