ok, so that was a really mean cliff-hanger! Thanks for the reviews! Jessie xx

Brian's Sentence

"What's…Esther?" Gerry tried to grasp at the facts, he hoped…he hoped. His mate wouldn't manage without his Esther, he knew that. He hoped.

Sandra stood similarly uneasy. Not only did she like Esther, she hated to think what losing her would do to Brian. She found herself wishing she hadn't asked where he'd been. Just believe that they'd lost track of time doing the shopping or something.

"She made me go," Brian explained calmly. There was no point in being over-dramatic. There wasn't anything that could be done. "I've been getting these headaches."

"Headaches?" Gerry's relief was short-lived as he heard Brian's words and his concern switched from one facet to another. He felt a bubble of anger start to well, he'd not noticed that anything was up with his mate. He'd been too busy being childish he supposed. But now, even if was too late, his attention was firmly fixed on the man in front of him.

"Yeah," Brian looked at his friends in turn, he didn't want either of them to worry unduly or react in any way really, it would be easier that way. "Turns out, it's an aneurism. Inoperable."

He watched as Gerry and Sandra looked at each other, shocked into silence at his delivery.

"So, I need to hand my notice in, Sandra," Brian tried not to allow himself to gage her reaction to his news. "I could carry on working, but…"

"Esther," she almost whispered immediately understanding.

"Esther," he offered another grim smile. Esther had been the only thing on his mind as the doctor had explained the situation. So much so that the lady herself had had to recall most of the peripheral information that the doctor had given them after reporting his diagnosis.

"It's ok, Brian, you don't have to explain," Sandra replied with a heartfelt but pitiful smile. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "It's not your fault."

Gerry who had lowered his gaze to the floor as he always did when bad news came lifted his head now. "That's bad news Brian."

Brian raised an eyebrow at his friend. "Well, I didn't think it was particularly good either," he held up a hand as Gerry bristled. "It's ok. I'll miss all this, of course. So, English and American Studies? These quotations look interesting. Shall I start on those?"

"Yes," Sandra shook herself mentally. "You do that, Gerry, can I have a quick word then you can start chasing up the other deaths."

"Sure," Gerry cringed. He glanced at Brian taking the map down from the board. There was nothing he could do but accept the situation. "I guess this means I'm gonna have to start filling in my timesheets properly, eh? Sorry, mate."

Brian glanced across and nodded with a smile before looking at and starting to identify the locations on the map.

Gerry left him to it and followed Sandra into her office. He closed the door behind him and faced her as she stood to one side, subtly angling the blinds.

"Look, if this is about my expenses?" he began, wary of the dubious petrol receipts he had collated over the year but fairly sure that this had nothing to do with them.

"What about them?" Sandra asked distractedly.

"Nothing," he replied. He watched her as she glanced between the window into the main offices and the floor. The rare, scared child-like side of her was trying to break through her professional demeanour. Somewhere deep inside of his own psyche stirred the whisperings of the sympathetic, protective reaction that he had toward her in these moments of vulnerability and fear.

She bit her lip. "It's all changing, isn't it?"

Every ounce of unconscious resentment and repression was gone. None of it mattered now. Sandra, his Sandra, was standing in front of him. He shrugged, carefully judging her mood. "It would've had to eventually," he said.

She nodded. She couldn't fault his assessment of the situation. She'd been lucky, this last ten years. Lucky and fortunate. UCOS had truly been a blessing for her, professionally and personally. It had given her work more purpose than she could have imagined and the opportunity to form three of the strongest friendships she had ever forged. True friendships too. And now it was all changing. As it would always have done.

"Hey, you could go for that promotion now," he added only half-joking as he fought to find someway of saying that it was alright, that they would both find ways of carrying on completely at ease knowing that one of their best friends was dying and not believing that for one second.

"What do you mean?" she asked quizzically. She knew that it was only half a joke on his part, just a way of trying to say that somehow this wouldn't be as painful as they both knew it was going to be.

"Look, Strickland can get another team together for UCOS, no problem. So the question is, would you stay? Without Jack, without Brian?" he asked.

"Without you?" she asked sharply, fixing him with a fierce stare. She didn't want it to change. She didn't want to lose everything that she had come to rely on in the last ten years.

He sighed. "Look, I'm old enough to retire now. Properly. Yeah, I've still got three ex-wives and four daughters. Not to mention a grandson. But, it's not like they rely on my wages as much as they did before. They've all got their own lives. And maybe, I want to be a part of them, while I still can."

"Like Brian and Esther?" her voice caught slightly in her throat. They both knew that Brian's decision to retire and spend the rest of his life with his wife was symbolic of how bad he felt for side-lining her all his years in the job.

Gerry pursed his lips. He respected Brian's decision. Esther was the most important thing in his eccentric colleague's life. It would always have come to it, if it had to. The only reason Brian would ever have given up his work would be for her. And, though he'd never know how right he was in his assumption, he suspected that the decision that Brian had taken had been his own and made the moment that he'd been told that there was a finite period of time left to spend with his wife.

"What about Steve?" Sandra asked.

"He'll go back to Glasgow," Gerry replied simply. "He's got Charlie there, and who knows maybe he'll make a go of that Scottish UCOS nonsense. Don't let us be what keeps you here, not this time."

She did not reply. She was lost in a myriad of thoughts that wouldn't organise themselves sufficiently to be heard with any clarity.

"Look, you go see Strickland, I'll get on to that paperwork," he said opening the door.

Her eyes softened as she watched his action. She hadn't even thought of Robert. Of course, she'd have to tell him that Brian was retiring. But she realised too that Gerry had just given her permission to go and seek the comfort of being in Robert's presence as a way of easing the pain. It was ok, they were ok.

"Gerry," she caught his attention before he left the room.

"Gov?"

"I'm sorry," she said with every ounce of honesty in her being. She might have judged that he'd pushed her away, but it had been her at fault just as much. And now, it all seemed so silly and insignificant.

"For what?" he asked automatically, creasing his brow in a frown. Surely it was him who ought to apologise for being so snide and mean for the last few weeks? Maybe she was apologising for needing to be loved? Well, he thought, that's just silly.

"Everything. I know I haven't seemed to have much time for you recently," the words that she should have spoken three weeks ago before the air between them had gotten so thick with resentment fell easily from her lips with the sincerity that they deserved. She was sorry that it was Brian's sentence that had to be the catalyst for the regaining of clarity in their lives.

"It's ok," he replied. And it was.

"Do you want to go out tonight and get roaring drunk?" she asked him smiling shyly.

"Yeah," he grinned. "Yeah, I would."