Chapter 39

Two weeks later

Steve splashed water on his face and looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. His refusal to shave until he got back to work had meant he had grown a thickening beard and moustache in the span of the past three weeks. Clearly if he ever wanted to grow one in the future, he wasn't going to have a problem doing so. He had dropped more weight and despite not working was tired constantly. It had been a hellish two weeks.

Nicholas was charged the day after Steve and Kate slept together for the first time. Finally it felt as if everything was over. All the hell and hardship was gone and fresh air was flowing back through his and Lottie's life. Then the news came from Ted that knocked him off his feet a mere few days later.

"What do you mean they pled not guilty?" Steve demanded of Ted when Ted came to visit him at the hospital.

"I'm as baffled as you are. Given the amount of evidence they have nothing to stand up on to secure a not guilty verdict but it is what they pled," Ted explained sadly.

"Surely a judge would have thrown the pleas out," Steve comment and his face fell at the sight of Ted's face. His boss didn't have to say it. "You've got to be joking me," Steve hissed shaking his head.

"I'm sorry son. It is being held up because there is no physical evidence like fingerprints on prescription bottles that Holly gave Nicholas the drugs and as Nicholas isn't specifically named in the diary as being Christopher's lover, he claims that there is no proof it is him. To add to that, he is claiming that the pictures that Lottie took of him without his knowledge and the hacking of his e-mail account was a crime against him and wants the evidence thrown out as well as her be prosecuted."

"What bullshit!" Steve snapped. "Sorry sir, I didn't mean to snap at you."

"No, I feel the same way. It is Lottie's statement which is key but until she wakes up there is nothing we can do."

"Wait. Does that mean that if it isn't enough, she will have to give evidence at the trail?" Steve asked. Reluctantly, Ted nodded.

"It gets worse I'm afraid," Ted added with a weighted sadness Steve couldn't ignore. He knew this next bit of news was going to sting.

"How so?"

"They have set the trial start date of May 12th. Which is two days after Lottie's seventeenth birthday, which means-"

"That depending on the form of questioning, she may have to do it in person and face Nicholas," Steve ended his sentence. Ted lowered his head and Steve ran his hands through his hair. "Will it never end?" Steve asked.

"In time. You know how the system works Steve. We have done everything we can and all we can do is hope that the jury realise that they are guilty. The trail means that Christopher is not able to be buried yet due to the case still being open technically and any further test requests on his remains. I've already informed Gwen. She understands and told me that she isn't going to have him buried until Lottie is well. She wants Lottie to be at the service."

Ted came back to the hospital that evening at the cross over to explain everything to Steve's parents. They were as devastated as Steve was.

The only light in the past two weeks had been Kate. She often spent the evening at Steve's flat with him though time to time she wasn't free due to work and Josh. They decided that Steve wouldn't come to Kate's home to avoid confusing Josh and disrupting his routine. When they were together it felt as if he was on a high, having her in his arms through the long nights. There were days where in her absence he was all alone and it felt draining. Beer and wine as well as getting through Lottie's recommended playlist were the only things that sustained him on those days. He had begun his trauma counselling as outlined by his work for during the two week leave and used it to finally begin to break his cycle of self-hatred and fear over his past. There was still a ways to go but he was making the first few steps.

It was early morning when a buzzing noise woke him up. Thinking it was his alarm he smacked him hand down on his phone on the bedside table hoping he hit the snooze button but then realised it was a phone call instead. He picked it up with his eyes closed, no idea what the actual time was.

"Hello?" he asked with a yawn.

"Steve?" His father's shaky voice made Steve's' eyes instantly open wide into the darkness of the room.

"Dad? What is it? Is everything ok?" He asked urgently, sitting up. Then he heard the two words he had waited three weeks for which he never thought he would hear.

"She's awake."

The first person he called was Kate. He needed to tell her to get the news to Ted as soon as possible. It may be a while before Lottie could give her statement but he needed to get the ball rolling.

"Oh Steve, I can't believe it," Kate said breathlessly through the phone as Steve quickly got dressed. "What did your dad say? Is she breathing on her own and everything?"

"He didn't say a lot but then I didn't give him much time to. I hung up as fast as possible and called you. Can you tell the gaffer?"

"Of course, leave everything to me. If Josh wasn't here I'd come with you."

"I know. I'll call you as soon as I am able to," Steve said quickly before putting on a hoodie.

"Send her all our love."

"I will." Something in his brain, whether it was his flustered state of mind, his counselling or something else, he felt he had to say something important to her. "I couldn't have gotten through this without you, Kate." Then the words escaped him. Was he ready to say this? A silence fell over the two of them.

"Are you going soft on me Arnott?" Kate asked and Steve could tell she was grinning. A silent communication between the two had existed in those several seconds he didn't see coming.

"Maybe a wobble," he joked.

"No more wobbles until this is done. But for the record, I couldn't have gotten through this without you either." Somehow both knew that was their way to express how they felt for one another. Their own little secret.

Steve ended the call and rushed down to the building basement for his car.

Steve couldn't wait for the lift to come down to the lobby so ran up eight flights of stairs to get to the intensive care department. His mother was waiting for him in the waiting area when he burst through the doors out of breath.

"Oh Steve" Jane Arnott said and burst into tears as her son enveloped her in his arms. "She's alright, sweetheart. She's ok," Jane whispered in his ear brining tears to his eyes.

"What did the doctors say?" he asked as the two let go of each other.

"They are going to run brain scan tests in the morning but she is awake, she's looking around. It's a really good sign that her brain is ok. The doctors can't explain it given the state she was in. but we have to wait for the results in the morning … She's been asking for you."

Those final words Steve wasn't expecting at all. "She's talking?" he asked astonished. Jane smiled and nodded.

"Go on, she's waiting for you."

Steve quickly kissed his mothers cheek before walking as quickly and quietly as possible down the corridor, conscious that it was 2am. When he opened Lottie's room he found his father in a chair close to Lottie's bed beaming at her. The top end of the bed had been lifted higher than usual so she was sitting up more but still quite low to lay comfortably. Her head was turned away from the door so he couldn't see her face. A nurse was on the other side of the bed checking the various machines and making sure Lottie was comfortable. Joe Arnott looked up to see his son and stood up. The two embraced and Joe beckoned for Steve to sit in the seat he had been. Steve couldn't hear what his father was saying or the nurse, all he could focus on was Lottie. Her eyes were closed when he came to sit down. The tube which had been down her throat for three weeks was gone, replaced by oxygen tubes in her nose. She looked pale but even seeing her turned more on her side instead of on her back made her look full of life again.

"Can I?" he asked and indicated to her hand to the nurse.

"Of course, just be gentle. Remember, she will be using muscles again she hasn't used in three weeks so she will tire quickly and will take time for her to gain strength again," she explained.

Steve nodded and slowly lifted Lottie's hand to cup his cheek. To his surprise he felt her fingers slowly move and feel his facial hair. The movement made Lottie's eyes flutter open. It was a sight that he would treasure for the rest of his life. He smiled and silent tears began to fall as he watched her register who he was. Her eyes seems to slowly light up as she did. She parted her dry lips. "What's … all … this … huh?" she managed to get out after several seconds of slow, quiet, groggy speech. He chuckled.

"Trying something new. Do you like it?" Her face seemed to fall and he realised she wanted to say something but couldn't seem to. Tears were in her eyes. She mouthed what she wanted to say instead.

"Sorry."

"It's ok. I'm not angry or upset. I'm just happy to see you well. We'll talk about it later when you are rested. Can I tell you something?" He could see she was trying to keep her eyes open, fighting it like she did as a child. "We found Christopher. You did it. He's going home." Lottie seemed to let out a breath she had been holding for the longest time. Silent tears fell from her eyes which she had to close in her exhausted state. Steve reached out with his spare hand and wiped them away. Her eyes fluttered back open after a while.

"Gwen?" she managed to ask.

"Can't thank you enough for what you did. We can talk about that later. You get some sleep. I'll be here when you wake up, I promise."

Lottie gave in to her exhausted state and soon fell into a deep sleep. Steve fell asleep in the chair too still holding her hand.