Here we are, ending number 1- there are 2 potential endings for you to choose from! I hope you enjoy them both and thank you so much Hollie for reading and reviewing, it means the world! Enjoy!
Her arm's flailed, trying desperately to gain purchase to stop her free fall. Over the pounding of her heart she could hear screaming and shouting, from above her, getting quieter seemingly. As she was thinking about her baby son, his eyes like his fathers, her hand wrapped around something.
She flicked her eyes upwards, unbelieving that she had actually managed to grab hold of something. She let out a tiny cry, stretching her other hand up, inching it around the rail, praying that she could hold on until they came for her, her family. Within a minute she could see Callum racing towards her, closely followed by Smithy, Will, Nate and Leon. And then she could hear Sally and Beth, screaming for her to hold on. Finally, he was there, dark brown eyes flashing with intensity.
"Grab her arms, come on quickly!" he yelled at his colleagues, grasping at Jess' left arm.
Smithy leaned over as far as he could, grabbing the belt loopholes of her jeans, Nate grabbing Smithy's belt and bracing to support him as he leant over the railing. Will grabbed her right arm, bracing himself, with Leon clenching the back of her top. "Hang on darlin', you're gonna be safe in just one sec."
"On my count." Smithy said, glancing at the men. "One, two...three!" With a mighty tug, the men all pulled Jess up and towards them, pulling her back over the safety of the railing.
They fell back onto the floor once she was clear, Callum pulling her roughly to him, sobbing unashamedly in her hair. As soon as they were sure that she was safe, the men turned on Cheung, hatred and disgust so obvious in their expressions that Cheung shifted himself back a bit. Nate and Will collared him, Smithy slapping the cuffs on as tight as possible, leading him away with Leon. They passed Callum and Jess on their way back, both entwined on the floor, not letting go.
"I thought I'd lost you, I thought you were going to fall." he murmured in her hair, pressing his cheek against her golden halo of hair, holding her so tightly to him.
Jess laughed shakily, "I thought I was going to fall as well. My God. I really thought that was it."
"Don't you dare do that again! I can promise you that once my nerves have returned to normal, I am going to be so pissed off with you." Callum promised, pulling her face round so he could look straight into those green eyes of hers.
"Good. I deserve it. I'm so sorry Callum, so sorry." she cried, letting the tears fall as she nestled into the safety of his chest.
"I know you are, I know. Are you sure you're ok? He didn't hurt you?" he asked, pulling back slightly to look at her properly, scanning her face, her arms, her legs. She shook her head.
"No, I'll probably have a nice bruise on my chest though. They got him, didn't they Callum? They got Cheung?" Jess asked quietly, peering around the safety of her husband.
"Yes they did. They're taking him to the station now. Come on, let's get you home." Callum said softly, lifting his wife into his arms and carrying her to their car
Six hours later they were safely tucked up in their home. At last. They had returned to the station, giving statements about what exactly had happened. Cheung had tried to accuse Jess of a number of different crimes, but none of them stuck, not with the evidence against Cheung rapidly building, plus the warrant that had luckily been issued just before Jess had left the station to go after him. They were finally making some solid connections of Cheung's involvement in the fire, the attack on Jess at home, and on the vandalised graves, adding further weight to his arrest. Cheung was going back to prison for sure, and he wouldn't be let out for a long time.
By the time Callum and Jess had returned to the station, it seemed like everyone knew what had happened. They all came up to her as they walked through to see Gina, all asking if she was ok, reassuring her that she had done the right thing, that Cheung wouldn't be seeing the light of day for a long time after this, that they would have done the same.
Once they were shut in the Inspector's office, she had received the bollocking of her career. Gina had told her that, even though she was on maternity leave and not actively a police officer, her actions would still count against her. She could face dismissal and jail at the worst, suspension without pay at the best. But she didn't care. All she cared about was that she was safe, with her husband, and about to go home with him and their son. She took the bollocking as graciously as possible, Callum's hand wrapped tight around hers, offering her silent support. Once Gina had shouted herself out, she quickly embraced the younger woman, glad that she was ok.
They were all snuggled up in their bed; Jamie nestled between them like the pearl in an oyster. Callum was staring intently at Jess, never wanting to lose sight of her again. As he looked at her, he could feel the anger building that he had warned her about earlier. The adrenaline of saving her, of nearly losing her, of seeing Cheung finally arrested abated, anger taking it's place. He rolled away from her, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, his head in his hands. Jess got up tentatively, mindful of the baby as she rested her hand lightly on his shoulder.
"Callum?" she whispered.
"I can't talk to you right now. I'm so angry Jess." he said quietly. He stood up, walking to the window, before turning and sitting in the chair in the corner of the room, looking her straight in the eye, dark brown eyes meeting green, "After everything you said to me, about not going after Cheung, about thinking of you and Jamie, and then you did it yourself. I don't think you realise how close you actually came to dying. What would I have done then? I am lost without you Jess. And what about our son? Did you want Jamie growing up as an orphan because his mother was trying to play the hero? You would have missed out on so much! I bet you didn't even think about your mum and Andy did you? Think carefully about how much they have already lost these past few years; you really want them to lose you as well? Realise how important you are to us, see that if you died, you wouldn't be the one to suffer; those of us left behind would be the true victims." Jess was in tears by the time Callum had stopped talking, only now realising what could have been.
"I didn't really consider how close I came today to losing my life. I was selfish, I know I was, and I was a hypocrite. I am so sorry Callum, I don't know what else to say." she sobbed.
"There isn't anything else to say Jess. I know how mad you were, I was too, but I listened to you and made a choice that wouldn't potentially make you a widow. You didn't do that for me, or for Jamie. Do you truly not value yourself, or realise how much we would suffer with you gone?" Callum said, his heart aching at the thought of what could have been, "All Jamie would have had was photos and some videos of his mum, of the most important person in his life. You would have missed it all, his first steps, first proper word, first day of school, his first love, all of that and so much more. What about future children we want, someday?"
Jess' heart broke. She stood, slowly approaching where Callum stood, "I'm so sorry."
"And what about me Jess? I haven't had you long enough, nowhere near long enough. I want you safe with me, loved by me, for the rest of our lives. If you'd have died today…I don't know what I would have done."
Jess took another step forward, as if approaching a wild animal, slowly reaching out to Callum. He stood looking at her, his face full of grief for what might have been, "I can only say sorry Callum for all of that. But I'm here, I didn't die, and I want to make it up to you for the rest of our lives if I have to. You and Jamie, you're the most important people in my life and I'm so mad at myself that I let those emotions overwhelm me, to the point I could have lost you."
He nodded slowly, accepting Jess' outstretched hand, before pulling her tight to him and sobbing into her hair. She clung to him, pressing herself into him, listening to his heart beating steady in her ear, and she cried.
Two weeks passed, and before they knew it, the family were entering mid June, nearly a year since they had found out they were expecting Jamie. It had taken Callum a long time before he could really look at his wife. He was so angry, and so disappointed, and he was scared of what he might say to her. When he saw her with their son, anger flared because of what had nearly happened, because if she had died, their son would be without his mother for the rest of his life. It just wasn't fair.
A ring of the doorbell brought Callum out of his funk, and he walked slowly to the door, swinging it open to reveal his sister, with Brad just behind her and Lindsay bouncing in his arms. As soon as she saw him she stretched for her uncle.
"Hey Lindsay-Lou!" he said to her, planting a kiss on her cheek, making her giggle. He set her down gently on the floor where she ran through the house into the garden to see her auntie and cousin. "Hey Claire, Brad. Come on in."
"It's not a bad time is it?" Claire asked anxiously, turning to face her brother as he shut the door behind them.
"No, course not. Jess is in the garden with Jamie. Do you want a drink?" he asked them, leading them into the kitchen.
"Anything cold please Callum." Brad said with a smile, walking through to the garden.
"Same please." Claire said, getting the glasses out, "So how're you doing? Still angry at her?"
Callum sighed, leaning against the counter, "Not half as much as I was. But it's small things that set me off. Like if I hear her singing to Jamie, or when she's out in the garden tending the flowers, or even when she's sleeping, I keep thinking "What if"? And that's what makes me angry."
"Callum, you've got to stop doing that. She didn't die, she's alive and perfectly healthy, and probably missing her husband. She knows what she did was selfish and absolutely terrible, but she's trying. She did what you were going to do, she just got there first. You've got to let her in again. It'll destroy you if you don't." Claire said gently, kissing her brother's cheek as she carried the drinks through to the garden.
Callum stared after her, watching as Claire embraced Jess, and Jess sat down and started playing with Lindsay. He sighed, turning to the fridge to get the drinks.
"Hey Claire! Good to see you." Jess said warmly, embracing her sister-in-law.
"And you. Now lookie here, this can't possibly be my nephew? Last time I saw him he wasn't rolling here, there and everywhere, nor was he trying to crawl, and he was a lot smaller!" Claire said, stopping down to press a kiss to Jamie's forehead, laughing as Lindsay copied Jamie, rolling around the garden.
"He's grown a lot this last month. I think he's going to be properly crawling soon as well." Jess said with a proud grin. She glanced up as Callum walked into the garden, steadfastly avoiding her gaze.
"Well, the reason me and Brad graced you with our presence today is that we have some news for you." Claire said excitedly.
"Are you pregnant?" Callum asked.
"No, well, not yet, but we are going to be trying. But anyway, you're getting me off the subject. Brad, do you want to do the honours?" Claire said to her husband. He turned and smiled at his in-laws.
"We're moving." he said with a smile, pausing before saying, "To America." There was a shocked silence in the garden.
"America?" Jess asked.
"Yep. I've been posted over there, to be a doctor on one of the bases." Brad explained.
"When do you go?" Callum asked, looking at his sister.
"Next week. We've already got quarters sorted over there, all we need to do is pack up all our clothing and belongings and then go." Claire said with a smile. Jess got up and gave her a hug, before giving Brad a kiss.
"That's wonderful news! I'd love to go to America again." Jess said wistfully, remembering their honeymoon, "We're going to miss you, a lot. You've been here for us all through so much, I don't know what we'll do without you." Jess' smile faded, tears filling her eyes at not having her sister in law close.
"Hey now, no tears. We're going to miss you too, so much. But, this is going to be good for us, so we need to take the opportunity. And it just means you get to come to the States and see us." Claire said, holding her arms out as Callum hugged her.
"Congratulations Claire and Brad." Callum said, raising his glass in toast.
Later that night, as they were in bed, Callum turned to Jess. She stayed quiet, not sure if he was going to talk to her or glare at her again.
"I'm going to miss her." he said quietly. Jess gently cupped his cheek.
"I know honey. I'll miss her as well. But it's going to be good for her and Brad to get back to where it all started, and for Lindsay to go home as well. And you heard what she said; we'll be able to visit her when we want." Jess said comfortingly.
"It won't be the same as knowing she's just a twenty minute drive away though." Callum said sadly.
"Who'd have thought that when you first met your sister, you'd actually be really upset when she told you that she was leaving?" Jess teased.
"Yeah well, she's my family isn't she." he said, pausing, "Just like you are." He pulled her tight against him, moulding his body around hers. "Never leave me. Never scare me like that again. Understand?"
"Perfectly." she said with a smile, kissing him deeply.
"I love you so much Jessica Grace Stone." he murmured into her sweet smelling hair.
"And I love you Callum Stone. Forever and always."