Jo's Past
   (Disclaimer:  I do not own any of the Blue Heelers characters, they all 
   belong to Hal McElroy and Southern Star)

   "Okay,"  said Tess, as she and the Boss came out of the Sergeant's office,  
   "A fax just came through from Melbourne.  It's a rather strange case, I've 
   just been discussing it with the Boss."
   "What's so strange about it?" asked PJ, trying to make the coffee froth.
   "Well," said Tess, taking a deep breath, "We have been told to keep an eye 
   out for this man.  Black hair, grey eyes, average height and with a scar 
   across his fore head.  He is apparently after one particular resident of 
   Mount Thomas, only problem is we don't know who."
   "What's he up for?" asked PJ, bringing his coffee over and sitting on the 
   edge of Jo's desk.
   "Attempted murder, kidnapping and conspiracy."
   "Name?" asked Ben impatiently.
   Tess smiled grimly, "Jim Thomson."  Jo gasped, went pale and grabbed for the 
   phone.
   "Hello, can I please speak to Lilly Parrish, I'm Jo Parrish, her sister," 
   she said into the receiver.
   "One moment," said the person on the other end of the line.  Lilly greeted 
   Jo warmly, "Hi Sis, what's up?"
   "Your coming to Mount Thomas, Lilly."
   "Why?"
   "Why do you think?  Come on Lilly, use your brain, your no idiot.  He's 
   coming."
   "Who?"
   "Don't give me that, Lilly, you know perfectly well who.  Does the name Jim 
   Thomson ring a bell maybe?"
   "Jo your wrong, you have to be wrong."
   "I'm not wrong."
   "Tell all, every last detail."
   Jo was breathing hard now, "T-the Boss, he . . . he and Tess got a message 
   from Melbourne telling us to keep an eye out for h-him.  Th-the report had 
   everything in it, except m-my name.  Attempted m-murder, kidnapping, the 
   lot. . . I'm so scared, Lilly."
   "I'm coming, Jo, I'll be there within two hours.  Until then you must not be 
   alone, what every price you must pay, you understand me.  Not for a second.  
   It only takes that long for a bullet-"
   "Stop, Lilly, I know, I'm not an idiot either.  I'll tell the Boss, and 
   he'll take charge.  Okay?"
   "Can you trust him?"
   "Of course I can trust him, he's my boss . . . he's my friend."
   "Okay, Jo, I'll see you in about two hours at the station.  Bye."
   "Bye," Jo hung up the receiver, and looked at the Boss, "Boss," she said 
   slowly, "Can I have a word with you in your office please?"
   "Yes, sure."

   In the Boss's office, Jo collapsed in a chair with her head in her hands.  
   There was a long silence.
   "Jo," said the Boss, "Is this Jim Thomson person after you?"
   Jo didn't move her head from her hands, "Yes."
   "Why?"
   "Well, I would think that it would be obvious, I mean, ding-ding, he is up 
   for attempted murder and kidnapping."
   "He did that to you?"  Jo answered the Boss's question with only a nod.  
   Then exclaimed hysterically, "I can't believe Lilly asked me if I could 
   trust you, I mean, your only one of the most trustworthy people in Mount 
   Thomas."
   "She doesn't know me," said the Boss simply.
   "Lilly says that I'm not to be alone, says it only takes a second for a 
   bullet to be shot. . . she's right you know."
   "I know," confirmed the Boss, "I think that it would be best if you were 
   just partnered off with someone, until this whole thing's over.  Then 
   everything can return to normal."
   "That's if I live through this you mean."
   "Jo, you have to be positive, you don't know your going to die, your not 
   going to die, not if any of us have any say in the matter."
   "You don't know this man, Boss," Jo was almost shouting, "He has devoted his 
   whole life to trying to kill me.  He wrecked our lives Boss.  He'll be 
   armed, he's dangerous."
   The Boss took off his glasses and rubbed his temples, putting them back on 
   again he asked, "Is there anyone that you would like to be partnered off 
   with more than others?"
   "Anyone, except Tess, I don't think that I could put up with her bitchiness 
   right now."
   "Okay, not Tess," said the Boss, knowing that this was no time for lectures 
   about talking nicely in regard to your colleagues, "It's your pick, who do 
   you want?"
   "Anyone except Tess, but maybe I shouldn't have PJ either. . . There's been 
   times when Jim's been so close to finding me that I have thought that I'd 
   have to go into Witness Protection, may have to now, you know.  PJ's only 
   just getting over Maggie's death, it wouldn't be fair to ask him."
   "True," said the Boss thoughtfully, "I'm not trying to get out of this one, 
   but maybe I wouldn't be right for this one either.  Going around with the 
   Sergeant in tow wouldn't do much good, really.  I mean, I can do it if you 
   want me to, but . . ."
   "Your right," said Jo, "So that leaves who, Jack and Ben?"
   "Yes."
   "Maybe Jack," said Jo softly, almost to herself.
   "Jack?  If you want then that's fine, may I just ask why?" the Boss seemed 
   thoughtful.
   "I don't know . . . it's not that I don't trust Ben, it's just that . . . 
   that I trust Jack more than Ben, we're better friends."
   "That's fine, I'll get Jack in and explain the situation to him, shall I?"  
   the Boss stood up.
   "Yes, I suppose.  But Boss?"
   "Yes."
   "You don't really know much about the situation."
   "True," said the Boss sitting down again.
   "Um . . ." Jo was silent for a long time, "It was when I was eight.  I went 
   to a school that was just a few streets away from where I lived.  I had 
   forgotten my house key . . . Lilly was at a school camp, so I couldn't use 
   hers.  My parents weren't home yet.  I sat down on the front doorstep, 
   waiting, waiting for them to get home.  Then this man came up, he started 
   off with a polite sort of attitude.  He-" Jo's head fell to her hands now, 
   she was unable to speak for several minutes, "Sorry.  He told me that my mum 
   had asked him to pick me up and take me to her work.  A day before that I 
   would have believed him and gone with him happily.  But that day we had just 
   had a stranger danger talk at our school, I told him that I wouldn't go with 
   him.  Said I didn't know him.  He got angry then.  Grabbed me, I was 
   screaming so loud, but no-one heard," again Jo stopped talking and put her 
   head in her hands, sobbing, "He took me to this place, tied me up.  For 
   days.  I had nothing to eat, drink.  He knew the police were coming.  He 
   didn't want me to be able to say anything against him.  He tried to kill me, 
   strangle me.  He was almost through, up to the stage where I could barely 
   breathe, when he heard the police sirens.  Left me half dead lying there and 
   made a run for it, got away too."

   It seemed to the Boss that Jo wasn't going to say anymore.
   "I'll talk to Jack," he said softly.  Jo nodded silently and went back to 
   the main office.  PJ was making coffee at the coffee making machine, "Make 
   one for Jo too," said the Boss, "Jack, a word in my office please?"
   "Yep sure," said Jack getting up, as he passed Jo he touched her shoulder 
   gently, "You okay?"
   Jo shrugged, "Don't know."  Jack squeezed her shoulder and then went in to 
   talk to the Boss.  Jo sat down at her desk, feeling light headed.  The phone 
   rang and a minute later Tess and Ben went out to deal with a burglary.

   PJ and Jo were the only ones in the main office.
   "Here," said PJ, handing Jo a steaming cup of coffee.  Jo looked at it 
   doubtfully.  "I don't know why the Boss said to make me this," she said, 
   putting it down and not drinking it.  There was a long uncomfortable 
   silence.
   "I think at this stage, PJ, I've got to tell you something," Jo's voice was 
   almost a whisper.
   "Yes," said PJ, "What?"
   "You know when . . . when it was just before Maggie died?"
   "Yes," said PJ, his voice soft and sad.
   "And you were trying to hide the fact that she was going to go into Witness 
   Protection?"
   "Yes."
   "Well, I knew, I could tell . . . where she was going.  The way she looked.  
   I could see right through her . . . and you, it was like you were both made 
   of glass. Everyone just went along with the story that you two had fought, 
   it was the easiest option.  But not the true one, hey?"
   "How did you know?"  PJ's voice still had the same soft, sad tone.
   "I . . . I have never actually been into a protection program myself, but 
   I've come so close to it so many times, . . . because of Jim Thomson.  I 
   wanted to tell Maggie that I knew what she was feeling and all that, but I 
   knew that I couldn't.  It would have been too dangerous."  Jo got up then 
   and left the room.

   Later that afternoon there was a woman standing at the front desk.  She had 
   short, brown, fashionably cut hair and wore jeans and a
   T-shirt.
   "What can I do for you?"  Tess asked her.
   "I'm here to see Jo Parrish, I'm her sister, Lilly," the woman smiled a 
   small, grim smile.
   "Oh, um, yes sure," for the first time in her life Tess Gallagher was 
   speechless.  The Boss had told all the members of the station about the 
   situation, "I'll get her."
   Tess stuck her head into PJ's office where PJ, Jo and Ben were discussing a 
   case.  Or rather where PJ and Ben were discussing a case, and where Jo was 
   sitting with her head in her hands.
   "Jo, your sister's here," Tess said and went back into main office.  Tess 
   thought that Jo was stretching it all out a bit, after all if the man hadn't 
   caught her in the past fifteen years then why would he suddenly catch her 
   now?  Basically she thought that Jo was a drama queen.
   Jo got up quickly and came over to Lilly and instantly burst into tears.  
   Lilly looked around, "Is there somewhere more private that we can go?" she 
   asked Tess.
   "The locker room is right there," said Tess pointing to it's doorway, but 
   not looking up from her work.  Lilly led Jo into the locker room to begin 
   the long process of calming Jo down.

   It was about two o'clock in the morning.  Jo woke up screaming.  She looked 
   around in the darkness around her.  She had been dreaming, reliving what had 
   happened to her while she had been kidnapped.  The old pain had come back in 
   her neck.  The one that she got when ever she got too worried about Jim 
   Thomson catching her.  She had to talk to someone.  Lilly was just on the 
   other side of the wall.  But she couldn't talk to Lilly.  Lilly didn't know 
   anything about her feelings.  As much as she had always trusted Lilly, she 
   had never been able to tell her worries, how she felt, the nightmares that 
   she still sometimes had.
   Before Jo knew what she was doing she was out of bed and knocking on the 
   door to Jack's room.  What had she done?  She didn't want to wake him up.  
   But he was already at the door and all that Jo could do was apologise.
   "Jack, I'm sorry, really I am, I didn't want to wake you up.  I just found 
   myself knocking on your door before I knew what I was doing.  I'm sorry, I 
   didn't want to wake you up."  Jo turned to leave, but turned back when Jack 
   spoke to her.
   "Jo, if you were here before you knew what you were doing, then you must be 
   really upset.  Do you want to talk about it?"  There was a long silence as 
   Jo considered the question.  Finally she nodded.

   As Jo came into Jack's room she just broke down.  Her voice box caught in 
   her throat and she couldn't speak.  This scared her beyond control and she 
   began to cry.
   "Jo?" asked Jack softly, "What is it?"  It was several moments before she 
   could speak again, but when she did everything she said just seemed to flow 
   out of her mouth.
   "I know the Boss told what happened back then.  But I didn't tell him 
   everything.  I've never told anyone everything. . . After it happened my 
   parents tried sending me to counselling, but I wouldn't tell the idiot woman 
   anything.  I just couldn't see the point in pouring out my heart and soul to 
   a complete stranger.  Didn't seem natural.  I never knew who I could trust.  
   Then just now I woke up and I knew I needed to tell someone.  I can't tell 
   Lilly, with what it did to our lives that just wouldn't be fair.  Too much 
   stress for her.  Then the next thing I knew I was knocking on your door.  If 
   you want to go back to bed then that's fine."
   "No, I'll listen," said Jack softly.
   "Are you sure?"
   "Yes."
   "When . . . when he tried to strangle me he was shouting at me all the 
   while, blaming me for all his problems.  By that stage I was so scared that 
   I believed him.  He was shouting . . . he was so, so angry.  He knew that 
   the police were coming, that they would be there soon.  He didn't want me to 
   tell them anything, that why he tried to get rid of me.  Only it didn't 
   work, because the police were closer than he thought they were and he had to 
   run away before he was sure that I was dead.  I wasn't dead."
   There was a very long silence.
   "After when I was at home again everyone in my family started being over 
   protective.  They never wanted me to go anywhere, do anything, live my life. 
     Maybe if they hadn't been like that I could have gotten over it a bit more 
   than I had.  They always said that he was somewhere out there.  Said that 
   they never knew where and I had to be careful.  And they were right.  But I 
   didn't have to be that careful.  Now that he's caught maybe I can be a 
   normal person again."
   Jack looked at Jo carefully, studying her face, "Jo?" he asked slowly, "What 
   makes you think you aren't normal?  You are perfectly normal."
   "You only think that because you don't know.  The kids . . . the kids at 
   school called me a freak.  No-one wanted to be friends with me after.  
   Everyone around where we lived knew that there was this man after me, it was 
   in the papers, on the news.  Some parents even told their children not to 
   play with me.  I suppose they thought that their kids would just be a danger 
   too then.  But what they did was cruel.  They were wrong.  The other kids . 
   . . they wouldn't have been in danger, not at all.  It was just me he 
   wanted."

   "But didn't your parents know that you didn't have any friends?  Why didn't 
   your family move?"  Jack asked genuinely puzzled.
   "My parents didn't know.  Lilly didn't know, she went to a different school, 
   she had a scholarship for music.  I didn't tell them, didn't want them to 
   have anything more to worry about.  And why didn't we move?  Well, even if I 
   didn't talk to the councillor, my parents did.  The idiot told them that 
   everything should go on as it had been before.  So we didn't move, they had 
   considered it at the beginning, but then they spoke to my councillor.  
   Actually, not my councillor, make that the councillor."
   Jack put his hand on Jo's arm.  He didn't know what to say.  What could he 
   say?

   It seemed to happen to them both at them same time.  They barely knew that 
   they were responsible for their bodies moving, moving towards each other.  
   They were getting closer and closer.  There noses were barely more than a 
   few centimetres apart.  They felt themselves kissing.

   *************************************************************

   The next morning at the station Jack and Jo eyed each other carefully.  They 
   each knew what had happened last night.  They knew that they both needed to 
   talk about it, but it wasn't the time or place.
   It wasn't long before Tess had them both up to their fore heads in paper 
   work and in a way that was good because then neither of them could think 
   about last night, Jack couldn't think about what Jo had told him and Jo 
   couldn't think about what had happened.

   At mid day Lilly brought the lunches down to the station.  Jack went up to 
   the front desk to collect them from her.
   "Hello, we usually come and get the lunches ourselves," said Jack, taking 
   the box from her, "But thanks anyway."
   "Well, I was coming down here anyway, so Chris suggested I bring them with 
   me,"  Jack nodded, "And I was wondering if I could have a word to Jo, I 
   didn't get to see her before she left for work this morning."
   "Yep, sure," as Jack turned away he could feel his face redden, he really 
   wanted to have a word to Jo too.  But not now, not here.
   "Jo," Jack said, "sticking his head into PJ's office, "Your sister's here, 
   she wants a word with you."  As Jo went through the doorway where Jack was 
   standing he heard her mutter, "So it's not only my parents being over 
   protective, Lilly too."

   "Lilly, what's up?" asked Jo, trying to sound cheerful.
   "I just wanted to check that you were okay, I didn't get to see you before 
   you left for work this morning."
   "I'm fine, Lilly," answered Jo angrily, "Absolutely fine.  Nothing to worry 
   about.  You know you don't even need to be in Mount Thomas,  you can go 
   home, go back to your life.  You don't have to worry about me, this is my 
   problem, I can handle it on my own."
   Lilly frowned, "You were the one who called me down here."
   "Yeah, I did.  I called you down here because I was scared.  You were the 
   only one who knew, you were the only one who could calm me down. I'm calm 
   now.  Your not the only one who knows anymore.  Your not even doing anything 
   anyway.  All your doing is telling me not to worry.  To stay calm.  Well, 
   I'll tell you something Lilly Parrish, if you were in my place right now 
   then you would be screaming your head off.  I am calm, as calm as I can be.  
   You don't know what it's like to fear for your life.  You act like you know 
   everything, well you don't."  Jo stormed out of the room, going into PJ's 
   office and slamming the door so hard that the windows rattled.

   PJ left Jo in there for a while.  Giving her time to cool off. But after a 
   while he knocked on the door and waited.  No one answered.  He knocked 
   again.
   "Who is it?" asked a voice through the door.
   "PJ" he answered.
   "Come in," the voice was deadly calm.  PJ came into the room.  He saw Jo 
   curled up in his chair with the picture of Maggie on her lap.  There was a 
   long uncomfortable silence.
   "Did she ever tell you what it was like?" Jo asked, after a while, "Being 
   scared all the time?  Not knowing who to trust?  Who to turn to?"
   "You mean Maggie?" PJ asked softly.
   "Yeah," Jo wasn't looking at him, she couldn't bring herself to, she 
   couldn't believe what she had just asked him.  This was his and Maggie's own 
   personal stuff, she didn't have any right to know, "I mean you don't have to 
   tell me . . . not if you don't want to."
   "No, that's okay," said PJ slowly, thoughtfully, "Sort of.  Never really 
   'being scared for your life is like this and this and this.  But more just 
   little comments here and there.  You had to interpret them.  Know when they 
   were there, because she wouldn't tell you, she wasn't that sort of person."
   "Did you ever wonder what she thought about the whole thing?"  Jo couldn't 
   believe how straight forward she was being.
   "If I wondered then I'd ask.  She'd tell if you asked.  She just wouldn't 
   off the top of her head.  She was always a very private sort of person.  It 
   took a long time to break into her confidence.  But once you had she trusted 
   you with anything through thick and thin.  Not that if you weren't there she 
   didn't trust you," PJ added quickly, "It was just a different sort of 
   trust."
   Jo nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah.  I wish she was still here.  She was sort of 
   in the same boat as me, only I didn't know it until it was too late."
   "I wish she was still here too," PJ's voice was barely able to be heard.

   That night at the pub they were all sitting at their usual table.  Jack lent 
   over to Jo.
   "Jo, we need to talk, come."  Jo didn't answer, only got up and followed 
   Jack up the stairs and into his room.
   "Last night," said Jack slowly.
   "Yeah, last night," repeated Jo, "I'm sorry about that.  Everything.  I 
   shouldn't have woken you up . . ."
   "You know what I mean," said Jack, "We're not here to talk about you waking 
   me up.  We're here to talk about the kiss and you know that."  There was a 
   very long silence after Jack had spoken.
   "It was good," said Jo.
   "The kiss?" asked Jack, "Yeah that was good.  But was it just a fluke?  Or 
   did it mean something?"
   The silence was deafening as Jo weigh up her thoughts.  She liked Jack.  She 
   really liked Jack.  There had always been something special there.  But was 
   now really the best time to get into a relationship?
   Jo sighed, "Look Jack," she said finally, "I like you, I really like you.  
   But I'm not sure that this is really the best time to be in a relationship.  
   I'm nervous.  Vunverable.  I have no guarantee that I will even be here 
   tomorrow.  When this whole thing with Jim Thomson is over, then can we talk 
   about it?"
   "Sure, lets deal with one thing at a time, hey?" Jack smiled at her, "Come 
   on lets go back to the others at the table."

   *************************************************************

   The days sped past.  Jo was wary of every sound and every movement.  Lilly 
   had in the end gone back to Melbourne.  But she and Jo had made up first, 
   both apologising for their words and actions.

   "Yes Sir, what can I do for you?" asked Ben going up to the front desk at 
   the station.
   "My name is Richard Morgan, I'd like to speak to Constable Joanna Parrish."
   "Um . . . can I please see an ID Sir, stating who you are?"  Ben was 
   immediately nervous, someone coming into the station and asking to speak to 
   Jo was not a good sign.
   "Yes, certainly.  Good to see that you are doing things the proper way."  
   Ben didn't understand this last comment, but he was Richard Morgan.
   "I'll just get her for you,"  Ben turned towards PJ's office where Jo was 
   discussing a case with the CI.

   Ben knocked and then opened the door.
   "Yep, Ben what's up?" asked PJ.
   "Jo," Ben said slowly, "Were you expecting a Richard Morgan down from 
   Melbourne today?"
   To his utmost suprise Jo's hand flew to her mouth and the seemed to shrink 
   in her chair, whilst PJ stood up and took the picture of Maggie from his 
   desk and went to stand next to the window.
   "Are . . . are you sure that this man was Richard Morgan?" asked Jo.
   "Yes," answered Ben, "Why have you two suddenly gone all strange?  I checked 
   his ID, like we are supposed to and yes he definitely is Richard Morgan."
   Jo got up and silently left the room.

   At the main desk Jo looked Richard squarely in the eye.
   "I'm not going anywhere.  I've been partnered off, I'm a police officer, I 
   am surrounded by police officers and I am as safe as I am going to be 
   anywhere.  I'm not going."
   "Can we please talk about this somewhere more private?" was all that Richard 
   Morgan said.  Jo led him through the station to PJ's office.
   "PJ, can we please use your office?  We shan't be long.  I have already told 
   this man all I am going to say there is nothing more that he needs to know.  
   But he seems to think that there is."
   "Yeah, sure," PJ started to leave the room, but Richard Morgan stopped him.
   "PJ Hasham?"
   "Yes, that's me."
   "Fiancee of Margaret Ann Doyle?"
   "Yes," said PJ and left the room before Richard had a chance to say anything 
   more.

   "Now what is so damn important?" asked Jo angrily, "I told you, I am not 
   going anywhere.  So you can give up on that idea."
   "The longer you stay here, the more danger you are in and the more danger 
   you are putting your friends in," Richard was looking at her in the eye.
   "My friends have nothing to do with this,"  Jo was fuming, "This man is 
   after me and only me."
   "This man," said Richard taking in a shaky breath, "Does not know that you 
   are a police officer.  When he finds that out he is going to assume that you 
   have told everyone everything and that there is yet another court case 
   stacked up against him.  Even though that is not true, that is what he will 
   think.  The only court case at the moment is the one that your parents set 
   years ago, but that's still standing and that's still valid.  Your friends 
   will most likely be in almost as much danger as you are."

   Jo didn't like the edge to Richard Morgan's voice.  She didn't like his 
   tone.  His tone told her that he had control over her.
   "Well," Jo sighed, "Where do I have to go?  What do I have to do?"
   "Witness Protection is one idea,"  it didn't sound as though Richard was 
   going to continue, but finally he did, "But you could also stay here under 
   complete supervision."
   "What do you mean by 'complete supervision'?" asked Jo warily.
   "You would never be alone, even for a moment.  You would have a miniature 
   walkie talkie with you at all times in case you got into trouble and you 
   would have to work a lot more shifts because work is the place that you are 
   safest at the moment."
   "Done," replied Jo, "I'll do that."
   "It's not that simple I'm afraid," Richard's voice had the tone that Jo 
   didn't like again, "You can't just say 'that's what I'll do', you need 
   consent from the other officers at the station to help you, it will be very 
   demanding on them as well.  Every single member needs to agree, otherwise we 
   can't go through with it."
   "Well, then what are you waiting for," Jo demanded, "Go ahead and ask them."
   Richard nodded, "I talk to them by myself though.  You will not be present."
   "If that's what it takes," said Jo, "Then I'm fine with that."

   They left PJ's office.
   "You finished?" asked PJ.
   "Um, I don't know," answered Jo, "Richard needs to talk to all of you as 
   well.  Do you want to use an office still?"
   "Yes," Richard wasn't looking at Jo, he was staring at everyone else in the 
   station, "But it doesn't have to be there.  I'll need to talk to the 
   Sergeant first, I think."
   "Boss?" asked Jo.
   "Yes," he replied coming out of his office.
   "This is Richard Morgan, he would like to talk to you about . . . um, some 
   things regarding, . . . ahh, me."
   "Yes certainly, right this way Mr Morgan," said the Boss leading him into 
   his office.

   Everyone had agreed to it.  Tess had taken a lot of convincing, but Jo 
   didn't know that.  The days sped past, each with a new report that Jim 
   Thomson was getting closer.  Jo got to the stage where she wasn't sleeping.  
   Firstly because she had so many shifts that it didn't leave her much time 
   to, once she had done all her other stuff.  And secondly because whenever 
   she did get to bed she was woken up by terrible nightmares.

   "You look like you are falling asleep," said Ben one night, when he and Jo 
   were on night shift.  It was five in the morning.
   "Yeah, as soon as I fall asleep though, I'll be awake screaming, I don't 
   really want to sleep anymore," Jo didn't lift her head from where it was 
   resting on her arm to speak.
   "You heard from Lilly lately?" asked Ben.
   "Yeah, I spoke to her last night.  She absolutely hates not being here, but 
   I think that it is for the best anyhow,"  Jo didn't continue with any more 
   details.
   "Coffee?" asked Ben.
   "Yeah, okay, thanks," Ben got up and went around to the side to make the 
   coffee.  He couldn't see the doorway from there.

   Suddenly he heard Jo shout, "Ben," a single word, no more.  He heard a 
   thump.  Ben dropped the coffee cup, it went smashing to the ground and he 
   ran to see what was wrong.
   Jo was lying on the ground.  There was a man that fitted Jim Thomson's 
   description, holding her down by the neck and he was holding a knife.
   Ben's voice was shaky, "Put the knife down and let her go."
   "What has she told you?" shouted the man.
   "Put the knife down and let her go," repeated Ben, taking his gun from his 
   belt.
   "You don't use that mate, or the consequences won't be worth it.  I'd put it 
   away if I were you," the man was referring to Ben's gun.
   "I don't put this down until you put that down," said Ben pointing to the 
   man's knife.

   Ben's mind was racing.  Seeing the clock on the wall he saw that it was 
   exactly half an hour until Tess and Jack arrived for the next shift, if he 
   could just keep him off until then.

   Seconds ticked past, minutes were gone.  Ben stayed with his gun pointed and 
   Jim Thomson stayed with his knife raised above Jo's head and his hand over 
   her throat.  Ben could see that Jo was breathing.  But suddenly he couldn't 
   see that anymore.  Was she breathing or not? There were fifteen minutes to 
   go until Tess and Jack got there.  Suddenly there was a loud bang outside 
   and Ben took his chance as Jim turned his head.  He jumped forward and 
   pulled his hand off Jo's throat.  He grabbed the other one and pulled the 
   knife from it and stuck them both in a pair of handcuffs.  He pulled Jim 
   roughly to his feet and sat him on a chair and then got another pair of 
   handcuffs and used them to handcuff Jim Thomson to the chair.
   Then he went to Jo.  Was she breathing or not?  Maybe.  Yes, she was but 
   only just.  He called for an ambulance and the called Tess.

   The phone rang once, twice, three times on the forth ring it was picked up.
   "Hello, Tess Gallagher."
   "Tess, it's Ben.  He's handcuffed to the chair."
   "Who's handcuffed to the chair?"
   "Jim Thomson."
   "What?  Are you serious?" asked Tess.
   "Of course I am, do you think I'd joke about something like that?"
   "No.  No, of course not.  Is Jo okay?"
   "Unconscious.  Breathing though.  The ambulance is on it's way."
   "Okay, I'm coming.  Bye."
   Ben went and sat with Jo, leaving the phone off the hook.

   When Jack got to the station that morning Tess was sitting on the desk, Ben 
   on a chair and the Boss standing next to them.
   "What are you doing here, Boss?  You're not supposed to be here until nine, 
   today."
   The Boss didn't answer, neither did the others.  Finally it was Ben who 
   explained.
   "Jim Thomson paid Jo and I a visit in the early hours, this morning."
   "She okay?" You could barely hear Jack's voice.
   "In a stable condition in hospital, at the moment," answered Tess.
   "You might want to go see her," said the Boss.
   "Yeah . . . yeah, I would.  But . . . but what about work?" Jack didn't know 
   what to say.
   "Forget it.  St Davids are sending in people today.  I asked them to send 
   down three.  One to replace Jo, you and Ben."
   "Why me?" asked Jack.
   "Come on mate," said Ben with a small grim smile, "It's totally obvious that 
   you two adore each other."
   "Thanks," said Jack and turned around and headed for the hospital.

   *************************************************************

   Jo was asleep when Jack got there.  He sat down next to her bed and waited.  
   It wasn't long before she woke up.
   "Hey," he said softly, "How are you feeling?"
   "Not the best," said Jo, "My neck's sore."
   "Not surprising," said Jack with a small grin.
   "No," Jo didn't smile at first, "No it isn't.  He decided to try the same 
   way on my this time as he did last time.  Only this time he had a back up.  
   He had a knife.  It was . . ."  Jo's voice squeaked out then and she 
   couldn't talk for a while.  Jack filled in the time by talking himself.
   "We said that when this whole thing with Jim Thomson was over, which it is 
   now.  We could maybe decide whether we should have a relationship or not.  
   What do you think?"
   In the tiny whisper that was all she could manage, Jo answered softly, "I 
   think we should."