Thank you to everyone that reviewed. This chapter's for you. Enjoy! I know it's not much, but it does give you some more information about Alexis' family.

28:

The train ride passed in a bit of a blur. I didn't bother looking round Birmingham in the end- I was a bit, well a tad more than a bit, shell shocked by what had just happened. Still, it was just as well- I didn't have much of my pay cheque left this month. Thankfully it was pay day on Friday. It had been a very expensive couple of weeks.

As it was still early afternoon the trains were nearly empty- my fellow passengers comprised mainly of old gossiping ladies using their free OAP travel passes while they could. As a result, I easily got a seat, pulling up at Derby train station a little over an hour from when I'd first left Birmingham.

From Derby, I got a connecting train to the centre of town. It was cheaper than getting a taxi as I could walk to my flat directly from the station, and I liked to take the opportunity to stretch my legs. On the way, I rang Rach and told her that she needn't bother coming round to visit me that evening. For starters, I'd have great difficulty explaining how the severe road rash I'd described in graphic detail had suddenly disappeared in a matter of hours, and second, I needed time to process what had just happened. Thankfully, she was able to answer my call as the schools had just been let out. Instead of telling her the complete truth, I told her I wasn't feeling up to visitrs as I hadn't managed to sleep very well at the hospital, and I wanted to look over tomorrow's lesson plans. It wasn't entirely false: I was shattered as I'd been out all day on practically no sleep, and I did need to look over my lesson plans for tomorrow, but I still felt bad for lying to my best friend. Luckily, she bought it, and we arranged for her to come and pick me up for netball training on Wednesday. No doubt she'd grill me then, but at least I'd have time to prepare a story to explain my miraculous recovery.

As soon as I got in, I headed straight to Jack and Van's surgery to pick up Monty, not that he'd be at all pleased to see me. Their surgery was open until five, so I knew they'd still be in. The receptionist ushered me straight through to Jack's room when I arrived- I was a regular here. Both me and Monty it seemed, had a tendency to injury ourselves more frequently than most. I saw a client exit Jack's room, just as I was about to enter. They had a Dalmatian trotting alongside them, whose head was now encased in a large plastic cone. Knocking before I entered, I opened the door to see Jack washing his hands at the sink.

"Hey, Lex." He turned to look at me as he spoke, drying his hands on a paper towel, which he then deposited in the bin under the operating table.

"You look much better, Lex. Wait! Where's the…" He trailed off, perplexed, using his finger to indicate where my road rash had been just a few hours ago.

"Burns?" I asked, grinning at his shocked expression.

"Yeah. Yeah, the burns. Just how did they disappear so quickly?"

"My friend's brother is a healer." I explained, and he nodded in understanding. Now I knew Will wanted my family to know about him, but I wasn't quite ready to drop the soulfinder bombshell just yet. I had to work up to that.

"Ah. I see. Well, if he ever needs a job…" He trailed off, his intentions clear. I laughed as he took my forearm, twisting it to examine if fully. "This is incredible! There's not even a scar!"

"He's good, right? I'll pass the message on, but I doubt he'll take you up on it, unfortunately, even though he would be an excellent addition to the team. He's a med student from America, so I doubt he'll want to become a vet in Derbyshire."

"Shame. Still, what a gift to have, hey?"

"Yeah, very handy. Mum and Dad would find it so useful." It was no wonder Xav decided to be a doctor with his talents. Mum and Dad would be so envious.

"Yeah, greenfingeredness and being able to breathe underwater aren't exactly the most useful gifts to have when pursuing a medical career."Jack added, and he was right. Dad would have maybe been better as a landscape gardener, and Mum could have been a world champion free diver, yet they'd both chosen medical school instead. It was where they'd met, in fact. They'd hated each other at first: Dad was a player who'd tried to pull Mum before he'd realised she was his soulfinder. Mum, on the other hand, had hated Dad because he was cocky; he could do well in tests without even having to study, and took every opportunity to flaunt his talents.

They'd finally realised they were soulfinders on a night out in second year when they were both pissed. Yes, I mean both intoxicated and mad at each other. They'd argued, Mum had, without thinking, yelled at him telepathically and the rest was history. They'd spent the rest of the night attached at the lips, and staggered home together. Well, at least that's what their uni friends told us really happened; Mum and Dad told it very differently. They left out his playboy nature, their drunkenness and the fact that they both fell into bed together immediately afterwards.

"True. Still, they haven't done badly." And they hadn't. They'd both managed to have successful careers, regardless of their gifts. It also meant that Dad had a beautiful garden, and that we were all good swimmers. As kids, we always went on holidays near the sea, so that Mum could go and swim amongst the fish and coral reefs, giving her the chance to fully use her gift, undetected. If she went to the swimming baths she'd usually forget to breathe, especially when she played octopushy: a strange game, which was essentially hockey under water. Her not surfacing for ten minutes often resulted in lifeguards jumping in to save her, and her having to give some ridiculous explanation as to why she could hold her breath for so long whilst doing exercise. Needless to say, she had to give up soon after to avoid all the unwanted questions she couldn't give answers to.

"No." Jack echoed. "It's great that they are doctors, really. I mean, they're always having to patch you up." His expression turned serious then.

"Please try and be more careful though, Lex. There are some things even a savant healer can't fix."

"I will, Jack." I promised. He was such a worry wart- exactly like Dad. No wonder he drove Savannah round the bend at times.

"See that you do. Now I'm guessing you're here for Monty?"

"Got it in one." I replied.

"I'll get Melanie to take you through. Mel!" He shouted out the door. Mel was his veterinary nurse, and was absolutely lovely. I'd gotten to know the forty year old well, due to mine and Monty's numerous visits. She came in moments later, dressed in her scrubs.

"Could you take Alexis to get Monty, please?" He asked her.

"Sure." She replied, smiling at me. "He's very popular, Alexis. His presence is causing chaos amongst the females!"

"Why am I not surprised?" I groaned. Monty was such a little Casanova!

"Oh, and Lex." Jack said, just as Mel and I were about to leave. "Call in on 'Van on your way out, would you? I'm sure she'd like to see you."

"Sure." I promised. "See you soon, Jack." Closing the door behind us, I followed Mel to where the dogs were being kept. Sure enough, Monty was the centre of attention and absolutely loving every moment. I had to fight to get him away, much to Mel's amusement. Honestly, Monty would be delighted if I just left him there indefinitely.

Before I left, I called in on 'Van briefly. I didn't stay for long as she was in-between patients, and I didn't want to mess up her schedule, but I talked to her for long enough to know that Jack's over-protectiveness was driving her batty, and that she had ordered even more nursery furniture, which I said I'd come and help her set up. I honestly didn't know what else she could possibly need, but I didn't voice my opinions. I didn't want to upset a pregnant lady, especially one as lovely as my sister-in-law. We also agreed that we needed to go baby shopping soon- I couldn't wait to start buying cute little outfits for my niece or nephew! Savannah had a feeling that she was having a girl, but as they had decided not to know the sex, we'd have to wait for a few more months to find out. For now, I'd have to stick to buying neutral baby grows; the real spending could begin once the baby was born, even though that was so far away! Saying good bye quickly, I headed off home just as her next patient, a loudly miaowing kitten and its rotund owner walked through the door. I did not envy Savannah having to deal with that!

The rest of the evening passed quickly once I'd made it home. Sam rang almost as soon as I passed through the door to see how I was. I explained that Will had sent Xav to fix me up, but I neglected to mention the deal we'd made. I didn't know quite how he'd react to that. I didn't know how to react to it, but I felt it should stay between us. As he and Elinor were heading up to Edinburgh soon, and I wanted to see them before they went, we arranged to meet up on Tuesday evening. As I taught netball after school to the older girls at my school, I didn't finish until half four on a Tuesday, so Sam and Elinor offered to make me tea later that evening. It meant I'd have time to go home and mark the day's work before meeting them later at seven. Elinor was cooking her famous ravioli again. Hopefully I'd get to eat it this time, but I was going to check with Will first. One near miss was one too many as far as I was concerned.

I rang Will as soon as I got off the phone with Sam. I'd completely forgotten to text him to tell him that I'd gotten in safely, and I was hoping he had to- he should have been in London for a couple of hours by now. It rang a few times before he answered.

"Hey, Alexis. I take it you got home safely?" He answered.

"Yeah, I did, thanks. Sorry, I forgot to ring you. I've been back for a few hours now. Have you got to London yet?"

"Yeah, I've just got here. The traffic was horrendous- there was an accident on the M1 and we came to a standstill. I swear we never have this many accidents in the states. It's quite mad! Not to mention the speed limits for miles with all the roadworks!"

"Welcome to the U.K." I replied wryly. Traffic jams were to be expected and embraced.

"Thanks. Look, Lex, I've got to go- I've got a conference call that I can't miss. Is there anything else you wanted to ask?"

"Oh. Sorry. I just wanted to check if it's okay for me to go and see Elinor and Sam tomorrow. It's just I wanted to meet her before they go back up to Edinburgh."

"Alexis, I'm not your keeper. You don't have to ask my permission to do things."

"Yes, but-"

"You're safe, Alexis. I'll warn you not to go somewhere well beforehand if it puts you in danger. Okay?"

"Okay." I echoed.

"Right. Now I've really got to go, sweetheart. You sure there's not anything else?" He asked. I could hear people chattering on the other end of the line.

"No that's all. Good luck with your call."

"Thanks. I'll speak to you soon." And with that he hung up.

Elinor will be introduced in the next chapter, so if you want to meet her at last, please leave a review. Reviews made me write and update quicker! Thanks x