A/N: Spoilers for s2e6, obviously. And I own none of the rights to Broadchurch, even more obviouslyer.

He knew he was being dramatic thinking that the taxi he was currently in might be taking him to his death, but Hardy found it was hard not be at the minute. After all, he was in the back of the taxi that was likely taking him to his death.

Okay, so not likely. But possibly.

Maybe.

Hoping for a distraction, Hardy took his phone from his pocket and frowned at the dark screen. He should probably let Miller know that he wouldn't need a lift home. The plan had been to tell her at some point during the day, but then she'd sat with Maggie and then she'd ran after Beth so he really hadn't had chance to. Not really.

Okay, so maybe he could've found her after the adjournment, but she would have only wanted to come with him. That was the last thing he wanted right now.

(Possibly. Maybe.)

Still. No one else knew where he was. She couldn't exactly ask around, if anyone had seen him. Besides, she'd be back in court by now.

He should probably text her.

Thumbing through his phone's menu, he remembered how hard it had been telling Tess. She'd known him so long now that she'd seen through his veil of clinical explanations and seen his fear. On top of that, all of the old feelings he'd tried to think away and suppress had come rushing back. How happy they'd once been, how much he loved seeing Daisy every day, how good he'd been at his job...

Now, he might never see her again. Or Daisy.

He should really let Miller know.

won't be needing a lift home later

The little words on the screen blinked up at him as he reread them. He couldn't really leave it at that. Knowing Miller she'd hunt him down to make sure he hadn't found a car from somewhere and was driving.

don't worry

No, he thought, pressing the backspace, that'd only make her worry.

going somewhere else

He could just hear her yelling at him for trying to be mysterious in a deliberate attempt to piss her off.

going into hospital. don't worry.

There. Although there was still the issue of her ignoring his explicit instructions and worrying. Well, if she wanted to needlessly worry then that was her issue, he decided, thumb hovering over the send button.

It wasn't exactly needless worry though.

And no one quite did worry like Miller. Nobody he'd ever met could take such a well-meaning state and make it quite so... aggressive. What if she showed up at the hospital and demanded to see him in order to give him a bollocking before having his heart ripped open? With wee Fred resting on her hip? The pair of them could be waiting around for hours, gradually becoming more irate and cranky.

Time for a redraft.

won't be needing a lift home later. going into hospital for surgery. should be done by 5.

Surely the word 'surgery' implied he wanted to be left alone. Which he did.

(Possibly. Maybe.)

That said... this was likely the last text he'd ever send to her. Their final correspondence. After everything they'd been through together. The mutual annoyance that became respect that impossibly morphed into something like friendship after the worst day of her life.

A voice that sounded a lot like Tess, the old Tess who made him smile and smiled at him in return, told him he should probably say something more... Well, more.

Ten minutes later, the taxi pulled into the hospital car park. Hardy pinched the bridge of his nose before reading over the text that had been far harder to write that any text had any right to be.

won't be needing a lift home later. going into hospital for pacemaker surgery. should be done by 5 so don't bother trying to harass me before. if i don't see you then just wanted to say thank you for the lifts and everything else. hope everything goes well with you. say bye to fred from me.

With the taxi paid for and his overnight bag in hand, Hardy looked at the still unsent message on his phone. It pretty much covered all the important parts. Or was it a bit much? Why wasn't there one of those message templates for this situation? Was it too much to ask that everyone behave reasonably and not over-react to news that wasn't their business anyway?

Hardy groaned as he pressed backspace.

The rumble of chatter grew around Ellie as everyone her stood to leave the courtroom. Some of the whispers sounded worried, while others were excited. She wondered briefly what it must be like to be watching this case as an outsider. Somehow she doubted it was as mentally draining as it was being one of the people whose life was being destroyed by it.

Too exhausted to think about standing right now, she took her mobile from her bag and turned it back on. As much as she wanted to sink into a bubble bath and not emerge for three hours, she was also looking forward to an evening with her boys - both of them. Maybe she could ride this current wave of anger until she'd made everything right?

Her homescreen was showing that someone had text her during the trial. Hoping this wasn't the child minder telling her something had happened to Fred, she clicked the envelope and waited for it to load.

Her first panicked glance at the screen told her it wasn't anything like that so she had to read the message a second time before she fully appreciated what it said.

won't be needing a lift home. having pacemaker surgery.

"What?" That utter bastard.

Thanks for reading!