Lost and Found

Harry wailed, he wailed and wailed, drenching Nikki with his tears. He held her and screamed, not caring who heard him, his hand became tangled in her hair and he stroked her pale face and combed her soft hair with his fingers. As the train close by them hurtled past he continued to scream, almost blocking out the noise from the tracks.

He sat there, for god knows how long just holding her, stroking her, thinking of what might have been. He bit his lip as he increased his grip on her frail body, letting out another grief stricken scream he laid her on the ground, laying on her allowing every inch of his emotion flow all over her. He caressed her face with one hand as he held her own hand with the other just crying, and moaning.

Shirley was watching from a close distance and looked at Leo who was watching Harry, minutes passed like hours and all that could be heard was the groans pouring from Harry�s broken soul. Harry�s heart wrenched and just cried, just praying to anyone who was listening to wake him up from this nightmare. No one would hear him or help him because to his dying heart, his nightmare is reality.

Leo looked down at Nikki, who moved, ever so slightly, then again, batting her eyelids subconsciously while Harry wept, holding her hand, never wanting to let go. Leo tried to dismiss it as his own grief started to over come him, thinking it was his imagination, but it happened again. He could see her taking silent breaths, breaths that couldn�t be noticed because of Harry�s sorrowful grieving. Harry was shaking continuously, hanging over Nikki�s body, unaware of her chest inhaling and exhaling ever so slowly, but ever so strongly.

She was taking deep breaths, then stopped and sighed, more air pouring out of her; Leo confirmed to himself they were her very last breaths. Harry continued to sob violently as Leo rubbed his shoulder in comfort; nothing was to prevail to Harry�s heart that had just lost the most important thing in his life. The most important thing that had only just been realised when it had been lost. Nikki lay under Harry�s weight. Breathing steadily. This went unbeknown to Harry as he held Nikki, cried solidly as his heart was ripped in two and lay there, rocking her back and forth a broken man once again.

What was Leo to do? Nudge Harry to alert him of Nikki�s movement and then see her move no more, or do nothing and hope his silent prayers are answered. Harry had started to calm down but was gasping as you do when you try to stop yourself from crying and looked up from Nikki, eyes red and raw, face pale. From sadness and utter grief from Nikki�s �Death� he felt anger, hatred for the people who brought her here. They persuaded her that they were her friends, and if it wasn�t for them, she�d never have been taken in and kidnapped. He shakily stood up with unworthy balance as he struggled to maintain standing so knelt beside Nikki.

Holding her hands at looking at her face, not those who surrounded him, and pleaded that she come back. He tried to contain himself to form words, but none would come, none that made sense. He opened his mouth but no words came out, just choked sobs echoing the grieving sorrowful words as tears freely fell from his eyes. He found it difficult to tell her limp body how he felt so he put actions into words and kissed her, a long kiss, as if he was pouring out his own life into Nikki. He broke away, as she suddenly gasped loudly and sat up, wide eyed, very much alive and Harry threw himself at her.

He cried as he held her as tight as he could, Leo stood up and stood next to Shirley. Harry clung to Nikki until she struggled out of his grasp. He couldn�t appear to say anything. Nikki looked at Harry and Harry looked at Nikki, this went on for a long time until Nikki whispered shakily. �You were right� before closing her eyes, in Harry�s arms. He didn�t dare put her down in case she stopped breathing again; bright lights lit the dim moor as the ambulance approached. Two paramedics jumped out with all their gear and rushed to Nikki, one stopped and looked up at Harry

�Are you Leo Dalton?� Harry shook his head and pointed at Leo

�I�m Harry Cunningham� the Paramedic didn�t seem to be paying attention as he examined Nikki

�What happened?� Harry rubbed his temples as an oxygen mask was put over Nikki�s face

�Err I don�t know, she was stabbed, I�she started breathing again,�

�How many times and where?� The other paramedic crouched by Nikki, ran his fingers over her abdomen and found the wound

�Just the once� Leo confirmed for Harry who looked down at Nikki.

�She breathing steadily though her pulse is quite slow and she�s lost a lot of blood, she�s lucky to be alive�did she bang her head?� Harry found it difficult to answer seeing all the apparatus covering Nikki.

�No, I don�t think so� the paramedic left him and went over to the ambulance to fetch a stretcher. When Nikki had been placed on it and lifted into the ambulance she went to remove the mask from her face

�Harry? Leo where are you?� She asked, Harry went to climb into the ambulance, and was paused by the paramedic

�Are you her husband?� He asked

�No, I�m a friend�can I come with her?� the paramedic smiled.

�Yes, of course, though I�m afraid only one of you can come, there�s not much space� Leo approached the back of the ambulance,

�Harry, I�ll follow in the car� Harry turned and looked at him and smiled, �Yeah, sure�

They arrived at the hospital in a few minutes in that time; Harry found it difficult to speak with the lump in his throat. Nikki was told by the paramedic to keep the mask on, which she had but raised her hand on the side of the railing, Harry took it and held it with both hands. When they entered A&E, Nikki was taken to theatre to close the wound while Harry was ordered by doctors to stay outside.

It wasn�t long after before Leo came and silently sat next to him. �You ok?� he asked quietly.

�They�ve taken her to theatre, they think her spleen has been ruptured� Leo nodded knowingly

�The Spleen isn�t that important anyway� he said with a slight smile that made Harry smile too, the silence they shared was getting too uncomfortable for Leo so he tried to spark conversations.

�They�ve all been arrested and charged� he began,

�They nearly killed her� Harry said ruthlessly in a tone Leo had never heard him speak,

�but they didn�t� Leo began �You got there just in time, you saved her� Harry snorted

�I shouldn�t have let her go in the first place� Leo shook his head and put his hand on Harry�s shoulder.

�You know what Nikki�s like� the two men smiled briefly before silence fell between them once again.

�So has this proved things to you now?� Leo said looking at Harry who stared blankly back at him.

�I don�t know what you mean� he stated

�Oh don�t give me that Harry, tell her how you feel, you�ve made it pretty obvious that your madly in love with her� Harry said nothing, fully aware that he couldn�t really argue.

After Harry started getting impatient he went up to the desk to ask about her but a doctor greeted him.

�Is she alright?� the doctor nodded reassuringly,

�yes, She�s in recovery at the moment but she�ll be moved onto the ward shortly. We�d like her to stay overnight but when she goes home in the morning we�d advise that someone stayed with her to make sure she�s ok� Harry paused for a while

�She can stay with me, I don�t mind�� Leo raised his eyebrows but said nothing �can we see her?� He pleaded,

�Harry, I�ll just go and call Shirley to tell her what�s happened, I said I would, I�ll call back later� Leo said and Harry nodded as the doctor lead him into a sideward where Nikki was asleep. On cue, she woke when she heard the door open. She smiled when she saw Harry and the doctor left them to it

�What are you still doing here?� She asked,

�I couldn�t leave you here on your own� he said. He came over to her bed and enveloped her in a hug, holding onto her for dear life in case she slipped away again. After a while Nikki struggled with lack of oxygen.

�I thought you were going to suffocate me� She smiled, Harry hugged her again.

�Oh my god Nikki, don�t you ever, ever do that again� Nikki froze for a minute confused,

�What happened?� Nikki gaped, if she didn�t remember any of what happened she hadn�t remembered the kiss, not sure if that was good or bad thing he didn�t mention it.

�You don�t remember anything?� he asked

�The animal rights campaigners!� She said tripping over her words, she tried to sit up but Harry restrained her from doing so, �I�d stayed late in the lab and I had a call from Lucy asking to see me, when I went to meet her they gagged me and kidnapped me� Harry shook his head.

�You nearly died!� Nikki smiled �His daughter was in danger� Harry grabbed her by the shoulders,

�What and risk your own life?� Nikki sighed �It doesn�t matter; that girl was crying out for help her dad was beating her I couldn�t just stop and let it happen, Harry what�s the matter?� Noticing Harry crying, she felt nagging in the back of her head telling her that something was missing.

�What happened to Lucy?� Harry shook his head

�She�s dead, when she saw you she thought she�d contributed to your death so, so she shot herself-she couldn�t live with herself knowing that she killed someone� Nikki burst into sobs as Harry held her in a tight embrace �I tried to help her� she cried into his shoulder,

�I know, her father tricked her and she just couldn�t cope, she called you her friend and she said that she didn�t deserve a friend like you, I nearly lost you, and it would have been all my fault� he let go of her and she put her hand on his shoulder

�You didn�t loose me, I�m still here and it wouldn�t have been your fault� Harry sniffed like a child,

�I don�t know what I�d do if I lost you� Nikki smiled and shook her head

�You�d have to put up with Leo all by yourself� she laughed at her own joke, Harry looked at her seriously,

�No, you mean more to me than that� She smiled warmly before sitting up.

�Well, if you want to do me a favour can you give me a lift home tomorrow?� Harry smiled reassuringly.

�You can�t stay at home by yourself� Nikki shook her head

�Who says?� she asked �the doctors, so you�re staying with me for a while until your completely better� Nikki looked at him

�Come off it Harry, you�ve got more to worry about than me!� Harry shook his head,

�No I haven�t, and I�m not worried about anything else but your welfare�you�ve just had major abdominal surgery, your lucky to be alive� Nikki raised her eyebrows, quite shocked at his revelation.

�Ok, then�but I seriously have plenty of nurses swaning about me checking I�m alright, you can go, you don�t have to stay� She smiled,

�I�m not leaving you, not after everything that�s happened� Harry stared at her with worry, she patted his hand

�I�ll be alright for 5 minutes, go and get a coffee or something� as Harry left, as the door swung shut, she thought in her head about tomorrow and how this was going to change their relationship. She was a bit daunted about going home with Harry, no one had ever offered her this much comfort and security in a long, long time. But she liked it.

Harry returned 3 minutes later to find Nikki asleep, he panicked at first at whether she was just asleep or had slipped unconscious again. He brushed a few strands of hair from her eyes and sat down in the chair beside the bed and soon fell asleep himself. When Leo arrived he wished he had a camera, there before him lay Nikki and Harry who were both asleep, Harry resting his head on her bed. Nikki heard a shuffling in her room and stirred to see Leo standing with a bunch of flowers.

�How are you?� he asked, lying the flowers down to one side,

�I�m fine, just a little numb� she whispered �and my hand has gone dead� Leo chuckled at the sight of his colleague next to Nikki

�When we saw you in all that blood, we thought you were dead� Leo stammered,

�I�m sorry, I didn�t mean to scare you� Nikki said Leo laughed

�To be honest, I knew you�d pull through, It wasn�t you that scared me, it was Harry, he thought you were dead and just sort of broke down, I�ve never seen him like that. He wouldn�t leave, you know, the paramedics practically had to drag him off you when they arrived �I think you mean a lot to him, if you don�t mind me saying�

�No, no it�s fine� Nikki looked at Harry and smiled,

�He really loves you� Leo said,

�you really think so?� Nikki replied,

�Oh yeah, definitely� She yawned, causing Leo to sense her tiredness, �Well, I�ll leave you to get some sleep with sleeping Beauty there!� he laughed,

�Thanks, Leo� said Nikki as he left the side ward.

�Morning sleeping beauty!� Nikki laughed as she watched Harry struggle to shake off the pains from his neck,

�That bed is extremely uncomfortable� he said as he sat up releasing Nikki�s hand,

�Great, now I have the circulation back in my hand� she said whilst stretching it out.

�Sorry� he said turning a little red at the fact he had held her hand all night.

�So when can I get back to work?� Nikki asked as Harry frowned

�You nearly died, I�m not letting you go back to work� Nikki laughed

�I�m joking, but I�m coming back after a week, I�ll get bored stiff at home� Harry shuffled in his seat, �I�m not letting you go home all by yourself either, your staying where I can keep an eye on you�

�How�s the patient?� Leo called,

�Thanks for dropping the flowers by� Nikki replied trying to prop herself up on pillows, Harry immediately tried to assist her, �yes, thank you Harry�but the doctor said I can come home today� Leo smiled

�That�s great, but I�m not expecting to see you back at work for at least a fortnight� Nikki�s face dropped,

�What! A week at least, that�s all I need, honest!� Harry looked down at her

�You need to take it easy� Leo said,

�Don�t think I�ll get away with much if I�ve got mother chicken over here on my case� she said laughing.

�Well it�s only because I�� the breath caught in his throat, suddenly he felt both Leo and Nikki�s eyes burning into him ��care�

Within three hours the doctors were happy with Nikki and discharged her under strict instructions not to do anything strenuous. Harry had insisted that she be led to the car by wheelchair, and set off home, it was quiet in the car and neither darned start a conversation Harry focused purely on his driving and said nothing as he pulled into a parking space outside his house.

�I don�t think I�ve ever been to your house before� She said as Harry got out and let Nikki out from the other side and locked the car.

�I�m not letting you stay alone in your house, I have a sofa that can keep you safe, and if something happens to you I�ll be closer to you� He said leading her down the metal grate steps into his home.

He opened the door and poured them each a glass of water, he noticed Nikki yawning. �Here, wait a sec and I�ll go and fetch a duvet and pillow� Nikki watched him disappear into another room. He reappeared arms full of Duvet, he dropped it on the sofa �Make your self comfy� he said rearranging the pillows as she sat down, he sat next to her she rested her head on his shoulder because she was tiered, she uttered a muffled �Thank you Harry, you�re a great friend� before falling asleep. When he noticed this he lay back and put his arm around her, before falling asleep himself.

She stirred, not wanting to wake up, Nikki pressed closer against the warmth; she had no idea of where she was or of previous events but sleepily reasoned to herself; it was nice here�thum-thump-thum-thump� she heard the soft heartbeat and she opened her eyes quickly. She hadn�t�she couldn�t have�She had. Somehow in the night, she and Harry had ended up curled around each other. His arm was flung around her waist; her head was on his chest, his face buried in her hair. Her feet were tangled up with his, and they were holding hands. Frozen still, she slowly began to remember what had happened. The kidnappers that had nearly killed her, and Harry had insisted she was to stay with him until she was better.

Without realising, Nikki found that for once in a long time she had slept soundly throughout the night with no problem. Harry was still asleep but stirred increasing his hold on her as he settled. Nikki lay against him in silence and closed her eyes again. After a few minutes, she drifted off again, for once feeling safe and happy. After a little while, the phone had begun to ring, by this point the noise had woken Harry, in shock he sat up quickly to see that he was holding Nikki protectively

�Sorry Harry, I don�t know how we got like this� Nikki said trying to hide her embarrassment. Harry said nothing but helped her up as she tried to get up.

�Are you ok?� He asked, Nikki stopped rushing around and smiled. Harry smiled back, a little surprised that he�d witnessed Nikki smile so soon after what had happened.

�Yes, thank you� She replied, Harry could have sworn she was blushing, Nikki could see he already was.

�Did you sleep alright?� He asked, Nikki nodded,

�Yes, I did thank you�you know I am really sorry for scaring you� she said as she paced up quite closely to Harry who instantly put his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him.

�I forgive you�and I can�t help being over protective of you� he said moving in closer before placing a soft kiss on her lips.

�Why�s that?� she replied with a small smile playing on her lips.

�Because, Dr Nikki Alexandra, I think I�m in love with you� for a split second, he thought he�d got it all wrong, her expression was of pure shock, he was waiting for his dream to shatter put she suddenly rose onto her toes and planted a soft kiss on his cheek whispering �Thank you� silently into his ear. The dam of pent up feelings that he�d kept hidden for the majority of the time that he had known her was suddenly burst wide open. Everything that he felt for her was released, causing him to pull her close to him and return her gentle touch with a fiery kiss. It was as if that one kiss was like the light breeze announcing the storm that was to come. He was overjoyed to find her responding to him rather than pushing him away and slapping him. He enjoyed the feeling of her body close to his, her hands sliding up his back, and hearing the light moans she omitted as he kissed her fiercely.

They broke free of the kiss, breathless and panting, but still holding each other. Looking into Nikki�s Icy-blue-coloured eyes, Harry saw there what he�d been hoping to see � love, lust, want and need. Her eyes gave him the answer of �yes� to the question of whether or not they should continue further. �Yes, I definitely love you� he said bringing a light smile from her lips, verified this answer further, making Harry seek out another passionate kiss. He pulled her closer as she ruffled his hair with her fingers. Before they knew it, the phone was blaring wildly and they broke apart, grinning from ear to ear. In one swift movement by Harry the phone was unplugged and had gathered Nikki gently in his arms and claimed her lips once more.

Leo frowned as he put the phone down, �Must have been interrupting something� he smirked.

End

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