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Quiet.

It was something of a surprise to hear nothingness. Black, alone yet somehow peaceful. Murmurs filled the space in-between her and the world, yet she was content to lie so still, so still and unwitting to the wave of pain threatening to cascade down upon her. If she was to move now then everything would be wrong again.

She felt her body descend further into darkness, the body which she no longer owned, moving of it's own accord. The pain penetrated her soul, making her want to scream till her lungs bled , but somehow she couldn't even clench her fists to show how much this pain hurt.

It was all she could do to picture the images from the past, while the darkness condensed around her, guttering, chocking, enveloping the person she used to be.

Quiet.

Jake walked down the corridor almost blindly drifting to the room which held Ella. Everyday he had visited her, willing her closed eyes to snap open and everything to be ok. Jake would sit for hours, occasionally engaging in small talk with other visitors.

Sometimes he would catch glimpses of people staring through the glass at him, giving him pained and sympathetic expressions. He always smiled back, but how believable they were he wasn't sure.

Today he turned the handle of Ella's room. He sad down and stared at her motionless body. Brushing a strand of her auburn hair out of her face, Jake's eyes filled with tears. He took her hand and squeezed it. Wishing that she would suddenly spring to life laughing and joking. Working in a hospital made none of this pain any easier.

Hearing a noise behind him Jake hastily wiped his eyes. The man who he had least wanted to speak to, but needed to so much walked in. Rory took a seat next to Jake. The past month had not been easy for them as Jake had no choice but to tell the police and Rory about the reason for Ella's attempted suicide and the news that Rory not Jake was her father.

It had been hard on both Jake and Rory and this endless waiting was a first for Jake. He was surprised to see how people changed when something was taken from their lives. You never realised how much you needed something until it was gone. Especially Rory. Like Jake, his face was rarely seen in a smile and the two hardly spoke about anything other than what was really necessary. He was too quiet.

Quiet.

Rory had never realised that about hospitals. They were so agonisingly quiet. Everything was so silent and still. The place was so empty too. How could there be so many people yet he could still feel so alone.

He didn't understand. What had he, or Ella for that matter done to deserve any of this. Why had it been them who had to go through this shit, while Jake looked pretty on the sidelines. If he had known, why had he kept his stupid fat mouth shut while Ella looked up to him like some hero of the night, and sat by his oh-so-convenient bedside while Rory looked on what was rightfully his.

Jake couldn't take the silence any more.
'Listen, mate. I know you thought I did it on purpose, but-'
'Don't assume anything' Rory replied coldly. Why should he have anything to do with him. The Rory who almost drove his daughter to kill her self. A pang of realisation hit Rory. What if she didn't wake up? The new life he had been thinking of for the last month would be ruined. He thought how his day off had been spent, clearing out his spare room which had previously been filled with Rory gym equipment, large collections of Queen memorabilia, and a replica copy of Elton John's sea captain coat and a few adult films. He had painted the room pink. What if that room would never be used. He would just be a strait Rory with a pink room in his house. He could always move Alex in there. Her incessant snoring was driving him mad.

'I'm not-'
'The only one your kidding is you, so why don't you-'
'Let me finish. I loved her just as much as you, maybe even more, and it's not my fault that I've been deceived into thinking two beautiful children where mine.'
'Deceived? More like you where to idiot who let that excuse for a woman pull the wool over your eyes, while you swooned over her like a love sick puppy'
'Right first of all, neither I was not 'swooned' over her, but only through her memorable brute force have we spoken through, and by what I heard you enjoyed that brute force though I think it would be better for both of us if neither of us thought about that.'
'Oh come on Ginger, you're the one who can't even tell his best friend that he has a daughter that he knows nothing at all about!'

An angry Doctor Pope stormed in, with a look on his face that could be best described as an angry confused gorilla. 'Out. You two out now. I will not tolerated language like this in my hospital!'
'But.' The two said in unison
'NOW!'
Getting up, Rory muttered 'What a wanker.'

Alex tentatively opened the door to Ella's room. Seeing her lying there, day after day had not been easy on anyone, and with the new reality that Ella was now legally her step daughter, it made Alex more worried still.

The same doubts and worries entered her mind. What if the Ella who woke up didn't want her? She knew how Liz had abused Ella, , how Lizincessant lying had caused the few people whom she had supposedly 'love' large amounts of pain and upset , but what she also know was regardless of all this Ella still loved her mum. And if Ella couldn't have Holly, would she really want anybody else?