Alicia awoke, her head felt like it was exploding, and her body felt really heavy, she suddenly noticed there was a sling round her right arm

'Ouch' she said whilst trying to sit up

'Oh Alicia, this would only happen to you'

A woman was sat by her bed, she had a brown bob and was slightly over weight

'Miss Bridgetown Alicia replied in shock 'what are you doing here?'

'I couldn't not come see you, now give me a hug it's been ages' Alicia, despite the pain went to hug the woman

'I thought you cared miss, I've been gone nearly a year'

'I know hun, things have been busy - what have you been up to?'

'Not much' Alicia knew how miss Bridgetown felt about her mum, and didn't want to bring her up

Instead for an hour they talked about the times they had shared, and laughed at their own private jokes.

After the doctors had given her more pain relief, Alicia fell asleep holding this woman's hand

Just a while after, Rachel came back to see her daughter as she had just packed Alicia an overnight bag, and organised for Eddie to stay over and look after Phil

She drew open the curtains and saw a woman holding her daughters hand 'who the hell are you?'

'Im Penny Bridgetown, nice to meet you, I'm guessing your taking care of Alicia, nice to meet you' she held out her hand

'Umm yes I'm her mum, can I ask what you're doing here' she went to shake the woman's hand, however at this point Penny had dropped hers, and now her face had turned from a smile to anger

'You have absolutely no right to be here' Penny said to Rachel

'Excuse me, who do you think you are, I don't even know how you know my daughter - I think you should leave'

'Right lets take this outside'

Rachel hesitantly left her daughter, and followed the strange woman to the smoking area where she lit up 'want one?' She asked offering Rachel one of her cigarettes

'No thanks, so who did you say you were?'

'Im penny, I was Alicia's house mistress - you met me 12 years ago, when you left her at St Johns'

'Oh... I don't remember' Rachel said

'You wouldn't it was brief, you wanted to get rid of her as soon as possible'

'Yes I know but I'm trying to make up f...' Rachel tried to cut in

Penny turned to look at her 'you think that matters now? A persons childhood is the most important period in their life, and you completely ruined that.'

Rachel opened her mouth to reply, but she was cut off again by Penny

'You wanted to know who I was? I was the person who held that poor girl until she went to sleep after she had nightmares? Me. Who had to help her with her homework? Me. Who had to lend her pocket money when her mum forgot to send it? Me. Who waited in casualty for four hours when she broke her arm last time? Me. I was there for her, and even then I came second to you, and what did you do?' Penny was almost shouting at this point

Rachel looked down at her feet, this woman made her feel so small, yet she was right what had she done

Penny broke the silence 'you've definitely changed, you look different from how I'd thought you'd look'

Again Rachel said nothing

'Look, sorry I have a short temper. Alicia looks happier than I can ever remember her being. But let me tell you, if I even here of anything sounding like she's unhappy or you leave her again. She'll be staying with me, what that girl needs is much deserved love, I don't care if you're her mother or bloody Obama, I will take her and you won't get her back, ok?' Threatened Penny

'Penny, I was an idiot, and I promise you now Alicia will always have a loving home with me. And I'm thankful that she had someone like you to look after her when I wasn't her, and for that I know I'll always be in your debt.' Rachel started to go through her handbag, and got a piece of paper and a pen out 'look here's my address and number, whenever you want to see Alicia, just contact me'

'Thank you Rachel, I'd better be off now, look after Alicia'

Rachel saw Penny into the waiting taxi, and then went back to her daughter

She took hold of her daughters hand and told her 'I'm never gonna leave you lovely girl, ever' Alicia breathed heavily in reply

Rachel stayed there with Alicia until closing time, she kissed her daughter's head and then left 'I'm coming back, I promise' she whispered to the sleeping figure

Next day
Alicia woke up feeling slightly better than the day before, before her eyes had adjusted to the bright white walls she heard a mans voice 'morning sleepy head'

Eddie was sat there, smiling at her

'Hey Eddie, where's Mum?'

'She's just talking to the nurse, want some breakfast?'

'Urgh' she groaned, the hospital dinner last night made her feel sick, so dread to think what the breakfast tasted like

Eddie laughed 'don't worry I'm not talking about there's he pulled out a banana, a packet of crisps and some chocolate

Alicia's eyes widened 'are they for me?'

'Well I could eat them in front of you, but I don't think that's very fair, now eat it quick otherwise I'll even in trouble with the nurse, and even worse your mum'

Alicia giggled 'I quite like you and I'm sorry about the way I behaved when I met you' she then tucked into the chocolate - she was so hungry as she had hardly eaten since the accident apart from the slop they call dinner

'Completely understandable, I want you to know I'm not going to intrude on you and your mother but I do lover her very much. I can't believe there's another Mason in this world, one's hard enough to deal with'

Alicia grinned 'it's ok after that dickhead she married, she needs someone like you! Oh and I'm much worse!'

'Is that possible?' Eddie winked at her, and they both laughed at which point Rachel came in

'What's so funny you too'

'Nothing' both Eddie and Alicia replied in unison

'Hmmm' Rachel said suspiciously

'It's good to see you mum'

'I came last night lovely girl but you were dead to the world, snoring beautifully'

'Just like her mother I bet' Eddie chipped in

'Oi I don't snore!'

Again Eddie and Alicia were laughing, it was true Alicia liked Eddie and was glad her mum had such a lovely guy in her life, who wasn't controlling like Adam, and both of them suited each other perfectly

Alicia was pulled out of her thinking by Rachel 'Right the nurse said you can be discharged in an hour, but you have to rest before school. you have to keep that sling on for another 6 weeks, watch your head so you don't undo the stitches, and did they tell you about your chest?'

Alicia turned round I get out of bed and said 'Umm no, I haven't really been told anything, but I guessed I'd broken my arm - this was a bit of a giveaway'

Alicia lifted up the sling, and immediately regretted it, as pain flew through her arm, getting up so quick had also brought back the dizziness

'Oh Alicia it looks like I'm gonig to have to force you to rest, come in get back in until we go home' Rachel tucked her daughter back in, and perched on the side of the bed

'Alicia, you also have severe asthma, which means you need an inhaler, I'm going to be in charge of that for the first few months until you get into a routine'

Alicia wasn't surprised, she had felt wheezy quite often and she guessed the cigarettes didn't help much either

'Right now me and you when we get home are going to have a little chat, as I don't want you running off like that again, you scared me to death'

'Fine' Alicia groaned 'mum can Eddie stay for tea?' She said this because she liked Eddie but the main reason was to show her mum subtly that she didn't mind Alicia

Rachel beamed at her daughter 'I don't see why not'

Eddie coughed 'do I get a say in this?' Seeing the shocked faces staring at him, he quickly added 'of course I'd love too, god my life is going to be run by blooming women from now on'

They all laughed, it was almost like a proper family.

'Hang on, where's Philip?' Alicia asked

'He's at home, lovely, it'll take him a while to recover from what his mum said, but if it's anything like last time he'll be fine after a few days and he'll come out stronger'

Alicia felt truly sorry for him

'Can you do something for me, you know what he feels like better than anyone, please be there for him and watch out for him at school'

'I will mum, I promise'

After that Eddie changed the conversation to lighter topics until it was time for Alicia to be discharged. With the help of Rachel and Eddie, Alicia got to the car, and they drove home

Review please and thanks to everyone who has been reviewing since the beginning - means a lot :)