Thank you for the reviews. To make up for the long wait I have updated quickly. He're is the final chapter. Please, please review.

Chapter 11 – And Landing

For Jack it was like it happened in slow motion, out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure racing towards him, he didn't even have time to register the danger or put his foot on the break. Suddenly the sickening sound of the unknown figure hitting his bonnet and smashing his windscreen, he finally slammed his foot on the break only to see the body fly over the top of the car and land in the road behind him.

Jack jumped out of the car and ran over to the body, it was only then that he realised who it was.

"Mickey!" He shouted anxiously. He knelt down beside him and held his breath as he gently place two fingers to Mickey's neck.

It was very weak but Jack could definitely feel a rapid pulse beating beneath Mickey's skin.

Other officers had begun surrounding them, one saying that the suspect had been arrested and another radioing for an ambulance urgently. Jack could hear the phrase "officer injured" ringing in his ears.

Mickey was lying on his side but Jack knew better than to move him so he instructed Smithy to support Mickey's head and neck while he checked his airway.

"Mickey, can you hear me, can you open your eyes? Mickey?"

There was a faint grunt. "Mickey, can you open your eyes?" His eyelashes fluttered slightly before closing again. "That's it Mickey try again, open your eyes, look at me." Mickey opened his eyes and gazed at Jack for a few seconds, unable to focus on him, then shut them again.

Finally there was the sound of another siren as the ambulance pulled up beside the crowd of officers which had formed around the casualty.

The crowd dispersed as the two paramedics moved towards them leaving only Jack and Smithy where they were.

"What's his name?" Said the male paramedic.

"Mickey, Mickey Webb." Jack replied.

"Do you know what sort of speed the car was going at?"

Jack swallowed loudly. "At least forty."

The paramedic was bent over Mickey. He looked up at his colleague and said, "can you get the spinal board and oxygen, Mel."

"Sure." She replied and disappeared back to the ambulance with Tony Stamp to help her.

She returned a few seconds later and lay the spinal board down beside them.

"OK," the male paramedic said, "we're going to turn him onto his back but keeping his head, neck and spine all still in line. If I take his head from you," He said looking at Smithy.

"On the count of three roll, one, two, three." The female paramedic slid the board under Mickey as they rolled him back onto it.

Jack stood back and watched the scene unfold like what from a tv drama. He was unable to do anything except watch, his eyes were frozen on the limp body before him.

---

Jack was sat hunched up in a chair in a waiting room in the hospital. The hand of the clock on the wall in front of him was moving so slowly that Jack thought that it had stopped, frozen in time. he jumped as the door opened for the first time in hours.

"Mr. Meadows?" A balding gentleman asked.

"Yes." Jack said standing immediately.

"Please sit down. I'm Mr. Harding. I've been openration on your colleague. We were concerned about interal injuries and during the operation we discovered some damage to the liver and kidneys but that had been rectified and we expect Mr. Webb to make a ful recovery. He also has concussion but again he will be fine. He's been taken to a ward and a nurse will be along soon to show you there. You can sit with him until he wakes up." The surgeon stood up and Jack imitated him.

"Thank you, thank you so much." Jack stuttered, relief washing over him.

"You're welcome."

---

Jack sat anxiously beside Mickey's bed once again. Memories of the night of the suicide attempt came flooding back, he felt the same gut-wrenching fear as he had then but now he also felt guilt because this time he was the direct cause of Mickey's suffering. It was his and only his fault that Mickey was lying unconscious before him.

His shoulders were painful due to hours of tensed muscles.

"I'm sorry, Mickey." He muttered every few minutes.

---

Through the haze I could hear someone talking to me, I didn't know where I was or what I was doing there but I could hear the muffled words from a familiar voice and I knew with the recognition of that voice that I was safe.

I tried to open my eyes but they were so hungry that I could not lift the lids. Suddenly I was hit by a wave of pain in my stomach and head. I let out a unwilling groan.

---

"Mickey?" Jack said anxiously, convinced that he had imagined the slight moan.

"What happened." Mickey asked, his voice slightly slurred.

"You were in an accident, you were hit by a car, my car. I'm sorry, Mickey."

"No, wasn't your fault, I ran out in front of you, it was my fault."

"Your going to be alright though. The doctor said you've got concussion and so internal bruising but no lasting damage." Jack said quickly as if he was trying to convince himself that he hadn't killed Mickey.

"I was chasing a suspect. What happened to him?"

"Sam and Phil picked him up a few minutes down the road. He's been arrested and kept in custody."

"Good, he, he raped John Edwards. I can't believe I went after him alone, I don't learn, I don't change."

"You have changed, you're stronger. A few years ago, even a few months ago, you could have done that. You couldn't have spoken to Mr. Edwards, you couldn't have handled it and you couldn't have gone after a rapist alone. You're stronger now than you ever have been."

---

And suddenly I realised that Jack was right. Delaney hadn't ruined my life. I'll never forget what he did to me, I couldn't, I never will. It's been the most traumatic thing that has ever happened to me but I've coped.

Even before I was attacked, before I was raped, I couldn't have dealt with John Edwards so sensitively because I simply wouldn't have understood. I couldn't have comprehended the devastating feeling of self loathing that he felt because only if you've been through it could you really understand how you would feel.

My mum always used to say that what doesn't kill you can only make you stronger, and she was right. It didn't kill me and it has made me stronger.

And, ok, so I'm still going to have bad days, I'm still going to have nightmares and fears and issues, and I'm still going to be suffering because of it but I can accept that. I'm not going to let it stand in my way any longer, I'm not going to let it ruin my life because it's over now and I'm not going to let him win.

My secret fear has always been that when faced with it I wouldn't be able to handle a male rape case but I have.

I've been through the darkest period of my life and come out the other side, it feels like the Sun has been turned back on and I can feel the warmth of it on my skin. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it's getting brighter.

What he did was a terrible thing but he has no right to ruin my life. I won't let Delaney control me any longer. It's my life and I'm going to live it.