Sorry I've not been on this for a while and also sorry to all my readers who I have kept waiting for the end of this story. Life just got in the way. But I am back now. Hope you enjoy. Please read and review. Thank you.

Amber French Chambers.

Yvonne

I was daydreaming again I had to be. I was about ten years old, living with my mum, who had been a single parent after my dad had walked out on us some years before. As soon as Dad left I could see her going downhill. She stopped doing things with me, the hugs and kisses slowly ceased, until eventually they halted altogether. For as long as I remembered it had always been me and mum against the world. But when she stopped seeing me as her daughter I discovered I didn't really miss her. I found out that was surprisingly fine with me and it was more than okay with her as long as she had her 'medication' that was.

Her medicine of choice was vodka and tonic and by that time I could mix one perfectly. When she had a glass of that in her had nothing else seemed to matter to her, or even seemed to exist. It was just her and the bottle, a relationship that could only lead to destruction.

I was proven right eventually because when I was sixteen everything came to a head. It was what happened on that day that changed my whole life and was one of the main reasons I left home.

It started out as if it was any normal day in the Rippon household. I had worked out a couple of years earlier that the 'game' as she used to call it wasn't really a game. I knew she was using me and by that point I had already realised she loved the booze more than she did me. I just had to play along until I had saved up enough money to get up and leave the woman who used to be my mother.

All of a sudden I heard her as she called my name from all the way upstairs.

'More medicine for mummy darling'

Her words were always slurred, because she was always in a constant state of drunkenness, always trapped between her made up world and the pain of reality that she just couldn't face. I didn't bother answering, there was never any point, I just went straight over to the cocktail shaker and started mixing. I found the process of making her drinks quite therapeutic as I knew how to do it without thinking, almost as if I were on auto pilot. My mind would go completely blank; I could block out and detach myself from everything.

When I had finished I went up the creaking stairs and timidly pushed at mum's bedroom door. As soon as the door opened, I smelled the now familiar and oddly comforting stench of stale vodka and sweat. Her room looked unchanged as always. Dark, dank and depressing, just the sight of that room could drive anyone to drink. Unwashed clothes were flung all about the room, mingled with used cigarette stubs, some which were still smoking and several broken vodka bottles. All in all, the entire place was a mess as well as being a major health hazard.

Mum matched the room in appearance at least. I couldn't even see her under the mass of blankets that were covering her face. I carefully walked over to her and held out the well used glass without a word. Almost instantly her five inch talons came snaking out from the mass of bed sheets and snatched the glass from my hand without even looking my way. In the blink of an eye the contents of the glass had disappeared, as easy as if it were water. I watched as my mum slowly dissolved back into herself and wished something I could do break her cycle.

It was at that moment I realised I could. When mum asked me for just a little more medicine I just took the glass she handed me and tiptoed into the bathroom, trying not to make too much noise. I remember filling up the glass with water, she was passed the stage of caring. I could have told a mile off. I then went into my bedroom, grabbed hold of my moth eaten holdall and packed as quickly as I could. I walked back into mum's room bag on shoulder, where she was dosing, almost half asleep again so I just put the glass on her bedside table and turned to leave. However something, a feeling pulled me back to her side. I remember l leaned over and kissed her on her forehead.

'Bye Mummy l will always love you'

With those last whispered I closed a door on my old life and opened a new one. I never thought I would see her again. I was wrong.

As we take the lift up to CDU I can't help but look up at Nick's face. Concern is written all over it, creating wrinkles where there once hadn't been any. Once you were a doctor, you never really left the hospital and the prime example of this is standing right behind me. That is why I love him so much. The lift doors open and I feel instantly welcomed back into life, as I come face to face with the sweetest little girl I had ever seen. She was what I used to imagine angels to look like when I was young; blonde curly haired and blue eyed. However, I am distracted from her face when I see the woman who is stood next to her crushing her petite fingers between her thick palms. There is something about the woman's stern expression and wide set eyed that I instantly dislike and it makes me feel uncomfortable. All I can do is stare unblinking at the scared little girl and offer a smile which I hope she will take as reassurance.

Zoe walks up to the woman as me and Nick follow her, Nick pushing my wheelchair at a distracted pace. I know that the expression on the girl's face has got to him too. What is it about this girl?

"Mrs Hope as you requested this is Mr Jordan our lead general consultant and manager of the department. Trust me when I tell you that you can't get any higher than Mr Jordan, he is our most trusted and most respected surgeon. I would trust Mr Jordan with my own life and that is saying something".

"Well we'll see about that won't we? It's very nice to meet you Mr Jordan. My name is Eloise Hope. I run Hope Springs Children Home and this is one of our newest residents. Her name is Chloe Dillon and she is only two and a half, and two of my volunteers who were meant to be keeping an eye on her were distracted earlier and Chloe accidently spilt a cup of hot water over herself. Obviously I brought her straight here as soon as I found out; as the welfare of the children is of the greatest importance to me."

As this woman is speaking I can't help but feel even more uneasy as there is just something about her I don't trust. As Nick sits on the edge of the bed to talk to Chloe I get the distinct impression that Mrs Hope is hiding something. It must have been my police instincts kicking back in. It is in that moment I know Zoe is right. I just needed to prove it somehow.

I ask Zoe to wheel me outside where I voice my concerns to her which she agrees with. We come up with a plan to encourage Mrs Hope to leave the room by making out we haven't got all the relevant information that is needed on Chloe's file.

The plan works like a dream however Eloise seems reluctant to leave Chloe so I tell her that as well as Nick being a surgeon I am a police woman who is currently on a sabbatical. That seems to allay her fears. As she follows Zoe out of the room I can feel her eyes burning into the back of her head. She makes it obvious she doesn't trust either of us. As soon as the door closes Nick removes the poorly arranged dish cloth covering the burn area and attempts to examine it however Chloe gets scared and pulls the duvet cover over her face. Knowing how frightened she must be. l ask Nick to let me have a go. After a bit of persuasion he reluctantly agrees, and so I wheel myself up to the side of the bed and try to bend my head so that it is level with Chloe's.

I start slowly, not wanting to frighten her keeping my voice low and kind. At the sound of my voice Chloe starts to lower the covers, so eventually I see her eyes peeking out from under them. Nick smiles at me and mouths a 'Thank you' in my direction.