Chapter 13 –

Jeff walked out of resus and immediately headed outside once again, his head was spinning and he needed to sit down. Puffing out his cheeks as he sat on the back of the ambulance he put his hands on top of his head, he had recognised her as soon as they had arrived on the scene and the identification in her purse had only confirmed his thoughts. His thoughts immediately ran to Dixie who was resting at home, probably with a large mug of tea and an even larger bar of chocolate, Jeff knew that there weren't any coincidences and reached for his phone.

Zoe sat in the kitchen, the cup of coffee had gone cold in her hands, it had taken her over twenty minutes to calm Rachel down but in a way she was pleased that Rachel had allowed her to help and take some of the burden away from Sam. Between the two of them they had managed to get Rachel back into bed but Sam had been unwilling to leave her while Zoe had been glad to have a small break before she went home and got some much needed sleep.

"Zoe."

"Oh hi Doctor Hanna, sorry to disturb you."

"Jeff?"

Zoe frowned as she pushed the cold cup away and felt a shiver run down her spine especially as she heard Jeff take a breath and hesitate slightly before he managed to find his voice.

"I've just brought DI Parker in, she was in an RTA, somebody drove into the side of her car."

"No!"

"Zoe I don't pretend to know what is happening but I do know that people are getting hurt."

"How is she?"

Zoe stood up and put her hand on the top of her head as she spoke, the night's sleep that she craved looked like disappearing into the ether.

"She's got some serious injuries but she is stable and conscious, the right leg is a mess."

"I'm on my way, thanks Jeff."

Zoe cut off the call and thumped the table hard, causing the cup of coffee to tremble and spill its contents but Zoe couldn't summon up the energy to care. Heading up the stairs Zoe barely knew what to say but she knew that Sam needed to know.

"Zoe?"

Instantly Sam knew that something was wrong, the expression on Zoe's face gave it away and as Zoe nodded at the dozing Rachel Sam knew that the conversation had to be elsewhere, quietly and carefully she got off the bed and walked onto the landing, turning sideways so that she could see both Zoe and Rachel.

"What's happened?"

Sam's voice was a whisper, almost pleading with Zoe for information.

"DI Parker has been involved in a car accident, someone drove into her."

Sam's mouth dropped open as she stared hard at Zoe who nodded her head slowly to reaffirm that it really was true, instinctively the two women reached out and took a hold of each other's hands, unsure of what they had gotten themselves involved with.

"Is she?"

"Stable at the moment but I'm now heading in to find out for myself, I'll phone you as soon as I have the details."

The silence held for a few moments as the two women turned and looked over at Rachel before Sam shook her head firmly.

"What do I tell her?"

"Honestly Sam I don't know."

"Do you think we're safe here?"

Sam watched in despair as Zoe shrugged her shoulders, but her frustration was not directed at her friend, she knew that they were both devoid of information.

"Stay here and keep your phone close, I'll ring you in thirty minutes if not sooner, if you haven't heard from me by then phone the police."

Sam nodded her head as Zoe squeezed her hands, trying to reassure her that everything was fine but neither of them really felt like it was.

Rachel kept her eyes firmly shut, pretending and hoping that Sam and Zoe would believe that she was sleeping but in reality she had heard every word that had been said, that Alice had been hurt. Immediately the guilt grew in her body, the moment she had uttered her name she had put others in danger, people who had helped her, cared for her and all she had given them in return was bullets and car crashes. Rachel could feel the tears behind her closed eyes as she listened to Sam and Zoe walking down the stairs, she knew that she had to make some decisions and quickly, before anyone else got hurt because of who she was.

Zoe ran into the ED, heading straight to resus as she spotted Linda hovering over the patient. She wasn't expecting to see her friend still at work and caught her breath as she stood next to her, although her eyes were drawn to the figure on the bed.

"Zoe?"

"Jeff phoned me."

Linda nodded her head as she reached out and touched her friend on the shoulder.

"We're taking her up to theatre in a minute."

"I thought that you'd finished?"

"I was leaving when they brought her in, I knew that you had gone to see Sam and thought that it would be a good idea to stick around and find out what happened."

"Thanks Linda."

Zoe smiled as she bent down closer and took a hold of Alice's hand, looking the detective in the eye as she spoke.

"Hey Alice, how are you feeling?"

Alice squeezed Zoe's hand tightly and tried to pull her closer to her, quickly Zoe moved in and helped remove the oxygen mask from her face.

"Rachel and Sam, they're not safe anymore."

"What do you want me to do Alice?"

Zoe knew that it was a hard question to ask the detective given her injuries but she had no idea of what to do for the best.

"The police station or here, I don't want them alone."

Zoe nodded her head before she noticed Alice's stats starting to deteriorate.

"Ok Alice I'll sort it out, you've got to relax and let us take care of you."

Zoe puffed out her cheeks as she saw the porters entering the room to take Alice up for surgery, taking a step back she felt Linda's reassuring hand resting on her back. Knowing that she had to move Rachel once again played heavily on her mind, all the upheaval was not going to be easy on the girl especially when they were trying to ease the trauma not increase it.