Chapter 13

The Doctor's words repeated in Gene's head over and over again as he sat on a park bench looking out over his city.

"As you know she is in a prolonged coma; and has been for some time. Do you remember last month, when her lungs started to fail?"

"Don't remind me."

"We have put her on an ICU ventilator to breathe for her and it is likely that her other organs will fail too. She has shown signs that her kidneys and liver are failing too."

"What does tha' mean?"

"We've looked at her doctor's records; she named you as the next of kin. Gene, you need to know that she is not going to wake up. You need to let her go."

"What exactly are you asking me t' do?"

"Well, I know this will be difficult for you, but, will you give us permission to start the process of turning off her life support?"

"No. NO! I will not do tha' to 'er. I'm not killing 'er."

"You don't need to answer now. Think about it. She is going to die anyway, you will be helping her."

"No, helping 'er will be me, not killing 'er. She is a fighter, she 'as a daughter, I don't know where, but I need to find 'er. I will not give up on 'er."

"I do not give my permission for you to do anything to 'er, 'er family extends to the whole of Fenchurch East, so do not think you can ask anyone else. If you ask again, you won't be practising medicine for a very long time." Gene finished and walked off.

"I won't do that t' you Bols. You and me, we're unbreakable." He said to himself as he sat alone on the park bench, his head feeling fuzzy from the afternoon of drinking. "I'm going to read your letter, I think that it is time to. I know you said 'when I've gone' but, to me you will never 'be gone'". Gene took the letter out of his jacket pocket, where he kept his hip-flask.

Gene,

If you are reading this, then you've either given into your curiosity and opened it too soon and not waited until I have gone home. Or I have actually gone home. It is very unlikely that I would have told you where home is for me. But you deserve an explanation.

I was born Alexandra Price in 1973. My parents were both lawyers, their names were Tim and Caroline price. They were killed October 10th 1981, in a car bomb, which was set off when a tape was played; David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes was playing when the car exploded. I was not in the car, as I had got out to get my red balloon which was over on the hill opposite my school. I reached the top of the hill and got my balloon; I turned and saw my parents die in front of me. Then I felt safe, a man took my hand, and made me feel safe. I grew up thinking that this man was Evan White, my God-Father, but it was you. I grew up in London with Evan, I went to Oxbridge University to study psychology, when I graduated I joined the metropolitan police force as a psychological profiler in CID, where I am a DI, I work closely with my team it consists of DCI Pitt, Myself, DI Jenny Hawling, DS Oscar Grey and DC Max Dorian. In 1996 I had a daughter, Molly. Her father is Peter Drake, the same Peter Drake who hit Gaynor Mason over the head with a brick. He left us when Molly was six months old, he rarely contacts her and when he does he manages to make it seem like he's the victim.

The last time I saw Molly was July 17th 2008. I was driving her to school when I got a call about a hostage situation. I tried to refuse to go and negotiate but the hostage taker had asked for me by name. I drove to the scene, told Mols to wait in the car, but she didn't. Molly saw that the gunman; Arthur Layton had released the hostage, but had a gun to my head instead. He started to sing the lyrics 'I'm Happy, Hope you're happy too'. This confused me as how would he know that song served major significance in my life; it was the song my Dad was playing in the car on that day. Layton still had the gun pointed at me, and I was sure he would shoot, but Molly ran in front of me to protect me, I thought he was going to shoot her right in front of me, but he didn't. He led her down the stone steps and then he fired a shot. I thought he had killed my Molly, I ran down the steps and found Molly standing and trembling with fear, she was OK, just shaken. Layton had ran off somewhere. I phoned her God-Father Evan, he came and picked her up. I needed to go back to the office to make a report on what had just happened, when I returned to the car, looked in the wing-mirror and Layton was sat in the back. He told me to drive, I had no choice.

He took me to his barge, which was docked at the same location as 'The Lady Di', on his way he was on the phone he knew about my parents' deaths and threatened to tell me what really happened on October 10th 1981. When we were on the boat, he said he had 'an empire back in the day' and that was it, he shot me in the head.

I woke up; I was dressed as a prostitute and apparently on 'The Lady Di'. I ran off, several WPCs were running into 'The Lady Di' and then Edward Markham grabbed me, when I learnt your names, and especially your name, I fainted. I know you, well of you. I know you through DCI Sam Tyler, you knew him as DI Sam Tyler. I had assimilated his fantasy.

DCI Sam Tyler was working up in Manchester, in 2006 he was hit by a car, he was sent into a prolonged coma. Apparently according to the tapes and notes he made, when he was in the prolonged coma he went back to 1973. In 1973 he met you. I think that his mind created this whole world that you're in as protection of his own sanity. I was assigned the case of conducting a psychological profile on him, and his case, all to use in my book that I am writing about him. You see, when he woke up, he kept saying in the tapes and to his mother, Ruth Tyler, that he couldn't feel anything anymore. This was due to his accident. He also said to his tapes that he had made a promise to WPC Annie Cartwright that he wouldn't leave her. He also said that Annie had told him that 'life is not worth living if you can't feel anything'. Sam killed himself in 2007, he jumped off Manchester police station's roof. But, it turns out he returned to your world and lived another seven years.

When I first met you, you matched what Sam had said about you that you were an "overweight, over-the-hill, nicotine-stained, borderline alcoholic homophobe" I could add that you are a sexist pig to that list along with a few others. Over the months of knowing you, I can really see why Sam valued your friendship. You are the best DCI I have ever had, even if you are an imaginary construct, you really are the best I will miss all of our times in Luigi's drinking the 'house rubbish'. I asked you once, a very long time ago 'what would you do, last few moments on Earth' Do you know what I did Gene? I created a world, a world where you and I existed. I wish that you and I had gone out on more dates; we would have probably killed each other if anything between us had actually happened. In this world, I am scared a lot of the time, but you keep saving me from all of the horrible things which threaten my life. You are the one thing which remains my constant, and I trust you to the end of the Earth.

If you have woken up one morning and made your way into CID, waiting for my entrance, don't. If I have just disappeared, don't wait for me to reappear. I have gone home, and I am with Molly.

What if all of this is real? Impossible I know but what if? I know that I am in a hospital and in an intensive care unit with head trauma. If you are real, come and find me, find me Gene. I will always need the Gene Genie in my life.

At Viv's party, I said that I loved all of my team, I love them as I love my friends, I love you a whole lot more.

With Love,

Yours, forever and always,

Alex Drake, your Bolly.

xxx

P.S.

I don't know whether this still serves any importance, but there is a man from my world, in yours. His name is Martin Summers, he is acting under the name Boris Johnson. Don't trust him. He is liar and a corrupt bastard. He sends me roses, I don't know the significance of the roses, but it could be important.

Gene rubbed his head with his hand, folded the letter, carefully placed it back into its envelope and stood from the bench in which he had been sitting, walking in the general direction of the Quattro.

The End... or is it?

Dun. Dun. Dun! TBC in the sequel – I was made for loving you.

What is Gene going to do? Who is on the phone to Evan? How are there records of Gene, and the CID team? If Gene was real, then why didn't he come and find her in 2009? …

I hope that you have enjoyed Awake - (share your thoughts!) and that you will also enjoy the sequel (which is on its way) Thanks to all of you have read Awake, and extra big thanks to those who reveiwed. Also, thanks to my beta reader Lioness2611.

-Nell