"Marie..." June froze.
"They wouldn't let me through, they said your wife was already here."
"That was just a misunderstanding..." June released Jim from her arms and turned to face Marie, looking beyond her, vainly trying to locate Gina.
"And was this a misunderstanding? You touching my husband?"
"No..." June squared up to Marie. "I meant to do that."
"You can't let go, can you?"
"He's my best friend."
"Doesn't seem that way from what he's been telling me." Marie gloated.
"And just what has he been telling you?" June glanced over at Jim.
"That he's tired of working with a stressed up, over-emotional sergeant who won't listen to his opinions, that he wants out?"
"Is this true Jim?" June looked at him, ashen-faced.
"I..." Jim looked to the floor.
"Jim..." She gasped, her bottom lip trembling.
"He's been to see Jack Meadows about a transfer." Marie smiled, stepping closer to June. "Further out in the suburbs. We've been looking at houses."
"I... I..." June swallowed heavily. "Jim..."
"Three bedrooms, one for us, one for Ben, one for... we're trying, you see. I know, I'm know spring chicken, but..." She laughed. "At least its not impossible."
June began shake and her legs buckled, she grabbed onto the bed for support, her breathing uneven as tears poured down her cheeks. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.
"I see you were right, Jim." Marie looked up at him. "The Met doesn't need people like her. And you don't need to be around her a moment longer. Come on, we're leaving. And tomorrow, you hand in your notice, take all the leave you're owed... and let's just go."
Jim looked from June to Marie and gulped. "I..."
"Marie... please..." June sobbed. "Don't take him away from me again!"
"Just face up to it June you've lost him. Fair and square. Just look at you - no wonder no-one wants you." She grasped Jim's arm, pulling him out of the cubicle.
"Marie, PLEASE! Please just promise me you'll stop hurting him, please..."
"You're not right in the head June... just what goes on in that sick imagination of yours?"
"Jim, for god's sake face UP to her!" June screamed.
"I... I love my wife." Jim shrugged, as Marie glared at him expectantly.
"I can't stand the thought of never seeing you again..." June whimpered.
"Well you'll have to get used to it won't you?" Marie spat.
"No... he told me about you... we know about you..."
"Just what do you think you know?" Marie shook her head at June.
"How you've been abusing him, how he's terrified of you. LOOK at him, LOOK AT HIM!"
"You're more crazy than I thought. Tell her I'd never hurt you Jim."
Jim swallowed loudly and harshly. "Marie would never hurt me. We love each other." As he said the words, he looked down at June, his eyes transmitting a silent, pleading message.
"What have you done to him Marie?" June sobbed. "Look at the state of him."
"I rescued him, from you. YOU drove him to drink."
"That's not true. Tell her it's not Jim..." June whimpered.
"Can we just go?" Jim touched Marie's arm to attract her attention.
"You go and find a doctor Jim. Get yourself discharged. I'll wait here." Marie glared at June.
"No, Marie. let's just go." Jim snapped. "You bring the car around."
"I *said* I'll wait here." Marie yelled. "They might not want you to go yet. Besides I'll have to get your stuff together."
"MARIE!" Jim shouted. "At least let me say goodbye."
"To that?" Marie cast a scornful glance at June. "She's not worth it. We have no secrets remember Jim, you can say anything in front of me."
Jim's body trembled, and he pulled Marie aside, whispering something harshly to her. Marie finally nodded and walked off, glaring back at June as she did so. Jim approached the still cowering June. "I'm sorry." He ducked his eyes.
"Get away from me." June spat.
"June, please..." Jim's eyes filled with tears and he hunkered down to her.
"No..." June sobbed. "I can't take anymore of this."
"I don't have any way out. Maybe after a while apart, away from you, Marie will feel more secure... maybe then... maybe then I'll be able to get away. And come back for you."
"If you leave now, don't bother coming back, there won't be anything left for you to come back to." June sobbed and shook.
"It hurts me more than *anything* to do this... more then when I left you the first time... I need you in my life, but I need you to be OK..." Jim gulped and he sobbed. "Just forget me."
"I can't ever forget you... you're all I have... had left." June tried to stand straight but her legs betrayed her again.
"I feel like someone's ripping a part out of me. But I have no choice. We can't go on like this." He stood slowly, pulling in a long, quivering breath. "Goodbye, June. Take care of yourself. Please."
June watched as Jim limped away. Her legs finally gave way and she collapsed into a ball on the floor sobbing, her hands pulling at the roots of her hair as she rocked back and forth.
"Jim..." It was Gina. "Should you be... JIM!" She called after him. Then she headed towards the cubicle, pulling back the curtain. "Oh my god...." She was stunned into immobility.
June didn't respond, her body shaking with huge rasping sobs.
"June... June, what has he done to you?" She stroked June's hair. "We need some help here!"
"You... let... her... in." June sobbed.
"I'm sorry, I tried to stop her but you know what she's like. Now answer my question, what has Jim done to you?"
"Gone..." June gulped.
"Gone... what do you mean, gone?"
"Left... Sun Hill."
"What...?"
"With her."
"Oh my god, June I'm so sorry." Gina looked up as a doctor approached. "June, let someone take a look at you."
"They want to start a family." June whimpered.
"Shhhhhh... forget him, June." Gina hugged her tighter. "Concentrate on yourself."
"There's no point."
"There's always a point... let the doctor look at you, he can give you something."
June looked up at Gina with a tear-stained face, and shrugged as if admitting defeat.
"Maybe... look, June, you need a break. You realise that, don't you?"
"Yes." June nodded.
"I'll talk to Adam. I think you'd benefit from some time at the Met Clinic."
"Clinic?"
"They can help you through this. You'll get counselling, time on your own... time to think, pull yourself together."
"I'm going mad, aren't I?"
"Not yet you're not, but you can't go on fighting this thing alone."
"I've no fight left in me in."
"They'll help you. There are natural alternatives to HRT, or anti-depressants... whatever you need to get you back on track." June looked up at her with damp eyes. "But... I get a feeling there's only one thing you really want, isn't there?"
"There's no point. I'll never get him back - not now." June shrugged.
"That marriage isn't going to last..." Gina shook her head. "I've seen enough of life to know."
"He's moving away with her... they... they want to start... a family." June wept. "Jim's always wanted kids... I can't... can't give them to him."
"Did he say that? Or was it her." Gina stroked June's face, wiping away a tear track.
"He didn't deny it."
"But he didn't actually *say* it..."
"I know how much he wants children Gina... I can't deny him that."
"June, that's his decision." Gina got to her feet. "Come on, you're coming back to Sun Hill with me. I'll speak to Ada... Superintendent Okaro, and get you booked in at the clinic. It's the best for you, I promise."
"Everyone at Sun Hill hates me. I've been horrid to them all."
"Don't worry about it, it'll work itself out." Gina held out her hand. "Come on."
***
Half an hour later, Adam Okaro looked up as there was a knock at his door. "Come in."
Gina opened the door and stepped in, her arm firmly around June as who stumbled along beside her, looking at the floor. "We need to sort some things out sir."
"Of course... sit down... June, are you alright?"
"I..." June shrugged and shook her head.
"It's all become too much." Gina explained. "I can't go into details, but... I think what June needs is rest and time away from Sun Hill, somewhere where she can sort things out, talk things over with people who can help."
"The Met Clinic you mean?" Adam asked. "Why didn't you say something sooner June, we all knew there was something..."
"I didn't want to bother you." June mumbled, looking down at her hands. "I know what you thought, that I was being unprofessional because Jim left me..."
"Maybe at first, but it became obvious to us that there was more to it than that. Do you want to go to the clinic? I won't force you into it."
"I... well, Jim's gone... so... maybe it's time I started sorting myself out. If they can help, then..." June shrugged.
"What was that about Jim? Gone where?" Adam frowned.
"Um, Adam... Sir, I think I should talk to you alone."
Adam nodded, picking up the phone. "Hello, CSU... yes, Ramani, could you come to my office please, straight away." They looked at each other in silence until DC Ramani De Costa knocked at the door.
Ramani stepped into the room and looked around the room, her eyes stopping as they reached her sergeant. "You wanted to see me Sir... Ma'am... Sarge?"
"Ramani, could you take Sergeant Ackland to back to the CSU and keep an eye on her for a few moments please?" Adam asked.
"Of course..." Ramani frowned as June got to her feet. "Are you OK Sarge?"
"Yeah..." June mumbled as Ramani led her away.
Adam turned his attention back to Gina. "So... what's going on?"
"I don't quite know where to start..." Gina sighed. "For a start, I think June's heading for a breakdown... we need to get her away from here as soon as we can, before she does something stupid. But there's something else too Adam... something more delicate."
"Does June know you're telling me this?"
"She told me earlier at the hospital... she made me promise to help Jim if anything happened to her."
"Help Jim?" Adam frowned. "But he's alright, isn't he, I mean, after the accident..."
"The accident wasn't serious but... this is awkward... apparently his wife is abusing him."
"What... are you sure about this?"
"I've no proof, well apart from the way they are together, you've seen how dominating she is. And I'm sure Jim's not been himself lately either. June says he's got a large burn on his back... from... an iron." Gina shook her head.
"My god..." Adam ducked his eyes. "But he hasn't made a complaint... I mean, I don't mean to doubt June, but you have to admit she was devastated by Jim's marriage."
"June wouldn't make this up... and you didn't see Marie at the hospital... and you missed the argument outside the station that led to the accident."
"Alright, I believe you." Adam looked up. "What is this about Jim being gone..."
"I don't know the full story but they're meant to be moving away."
"When..."
"Your guess is as good as mine. She sure as hell doesn't want him around June though."
"Then I expect he'll be coming to see me in the not too distant future." Adam nodded. "Gina, tell me honestly, do you think... do you believe that Jim still has feelings for June?"
"Yes."
"So do I." Adam sighed. "Alright... we need to sort this out, for everyone's benefit. I'll be damned if I'm going to lose two of my best officers to satisfy Marie Carver's warped vision of life."
"But what do we do?" Gina looked up.
"We'll get June into the clinic - tonight. And tomorrow, I'll speak to Jim."
***
The next morning, Jim Carver entered Adam Okaro's office, looking tired, pale and worried. "Sir... I need to talk to you."
"Of course Jim... take a seat." Adam gestured to the chair opposite him.
Jim hobbled over to the chair, sitting down and wincing as he did so. "I..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope. "I'm here to hand in my notice."
"You're leaving us?"
"Yeah." Jim ducked his eyes away.
"I never thought Jim Carver would leave Sun Hill." Adam smiled.
"Well, Jim Carver doesn't have any choice." Jim leant forward and dropped the letter onto Adam's desk.
"You don't want a transfer?"
"I need to leave immediately, Sir."
"I'm afraid that's not going to be possible... CSU are already short staffed with June being away."
"Away..." Jim blinked. "Where is she?"
"She's taken some sick leave." Adam looked away.
"Where *is* she, Sir?"
"You know all about confidentiality Jim."
"Please..." Jim begged. "I'm not going to do anything, I just need to know she's alright, she's somewhere safe."
"She's safe Jim... she's in the Met clinic."
"The clinic... why... is she ill, or..." Jim's eyes shot over with panic.
"I think you know as well as I do what's wrong with her..."
"I do...." Jim scrunched his face up and looked out of the window. "No matter what I do I end up hurting her..."
"There's more to it than that Jim..."
"I..." Jim stuttered. "Are you saying I have to work out my notice?"
"We'd like you to, at least until Ramani settles into her role. We can't force you though..."
"No, I will. But I'd like to request today as... sick leave."
"That should be OK... Is there anything you need to talk about Jim?"
"No, should there be?" Jim asked, rubbing his arm.
"No... no I was just asking that's all."
"There isn't. Sir - I know this might sound strange, but... can you let people know that if my wife calls, or turns up here, can you tell her I'm busy."
"Yes we can do that. How's the leg by the way?" Adam smiled.
"Fine..." Jim looked up at him, rubbing his arm once more.
"And the other bumps and bruises..."
"WHAT other bumps and bruises?" Jim looked at Adam accusingly.
"From when you got knocked down yesterday. Inspector Gold told me you had concussion."
"No, just a slight knock to the head." Jim looked away, over to the door.
"Then you certainly shouldn't be working today."
"No. Thank you, Sir. I'll work out my notice. Marie's just going to have to... live with it." Jim shrugged, struggling to his feet.
"I'm sure she'll understand... she must know you're part of the furniture around here."
"She doesn't. She doesn't understand anything." Jim looked at him sadly.
"If you ever need someone to talk to Jim..."
"There's only one person I need to talk to."
"And now you know where she is. Send her our love... maybe we should send her something... flowers? A quick collection... no one needs to know exactly where she is..."
"I... yeah." Jim managed a smile. "Thank you, Sir."
................. on to Part Four
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