He'd barely closed his eyes when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Martin?"

He sighed and opened his eyes, fully expecting to be subjected yet more medical tests or round of questions, and certainly not expecting to see the eyes of his boss looking back at him, worried and red rimmed.

"C...Carolyn?" he asked a little dazed and still trying to focus.

"Well, he knows your name. Must be a good sign."

Martin turned his head suddenly to see Douglas standing to the other side of him. "Douglas?"

"Hey, Skip. Hows your head?"

Finally Martin turned to see Arthur standing at the foot of bed, shifting nervously from foot to foot but with a huge grin on his face.

"F..f..fine." Martin stuttered out, a bit overwhelmed and weirdly unused to the sound of his own voice.

"Of course it is." Douglas answered for him. "Any head that can withstand the wearing of that hat week in and week out has to be harder than average."

Martin blinked at him, still feeling slightly disconnected from reality. "I...did they...did they call you?" He asked, completely perplexed.

"Call us?" Carolyn echoed.

"We've been here all night, Skip." Arthur answered for him.

Martin looked from face to face bewildered. "A...all...all night?"

"Yes. And I must say that it was terribly inconsiderate of Sir to choose the very moment we went for some breakfast to wake up."

Martin stared at Douglas in disbelief. "You...you were here... waiting for me to wake up?"

"Well, of course we were, you stupid boy. Where did you think we'd be?" Carolyn admonished him with a hand still laid on his arm. "Speaking of which..." She changed the subject. "I must go ring your mother. She'll be so relieved to hear the news." Carolyn patted his hand before she left.

"Mum?" Martin felt like every single thing passing his lips was a question as he struggled to take everything in, looking from Douglas to Arthur in search of answers.

"She and Caitlyn did last yesterdays shift." Arthur stated excited. "We have a rota!"

"Rota?" Martin echoed.

"Arthur made a rota." Douglas informed him, before leaning over and whispering close to his ear "It kept him distracted." As Arthur fiddled in his pocket to bring out a tatty piece of paper.

Arthur moved round to the space that Carolyn had vacated and held the paper out for Martin to see. "See? Wendy...um... your mum... and Caitlyn did yesterday and Douglas did the day before. Simon was due to do today..."

"Simon..." Martin echoed faintly.

"Yeah...only he won't need to now. Because you woke up." Arthur beamed at him.

"So...so my family were here too?"

"Of course they were." Douglas answered. "Had to drag your mother away to get some rest. Didn't want her angina playing up."

Martin head felt like it was spinning still and he grabbed at the side of the bed to try and anchor himself. "How did they...how did they know?"

"Know?" Douglas echoed, not quite understanding him.

"About...the a...a...accident." Martin explained, struggling a little to find his words.

"Martin, Fitton isn't exactly the hub of the universe. When there is a major accident at the crossroads it causes chaos for miles around. Local radio ran a traffic update. It wasn't hard to put two and two together."

"We came as soon as we heard, Skip." Arthur joined in. "I...I thought..." He trailed off, looking sad, before brightening. "...but Douglas said you'd be ok."

"I won't pretend you didn't have us worried for a while there, though..."

Martin studied his First Officer a little more closely and noticed the slight red rim around his eyes. Surely Douglas couldn't have been...could he?

Martin didn't have time to ponder the thought any longer as Carolyn returned to the foot of his bed. "Your family is on the way. They shouldn't be long."

"Thank...thank you." Martin found himself answering.

"Can we get you anything, Skip?" Arthur asked enthusiastically. "Tea, coffee, paper, magazine, book...oh...oh...I have Toblerone."

Martin waved him away with a smile. "No...thank you, Arthur. I'm not sure I'm allowed to..."

"Let's not bombard the man, Arthur." Douglas jumped in.

"Oh...did you see your cards?" Arthur remained undeterred.

"Cards?"

"Get Well cards, Skip. You have loads."

"I...I do?" Martin looked around his bed, but saw nothing of any cards, nor any other personal items.

Arthur reached to retrieve something from behind Martin's bed, the one place he couldn't see. "Yeah...look."

Martin went to take the cards that Arthur had suddenly produced, but his hand was too shaky and weak to be able to grip them and they nearly fell from his grasp.

"No worries, Skip. I'll show you." Arthur didn't even blink as he took them back and proceeded to show Martin the cards one by one.

There were more than Martin could get his head around. There were cards from the students he lived with, cards from the nearly the whole of the airfield, a couple from regular van clients, the list went on. What really got him was that most people had taken the time to write something in them; a message of support, a get well wish, a joke. Martin's eyes got blurry with tears as Arthur read them out and he feared for a moment that he wouldn't be able to keep his composure.

After Arthur reached the last card he went to put them back on, what Martin assumed, was a shelf behind the bed.

"No..." Martin croaked, his voice a little hoarse.

Arthur looked at him confused.

"Can you...c..c..can you put them where I can see them?" He managed to say eventually.

Arthur grinned. "Yeah. No problem." And began to arrange them on the cabinet beside Martin's bed.

"Well, we should let you get some rest before your family gets here." Carolyn stated suddenly, before coming around to the side of the bed again and totally unexpectedly reaching down to give Martin a peck on the cheek.

For a moment he was stunned into silence. "I..."

Carolyn stood back again. "And don't do anything so bloody stupid again." She admonished him with a glare, before changing the subject. "Come on, Arthur."

"Rightio, mum." Arthur went to make a move before seeming to remember something. "Oh wait! I forgot." He reached into a bag on the chair next to the bed and pulled out a small teddy bear dressed in a pilots uniform. "I got you this." He handed the bear to Martin. "He reminded me of you, Skip and...well...you're never too old to have a teddy bear. I have loads."

Martin felt another lump in his throat adding to the one that had already taken up residence. "Thank you, Arthur...I...I don't know what to say..."

"That's ok. He can keep you company until you get back to work." Arthur grinned, placing the bear at the foot of the bed before walking to join his mum somewhere outside the room.

Martin stared at the bear as more tears joined the others at the corners of his eyes and began to roll down his cheeks unbidden.

A cough to his right hand side reminded him belatedly that Douglas was still standing there and he quickly wiped at his face.

"Right...well..." Douglas sounded uncomfortable. "I'll be off too. I'd say to let you get some beauty sleep, but I'm sure you've had quite enough of that already. Hasn't made much of a difference."

Martin smiled at the joke, glad that Douglas wasn't pointing out his rather emotional state. "Yes... Well...t..thank you for..." His voice drifted off as he realised he had no idea what to say.

Martin nearly flinched when Douglas placed a hand on his shoulder, looking at him squarely. "We're all glad you're ok, Martin. You gave us quite a scare."

"Sorry." Martin answered automatically.

"Good heavens. It wasn't your fault, Martin. The other car jumped a red light!" Douglas took his hand away self-consiously. "Anyway...what I mean to say is...get well soon. As much as it pains me to admit it, the cockpit just isn't the same without you."

Martin couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. "I...I will." Was all he could manage, afraid that saying anything more would make the dam burst.

"Yes...good." Douglas cleared his throat again. "Well...we'll see you tomorrow." And with that he patted Martin's arm and left the room.

Martin was alone again.

He looked over at the cards on his bedside table and back to the bear that Arthur had left at the bottom of his bed before letting his head fall back against the pillow again. This time the tears came flowing, but he made no effort to stop them, for they weren't tears of pity for himself, they were the tears of overwhelming joy at the realisation that he wasn't alone.

"Martin!"

The sudden shout of a very familiar voice nearly made him jump as his mum rushed towards his bed.

"Oh my...Martin. Thank goodness. I was so worried."

He allowed himself to be enveloped in a hug, soon joined by his sister. "Martin, you absolute idiot...how could you scare us like that?"

And then another familiar voice at the foot of his bed.. "Ah... there you are, chap."

"Hi, Simon." He grinned through the arms of his mum and sister.