Part 2
He took hold of her hand and kissed her forehead softly
�I�ve been such an idiot........I love you so much June and Im never letting you go again�
He sat down next to her, not letting go of her hand
�I�ll leave you to it Jim, I�ll come in the morning but ring me if you need me�
�Thanks Gina�
Jim jumped with a start as Gina put her hand on his shoulder
�Sorry to wake you�
�I must have dosed off....what time is it?� he asked rubbing his eyes
About 8.....look why don�t you pop home and get a shower and a shave�
�But....�
�But nothing, I will stay till you get back don�t worry�
�Promise?�
�I promise, when June wakes she wont want to see you in that state will she�
Jim scratched his lightly stubbled chin �Your right, anyway there is something I must do�
He smiled as he handed his bank card to the assistant he knew in his heart what he had to do to make him complete. He purchased the ring with the winnings from the casino obbo, seeing it as a sign of fate, that all these things were connected and had happened so that they could be together again forever.
He left the shop with a even wider grin, having safely put the diamond ring and a small gold heart shaped locket into his inside jacket pocket, he planned to give the locket to her on their wedding day when it happened.
His brain knew that he was making plans for an event they may never happen, he could understand if June wanted nothing to do with him as he had hurt her so badly in the past, but despite what his brain was telling him, his heart was telling him that there was nothing to be afraid of, they were destined to be togther
Gina stood watching June cough as the doctors bought her round from her sedation and removed her ET tube, Gina knew she should have rung Jim to tell him that this was happening but she did not want him to be disappointed if June did not feel the same way about him as he felt about her.
�How you feeling� Gina asked as a nurse took June�s pulse and blood pressure�
�Sore, like I�ve been run-over� June said with a smile
�You gave us all a fright.......what do you remember�
�I was running......I went onto the road, I heard something, looked round and there was the car, has Jim been here, I thought I heard his voice last night or was I dreaming�
�No he has been here all night.......he�s just popped home for a shower and shave he looked a bit scary�
�You forget I have seen him in that state before many a time�
�True, he will be glad to see you awake, he has been so worried, he thought he had lost you forever�
�He is not that lucky, he�s stuck with me as a friend for life�
�He still cares for you June, why do you think he has been sat here, don�t tell me that you don�t feel the same�
�Don�t be stupid Gina, far too much has happened between us now, regardless of how we feel�
�Im serious, the whole of the nick knows that you belong together, we all know that you both love each other�
�It�s not that simple, we can�t just put the past to one side�
�It is that simple, you nearly died, what does it take for you two to be honest with each other�
Jim rushed towards June�s bed �I wish you would stop scaring me like this, I went to ITU and you had gone�
�Sorry Jim that was my fault I forgot to phone you, I was going to do it once she had been moved up here but it slipped my mind� Gina said apologetically
�It�s ok� he stood next to June�s side and took hold of her hands �I�ve been so worried�
�Sorry I�ll give you more notice next time�
�Don�t you even think about it� Jim smiled as he lent forward and kissed her lips softly, to his surprise June responded to his lips and their kiss became deeper
�I will leave you too alone� Gina said as they pulled apart �I�ll come back later on, I�ll leave telling the relief that things are ok for a bit, give you some time alone�
�Thank you� Jim said, not breaking eye contact with June �Thank you for everything�
Gina left as Jim sat next to June�s bed, both of them holding each others hands tightly
�So you stayed all night�
�I wanted to be here when you woke up, Im sorry that I was not�
�Don�t worry, you are hear now, anyway Gina said you looked a bit scary� June laughed
�You cheeky woman, you must be felling better, giving me abuse........I wanted to tell you something.......the thought of never seeing you again scared me so much...it made me realise.....� Jim inhaled deeply
�I love you� they both said in unison
Jim laughed �You mean it�
�Jim I have watched you go through so much since we ended our relationship and so many times I have wanted to tell you how I felt about you, how I needed you to be happy, but I could not risk ruining things between us�
�What are we like, when you told me about Robert and what happened, all I wanted to do was hold you in my arms and tell you that I would protect you and not let anyone harm you again. I love you more than life it�s self.........I don�t know what I would have done if you had not survived�
He took the ring box from his pocket, removed the ring and knelt by her bed
�Will you marry me?�
Gina walked into the busy canteen �Listen up you rabble� she shouted, within seconds there was a hush similar to the one that had lingered in there 24 hours previously
�Don�t look so worried......You will all be pleased to know that June is now out of ITU, fully awake and things are looking good and she will make a full recovery, so she will be back to sort you out very soon�
�Brilliant� said Reg
�Can we visit her� enquired Honey
�Yes but not all at once and not till this afternoon, June would like some time alone with her fianc� before you all appear and give them no time alone�
�The sarge hasn�t got a fianc� has she?� Reg was baffled by Gina�s statement
�Oh sorry did I forget to say.......June and Jim are getting married�
�You are looking brighter, no need to ask why� said Gina as she stood at the foot of June�s bed
�Yeah well I still can�t quite believe that this is happening�
�The relief weren�t though Reg was baffled when I told them to stay away till later as you wanted some time alone with your fianc�, they are all itching to come and see you, both of you�
�No one is more surprised than us� said Jim �I never thought I would get this chance again�
�Don�t worry you have the rest of your life to get used to the idea� Gina replied
�As Gina is here I will pop home and sort out Toto and get your things for you�
�My keys are in my locker, can you take my car home, your keys are in the draw in the hall�
�No worries, I�ll be back as soon as I can, don�t go moving wards again�
�I wont�
Jim walked into the kitchen, he was amazed at how safe he felt here, how it felt as if he had never been anywhere else, that the past 18 months or so had not happened.
�Hey Totes� Jim picked up toto who greeted him warmly �Bet you wonder where your mummy is, she is going to be fine, things are going to be ok, life is going to be wonderful again�
He pushed the door of June�s bedroom and closed his eyes, allowing his mind to remember the happy times they had spent in here, he could hear June laughing within his mind. He re opened his eyes slowly and walked into the room.
At first he felt uncomfortable rummaging around in June�s room as he knew where to find everything from when he lived here but there was no sign that he had ever been there or so he thought, he opened the draw which contained June�s underwear and there it was that reminder of their past.
He took the frame from the draw and looked at the photo and put it back to where it had once sat, on the cabinet next to the mirror. The photo bought back more happy memories, it was of them on the dancefloor kissing at Luke and Kerry�s engagement party. That evening had caused June to realise that her feelings for Jim were the real thing and she finally admitted that she loved him and that they could be happy together. That night also made Jim realise that his and June�s relationship could be forever. If only Cathy had not interfered, if she had spoken to Jim first rather than gone straight to June then they might have not got into the mess they had, that one moment had started the breakdown of their relationship
He was determined to give June the best of everything for te rest of their lives, beginning with their wedding, whatever she wanted their wedding to be a big lavish occasion or a small intimate ceremony on their own, what ever her wish was he would grant it.
�How you feeling sweetheart� he asked as he touched her face �You look tired�
�I am, it has been an eventful day.....the doctors came round earlier, I can go home in next week, I will be off work for 6-8 weeks depending on how long it takes to heal from the hysterectomy, even then Im on light duties for a month or so�
�Don�t worry, there is no point in rushing back to work, if you go back to early then you will do more damage�
�Don�t really know if I want to go back to work�
�You don�t mean that�
�I don�t really know what I want, The only thing Im am sure about is us�
�Good�
�I have never been this happy�
�Well Im glad� he replied as she squeezed his hand
�Im just going to have to watch daytime tele until you come home at night�
�You could always plan our wedding.......then perhaps we could go away for a couple of weeks before we you go back to work�
�That would be good, we can plan our wedding whilst sitting in the sun�
�Actually I was thinking that the holiday could be our honeymoon�
�What?, get married in 6 weeks�
�Why not?�
�You are crazy sometimes�
�Only sometimes�
June laughed at the face that Jim was pulling �You can be a silly sod you know......ok we do it, we get married in 6 weeks�
�Brilliant, I�ve wasted so much time without you, Im not wasting anymore� he kissed he lips softly
�Is that all I get?� she ran her hand down his face and pulled him closer to her
�You serious� June asked as she looked at Jim who was sat beside her on her bed
�Deadly, find a nice country hotel, get married there, have the reception there too, then perhaps we could stay there for the night before jetting off somewhere exotic�
�But wont everywhere be booked by now?�
�Well we wont know until we find out, will we and if there is somewhere that is free then it was obviously meant to be�
�Like us�
�Exactly� Jim said as he held her in his arms
June was about to say something when Honey and Yvonne appeared
�How you feeling Sarge� enquired Yvonne
�Congratulations� Honey squealed excitedly �Everyone is so happy for you, we all knew you wold get back together sooner or later�
�Where we the last ones to know� said Jim
�I think so� replied June
A few days later June stood at the front door waiting for Jim to unlock the door, June had persuaded the doctors to let her home early as Jim had managed to get some time off to look after her. She was still slow on her feet from the surgery she had required to save her life.
All at Sun Hill had visited June whilst she was in hospital and had given so much support to Jim whilst he divided his time between Sun Hill and the hospital.
They were so grateful to Jack Meadows for allowing Jim to take as much time off as was necessary.
�Why don�t you put you feet up on the sofa and I will sort things out� said Jim as he opened the front door and guided June into the front room
�Sounds good, any chance of a cup of tea�
�Of course my love, anything you desire� he noticed a familiar glint in her eyes
�Anything I desire.....Jim I have just had major surgery and what I desire is you and you know that nothing can happen there for a few weeks�
�June Ackland� he proclaimed �You are a wicked woman�
�Well you did ask� she laughed as she sat on the sofa �There is no harm in dreaming is there�
�None at all� he went into the kitchen and set about making a cup of tea for June
�So anymore thoughts about a venue� June asked as she settled into the sofa
�I was going to tell you in a minute once I had made the tea but now you have asked� Jim came back into the front room �August 16th�
�Fantastic, where� June asked excitedly
�You know that hotel stayed at before Christmas that looked wonderful dusted in snow�
�It must look beautiful this time of year�
�It does I went there yesterday and spoke with the manager, they had a cancellation and when I explained our situation they were more than helpful, is that ok?
�Wonderful.....oh my god we have so much to do�
�June don�t panic all we have to do is decide what type of service we want, pick food for the reception and evening do and decide who we want to invite.............more importantly we have to find a suit for me and you have to find a dress�
�Not much then� June said raising her eyebrows
�I have chosen one thing though�
�Which is?�
�They asked if we had a song that we would like played for our first dance�
�What did you choose�
�This� he said as he went to the CD player, picked up a CD and handed it to her
�Perfect� she said with a smile
�How are you feeling� asked Tony as he handed June a bunch of flowers
�Glad to be home� she said as she kissed his cheek �How are you, Jim said that your back in the area car, that�s great�
�Yeah it is, all that is missing is you giving us all abuse�
�She is giving me the abuse instead� Jim laughed
�Oi watch it you or you will be on the sofa tonight�
�Now that is too much information�
�Don�t worry Tone, she will be wanting me to help her get upstairs later, I will get my revenge�
�You two are bonkers you know that, how are the wedding plans going�
June smiled �We are getting married on the 16th August�
�I need a best man, will you?�
�Me, you mean it, I would be honoured, I didn�t realise that you had set a date�
�We did yesterday and that is all the information we are giving you for the moment� said Jim
Jim got into bed and kissed June�s shoulder as he cuddled up to her
�I was wondering when you would come up�
�Sorry, I was watching the cricket highlights and fell asleep�
�That� s ok, I thought you were abandoning me already�
�No Im not going any where from now on�
�Good because neither am I� she turned her head to him to kiss him goodnight
For the first time in too long they slept wrapped in each others arms, never letting go of each other.