Darker London

Thomas was nervous as he entered Peter's office. Being back in RMMH after his locked in the basement ordeal wasn't his favourite thing ever. It hardly held a candle to the horror of seeing his best friend struggling with addiction and falling off the wagon. Stephie had helped him deal with stepping in to the hospital and she had given him courage, but the rest he had to do on his own.

Abby acknowledged Thomas' presence in Peter's office, but she sort of just ushered him into Peter's bathroom and beat a hasty retreat. There were so many other things she needed to be doing other than looking after her drunk boss.

( You're going to be okay )

Rachel left her towering black of flats early the next morning, before her father woke up. Imogene had already risen and left, Rachel could only tell because the shower curtain was damper than it had been last night. Presumably she'd had breakfast, but there was never any trace of crumbs on the bench and Imogene couldn't stand plates left out after use.

Maybe if she'd left early she wouldn't be out very late, Rachel thought hopefully. Maybe she should see if Cai wanted to come back here for dinner. But what if Imogene was out? Rachel doubted her ability to look after Cai on her own. Cai had told her once that he thought she had some kinda power but somewhere along the lines Rachel thought it had all bled out of her. Maybe she'd outrun it the day she tried to run across the city on a damaged ankle, left it behind on the street somewhere. She certainly hadn't felt capable of looking after anyone after that. Not since Imogene moved in and all the highs and lows of life started to disappear.

( ... )