"How is she?" Ted asked when Steve appeared at AC-12 later.
"She's still alive but the next 24 hours or so are going to be critical ," Steve informed Ted. "If she does survive, then she's probably not going to be able to remember much," he added. "She's got several small blood clots on her brain,".
Ted listened to the grim news. "I've been sat here trying to work out how the lass could possibly be involved," he said. "And I can't find anything! Her record is unremarkable. Trained at Ryton. Uniform for a couple of years before CID. She's only been in T0-20 for just over three weeks,".
"It might not have anything to do with Gates," Steve admitted. "Deepak Kapoor paid me an unofficial visit at the hospital,".
"Go on," Ted urged.
"Seems Morton and Kate had a confrontation yesterday,"
"Over what?".
"Seems Morton accused Kate of being intimate with someone who he disapproved of. Someone who was after his boss…….," Steve confessed, leaving Ted to work out who he was talking about. "Morton does seem to be Gates' number one fan,"
"But who…?" Ted asked before guessing that Steve was talking about himself. "Oh please tell me Morton was wrong!"
"I was simply following your orders, Sir!" Steve argued. "Get a girlfriend you said,".
"I didn't mean with someone who could compromise our case!".
"I didn't know she was T0-20 when I first saw her," Steve replied.
"But you should have ended it when you did,".
"I couldn't," Steve admitted. "Do you believe in love at first sight, Sir?".
"Not really," Ted replied.
"Neither did I," Steve agreed, "until I saw Kate," he continued. "I tried to keep it professional, Sir We didn't discuss the case when we were together,".
"I only have your word for that," Ted pointed out.
"I'm now thinking maybe Nigel Morton is dirty as well. Maybe he's worried that Kate was getting close to AC-12 and his secret might be discovered,".
"It's possible," Ted admitted, after all being beaten up because she was sleeping with Steve was quite a far fetched motive.
As Steve dreamt that night, he found himself in a shipping container. A silent spectator to the action that was occurring.
Kate was sat tied to the chair she had been found in and was being beaten by faceless men. Steve tried to help but for some reason was frozen to his spot, listening to her screams. "Help me, Steve!".
Steve sat up in bed in the darkness of his bedroom, his heart pounding in his chest as he orientated himself. It was just a bad dream he realised before he was aware his phone was ringing. It was what had probably roused him from his nightmare.
He leant over to pick his phone up.
"There's been another attempt on DC Fleming's life," Ted informed Steve.
"What?!" asked Steve, shocked. He'd just been dreaming about Kate. Had it been a premonition?
"A nurse found someone in Kate's room about to give her an air embolism by the sounds of it," Ted continued. "He wasn't able to do that but disconnected her from her ventilator before assaulting the nurse and running off,".
"Is Kate ok?" Steve asked as he hurriedly got out of bed and started getting changed. He had to get to her to make sure for himself.
"I'm on my way to the hospital to find out," Ted replied.
"I'll see you there," Steve added.
"She doesn't seem to have come to any extra harm," the consultant in charge of Kate's care informed Ted and Steve once they were both present. "It actually gave us some hope," he added.
"In what way?" Steve asked perplexed.
"Kate started breathing for herself after she'd been disconnected from the ventilator which indicates her brain stem hasn't been affected by her injuries," the doctor said explained. "We've taken her off her sedation meds, it's just a waiting game now for her to wake up,".
"How long will that take?" Steve asked.
"Impossible to tell," the consultant said.
"How is the member of staff that walked in on the intruder?" Ted asked.
"She's ok," the doctor replied . "A little shocked so we've sent her home. He was all in black so she couldn't give us a description. He's on CCTV running out of the hospital," he continued.
"We'll need to see that tape," Ted said.
"Of course," the doctor agreed. "Are there going to be more attempts on this patient's life?" The doctor asked concerned for the safety of both Kate and his staff who had to tend to her.
"Very possibly," Ted replied. "I'd say that the people who first attacked her have realised that they messed up by not killing her the first time. They are going to keep trying until they succeed as there is a possibility that Kate could name and shame them if she recovers,".
"So let's do it for them," Steve suggested to his boss.
"What do you mean?" Ted asked.
"Let's kill Kate Fleming,".