...

Home

...

Harry assumed he'd parked his car straight in a space and not across a couple in his rush to get into the hospital, but he honestly couldn't have told you for sure. He was slightly out of breath by the time he reached the reception desk in the Accident and Emergency department.

"I'm here to see Nikki Alexander." The receptionist simply nodded at him before beginning to type into his computer. Harry couldn't stand still whilst he waited; he found one of his feet tapping impatiently as his fingers moved around on top of the desk. It didn't matter that he had been told she was alright, he wouldn't calm down until he saw it for himself.

"I'll just get a nurse to take you to her." The receptionist finally answered when he looked up from his computer. "Please feel free to take a seat." The man, who Harry was starting to get frustrated with despite his kind appearance, gestured towards a collection of uncomfortable looking plastic chairs.

"I'm good, thanks." Harry replied, an edge to his tone. He moved to the side of the desk, leaving space for anyone else who needed to approach, but hovering to the side hoping that by getting in the way someone would take him to see Nikki sooner.

His wish was soon answered as a young, dark skinned nurse approached him. She looked kind, the type of person that was destined to become a nurse, with caring eyes and an approachable appearance despite being rather pretty.

"Dr Cunningham?" He nodded. "If I could just have a word before you go in to see Dr Alexander?" Harry nodded his acceptance and allowed himself to be led over to one side of a wide corridor that lead to an area of curtained dividers. "Dr Alexander has seemed quite distressed since she woke, but she won't discuss whatever is bothering her."

"Something happened at work earlier." Harry stated, hoping that it provided enough of an explanation for the nurse as he didn't exactly have any more to give.

"I can put in a call for someone to come and talk to her, if you'd like."

"No, Nikki won't like that, she'll be fine, I'll talk to her."

"Well let me know if you change your mind or if Dr Alexander would like to see someone." Harry nodded again.

"Thanks."

"I'll take you to her." The nurse started to move but Harry stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"Where was she found?"

"I'm not sure exactly where, the paramedics said she was slumped in an alleyway, looked too well dressed to be from that area, and was barely conscious when they found her." Harry must have had an expression on his face that gave more away than he was intending to. "We don't know exactly what happened, but she's fine now, she just needs to go home and get some rest." Harry nodded in acceptance.

"Thank you for calling me."

"Well you were the ICE number in her phone." The nurse didn't notice Harry pausing as she started to move. "Shall we?" The nurse mentioned towards the curtained rooms at the end of the corridor. Harry nodded eagerly, his desperate desire to see Nikki returning full force.

The nurse left him with a small pat on his arm outside one of the curtained areas. Harry took a deep breath before entering. Nikki was on the bed, covered in an array of sheets and blankets.

She looked so small, so young. With makeup mostly wiped away by a combination of tears and hands somehow she looked more fragile. Her legs were curled up towards her chest, body still trembling slightly. He wondered if the shivers were caused by something other than the cold, because she really should have warmed up by now.

She looked up at him as he approached the bed, met eyes with him for a very brief moment before looking away, as if ashamed. His heart broke in his chest. What on earth had happened earlier to leave her like this?

Harry had seen her scared before, had seen her shaken up after some of the dangerous situations she managed to get herself into. He'd seen her upset, seen her distraught after her father wandered in and out of her life like a yoyo. But something was different this time, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

In all the time it took for him to guide her out of the hospital and drive her home, she didn't say a word.

Harry really wanted to question her, to ask what had happened at the lab earlier, to ask where she had gone and how she had ended up in the hospital. But somehow he knew that he wouldn't get any answers, not now at least. He could feel waves of emotion and tension coming from Nikki and knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't respond to questioning. He'd have to take a different tactic to find out what had happened.

He couldn't hide his concern anymore when Nikki flinched away from his touch. They had arrived outside her apartment building and she didn't seem to have realised despite the fact he had switched the car off a few minutes before and had been observing her closely since. Harry could tell she was deep in thought, obviously distracted by something, but hadn't expected the response to his hand gently resting on her arm. In all honesty, her reaction scared him rather a lot.

As soon as she realised the cause for it, she seemed to shake herself from her thoughts and got out of the car, no explanation offered for her distance or strange reaction.

Harry watched her walk up the steps to her apartment building before stopping in front of the doors, hands in the pockets of her jacket, obviously searching for something.

Oh right, she didn't have her keys. Harry grabbed her handbag from the back seat of his car, and walked up the steps to meet her.

She didn't seem to want to meet his eyes, but was happy enough to stand back and let him unlock the door without questioning how he had known to pick up her bag before going to the hospital.

They walked up the stairs in silence, Harry unlocking the door to her flat and then placing her bag and keys down on the table in her living room. Nikki stood just within the room, looking painfully uncomfortable when he looked up at her.

"Are you going to be alright? Do you need me to get you anything?" The words that emerged from his mouth seemed inappropriate and inadequate, yet Harry couldn't think of what else to say. He only received a shaken head in response, and got the feeling that it referred to the second question rather than the first. He had to make sure though.

"Do you want me to stay?" For the brief moment before she responded, Harry found himself longing for her to say 'yes'. Or even a simple nod would do, seeing as she didn't seem to want to speak. He received neither, merely another small shake of her head before Nikki turned away, walking to her front door.

She opened it ever so slightly, and he took that as a hint that she wanted him to leave. It would be so much simpler if she would just say that. This silence was starting to get frustrating. He made his way to the door, taking over control of the handle when she backed away slightly.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" A single nod this time. "Please tell me you'll ring if you need anything." He didn't add that she'd have to actually speak for it to do much good. Another nod, this one more reluctant, though he rather expected that. "Nikki, could you please just say something?"

Her body moved in slightly, and her hand reached up, a finger covering his lips almost before he'd finished speaking. He was surprised that she initiated the contact, especially given her response to his touch in the car a few minutes before. She shook her head again, this time meeting his eyes for a second.

He wasn't sure what to think of the glimpse of emotion he had seen in her eyes.

Sighing deeply when the hand fell away from his face as quickly as it had arrived, Harry turned away and fully opened the door. He didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't exactly stick around unwanted.

"You know where I am." With his parting words, Harry didn't even bother to look back at Nikki one last time. He didn't think there was any point at this stage, she either didn't want or just wasn't ready for help, and he couldn't push whilst she seemed so traumatised by the events of the day.

If he had looked back one last time before heading down the stairs he might have seen the instant that Nikki's face crumbled. The instant that her mask dropped and she felt all her remaining energy sucked out of her. Harry heard the door slam rather loudly as he reached the next flight of stairs, but didn't realise that Nikki had pushed it shut as she crumpled down behind it, flinching at the sound as it slammed from the force she used in her rush to close it. Her rush to close it encase he glanced back and saw her. Then he'd surely never leave her alone.

And she wanted to be alone. Despite desiring comfort, she couldn't bring herself to talk yet and knew Harry wouldn't let that rest for long. Nor would he restrain from questioning her about the day for much longer. And she hadn't worked out yet what she was going to say. Whether she would lie or tell the truth. Whether she could spin a good enough lie to cover the truth. Or whether she would have to give in and admit to her past.

It was easier to be alone.

Nikki sat in her entrance hall with her back against the door for quite some time. She didn't cry, despite the strong desire. She just sat, letting her thoughts drift off, up, down and round in circles until a shiver accompanied by a yawn forced her to go to bed.

She'd have to figure out what to do in the morning.

...

A/N… I am officially useless at updating ;-) Seem to have had a lot going on in life recently and haven't been reading or writing much – though I haven't forgotten about the wonderful world of Silent Witness fanfiction…honestly! I am (incredibly slowly) attempting to catch up on all the updates and new stories but it's gonna take a while ;-)

On a separate note, I've decided to name the chapters as I'm fed up with the whole 'Chapter One – Two' issue that happens when you put a prologue at the beginning…but might be a disaster when I can't think of chapter names even when I have finally written them! We'll see…maybe it'll work.

Also, I changed the rating as I possibly put it a little high at first – though it might go up again for some later chapters (assuming I remember to do that). So this is your early warning that things could get a little heavier later on.

Anyways, hope you hadn't all forgotten about me (!) and more importantly, are all enjoying the lovely sunshine...