He stood in the kitchen with her. She had seen him earlier, and left the coffee shop after not wanting to hear anymore excuses,p and tales from him. So why had he turned up at her house? She turned away for a second, only to feel him grab the side of her head, before he smashed her into the wall, her skull crunching, before he chucked her to the ground, and he ran out the door towards his car, and drove off at speed.

Xxxxxxx

Alan woke up, feeling very uncomfortable after sleeping in the cramped hospital chair all night. He looked over at Brooke, who was laying still in her hospital bed, with various tubes threading all around, like multiple snakes; and the dreaded sound of the ventilator filled the silenced room. He then looked over at Annie, who had hold of Brooke's hand. She looked exhausted. She clearly hadn't slept at all. A couple of nurses came through, and stuck a syringe into Brooke's arm, taking yet another sample of blood. Once they'd gone, there was another knock at the door.

Alan reluctantly got up from the chair and took a quick glance at Annie and the battered and bruised Brooke. He opened the door and saw Helen standing there with flowers, a small teddy and a colourful silver balloon with 'Get well soon!' written on it.

"Helen, come in."

"How is she?" Helen quietly asked. Annie stood up reluctantly, so she could talk to Helen.

"I don't even know. Whenever they come in, all they say is a bunch of medical stuff. But I also don't ask, in case they will tell me something I don't want to hear..." Annie replied.

"Is she in a coma?"

"Yeah. She could wake up in a few days, or a few weeks, or...never." Alan told her. Annie stood still holding Brooke's bruised hand, filled with a large IV drip, hoping she would feel some movement, like in all those dramatic Hollywood movies where everyone woke up feeling fine, she thought.

"Would you like a drink, you've got to keep your strength up." Alan nodded.

"Annie?" All she could do was shake her head, not taking her eyes away from Brooke. Helen walked out of the stuffy, cold room. Alan returned back to the chair, and sat down. A few moments passed before Helen returned.

"Alan, so sorry to bother you but we've got a major incident." A nurse walked in and started to note down Brooke's heart rate and pulse, then left.

"I can't leave her, something might happen. I'd never forgive myself if..." Alan held her close, trying to comfort her. He held her face, his eyes meeting hers.

"You stay, ring me if anything happens. I'll try and get back as soon as." She nodded. He kissed the top of her head before leaving, closing the door quietly as he walked out.

"What's happened?" Alan questioned.

"SOCO's seem to think that it looks like domestic. The victim is a 38 year old female who has been identified as Louise Hunt. That's all we know right now." Helen informed him.

"Right, let's get heading over there."

Xxxxx

About 15 minutes later, Helen and Alan arrived at the house. Forensics were there, in their plastic white, sterile outfits, dusting for fingerprints and collecting important bits of evidence. Neighbours were looking, and the reflections of the blue siren lights were bouncing off the windows.

"Any idea of what happened?" Alan asked Ken.

"Neighbours next door heard some commotion, and saw a car driving off at a very high speed, only to find the victim laying on the ground in the middle of the hallway."

Alan froze as he saw flashbacks in his mind of what just happened to Brooke.

"Did you get the name of the neighbours or any other witnesses?" Alan asked.

Ken replied with, "Yes. They are Henry and Grace Greenman. They were watching Louise's children while she was getting some cleaning done."

"Right. Can you get them to come in to the station at three this afternoon? We can try to put together an e-fit and hopefully get a description of the car and the plate number."

Xxxxxx

In the back of Alan's mind as he searched the whole house for any clues or valuable evidence, was the question of if the two crimes were connected.

On his way out of the house, he saw a framed family portrait, bringing him back to when he first met Brooke. Families, thought Alan. So beautiful, yet so heart wrenching.

After the brief stop, he took note of the time and decided to finish up.

"Are you all done here with me here?"

Alan asked the forensic team, as he handed them sterile bags of possible important objects with DNA prints on them.

"Yes. We will email you the photos as we get through them," one of them replied.

"Okay. Let me know when you send the body off for the post-mortem. Helen, you and I will head back to the station, and interview Henry and Grace.

Xxxxxxx

Back at the station, the weeping Greenmans were taken into a room with Alan while Helen was dealing with the crime scene photos.

"Thank you for agreeing to meet us. This is very important, as I'm sure you know, so it's crucial that you answer everything as honestly as you can," Alan noted. The two nodded, showing they understood.

"Now can you remember the make of the car, maybe a registration plate?"

"Silver definitely, looked pretty new." Mr Greenman looked up.

"I'm not very good on car makes, but it was definitely the make with four circles." Helen noted it down.

"Did you happen to get a good look at the driver?" Helen asked.

"No, not really. He was wearing a dark blue jacket and jeans but I think that's all I remember. He ran off into his car very quickly and I couldn't get a good look," Mrs Greenman replied.

"There's a family photo, do you know the whereabouts of. Mrs Hunt's husband?"

"Yes, he's on a buisness trip in Rotterdam, but her stepson, he hasn't been seen in a long time."

"Okay, thank you for your time."

They stood up and left the room, ready to start this investigation.

Xxxxxxx