"Phillip? Is that you?" His Mom blinked at him sleepily in the dim light of the room as he hesitantly pushed the door open.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." He looked exhausted and he immediately felt guilty.

She shook her head. "I was awake anyway, never get any sleep in these places. Come in." She struggled to sit herself up a little, break in into a coughing fit.

He heard Anne's breath catch in her throat as she followed him into the room. He'd still got hold of her hand so she didn't have much choice. "I can wait outside?" She suggested quietly, looking back and forth between Phillip and his Mom.

"No you won't." Mrs Carlyle answered quickly. "I've been wanting to meet you."

Anne laughed nervously. "Okay then."

"Is Dad here?" Phillip asked, looking around nervously as he and Anne sat down on the chairs beside the bed.

"No, he'll be at home asleep. It's the middle of the night." Mrs Carlyle answered. "He came by earlier but he needs to rest too."

"Right." Phillip mumbled. He was acutely aware of the fact his Mom looked much, much worse than he had done when he'd seen her at home. He wasn't sure if it was seeing her in hospital hooked up to all manner of machines and equipment or that she was going downhill rapidly. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew it was probably the latter.

"What happened to your face?" His Mom asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Phillip felt his cheeks flush. "Oh, nothing." He mumbled. He'd forgotten all about it for a moment.

"Phillip." She scolded. "I thought you'd grown out of all that a long time ago? This is why you shouldn't keep going out drinking!"

He saw Anne's eyes widen a little. He really didn't want to get into the details of what had happened with either of them right now. "It's fine Mom, please?"

She looked back and forth between her son and Anne, whose hand he was still gripping tightly, and nodded slightly. "So, you must be the lovely Anne!" She beamed.

"It's lovely to meet you properly." Anne smiled politely. This whole situation was beyond weird, she wondered if Phillip had realised that.

"I was very impressed when I came and saw the show. You were wonderful, you both were." Mrs Carlyle returned her smile.

"Thank you." Anne smiled. She glanced over at Phillip, expecting him to say something but he was just sitting there staring at his Mom like he couldn't hear a word they were saying.

"So… how did you two meet?" Mrs Carlyle asked, looking at Anne.

Anne laughed quietly. "I was hanging upside down off the trapeze and I swung up to the balcony and he was just standing there staring at me. Then I came down after the show and P.T. introduced Phillip as his latest hire. I asked him what his act was and he said he didn't have one. I'll be honest I didn't think he'd last five minutes at the time."

Mrs Carlyle laughed, then struggled to catch her breath for a moment. Phillip stayed motionless in his chair, his expression unreadable. Anne squeezed his hand but he didn't react.

"I don't know what we'd do without him now, me especially." Anne continued.

"I'm going to go and get some water." Phillip suddenly announced, standing up abruptly and pulling his hand away from Anne. He was out of the room before either of them had a chance to say anything. Anne hesitated on the edge of her seat, unsure of whether to follow him.

"Just give him a minute dear, he'll come back." Mrs Carlyle said softly. "How is he doing?"

"Um-" Anne struggled for something to say. It seemed wrong to lie to her but she also had more than enough going on without having to worry about her son again.

"So he's drinking again." Mrs Carlyle sighed.

Anne shrugged apologetically. She didn't want to lie to the woman. "He's trying."

"It's my fault really." Mrs Carlyle sighed. "I should've left his father a long time ago, every time he apologised I believed him. I didn't realise what it was doing to Phillip until it was far too late."

"He um… he doesn't really talk about it." Anne offered tentatively. "I honestly just assumed you weren't around any more until you turned up at the circus that day."

Mrs Carlyle smiled kindly. "I can see how you'd made that assumption. I would say he'll tell you some day when he's ready, but I wouldn't hold your breath. All you need to know Anne is he went through some things that no child should ever have to experience and I wasn't there to protect him like I should've been. I've regretted it every day since and it makes it even worse knowing what it's done to my son."

"He doesn't blame you." Anne said softly. She wasn't sure if she was overstepping the mark but seeing Mrs Carlyle so upset she didn't know what else to do.

"You'll be good for him." Mrs Carlyle gave her a tearful smile. "You understand him in a way that his father and I never really did."

Anne shrugged, her cheeks flushing. "I love him." She whispered.

"I know. I can see it in the way you looked at each other. Give him some time, he's not ever been very good with his emotions. Gets that from his father unfortunately."

"I don't know what to do." Anne admitted. "I'm running out of ideas and I just can't get him to talk to me."

Mrs Carlyle paused for a moment. "Just give him some time dear. He's scared. He's not really used to having someone there for him, I really should've been but I wasn't and it's something I'll always regret."

Anne sat silently, she didn't know what to say. It was only when Mrs Carlyle struggled to stifle another yawn and keep her eyes open Anne realised quite how late it was. "I'll go and find Phillip quickly and then I think we'd better let you get some sleep."

"Thank you dear." Mrs Carlyle mumbled in response, already half asleep.

He hadn't gone far. She spotted him as soon as she walked out of the room, leaning against a wall at the end of the hallway. He looked exhausted and she wasn't surprised. A lot had happened in the space of a few days, and she couldn't shake the feeling things were far from over.

"Hey." She said softly, leaning against the wall beside him.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Sorry, I was coming back…. I just.."

"It's okay." His hand slipped into hers and she let her head rest against his shoulder. "She's tired, we should probably get going soon."

Phillip nodded. "I don't know what to say to her."

"She's just happy that you're here Phillip, and to see you happy."

"I just keep think I should've gone back and-"

Anne shook her head and cut him off. "You can't start with the whole what if thing because you'll drive yourself insane."

"She likes you." He said softly, standing up straight and looking towards his mother's room.
"She's an amazing lady." Anne smiled. "Go and say goodbye, we can come back tomorrow if you like?"

He hesitated for a moment then, with a quick squeeze of her hand, walked off down the hallway in front of her.

His Mom's eyes flickered open as he entered the room and she blinked at him sleepily. "Hey, you came back." She smiled.

"I did." He took her hand as he stood next to the bed. "I just came to say we're going to head home now but I can come back tomorrow if you like?"

His Mom nodded. "I'd really like that Phillip, I've really missed you."

"I've missed you too." He could feel his eyes filling with tears and he blinked rapidly trying to get rid of them.

"You take care of Anne, she's one of the good ones. I like her."

"Too good for me." He muttered darkly, not even realising he'd said it out loud.

"Phillip." She scolded. "Don't talk like that. You deserve to be happy, she makes you happy. Don't throw it all away."

"You should get some rest. I'll see you in the morning." He leant down and kissed her forehead. She was asleep again before he'd left the room.

Anne was waiting outside the door. "Okay?" She asked as he came out of the door.

He nodded, holding his hand out. She took it straight away and there was something comforting about the feel of her hand in his, knowing that she was still there with him- for now at least.

"Let's go home."