Pacing the hall Jim was becoming more and more agitated as he waited for Tasha to return. She had assured him that she was on her way home, but it was taking too long, she had been too long and he was beginning to worry when he heard the sound of a car coming to a standstill outside the house, although the car seemed to be travelling fast, too fast and the braking seemed too severe, too urgent causing his initial relief at hearing it to be short lived as panic resurfaced. He was standing behind the door, ready to pull on the handle when it seemed to fly open, but rather than coming face to face with Tasha Jim found Juan looking back at him with the mother of all scared expressions on his face that confirmed he had been right to be concerned by Tasha's delayed arrival.

"What?" Jim asked, his voice raised with concern at the other man's expression, the fear in his eyes.

"There's been a crash," Juan started. "Down the hill, a car, the fire service are preparing to cut the driver out."

"Juan, who is it?" Jim asked, but knew in his head, heart and gut what the other man was going to say.

"The car looks like Tasha's, I came back up here as fast as I could..."

Jim was already heading through the door and rounding his own car while Juan was calling behind him something about coming with him, but the truth was if he didn't get in the car quickly he would be left behind because Jim had no intention of hanging around when Tasha was hurt, he needed to see her, to make sure she was ok and she had to be, she just had to be or he would never forgive himself.

It was only a couple of minutes before they were pulling up alongside the broken crash barrier the vehicle had gone through. There were blue lights flashing everywhere; police, ambulance and fire service and as Juan had suggested the latter were indeed cutting the victim from the vehicle. Moving closer and attempting to push past the police cordon to gain a better look at the vehicle if not the driver Jim met the full force of a very large uniformed police officer.

"Sir, you need to step back," the officer told Jim who was still trying to at least look past the policeman if not move past him.

"I need to get down there, I think it's my fiancée, in the car...we're getting married, soon, in a couple of weeks," he said and although he knew he was rambling he was incapable of stopping. "We had a fight earlier and she was coming home, but it was taking too long..."

The officer cut him off as he called to someone else and was quickly joined by a young fire fighter who offered Jim a short and sympathetic smile.

"Jim?" he queried and with a confirming nod from Jim he continued. "She was asking for you, Tasha."

"So she's ok?" Jim asked, desperate for reassurance and some kind of sign that Tasha was ok.

"The vehicle flipped...we've turned it back. She was conscious earlier, but the medics are with her now, keeping her stable while we cut her free. I should get back but you should be ok to travel to the hospital with her, ok?"

Jim nodded, unable to say anything else, barely able to think. With a sick feeling in his stomach and a heavy ache across his chest he momentarily doubled over, dropping to his haunches as Juan dropped to Jim's side.

"I'm sure she'll be ok, Tasha is strong, a fighter," Juan told the older man, his own voice breaking at the thought that she might be anything other than ok.

Another ten minutes or so passed in silence before Juan asked, "Should I call anyone, Philip?"

"No, not yet," Jim replied as Tasha's body was finally lifted from the wreck of her car.

With the police now maintaining a cleared path for the stretcher to be carried along Jim was finally afforded his first look at Tasha and as much as he imagined it proving to be a reassurance that she was ok, alive, it didn't because for all intents and purposes she looked as close to death as he imagined she could be without actually being dead.

"Baby," he whispered as he saw her pass him, a multitude of leads and tubes attached to her along with a collar that was holding her neck in a fixed position while the bandages or straps, whatever they were that seemed to bind her to the stretcher, preventing any movement which he knew was a bad sign.

Jim was vaguely aware of the fire fighter reappearing beside him and mutely nodded as he said, "You can go with her."

Following behind Tasha Jim felt numb now, numb and impotent because he really was unable to do anything to make this right, he, and Tasha's wellbeing was in the lap of the gods and in the hands of the doctors who awaited them at the hospital. Juan had already relieved Jim of his car keys and followed the ambulance to the hospital, but not before he had called Bobby, just Bobby because he knew that Jim would need someone and his brother was that person.

Once at the hospital Tasha was rushed through the emergency department and Jim was left to sit and wait. He paced the floor, sat down, stood up, sat back down and tapped his feet nervously and then paced some more. Bobby had arrived shortly after Juan who felt as helpless as Jim, but was also conflicted because he knew he should contact Philip.

After the first hour passed Juan suggested contacting someone else to Bobby who nodded, but said nothing, meaning he was expecting some opposition from Jim. Bobby collected some coffee from the vending machine nearby and whilst there made a couple of calls before returning to his brother who was doing a round of pacing and Juan who was sitting in a corner rocking.

"Jimbo," he called. "I have phoned Lenny, well Sara who passed me over to Lenny. He's coming down, to see if he can pull any strings in getting some answers, ok?"

Jim nodded as he took the seat next to his brother and sipped the coffee he was offered.

"The coffee is shit!" he winced making his brother smile.

"You should probably contact Tasha's family, they'll want to know and if any of this hits the news..."

"Yeah, I will, as soon as I know something, anything. Juan," he called now. "You should go, there's no point us all being here."

Juan shook his head, "I'd rather stay, Tasha's my friend, so maybe for a while, until we know something, but I would like to call Phil, he'll be wondering where I am."

Jim nodded but quickly added, "Just Philip, not Lizzie, I do not need either of them here, but I definitely don't need to have to put a brave face on and cajole Lizzie right now."

By the time Lenny arrived Philip had been informed of Tasha's accident but there was still no news on her condition. Lenny was about to make his way through the department to where Tasha was when a doctor appeared and introduced himself as Stan Marvin and then led Jim and the others towards a small office where he explained that Tasha was now stable, but had some internal bleeding still that would need to be stopped surgically. He briefly tried to offer some reassurances that Tasha was young and fit, but was clear that time was of the essence to maximise the chances of a 'positive outcome'.

He left as quickly as he arrived leaving Jim to wait again. Lenny went through the possibilities of the surgery, complications and postoperative recovery while Bobby began to filter phone calls and then a visit from the police who were investigating the cause of the accident. With Tasha out of the picture in terms of giving the police any information about her accident the police quickly left but assured Jim that they would be back.

It was another two hours before there was any news on Tasha and then it was a simple message from theatre explaining that things were progressing and that Stan and his team were still working on stopping the internal bleeding. A call from Marcus alerted Jim to the fact that news reports were beginning to circulate about a crash and that the victim was an actress meaning Jim was going to have to call Paul and Celia to alert them to the fact that Tasha was hurt. Bobby offered to make the call, but Jim refused, knowing it was his responsibility.

The phone rang no more than three times before Paul answered and as quickly and concisely as he could Jim explained that there had been an accident, that Tasha was hurt and still in surgery. Beyond that he had no more to tell them, nor could he assure them that she was 'ok' because he had no idea that she was. He promised to get them all on flights as soon as was possible and once he'd hung up he handed that over to Bobby who simply called Amanda who had flights arranged for the following night.

As the clock struck four in the morning Stan appeared with a short smile for Jim who allowed the longest and deepest breath he had ever known to be released from his body, the relief immediate, overwhelming and immense and yet it was at that point that his tears began to fall, she was ok, well she was alive and right now that was all that mattered, that he still had her in his life, that she had survived, although, as Stan had stressed several times she was not out of the woods. She had been through so much in her short life and now she was enduring even more suffering and pain and it was his fault. For all the times he had blamed her parents, Liam, even her grandparents for not intervening the only person he held responsible now was himself. Had he never met Mickie and become embroiled in her cancer battle and need for a friend he and Tasha wouldn't have fought and she would have had no cause to run away from him leading to the accident that was still threatening to take her from him.

Jim became aware of an arm around him, Bobby's, a loving and reassuring arm that wanted to comfort him and yet he found none; his head was full of thoughts of how his life might look without Tasha, how sad and lonely he would be, sad lonely and alone because she really was his lucky seven, his life and his future.

"Hey, Jimbo, she's holding her own. She's telling the world to go fuck itself, this is good news," Bobby reassured his brother who was shaking with the tears and sobs that wracked his body while Lenny and Juan watched on from a distance.

"I am nothing without her. She came into my life and put me on my ass. I can't go back to my old life without her," Jim cried as Stan returned to explain that Tasha had been moved from recovery to a room upstairs. "Can I see her?" Jim asked, but was already up on his feet and heading towards the lift.

Stan muttered something about, 'is there any point in me saying no'? But was nodding his head.

"Five minutes and then she needs to rest."

Jim nodded his agreement as he stepped onto the lift.

Once at the door to Tasha's room Stan was issuing warnings about the machines, tubes, bruises and dressings Jim would see when he entered the room. He also explained that it would only be Jim who could see her now and then everyone would have to leave. Before entering the room Jim thanked the men around him and then instructed them all to leave, to go home and promised to call them if Tasha's condition changed.

"Jim, we all need to go home, including you," Lenny said with a concerned frown before giving Bobby a glance that suggested he expected the older Maybury to direct the younger one into going home.

"I am going nowhere without my fiancée, so while she is here, I will be here too."

With his composure regained and a strong determination Jim stood firm until the others all nodded their acquiescence and once he was happy they were leaving he took a very deep breath to steady his emotions and with the door before him being opened by Stan he braced himself for the sight of Tasha but nothing could have prepared him for the image that greeted him; a motionless, bruised, battered, swollen and barely recognisable Tasha.

A loud sob of shock and grief left his lips before Stan gave his shoulder a reassuring pat.

"It's a shock, right, but she's doing ok and underneath the bruises, tubes, machines and lines she is still your Tasha, ok?" the doctor asked.

"Hmmm, my Tasha," he said aloud and with that thought in his mind Jim entered the room fully to take the seat next to the bed, unaware of the door closing behind Stan.

The sound of the machines bleeping and beeping were almost hypnotic for Jim as he sat in the chair next to Tasha's bed, refusing to be moved. It was just after eight in the morning when Bobby returned on his way to work. After a final and futile attempt to get his brother to go home, even briefly he left him, but not before calling Sandra and arranging for Mike to drop off some food, toiletries and a change of clothes.

Stan returned and checked on Tasha, along with what seemed like dozens of nurses and other doctors. They all smiled at Jim, a little too sympathetically for his liking, it all seemed too nice, as if preparing him for something bad, something final.

By the time lunch time arrived Jim had briefly left Tasha's side to speak to the police, Sargent Masterson who explained that they now suspected a second vehicle had been involved in Tasha's 'accident' that was looking less accidental with each detail that was uncovered. The police left but promised to keep Jim updated with developments. He managed to brush his teeth, freshen up and quickly got changed into the clothes Sandra had sent him. Stan had just made another visit and introduced himself as Lizzie's boyfriend, Dylan's father which raised no more than an arched brow from Jim rather than his usual annoyance at the idea of that boy who was dating his daughter ogling his girlfriend.

With a tense headache behind his eyes Jim pinched the bridge of his nose as the door opened behind him. Turning, he expected to find another nurse or doctor, but it was actually Mickie that stood there.

"Sorry if I'm intruding, how is she?" Mickie asked with a point of her finger in Tasha's direction.

"Not good...she had internal bleeding, a punctured lung, and broken ribs. It seems she was struggling to breathe for herself so they've put a tube in. They're checking on her every fifteen minutes or so and they all keep looking at me with sympathetic smiles and sorry eyes. Look, Mickie," Jim began thinking that the woman before him, his friend, no, his former friend would be the last person Tasha would want here and he had stupidly allowed her to come between them once too often, but no more. Tasha was his priority and would continue to be so, forever, until death he thought and then shuddered at the reality of those two words.

"I should probably go, I'm intruding," Mickie interrupted and sounded so supportive and understanding that Jim was taken aback. "I know we didn't get off on the right foot, Tasha and I, but I want to be here for you, like you were going to be there for me, me and my cancer diagnosis," she said leaving his support hanging between them. "We're friends Jim, have been for so long and I don't want to lose that so maybe we should focus on that. Look, I have to go, my doctor's appointment."

Jim nodded, unsure what was actually happening, unsure what Mickie was saying or suggesting even as she left and the door closed gently behind her. His frazzled mind was at risk of going into overdrive but the sudden sound of alarms stopped it dead in its tracks. Machines were going crazy, one after another sounding panicked and desperate as the room filled with nurses and doctors, more and more surrounding Tasha and pushing him farther and farther away from her until she was completely hidden from his view.