Kate turned to a knock on the glass window in to her room. She saw a colleague summoning her and poked her head out in to the ante room.
"Someone at the door for you, Kate," she was informed.
"Thanks," Kate said as her mouth went dry. She pulled off her plastic apron and gloves before depositing them in the waiting bin.
She walked slowly to the door, glancing briefly at Steve and his colleagues. Steve gave her a nod, conveying that they knew this was it and had her back. Kate opened the door to the unit and found herself looking at 'Joe' who was in the pair of scrubs that she'd given him the other day. She didn't say anything to him and turned her head away as she let him on to the unit. "Make yourself busy," 'Joe' said as he walked past.
Feeling helpless she watched him walk up to the armed guards. She didn't know what he said to them but they were soon following him to a side door and going through it before being locked out.
Kate looked at Steve and his colleagues. They were just watching covertly allowing Joe to think his plan was going without a hitch before they made a move. They were going to have to act soon because Joe was heading into her patients room.
"Denton's making a phone call," Georgia whispered to Steve who was busily tracking Joe. She had just received a text from Lisa.
"Can we trace the number?" Steve whispered back.
"Kate can you get that?" the matron asked across the room, indicating the phone that was ringing on the main desk. Steve and Georgia looked at each other. Was it a coincidence?
"Err, yes," Kate said as she snapped to attention and headed to the desk. "Intensive Care Unit," she said in to the receiver. "How can I help you?".
"Can you page Staff Nurse Kate Fleming for me?" the female voice on the end of the line asked.
Strange, thought Kate. She doesn't know she's actually talking to me. "I can do that for you," Kate said, playing along. "What is it regarding please?".
"An urgent matter,".
"Who can I say is calling?".
"A friend," the voice said. "She'll know who it is,".
"I'm sorry but I need a name," Kate retorted before the line went dead. "Hello?" she said but there was no answer so Kate put the receiver down just as she became aware of some commotion in the side room.
Kate looked and saw Ted rush in to her patient's room just as 'Joe' came barrelling out of it. Steve and Georgia were no where to be seen. Joe easily pushed Ted aside before making a run for it out of the unit.
Sensing something bad had happened, Kate followed Ted in to the side room. One glance at her patient's monitor revealed he was still alive. Steve however was on the floor out cold, a bruise already forming on his forehead.
Ted ran to the open window and looked out. "Mother of God," Ted exclaimed before rushing out of the room, leaving Kate alone with Steve.
Getting on to her knees on the floor, Kate bent over Steve. She pressed a finger to his neck and put her cheek to his face, assessing him for signs of life. She was relieved to find a bounding pulse against her fingertips and the feel of his breath against her cheek. He was alive!
"Steve?!" Kate said as she tried to rouse him. No response. "Steve!" she tried again, shaking him more vigorously.
"Am I dead?" Kate heard Steve mumble.
"No," Kate replied.
"You sure?" Steve asked. "I could swear there's an angel hovering over me,".
"Idiot!" Kate said as she gently slapped Steve's arm but relieved he wasn't that hurt that he was making stupid comments like that. She helped him gently sit. "You ok?" she asked.
"Bit dizzy," Steve said as he took a deep breath and tried to recover his balance. "Where's George and the gaffer?".
"I don't know," Kate replied.
"Hopefully they've got our man,".
"Hopefully," Kate echoed but had an awful feeling he'd escaped. She didn't have the heart to let him down just at the moment. "You ok to try and stand?". Steve nodded and slowly Kate helped him to his feet. "Let's get you to the coffee room," Kate said as she led Steve to the rest room. She helped him in to one of the chairs before disappearing to fetch a first aid kit. She reappeared and was soon tending to the wound on Steve's forehead. "This might sting a bit," she warned, just before she cleaned it with some antiseptic. Steve hissed and recoiled from Kate's touch at the first dab but gradually let her touch the raw surface more until she was happy with her work. "Still be your handsome self," she said as she threw what she had used in the bin. "Can I get you a drink?".
"Just some water," Steve said. "I should really try and find George and the gaffer,".
As if on cue, Ted entered the coffee room. He had a haunted look on his face which Kate saw but Steve seemed to miss.
"Did we get him?" Steve asked. Ted shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir. He just attacked me as soon as I entered the room. He was trying to do something to the witness. Shit! Is he ok?" Steve asked Kate. He had forgotten to ask.
"He's fine," Kate said as she sat back down beside Steve and gave him the glass of water he'd requested.
"What's Georgia doing?".
There was a long silence as Ted worked out how to answer that question. "I'm afraid there was a bit of an altercation after our suspect knocked you out " Ted explained.
"What do you mean, altercation?".
How could you say that Georgia had been thrown out of the window to her death nicely, Ted wondered. There really was no way to do that he concluded. He looked at Kate and knew she had guessed what had happened to Georgia. She took Steve's hand and gave it a supportive squeeze.
"I'm afraid Georgia is dead, Steve,".
The rest of the day passed in a blur for Steve. He felt completely numb after Ted had told him what had happened to his partner and just went in to some sort of automatic mode.
He vaguely recollected Kate had started crying next to him. She felt responsible for Georgia's death. "I should never have gone to you, Steve," she had said tearfully. "I'm so sorry. It's all my fault,".
"It's not, Kate," was all he was able to say. He was way more responsible for his partner's death than Kate.
Violent crimes officers were quickly swarming around the hospital after Georgia's murder and Steve was soon being escorted out of the hospital for a debrief with them. It was a very unpleasant experience. By the end of it Steve was feeling utterly shit. He had messed up the capture of their suspect and allowed him to kill his partner. The Violent Crime Officers were not terribly impressed.
Following that, he and Ted had the unenviable task of visiting Georgia's parents to offer their condolences. He always hated making these types of house calls, but this being his partner's parents made it ten times worse. "I promise you I will find who did this to Georgia," Steve found himself committing to them.
At the end of all of that Steve was emotionally spent. He needed company rather than going to his empty flat. Usually he would go to Georgia's but that wasn't possible now or ever again in the future.
Instead, he found himself pulling up in front of Kate's house. Getting out the door he showed his ID to the police officer standing guard outside her front door. With 'Joe' still on the loose, Kate was requiring police protection and had been put in Protective Custody. Another thing Steve felt bad about.
He rang the doorbell and got no answer so tried again. This time he was lucky and Kate opened the door.
"Hi," said Steve.
"Hi," said Kate.
"Sorry for coming unannounced," Steve said.
"That's ok," Kate said. "Would you like to come in?".
"Is that ok?".
"Yes," replied Kate. "I'd be glad of the company actually," she said as she stood back and allowed Steve to enter.
He followed her in to the back of the house where the living room was. It had more of a homely feel to it than his place, he thought as he looked around. Photos of Kate and Josh were dotted around the place. Lots of Josh's toys were visible in the room although had been tidied away. An interactive exercise bicycle stood in one corner, giving Steve a clue as to how Kate stayed in shape.
"If I get you a glass, will you join me?" Kate asked. Steve looked at the coffee table and saw an opened bottle of red wine beside a half empty glass. "Thought getting drunk would help me feel better after today,".
"Yeah, ok," Steve said and took a seat on the sofa whilst Kate got him a glass. He picked up the bottle and had a look at the label. Rioja.
"Nothing too fancy I'm afraid," Kate said as sat down beside him.
"It's fine," Steve said as he watched Kate pour him a glass before handing it to him. He took a sip. It wasn't bad.
"How are you doing?" Kate asked. All Steve could do was shrug his shoulders. He had no words for how he was feeling. "Me too," Kate said.
"I'm so sorry, Kate. I totally fucked things up today," Steve apologised.
"You couldn't have predicted how things would go Steve," Kate pointed out.
"Still could have planned things better though, according to Violent Crimes," Steve retorted, recalling his debrief.
"Well...hindsight is a wonderful thing," Kate argued back. She wouldn't let Steve take all the blame for what had transpired. "Maybe I should have just let 'Joe' kill your witness. It would have been easier for everyone that way,".
"No!" Retorted Steve forcefully. "They wouldn't have stopped there. You'd have been next," he warned her. "Thanks to me you still might be. Are you sure you won't go in to a safe house?" He asked. The chance that the OCG could still be after Kate didn't sit well with Steve, particularly as she had a young son. What would happen to him if his mother was killed?
"I can't Steve," Kate replied. "Not with Josh. It's not fair on him,".
Steve didn't bother arguing further. He knew this was an argument that he wasn't going to win so he dropped it.
Kate got off the sofa and found another bottle of wine before resuming her seat next to Steve. This was going to be a long therapy session, she could tell.
"Tell me about Georgia," she said, hoping talking about his partner would help Steve.
"What do you want to know?" Steve asked.
"Anything you want to tell me about her," answered Kate. "From what I saw of you two, you seemed very close,".
"We were," Steve said. "She was the best partner I've ever had. We just got how each other worked, you know?". Kate nodded. "We were best friends as well which I think helped,".
"That's nice,".
"We had each others backs. Kept each other out of trouble...although that was more her than me. She was never in trouble at work. The gaffer adored her," Steve continued. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do now she's gone,".
"Did she like me?" Kate asked. "I got the feeling she didn't,".
"No. She did," Steve retorted, but the blush in his cheeks gave him away. He was lying. Kate gave him a look so he knew she didn't believe him. "Ok," he said backtracking a little, "you had to earn Georgia's trust before she really liked you. She was changing her mind about you before...," he tailed off, unable to yet say that Georgia had died.
"I got the feeling I was trespassing on her property," Kate said.
"We slept together once," Steve finally admitted. "And it was just the once," he reiterated.
"It's ok, you don't have to-" Kate said.
"I want to," Steve interrupted. "There's not much else to say really anyway. The sex wasn't very good and we realised we were better off as friends,".
"Thank you," said Kate, pleased he had been truthful with her.
"I need the loo," Kate said a lot later that evening. Two whole bottles and a half later. She rose to her feet and nearly tripped over Steve on her way past him. "Woah. Think I've had a bit too much to drink," she said as she unsteadily made her way to the bathroom. "Gonna regret this tomorrow morning," she said as she re-entered the living room.
"I better go," Steve said getting to his feet. He'd had a really nice evening with Kate. Talking about Georgia had been very cathartic but he too was feeling the effects of the alcohol. He needed to get some sleep before work tomorrow.
Social evening at an end, Kate gathered up the two empty wine bottles and her glass and took them to the kitchen. Steve followed her carrying his glass.
"You're not driving are you?" Kate asked. Steve was way over the limit.
"I'll walk," he said.
"You sure?" Kate checked as she put the bottles in the recycling and her used glass on the side. "I can call a taxi," she offered. "I'm one of their popular clients at the moment". Kate's car had disappeared since she had taken it to the fake garage leaving her reliant on the local taxi cab company to transport her around the town.
"It's fine " Steve insisted as he put his glass beside Kate's. "It'll help clear my head,".
Kate turned around quickly and not realising Steve was so close behind her, walked straight in to his chest. "Steady!" He warned as he caught her to keep her on her feet.
"Sorry," Kate apologised as she looked up in to his face.
Neither knew who initiated the kiss that followed but they were soon stood close together in a relaxed embrace as they each fully participated in their first kiss. Tongues dancing over each other as they became acquainted with each other's mouth.
"You could stay the night," Kate murmured as the need to breathe broke them apart.
Steve hesitated. He knew what she was offering and it wasn't just to sleep. Usually after two bottles of wine he would decline such an invitation and the more sensible side of his brain was telling him to do just that. Kate was clearly a little tipsy and consent might be an issue. He didn't want to be accused of taking advantage when she woke up the next morning fully sober.
"I'm not that drunk, Steve," Kate informed him as if reading his mind. "I am fully consenting,".
"Are you sure?".
Kate's answer was to take Steve by the hand. He willingly let himself be led by her. After the day he'd had, he was keen to experience the rush of feel good hormones that only came with sex and orgasm.
First stop was the front door to lock it and apply the chain. Neither cared that the officer guarding the door was going to know Steve spent the night. Kate then led Steve up the stairs to her bedroom. Putting a finger to her lips, Kate peeked inside Josh's room. He was fast asleep. His sleep pattern had been disrupted the past two nights and he had been really cranky before Kate had put him to sleep that night. It looked as thought he was catching up on a few winks.
Sure that Josh wasn't going to interrupt them, Kate finally led Steve to her bedroom at the front of the house. The curtains were open and Kate headed over to the window to close them. Out there somewhere was 'Joe' who possibly was after her after she had disobeyed him and gone to the police. She shuddered at the thought. Steve came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Kate's arms came to cover his. He had already shed his tie and shirt and was naked from the waist up.
He kissed her neck as she cast a quick glance around. No figures hiding in the shadows could be seen anywhere. "You ok?" Steve murmured, sensing some trepidation in Kate.
"I'm fine," she said confidently before closing the curtains. What was about to happen in this room was between her and Steve only. It was not for anyone out there to observe.
Unfortunately, neither Steve nor Kate had seen the person in the car in front of the house. It was DI Denton and she had just managed to catch a picture of them in an embrace before the curtains had closed.