MEMORY LOSS
BY SHARRON.I



AT MOUNT THOMAS POLICE STATION
PJ was in Tom Croydon's office; they were discussing the current case. The phone 
started to ring in the main office. Maggie picked it up and then called PJ
"PJ, telephone" she called 
"Who is it?" PJ asked
"It's your Mum"
"Ok I'll take it in my office" 
He walked quickly towards his office. He was very close to his mother especially 
after his father had been killed. He had always vowed that he would find his 
father's killer, but so far he hadn't. 
"Hello, Mum?"
"Hello Patrick" She sounded weak and ill.
"Mum, what's wrong?" PJ questioned concerned. 
"I'm fine, I was just wondering if you'd mind coming to see me tomorrow, you see 
I'm a bit under the weather and I think that seeing you would cheer me up"
"You are okay aren't you?"
"Yes I'm fine, I just want to see you, that's all"
"Ok, sure I'll come and see you tomorrow, I'll be there around ten in the 
morning is that all right?"
"Yes thanks love, I'll see you tomorrow." 
They said goodbye, PJ headed back towards Tom's office, he was thinking as he 
did so and ended up walking straight into Maggie. 
"Oh, sorry Mags" 
"Is everything all right PJ?"
"Yeah, sure no probs" he lied. 
He went into the boss's office and went about asking for tomorrow off. He 
explained to Tom what the problem was and Tom said he could have the next day 
off as long as he was back the day after. PJ agreed
The Next morning PJ set off, he liked to drive, but he was too worried about his 
Mum to enjoy the scenery today. He decided to take the quickest route he could. 
He was just going slowly around one of those really blind corners when a 
four-ton truck came straight at him out of nowhere. PJ swerved, he skidded and 
went side on into the truck. The truck kept moving and PJ's car went flying head 
over heels. The truck swerved out of the way of PJ's car and kept driving, 
leaving PJ laying in his car, bleeding.
 
THE NEXT DAY
"Where the hell is PJ?" Tom shouted, PJ hadn't showed up for work and Tom was 
not happy. 
"Maybe he got back late!" Maggie reasoned. 
"Ring him up at home" Croydon said slightly quieter, he then retreated back to 
his office. 
'PJ you had better be there', Maggie thought to herself as she dialled his 
number. Maggie held on for ages, but kept getting his answer machine, she left a 
message and then hung up. She went into Tom's office.
"There's no reply boss" 
"Well then you'd better try his mother's and he had better have a VERY good 
excuse for this" 
Maggie left then tried to ring PJ's Mum. She picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is that Mrs Hasham?"
"Yes"
"This is Constable Maggie Doyle, Mount Thomas Police, is Senior Detective Hasham 
there please?"
"No I'm sorry he's not here"
"But wasn't he supposed to go there yesterday?"
"Yes, he was supposed to be here but he never showed up"
"Oh thank you for your time"
"Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem"
Maggie put the receiver down; she was beginning to get very worried about PJ. 
She cared about him very much and couldn't bare it if anything ever happened to 
him. Then she went back into Tom's office.
"Boss, I've got something to tell you"
"What?"
"I think something has happened to PJ"
"What exactly?"
"I don't know"
"So what makes you think that anything has happened to him?"
"Well think about it, firstly it isn't like PJ not to show up for work and 
secondly the only reason he wasn't in yesterday was to visit his sick mother. 
You know how much his mother means to him, so why wouldn't he show up?"
"He didn't get there?" Tom asked getting worried. He had always liked PJ, even 
when at the beginning he had been cocky.
"No"
"Right, well you and Dash start ringing other police stations in-between here 
and his mother and get Nick and Adam to do the hospitals ok?"
"Yes Boss"
Maggie went and told the others what was going on, they started to do their 
assigned tasks. Suddenly Nick found PJ.
"Where is he?" 
"He's in hospital, there was a really bad crash yesterday morning, involving PJ 
and a truck, the truck drove off"
"Is he all right?"
"They wouldn't give me details over the phone, I'm going to go and see though, 
you coming Mags?"
"Try and stop me"
Maggie and Nick set off to the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital, 
nobody told them anything for ages, they just sat about waiting, and then Zoë 
came over. 
"Hi, guys, you here about PJ?" Doctor Hamilton asked them on their arrival.
"Yeah, how is he?" Maggie responded
"Not too good I'm afraid."
"Will he survive?" Nick questioned.
"We can't say at the moment, he hasn't regained consciousness, so we haven't 
been able to do any testing"
"What sort of injuries does he have?"
"He has got a broken right arm, some damage to his legs, broken ribs, he's had 
surgery for a punctured lung and he has got a very nasty head injury."
" Oh my God"
"Don't worry, people have survived worse, but the impact of the car against him 
caused a lot of damage."
"Can we see him?"
"Yes, but just for a minute" 
Maggie and Nick stood up and followed Zoë to PJ's room; they couldn't believe 
their eyes when they saw him. He was nearly as white as the sheets, he had stark 
white bandages around his head, a plaster cast in his right arm and a table was 
holding up the sheets over his legs, so that they wouldn't touch his legs. He 
had machines all around him and he looked so ill. They had never seen him like 
this. They stood there; just staring at him for what felt like an eternity, then 
Zoë was back telling them that they had to go. They went back to the station and 
straight into Tom's office, he could tell by the look on their faces that it was 
not good news. 
"What is it?"
"He looked so ill boss" 
"Well how bad is it?"
"It's pretty bad, he's still unconscious"
"What injuries?"
"Broken right arm, damaged legs, broken ribs, they've already operated on a 
punctured lung, and he's got a really bad head injury. They're still not sure if 
there is going to be any lasting damage"
"All of that from a car crash?"
"Apparently the other vehicle was a truck and it just drove off and left PJ 
laying there to bleed to death"
"I'll go and see PJ later on"
"Ok, boss, I'll go in later"
"Now the investigation is in the hands of St David's so leave to them ok?"
"Ok boss" 
Maggie and Nick went back to work. Maggie didn't manage to get any work done for 
the rest of the day, all she could think about was PJ and she kept seeing him 
laying in that hospital bed, nearly as white as the sheets, and the stark white 
bandages around his head. She shuddered at the thought. 
 
THAT NIGHT 
That night, Tom went to the hospital, when he arrived Maggie hadn't been yet. He 
went straight into PJ's room, when he saw PJ he was filled with shock and 
horror. He hadn't seen one of his men looking that ill before. He went over and 
sat in the chair next to PJ's bed. He didn't know what to do so he tried talking 
to him.
"Hi PJ, well it's a fine mess you've got yourself into this time isn't it?" 
"We all miss you at work all ready, it's not the same without you there" 
" What I'm trying to say is, hurry up and get well, so that you can come back to 
work." 
He just finished saying that and Maggie walked in.
"Hello Boss, I was running a bit late, but I wanted to come and see him"
"Yeah, I know what you said, but I didn't expect him to be this bad. I mean it's 
PJ, but he doesn't look like PJ, he looks really ill. I mean are you sure he's 
alive?"
"Yeah Zoë said he's alive"
"Have you contacted his Mum?"
"Yes, she's on her way, she said she'd be here later tonight. I said she could 
stay with us for a while. I'll wait here until she arrives."
"Ok, now that you're here I'll be off"
"Ok I'll see you tomorrow boss" 
Tom left the room and went home. Maggie sat down in the seat that Tom had just 
vacated and held PJ's left hand. She began to talk to him.
"PJ, I don't know if you can hear me or not, but you have got to get through 
this. I need you PJ do you understand, I need you. I love you. You're my best 
friend and I love you like that, I've loved you since the day we met and I 
always will. Please just open your eyes and be all right, please PJ, please! 
please if you come through this I want us to get together I know what I said, 
but I love you too much to leave it now!" 
At this she burst into tears. She had finally admitted her feelings, even if PJ 
might not be able to hear her; at least she had admitted it to herself. At last 
the tears subsided and she was able to control herself. She squeezed PJ's hand. 
She just sat there for another half an hour or so, then PJ's Mum arrived, she 
walked into the room. When she saw PJ she gasped. 
"Oh, my God!!"
"Look I'm sure he'll be all right" 
"But look at him"
"I know he looks terrible, but it's not as bad as it looks" 
PJ's Mum burst into tears. Maggie wrapped her arms around her and held back her 
own tears, then she took PJ's Mum back to Maggie and Dash's house. Maggie 
explained to Dash what was going on, then they made up a bed and called it a 
night.
 
AT THE HOSPITAL 
At three in the morning, PJ started to wake up. His head felt terrible, he saw 
bright lights flashing in front of his eyes and he felt constantly sick. It 
wasn't long before the Nurse came in to check on him and discovered that he was 
awake. She went to get Zoë. When Zoë came in PJ felt quite out of it. He felt 
drunk but without having the fun of getting there. 
"PJ, can you hear me?" 
PJ nodded then wished he hadn't and winced. Something didn't quite feel right. 
Where was he exactly? Who was he exactly?, he suddenly realised what was wrong 
he couldn't remember anything.
"PJ, what's wrong?" she asked concerned
Well that answered one question, his name was PJ, but what sort of a name was 
PJ?
"I can't remember"
"Remember what?
"Anything"
"What's your name?"
"You called me PJ"
"Where are you?"
"I don't know!" he replied getting exasperated.
"Ok, don't panic it's not unusual." 
PJ didn't quite understand that, he couldn't remember a thing and she said don't 
panic, of course he was going to panic. 
"Look just relax PJ, You know me, I'm Zoë, we're mates, so trust me"
"Ok"
"Right, now I need to do some tests, to make sure that you are ok, ok?"
"Ok" 
Zoë began to do the tests to check on PJ's condition. 
 
AFTER THE TESTS
"Right, everything seems to be ok, but you'll be here for quite a while yet, I'm 
going to get in touch with your mother, she's staying at Maggie's at the moment"
"OK" 
An hour later Maggie and PJ's mum arrived at the hospital. 
"Oh Patrick sweet heart thank God, you're awake. I've been so worried about you"
PJ looked at her questioningly. He didn't know who she was.
"Patrick, what is it?" 
"Who are you?" 
"Um, Maggie, Mrs Hasham can I have a word with you outside please?" Dr Hamilton 
said. 
She took them outside and explained about PJ losing his memory. PJ's Mum burst 
into tears again. She went back into the room and sat in the chair next to PJ's 
bed; she held his left hand again.
"Oh, Patrick, you'll never know how much it hurt to know that you didn't 
recognise your own mother, but I know that it isn't your fault."
"Mum, I'm sorry but I can't remember a thing, you don't know how that feels. It 
terrifies me to not know who anyone is, or for people to know anything about my 
life and me not to know anything." 
"Oh Patrick"
"I'm scared Mum"
"It'll be all right, It'll come back to you. Now try and get some sleep"
PJ settled down for the night. And his Mum stayed with him until he went to 
sleep then she quietly left.
 
THE NEXT DAY
"Is there any change?" Maggie asked Dr Hamilton. 
"No he's still the same although he has remembered some personal details, like 
his full name and date of birth etc"
"Well that's good isn't it?"
"Yes it is excellent news, every improvement is an improvement" 
"Thanks" 
Maggie went into see PJ. 
"Hi mate, how you doin'?"
"Not so bad, you?"
"I'm fine thanks. Everyone's very worried bout you. Nick, Adam and Dash are 
coming into see you later. They can't wait for you to come back to work. Have 
you any idea when you'll be back to work yet?"
"No I've no idea yet"
"Do you know who I am?"
"You're Maggie aren't you?"
"Yeah that's right"
"And Nick is Nick Shultz, a senior Constable at Mount Thomas Police station. 
Adam is Junior Constable Cooper and Dash is Junior Constable McKinley, right?"
"Yeah very good!"
"And our boss is Sergeant Tom Croydon"
"Right, how did you know all that?"
"Some details came back to me"
"Do you know who you are?"
"Yeah, I'm Patrick Joseph Hasham, I'm a Senior Detective at Mount Thomas Police 
Station"
"Do you remember anything else?"
"Yeah some things, like faces and things like that, but that's about it really"
"Don't worry I'm sure, things will come back to you"
"Yeah? That's what Mum said"
"Just relax, and you'll feel better"
"OK"
"Look, I've got to go back to work, but I'll be back to visit you later, ok?"
"It's okay, I'll be fine, you don't have to worry about me you know"
"I like to visit you, I miss you when you're not at work"
PJ simply smiled and nodded.
 
AT MOUNT THOMAS POLICE STATION
"Maggie you're late!" Tom said when Maggie came in to the station
"Sorry Boss, I went to visit PJ and I didn't want to leave him"
"Ok, but don't let it happen again"
"I won't boss"
"How is he anyway?"
"Ok, considering"
"I'll go and see him tonight"
"Ok"
"Has his memory improved at all?"
"Yeah, he remembers people and a few personal details and stuff like that"
"That's good isn't it?"
"Yeah Dr Hamilton said it was excellent news and that he was on the way to 
recovery"
"Good, the sooner he's back at work the better"
"Well Zoë reckons that it's going to be at least a month before he's back at 
work, and even then..."
"Even then what? is there something that you're not telling me?"
"Well the damage to his legs was pretty bad and also the head injury and memory 
loss and they still haven't got the test results back yet"
"I thought that when he came round that he would be fine"
"So did I, but it's not going too well"
"Okay we'll keep an eye on him, that's all Constable Doyle"
Maggie left Tom's office and got on with her work. The next night Dash, Adam, 
Maggie and Tom went down to the hospital to try to jog PJ's memory. 
 
THAT NIGHT AT THE HOSPITAL
They all made their way to PJ's room to see how he was doing, when they got 
there PJ's room was empty. They immediately feared the worst. 
"Zoë, where is PJ, what's happened?" Maggie asked
"Don't panic guys, he's gone to have some therapy on his legs, to see what the 
damage is, so that we can get him back with you lot as soon as possible" Dr 
Hamilton reassured them
"Oh, we were worried that something had happened to him"
"Don't worry he'll be fine"
"You know the damage to his legs, how bad is it? Will he be able to walk again?" 
Tom questioned
"As far as we can tell, he'll be fine. At this stage it is impossible to tell 
the extent of the damage to his legs, but hopefully if all goes well, he'll be 
walking in no time at all"
"But there is a chance that he won't be able to?" Nick asked worried for his 
friend
"Obviously in all injuries like PJ's there is a possibility that the damage 
could be permanent"
"Is it likely to happen to PJ?"
"There is a very good chance that he will make a completely full recovery"
"Thank you, Zoë." Maggie said with a smile.
Zoë turned away and went back to the wards. The others turned and talked between 
themselves mainly about PJ and about what would happen if he couldn't walk 
again. It wasn't long before Dr Hamilton came over and told them that PJ was 
back in his room. 
"You can go in now"
"Thanks"
"Don't make too much noise though"
"OK"
They made their way into see PJ. When they went in he looked pleased to see 
them. They each pulled up a chair and said hi. He recognised them all. He told 
them that every day his memory was improving and it was nearly fully restored. 
There were events that he couldn't remember, some of them were bad times and 
some of them were good. They were just about to start reminding him of times 
when his 
Mother arrived.
"Hello, Sweetheart how are you feeling?"
PJ looked embarrassed.
"I'm fine Mum"
"Can you remember the Raelene Darcy thing, Peej?" asked Dash
He shot her a questioning look. Nick gave her a dirty look.
"I'm sure PJ doesn't want to be reminded of that," said Nick forcefully
"Reminded of what?"
"It doesn't matter"
"He has to know!" Dash argued
"Know what?"
"Maggie, tell him, he needs to know"
"Know what?"
"Boss?"
"You might as well tell him," Tom said
"Tell me what, exactly?"
"It happened a while ago now, you were called to a disturbance at this house. A 
family live there. The mother, father, a ten year old girl and a seventeen year 
old boy"
"Yeah and?"
"When you arrived the boy was beating up his father, I mean really laying into 
him. Adam and Nick dealt with him, but Raeline Darcy, she was the mother, she 
came at you." Maggie explained worried about the effect it would have on PJ.
"What do you mean came at me?"
"She had a machete and she came at you with" said Tom continuing the story.
"What happened?"
"You drew your gun"
"Oh I didn't did I?"
"Didn't what?"
"I didn't kill her?"
"I'm sorry, but there was nothing else you could do"
"There must have been another option I mean I could have talked her round or 
something"
"No, there was nothing you could do"
"Just try to forget about it"
An hour later, they were all laughing over one of the stories they told PJ to 
try to jog his memory. It was nearly the end of the visiting period and they 
were being nagged to leave. Eventually they decided to go. PJ spent the night 
thinking about all the things that had happened in his life. Most of the 
memories started to flood back, all the hurt and pain he had experienced, 
especially his father's death. He breathed a sigh of relief as unpleasant as 
some of the memories were at least he had got his memory back all he had to do 
now was to get back on his feet. He hadn't really seen his legs since the 
accident; he hadn't tried to walk on them either. Suddenly he had an idea, maybe 
he should try to walk on them now, and at least then he'd know. He swung his 
legs out the bed and when he saw them he gasped, he hadn't realised that they 
were that heavily bandaged, it didn't make any difference, he pushed down and 
the minute they hit the floor, he collapsed in a heap, the pain was too much for 
him. Luckily for him Maggie had left her handbag there and came back after he'd 
been laying there for a minutes. 
"PJ, what are you doing?"
"I was trying to walk"
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, can you give me a hand up please, my legs hurt like hell!"
She helps him up and back into bed.
"Why did you do that?"
"I needed to know if I could walk"
"Hang on I'll go and get Zoë"
 
OUTSIDE THE ROOM, MAGGIE SPEAKING TO ZOE
"Zoë, can you come and check on PJ please"
"What's the problem?"
"He tried to walk"
"He did what?"
"He wanted to see if he could still walk"
"What happened?"
"He collapsed, he says he's ok, but his legs are giving him pain"
"Ok, I'll be right there"
Maggie went back to PJ; he was wincing through pain, but trying not to let 
Maggie see how much it was hurting. 
"Hi, Zoe's on her way"
"Thanks"
"Look, I know you're hurting, don't try to hide it from me"
"Mags, I'm fine!"
"Just admit it, I can tell by the look on your face"
"Ok, it hurts a bit, but I'll be fine"
"I know you'll be fine, you'll be out of here before you know it" 
PJ smiled at Maggie. Zoë arrived to check on PJ.
"Hi PJ, how you doing?"
"I'm fine, I don't what all the fuss is about"
"I know you're fine, but I just want to make sure so that you get back to 
fighting crime as soon as possible, ok?"
"Ok!"
"Right, where does it hurt?"
"My legs"
"Let me take a look"
Zoë pulled the covers back and started to undo the bandages, when she had undone 
them, she found that the injuries had reopened. Maggie gasped when she saw PJ's 
legs.
"What, what is it?"
"It's nothing it's ok"
"Maggie what is it?"
"Nothing"
Zoë sent in a Nurse to restitch PJ's legs and she took Maggie outside to have a 
word.
"I didn't think they'd be that bad"
"He'll still be able to walk, you do know that"
"But when he tried just now look what happened"
"That's only because the injuries on his feet and knee hadn't healed properly 
yet"
"When will they?"
"Well, the injuries on his feet are nearly healed, but the damage to his knee is 
more serious and will need an operation, so we wait for the rest of his legs to 
heal then we will operate and fix up his knee, then a week after that he'll be 
released, but he'll be on crutches for a while"
"What about his head and ribs?"
"The last scan we did was clear so they should be all right. He'll probably be a 
bit sore and have quite a bad headache for a while, but apart from that no 
problem"
"So he'll be all right?"
"Yeah, as far as we can tell"
"Does PJ or Sgt Croydon know any of this?"
"No, I'll be having a word with PJ in a minute, and I need to speak to Tom later 
on, about work and everything. It's my job to pass on crucial information to 
PJ's senior officer"
"OK, do you want me to tell Sgt Croydon that you want to see him?"
"Yes please, if you don't mind"
"No probs"
Zoë went into PJ's room to tell him the news about his legs. Maggie went back to 
the station and straight into Tom's office.
 
MOUNT THOMAS POLICE STATION
"Boss, can I have a word please?"
"Is something wrong?"
"It's about PJ"
"Has something happened to him?"
"Not exactly"
"What do you mean?"
"Dr Hamilton wants to see you about PJ"
"What about him?"
"Well she's got to keep you up to date on his condition"
"Oh, I'll go in straight from work, I can visit PJ at the same time"
"Ok Boss"
"Oh, Maggie"
"Yes boss?"
"Did Zoë say how long he'd have to stay in?"
"No Boss, you can ask her tonight"
Maggie left the office and went back to work. A few minutes later the telephone 
rang.
"Mount Thomas Police Station, Constable Doyle speaking"
"Hello, this is St David's Police station, can you put me through to Sgt Croydon 
please?"
"Certainly"
Maggie shouted Tom
"Boss, telephone"
"Thanks Maggie"
"Hello, Sgt Croydon speaking"
"Hello, this is Senior Constable Gibb, from St David's. It's about the car 
accident that Senior Detective Hasham was involved in"
"Oh yes?"
"We have caught a truck driver who we believe was involved, but we need to speak 
to speak to Detective Hasham before we can charge him."
"That's no problem, if you come to Mount Thomas later today, then I'll take you 
into to see him"
"Thank you, by the way how is PJ?" 
"PJ? So you know him then?"
"Yes, quite well"
"Well, I'm not sure exactly at this present moment, but I'll be speaking to his 
doctor later"
"Ok, thank you"
Tom put the phone down. He called Maggie into his office
"Maggie, do you know a young female senior constable by the name of Gibb?"
"I don't know her exactly, but I do know of her"
"What's she like?"
"She's young and very attractive"
"Oh"
"Why, boss?"
"Because she seems to know PJ, and she'll be here later today to come and see 
him at hospital to get a statement"
Maggie left Tom's office and went back to work. A couple of hours later 
Constable Gibb arrived, Maggie took her straight into Tom's office.
"Oh, so you're Constable Gibb"
"Yes Boss"
"Take a seat"
She sat down
"So, constable, how do you know PJ?"
"We had a, um, relationship, a while ago now, but it lasted about six months"
"So, it's over now?"
"Yes Boss"
"Right, shall we go then?"
"Ready when you are boss"
They left the station and made their way to the hospital.
 
AT THE HOSPITAL
When they arrived they took a seat outside PJ's room and waited for Zoë to come 
and up date them. When she did arrive she told them exactly what she had told 
Maggie earlier.
"How long before you'll discharge him then?"
"Well we're operating tomorrow morning and then we'll keep him in for a few days 
after that, then we'll discharge him, but he'll be on crutches for quite a while 
afterwards"
"What about work?"
"Well that depend"
"On what?"
"Mainly on you"
"How?"
"Well if you can put him on light duties then he can come back in just over a 
week, but otherwise a lot longer"
"Well in that case I'll put him on light duties"
"Ok"
"Is it all right if we go in and speak to him about the accident now?"
"Yeah sure, go right in"
They went into PJ's room; he was surprised to see them, but especially Constable 
Gibb.
"Hi PJ, how you feeling?"
"I'm fine thanks Joanne"
" Constable Gibb here has come to take your statement PJ, but as you already 
know each other, I'll leave you to it"
Tom leaves.
"It's been a long time," PJ said after a while.
"Yeah, why didn't you write like you said you would" 
"I don't know I just. You know"
"When I heard about your accident I realised how much you mean to me"
"I've really missed you Jo"
" I've missed you too PJ"
"So where've you been?"
"I live in St David's now"
"So near yet so far"
"Yep, anyway I've got to take your statement"
"Ok, but I really don't remember much"
"Do you remember what type of veichle it was?"
"It was a truck"
"Do you remember what colour?"
"White I think"
"Anything else you remember?"
"No, I'm sorry"
"It's ok it's not your fault"
At this point Dr Hamilton came in and told Joanne that PJ needed his rest so she 
had to leave.
"I've got to go now, will I see you again"
"That's up to you"
"Ok, I'll come by again soon" 
She leaned in and gave PJ a kiss then she left.
 
A WEEK LATER
It was PJ's last day in hospital and he couldn't wait to get home. It wasn't 
long before Maggie and Nick showed up to visit him for the last time.
"Hi, how you going?"
"I'm fine, can't wait to get home"
"How are you getting home tomorrow?"
"Ah, not sure probably get a taxi"
"I'll pick you up if you want"
"You sure?"
"Yeah, what time you going?"
"I don't know as soon as you can pick me up"
"How about nine in the morning, then I can drop you off and go straight to work"
"Yeah sure, thanks mate"
 
THE NEXT MORNING
Nick came to pick PJ up at 9.00 the next morning. PJ was on crutches and looked 
quite uncomfortable. 
"Are you sure you're well enough to be going home?"
"Are you joking, I'm fine!"
"If you say so"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You just look a bit ill and uncomfortable, that's all"
PJ Laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"Wouldn't you be uncomfortable if your leg was in plaster all the way above your 
knee and you couldn't walk without crutches?"
"Yeah I suppose so"
Nick gave PJ a lift home; he made him a cup of tea and brought his telephone 
near to him. Then he had to leave for work.
 
AT MOUNT THOMAS POLICE STATION
Nick arrived at work on time and everyone was asking about PJ. It was half way 
through the day when Joanne Gibb arrived at the station.
"Hello, Maggie, is PJ here please?"
"No, sorry. He only got out of hospital today, he can't even walk so he's 
probably in bed at home"
"Oh right, sorry. Do you happen to have his address please?"
"What do you want it for?"
"He's still helping us with our enquiries"
"Oh right, here you go"
Maggie handed Joanne a piece of paper with PJ's address on it. 
"Thank you"
"No problem, send him my love"
"Sure, bye for now"
Joanne left and went straight round to PJ's house.
"Hi PJ, how you going?"
"I'm fine thanks, you?"
"I'm fine, I thought that you were back on your feet now"
"I am, just one foot that's all"
"I thought you might be able to do with some company"
"I certainly could"
Joanne and PJ began to reacquaint themselves. By the end of the day spent 
together, they had decided that they should get back together. That evening 
Maggie called by to see PJ. She noticed that Joanne was there straight away.
"Hi PJ, I just thought I'd check to see if you're ok"
"I'm fine thanks Mags"
"Oh well that's ok then"
"Do you want to come in for a cup of something or whatever?"
"Um no, I'm fine thanks, as long as you're ok"
"Thanks for stopping by"
"No problem, if you need anything, just call"
"Sure, thanks"
 
AT MOUNT THOMAS POLICE STATION
Maggie was talking to Nick about PJ and Joanne.
"So what do you think of her?"
"She's gorgeous, I wouldn't mind some of that"
"Yeah, but do you think that PJ and her are well, you know?"
"Yeah I know. I honestly don't know if her and PJ are having a relationship. If 
he is then I for one wouldn't blame him for it"
"That's what I thought"
"Why all the questions, you jealous or something?"
"No, why would I be jealous, PJ can do whatever he wants, it's none of my 
business"
"No need to bite my head of I was only joking"
 
AT THE IMPERIAL
PJ and Joanne arrived at the Imperial together.
"Hi PJ, I heard you'd been let out of hospital, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine thanks Chris"
"I was going to visit you, but I couldn't get away. I was going to come and see 
you tonight"
"Don't worry mate. I'm fine. It was a lot of fuss about nothing"
"That's not what I heard"
"How do you mean?"
"I heard that for the first while you were on deaths door"
"Yeah well that was ages ago, I'm over that now"
"Yeah ok, what do you want? Whatever you want is on the house"
"Thanks, I'll have a orange juice thanks and a G&T"
"There you go"
"Thanks mate"
"So how long till you get the cast off?"
"About another month, it can't come quick enough for me"
"I'll bet. When you be back at work then?"
"I haven't got a clue. Zoë reckons that I can't go back on full duties for at 
least another two months, but I'll see what I can do about that"
"I bet you will"
 
TWO MONTHS LATER
PJ had been back on work on light duties for about three days; he was still 
going out with Joanne they seemed as if they would last forever. PJ had got rid 
of the cast on his leg a week and a half before, but he was still on crutches. 
He was sitting in his office when Maggie came in.
"I haven't had a chance to speak to you since you've been back, but I'm really 
glad that you're back at work. I've really missed you"
"Thanks Maggie, I missed you too"
"I was wondering, if you're not doing anything tonight, would you like to come 
round for a meal or something?"
"Sorry Maggie, but I can't I've got plans"
"What with Joanne?"
"No, nothing like that. I've got to go to hospital I've got physio therapy and 
some tests to do"
"Oh right, do you want me to give you a lift or anything?"
"Well it would be good, but it'll take quite a while. You know there are a lot 
of tests to be done"
"I don't mind hanging around, and then if you finish in time maybe we can do 
something" 
"Ok, thanks Mags, I've got to go straight from work, if that's ok?"
"Yeah sure that'll be fine"
 
At the end of the day, Maggie and PJ went back to Maggie's house, Maggie got 
changed out of her uniform and then she drove PJ to the hospital. He had to 
report to the Out patient department. When he arrived, Dr Hamilton was waiting 
for him. 
"Hi PJ, How you feeling?"
"I'm fine, thanks Zo, do we have to bother with these tests, I mean I'd hate to 
waste your valuable time"
"Well it's my time to waste and yes we do have to do them"
"Ok, well it was worth a try"
"Maggie are you staying?"
"Yeah, if that's all right?"
"Yeah sure, you do realise that we're going to be a while though don't you?"
"Yeah sure"
"Do you know where the café is?"
"Yes"
"Well if I were you I'd go and get a cup of tea or something, unless you want to 
come in with us as long as that's all right with PJ"
"Yeah it's fine with me"
"Sure"
"Right if you'd like to come this way"
Dr Hamilton led PJ and Maggie through to a room where she was going to do the 
tests on PJ. The tests lasted nearly three hours, by the end of them Dr Hamilton 
wasn't very happy with PJ's knee, she tried to explain to PJ that he needed an 
operation on his knee so that he'll be able to walk but he wouldn't listen so 
she wrote a formal letter to Tom Croydon advising him to ask PJ to have a 
crucial operation. 
 
THE NEXT WEEK
Tom called PJ into his office.
"I received this letter from Dr Hamilton this morning"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah"
"And what did it say?"
"She isn't happy PJ"
"Why? 
"Firstly she says that you've missed three sessions in the last month and 
secondly you haven't been taking medication prescribed and thirdly you need 
another operation, but won't accept it"
"All of those things can easily be explained"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah"
"Well I'm waiting"
"The reason that I've missed three sessions with her was because all three 
sessions were scheduled when I was working. I haven't been taking the medication 
because it makes you feel really rough; it makes you throw up and be dizzy all 
the time when you take it. The reason that I won't accept that I need an 
operation is because I don't think that I do. My knee feels fine, so it just be 
a waste of time and a longer delay before I can come back on full duties" 
"PJ, all of these reasons can be easily resolved. You could have asked for a 
different appointment so that you didn't miss work, or you could have come to me 
ad I would have given you time off to go. You should explain to Dr Hamilton 
about the tablets and maybe she could find something else for you to take. Also 
if you don't have the operation it will be even longer before you come back on 
properly. Dr Hamilton has to certify you fully fit ad she won't do that unless 
you have the operation. So I've booked an appointment for you to see her after 
work today, ok?"
"Yes Boss"
"Right, you'd better keep that appointment"
"Yes Boss, I will boss"
"Look I don't want you to think that any of us are pushing you into things, but 
we all care about you and want you to be well and you're not going to be well 
unless you do as the Dr says"
"Yes boss, thanks boss"
PJ went back to his own office and sat down in his chair. He held his head in 
his hands and just sat there. He sat and thought about the accident. What he 
hadn't told anyone was that ever since the accident he had been having 
nightmares, the only other person that knew was Joanne and she only knew because 
she was usually there when they occurred. He sat like that till the end of the 
shift, everyone left him alone, and they knew what the conversation with the 
boss had been about because Maggie had told them. When the shift was over he 
drove himself to the hospital, he told Dr Hamilton everything, including the 
nightmares, she asked him to tell in detail what they were about. He explained 
that they were about many different things, from when his father was killed, to 
when he shot Raeline Darcy and the accident. She told him that she would give 
him some tablets to help him sleep, but she couldn't change the other tablets 
she had given him, she said that he must have the operation and that she 
recommended that he should see a shrink and take some sick leave from work. He 
agreed with these after a lot of persuasion. The next day when he arrived at 
work he was greeted warmly by Maggie.
"Hi PJ, how'd it go?"
"What?"
"At the hospital"
"It was fine, I'm fine, but I wish you'd all stop worrying about me"
"We only worry because we acre"
"Yeah, I know, I do appreciate the thought"
"Well if you ever want to talk you know where I am"
"Yeah, thanks Maggie"
PJ made his way to Tom's office when he went in Tom told him to sit down.
"Hello PJ"
"Boss"
"Well did you go?"
"Go where?"
"The hospital"
"Yeah Boss"
"And?"
"And what?"
"What did she say?"
"She said she'd be writing to you"
"Do you want to tell me about it?"
"Boss, can you do me a favour please?"
"Yeah sure, what's that?"
"Can you please wait until the letter arrives, I'd rather not talk about it"
"Is it that bad?"
"Yeah it's that bad"
"When will the letter arrive?"
"Zoë is delivering it later today, she wants to speak to you face to face"
"Ok, you'll have to be present at the time of course"
"Do I have to boss?"
"Yes I'd rather you were"
"Ok then"
A few hours later Zoë Hamilton arrived at the station. She went straight to 
Tom's office, Tom called Maggie in.
"Can you go and get PJ for me please?"
"Sure boss"
Maggie went and knocked on PJ's office.
"Come in"
"The boss wants you in his office PJ"
"What's it about?"
"I don't know but Zoë is with him"
"Right I'm on my way"
PJ went into Tom's office. Tom told him to sit down. PJ pulled up a chair and 
exchanged a glance with Zoë Hamilton. 
TOM: "Well shall we get on with it"
PJ: "Ready when you are"
DR HAMILTON: "Right as you know Tom PJ had an appointment with me last night to 
do follow up tests"
TOM: "Yeah, have you got the results?"
DR HAMILTON: "Yep, right as you know PJ needs an urgent operation on his knee"
TOM: "When should this take place?"
DR HAMILTON: "Within the next month preferably within the next week" 
PJ: "What that quickly?"
DR HAMILTON: "Yes otherwise his knee could seriously be damaged permanently"
TOM: "So that's all is it?"
DR HAMILTON: "Unfortunately no, PJ has suffered from other problems as a result 
of the accident and previous experiences and I have suggested that PJ took help 
physiologically"
TOM: "You mean see a shrink"
At this point PJ stood and left the office, he felt that he could no longer take 
it. Tom immediately felt guilty and realised that he had been insensitive he had 
known that PJ had been having a lot of problems but he hadn't realised the full 
extent until now. PJ made his way straight to his office, Maggie saw that he was 
upset, she followed him into his office.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah I'm fine"
"What's going on?"
"There's just a bit of trouble with Dr Hamilton and the boss."
"What about?"
"About me"
"Why? What's the problem?"
"Zoë wants me to have this operation on my knee"
"Why?"
"She says that it hasn't healed how it should and if I don't have an operation 
then it will be damaged permanently"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I was trying to get out of it"
"Yeah, but that's not so bad, it'll only take a month or so and then you can put 
the whole thing behind you"
"No it won't"
"Why? Is there something that you're not telling me?"
"It's nothing, no problem"
"PJ what is it? Why don't you tell me?"
"Ok, you really want to know?"
"Yeah tell me please"
"Ok, Dr Hamilton says that I've got to go and see a shrink"
"Why?"
"I've been having a few problems lately"
"Well that's not so bad. I mean loads of people go to see shrinks"
"Yeah well I don't want to be one of them"
"It's not as if you haven't done it before"
"I know but that was different"
"Yeah I know. If you ever want to talk about anything you know where I am"
"Yeah thanks"
 
A few minutes later Tom came into PJ's office and asked to talk to him alone. 
Maggie left and Tom sat down opposite PJ.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"About the problems that you've been having lately"
"There wasn't really much to tell"
"I'm sorry PJ"
"What for?"
"I should have noticed something was wrong"
"That's just it there is nothing wrong"
"You know that's not true"
"Yeah I s'pose so"
"You also know that I have to put you on sick leave"
"Yeah"
"You will be paid, it's only until after the operation"
"Yeah, well do I go now"
"It would probably be for the best"
"Ok, I'll see you later"
PJ stood up pulled on his jacket and left the station, the others watched in 
amazement as PJ walked out. Tom left PJ's office.
ADAM: "Boss?"
TOM: "Yeah Adam"
ADAM: "What's happening with PJ?"
TOM: "He's going on sick leave for a while"
NICK: "He's all right though isn't he?"
TOM: "I'm sure he'll be fine, he just needs some treatment that's all"
DASH: "Will he be in hospital boss?"
TOM: "By the end of the week he will"
Tom continued on his way to his office while the others made plans to go and see 
PJ that night after work. 
 
AFTER WORK
They arrived at PJ's house soon after work had finished, they stood on the step 
knocking on the door for about ten minutes, eventually Joanne came and answered 
it.
MAGGIE: "Is PJ in please?"
JOANNE: "No, he went down to the pub, I got the impression that he'd had a bad 
day"
DASH: "Oh ok thanks, we'll try the pub"
They left PJ's and went straight to the imperial. They went over to Chris.
NICK: "Chris is PJ in?"
CHRIS: "No, he was in earlier but he left about an hour ago"
DASH: "What was he like?"
CHRIS: "Not PJ, it seemed as if he had something on his mind. He wasn't very 
talkative he came in was here for about an hour then he left"
MAGGIE: "How much did he have to drink?"
CHRIS: "About two doubles and a couple of pints"
TOM: "Was he drunk?"
CHRIS: "I couldn't really tell, he didn't say much all night"
MAGGIE: "Ok thanks Chris"
They went outside.
ADAM: "Well what can we do now?"
MAGGIE: "We've got to try to find him"
DASH: "Yeah I know but where can he be?"
MAGGIE: "I don't know but I'm worried he might do something stupid"
TOM: "What PJ?"
MAGGIE: "Even PJ has problems you know"
DASH: "This treatment he needs, it's serious isn't it?"
MAGGIE: "PJ has got to have another operation, he has also got to go and see a 
shrink"
DASH: "What for?"
MAGGIE: "He's been having problems lately. He's also got to take these really 
wicked drugs"
ADAM: "What do you mean by really wicked?"
MAGGIE: "They make him really sick. When he takes them he feels sick and dizzy. 
Also Dr Hamilton wants top prescribe him sleeping pills."
TOM: "How do you know all of this?"
MAGGIE: "PJ told me"
DASH: "Why didn't he tell us?"
TOM: "Because he's ashamed of it"
ADAM: "What? But why?"
MAGGIE: "I don't know, because he's PJ"
DASH: "Where can we find him?"
TOM: "I suggest we go back to the station and start a search"
MAGGIE: "Ok, let's go"
They went back to the station and organised themselves off in pairs and started 
to search Mount Thomas. When they were dividing themselves up, Chris showed up 
and offered to help in the search. They decided that Nick and Maggie could make 
up one pair, Adam and Dash another and Tom and Chris another. The police 
officers had changed back into uniforms and resigned out their weapons. They 
arranged areas for each pair to search. Before they set off they phoned Joanne 
to see if PJ had turned up at home. She told them that he hadn't. They set off 
on the search. They searched for hours at one point they thought that they had 
found him but it was just some tramp, begging for money, they sent him on his 
way and carried on looking for PJ. Eventually they had to stop because it was 
getting too dark. The next morning they rung Joanne again and she said that PJ 
still hadn't shown up at home, they searched all the shops, pubs and asked all 
of PJ's friends where he was and nobody seemed to know. It took them hours to do 
so, but they were so worried about PJ that they didn't mind. About half an hour 
after they had looked everywhere they could think of the phone started ringing. 
Maggie answered it.
"Mount Thomas Police Station, Constable Doyle speaking"
"Hello Maggie, this is Chris. I just thought you might like to know PJ is here"
"He is? Is he okay?"
"Yeah he seems to be unhurt"
"Right I'll be down there as soon as I can" Maggie replied and hung up, she 
turned to Nick. "He's at the imperial" she said then picked up her hat and left 
to pick PJ up. She pulled up outside the imperial and went straight in. She 
walked upto the bar and immediately spotted PJ. She laid a hand on his arm.
"PJ are you okay?" she asked gently.
"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" he asked as if he had been home all night.
"PJ we were worried sick, you didn't go home all night"
"What are you talking about I was in most of the night" PJ responded puzzled.
"No you weren't Joanne said you were here from about 7 and she hadn't seen you 
since"
"I was home at about 10 last night. Why would she lie?" PJ asked truly confused. 
Maggie was getting confused now as well. 
"I don't know, has she done this sort of thing before?"
"I don't know. Look Maggie I'm going to go home now and see what's going on 
okay?"
"Yeah sure, do you want a lift?"
"Only if it's not too mush trouble"
"No it's fine, besides I'd like to know what's going on here as well"
PJ left some money for Chris and then left for home with Maggie. When they 
arrived they went straight in. PJ found a note on his mantel piece. He opened it 
up and read it then passed it straight to Maggie.
PJ,
I guess you know what I did. You must hate me now. 
I'm sorry I never meant to hurt you. I just get so 
jealous sometimes and I figured that by keeping Maggie 
away from you, you'd still belong to me. I'm so very 
sorry, I know I was wrong. I have now left. I understand 
that you wouldn't want to see me again. I love you PJ. 
I'm sorry.
Love Always Joanne
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Are you okay PJ?" Maggie asked with concern.
"Yeah I'm fine thanks Maggie" PJ replied with a smile. "What are you doing after 
work tonight?" he asked with a smile.
"Nothing why?" Maggie responded holding her breath.
"Would you like to come to dinner with me?" PJ asked.
"PJ, I would love to" Maggie replied and was grateful that at last they were 
sorting themselves out. 
 
 
 
 
 
THE END