An: not really sure where I'm going with this, any suggestions on what you want to see happen? Please review xx

XxX

Alex sat with her arms wrapped around herself as she waited nervously for Gene's doctor. She closed her eyes fighting off another headache. She couldn't remember what she'd said to the woman on the desk but the woman had told her to wait whilst she fetched Mr Hunt's doctor. So many thoughts were going around in her head, she didn't understand and she didn't like not understanding.

Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching she lifted her head to see a man, maybe in his late forties wearing a white coat.

"DI Drake, I'm Dr Beauregard, I've been Mr Hunt's doctor for the last three years..." He shook Alex's hand. "I understand you're a friend of Mr Hunt's?"

She nodded. "Yes. But we've not be in touch in a long time and I myself had a bit of an incident..." She moved her hair to show her scar. "Is he...how is he?"

"Well, until recently there was very little brain activity. Then a couple of months ago he spoke, said the word 'Bolly', he seemed concerned when he said it, like he'd done something wrong..."

"Bolly is his nickname for me." Alex explained.

"He must be thinking about you..." The doctor smiled. "There was a brief period of increased activity but since then...he's been back to the way it was before..."

"Can I see him?"

"Were you close?"

"Yes. We were. Please, I would like to see him..."

"He must care for you, if you're the only name he's spoken since coming here."

Alex smiled sadly remembering how Martin Summers had told her that the only word she had said since arriving at the hospital was 'Gene'. "I believe he does yes..."

"Follow me, Inspector Drake."

Alex got up and followed Dr Beauregard along a long corridor. He led her to the room at the end of the corridor. Alex saw the name on the room ' ', she didn't know why she was shocked that he was having private treatment.

He opened the door. "I'll come and check on you soon but I'll leave you alone for a while."

He moved aside allowing Alex to enter the room. She kept her eyes on the ground as she entered the room, not quite ready to see him. She heard the door shut behind her and out of the corner of her eyes she saw the edge of the bed. Hanging off the edge she saw the medical chart. Everything was so white, the smell of disinfectant was overwhelming. She'd become used to the smell of whisky and tobacco. She let her eyes travel up.

She saw him. Him lay there motionless with all kinds of wires attached to him. He looked the same, like he was just sleeping. A sob escaped her lips and she moved closer to his bed. She put her hand to her mouth. She couldn't believe it. Seeing him like that, he looked like the same man but in the hospital bed he seemed so vulnerable. She didn't like it. She was used to him being the strength keeping her together.

She closed her eyes as the image of him shooting her came back into her head. She shook her head to try and get rid of the image but regretted doing it instantly as it caused her head to spin. She sat down in the chair beside his bed.

"I forgive you, Gene" She said softly. "I know you didn't mean to shoot me...I...I hope they didn't arrest you...not that you'd let them..."

XxX

Gene pushed the door of the office open to be greeted by the darkest of CID at night time. Empty. Good. He'd been gone for almost three months and nothing seemed to have changed.

He moved closer into the room to see something on the door of his office. On closer inspection he saw that there was a new name on the door. "DI Ray Carling..." He read out loud. "Give me strength..."

He pushed the door opened and let it shut behind him. He looked around him. "What has he done?" He said seeing that Ray had rearranged everything on his desk and had gotten rid of his filing cabinet.

Gene sat down at his desk and took a small key from his pocket. He unlocked the bottom draw of the desk and opened it. Inside was a folder filled with all the information on the police corruption investigation he and Alex had worked on and all the notes they'd made on it. He picked it up, put it on the desk in front of him and opened it. The first thing in it was a page of notes Alex had written, her neat handwriting saying suggestions on where to look next and her scribbles showing where she'd changed her mind.

He ran his hand over his face. He'd shot his DI. That was bad. He'd made some pretty big mistakes in his time but shooting his DI was by far the worst. Not just any DI though, Alex. She was more than a DI. She was a pain in the neck who drove him up the wall but at the same time she kept him together, she stopped him going too far. She was the most infuriating person he'd ever met and he didn't really understand what she was talking about half the time but she was still...well she was Bolly. She was the person he'd sit up with till it was stupid o'clock in the morning and neither of them could remember what they'd originally been talking about.

Looking through the windows of his office he could see her desk, it was still the same as she had left it. He thought back to the day of the Douglas Lane robbery, he'd thought she was a liar but she wasn't...he regretted everything he'd said to her.

He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts as the tv in the main office turned itself on. He got to his feet and cautiously stepped out into the main room. There was no one around.

The TV showed nothing but static. Gene stepped closer. Suddenly the picture changed. A woman sat by a bed, a hospital bed, he couldn't tell who was in it. He stepped closer still. The angle of the shot changed to show the woman's face. Alex.

"I forgive you, Gene. I know you didn't mean to shoot me...I...I hope they didn't arrest you...not that you'd let them..." She laughed slightly. "I wonder if you can hear me...you probably can't..."

She looked sad, she looked away for a second and when she looked back she had tears in her eyes. "I don't understand. I don't...I don't know what's real...and there's no one I can talk to...now I know that what happened to me happened to you and I just..."

Gene looked around then back at the screen. How could he be seeing Alex? How could she be...there? He want drunk so why was he seeing Alex in the TV? He crouched in front of it studying her face on the screen. "What's going on Bolls..." He said under his breath.

Suddenly the tv screen went back to static and she was gone. He ran his hand over his face. Alex didn't make sense on a normal day and now she seemed to be on the tv screen?

He stood up properly. He needed a drink.

XxX

"Are you okay, inspector?" Dr Beauregard asked waking into Gene's room to find Alex with her head in her hands.

She lifted her head. "Headache..." She replied. "Apparently getting shot in the head causes them..."

"That I can believe." He smiled smiled slightly walking over to the monitors. "Huh..."

"What?" Alex asked sensing the doctor has noticed something on the monitors.

"It's just...since you've been here his brain activity has increased. Its almost as though he's thinking...like he's trying to...solve a puzzle or something..." The doctor explained. "His heart rate has increased slightly too. He can tell your here clearly..."

Alex swallowed. "Do you think he can hear me?"

"Quite possibly." The doctor nodded. "I think you're going to do him good, inspector."

With that the doctor left her again.

Alex looked back at Gene. "It's strange isn't it..." She said even though he couldn't respond. "This time your in a coma and I'm trying to get you to wake up..."