Tom was expecting some amount of awkwardness at the very least when Sam awoke but instead she simply sat up in bed, gently moving his arms off of her in the process, and gave him a small smile.
"Morning." She said in a perfectly calm voice.
"Good morning-just about" Tom replied after looking at the clock on adjacent wall.
It was just gone one.
"Thanks for last night." Sam said in a voice that struck Tom as bizarrely calm for all the fuss she had made about his proclamation of love.
"No problem. What happened last night?" He asked gently as he also sat up.
"I... I don't know," Sam replied with a frown, "It was a memory of what had happened just before the bomb exploded, me and Mark running, and then it switched to something in Afghanistan before switching back to the moment before the bomb exploding again except everything was frozen in time for a few seconds."
"Odd…" Tom said, a frown also appearing on his face, "Are you feeling ok now? When I came in last night you were shrieking."
"I was? I'm fine now, in fact I feel strangely… calm," Sam replied before adding, "Did Zoe hear?"
"I doubt it. She was in a deep sleep when I went down to get some water just before I heard you." Tom said with a small smile.
"Good. It's best she doesn't know for now." Sam said firmly.
"Oi! You two! We need to get up and get going!" Shouted Zoe as if on cue.
"Why don't you want her to know?" Tom asked as they both started to get out of her bed.
"I just don't. I'm using the bathroom first so you'll have to wait a moment." Sam replied before hurrying from the room and closing the door behind her.
…
The eight hour car journey to Caterham was uncomfortable for everyone. Mark had told informed everyone he couldn't come as he was in the process of moving homes and so asked Zoe to act as his proxy. Zoe herself could've cut the tension between Tom and Sam like a knife, and wouldn't stop probing them for answers the whole way there. On more than one occasion Tom almost cracked, but a glare form Sam muted him just before the words came out.
The tension got so thick Zoe decided she couldn't take another second in the car, and parked a few minutes away from their destination. Zoe quickly regretted this decision, as the place she had parked meant they had to climb up a particularly steep and long hill.
"Zoe why are you... torturing us?" Sam wheezed.
"Torture?" Zoe spat, "That car…was torture…and besides…you two...don't smoke…"
"You didn't mention…This hill!" Sam countered, gesturing around.
"They don't..call this place..Caterham-On-The…Hill for.. Nothing…" Zoe replied.
"You missed off the hill part." Tom replied, apparently the fittest out of the trio.
When they all reached the top of the hill Tom was forced to stop and allow Sam and Zoe to regain their breath before continuing on their way. It wasn't long, however, before they were called back to the top of the hill as they had walked past the person they were supposed to be meeting.
"Over here!" Called out a woman in a coat that looked more expensive than all the clothes Tom, Sam and Zoe were wearing combined.
"Were you the one who asked to meet us?" Zoe asked as soon as they had got back to where she was standing.
It was only when they came in full view of her did they realize why exactly they had overlooked her as a possible candidate of the family of the man who had worked in a fairly low paid job in an NHS hospital. Behind her stood a black limousine, complete with driver waiting patiently. The woman herself was wearing a fur coat and must have been in her 70s.
"Hello." She said in a posh accent, "I am here to offer you my humblest apologies for my nephew's actions."
"Nephew?!" Sam and Tom exclaimed simultaneously.
"Yes. I am fully aware this will come as quite a shock but the man set on blowing up several hospitals is indeed my nephew." Confirmed the woman.
"Why are we here?" Zoe asked.
"I will explain all when a Mr Mark James arrives. I have been made aware from news reports that you are Zoe Hanna, Samantha Nicholls and Tom Kent." The woman said gracefully.
"Mark James can't come. He asked me to stand in as his proxy." Zoe informed her.
"Ah. Very well. Then I shall proceed. I would like to start by apologizing for dragging you all the way down to Caterham but posting what I am about to give Samantha and Mark seemed a little impolite and also the reason I have invited you and Mark here is because it appears, though many suffered far more severe injuries that you two acquired you were the ones who were brave enough to stand up to my nephew. Zoe Hanna and Tom Kent are here because I believe you are all quite close to one and other, or at least you all work fairly closely with Mark and Samantha." The woman continued.
"Give us?" Sam questioned.
With that the woman snapped her fingers and the driver stepped forwards, taking two sealed letters with a flourish of his hand. He then handed them to the woman who in turn handed one to Sam and Mark's to Zoe.
"What's this...?" Sam asked as she and Zoe opened the letters.
"Thirty million pounds each for the damages inflicted upon you and Mark by my family. If thirty million is too little please do tell now."
No one spoke.
…
I wonder if any of you can guess what the money is going towards…