You Were A Dream I Once Had

Chapter 3

1 Year 6 Months Later

She was woken by the annoying sound of her phone vibrating against her bedside table. She chose to ignore it the first time, rolling over to face the other way. She was just drifting off to sleep again when the phone started vibrating, this time falling to the fall.

"God dammit." Rolling over she reached for her phone and looked at the caller I.D, she didn't recognise it. Sliding her finger to accept the call she held it to her ear.

"Hello, Doctor Stewart." Holly waited for a reply but nothing came, she checked her phone screen to see if the call had been dropped, but it hadn't.

"Who is this? It's..." She looked at the time on her alarm clock. "3 in the morning, you best have a good reason for calling me."

"He's dead." Came the reply.

Holly's heart went into overdrive, hearing that voice she hadn't heard in so long, in so much pain and slightly slurring to get the words that were hard for her to say.

"Gail." It wasn't a question, she knew it was her, she would know that voice over a thousand others.

"He's dead Lunchbox."

"Who is?" Holly sat and leaned against the headboard, she didn't like the sound in Gail's voice, the little whimper that was only audible if you truly knew Gail.

"Oliver." Gail started to sob.

Holly's eyes started to sting, she knew Oliver, she had worked with him so many times. She grew to love him through stories that Gail had told her, the man who meant so much to the woman who she loved, who was more of a father to her than her actual dad.

"I'm so sorry Gail. Where are you?" She couldn't help but be worried about her, it was instinct. She wished she was close to the blonde, so she could rub her back for her and hold her hand.

It's not your place to do that anymore you idiot.

"I'm sat at home." Gail slurred.

"Aren't Dov and Chris there? You need someone to talk to, you need someone who can drink with you and play a few video games." She knew Gail, this was how Gail dealt with things.

She was worried; she knew this side of Gail thanks to the incident in her bathroom. It seemed so long ago, well it was now. How was it two years since she had saved the blonde from making her hair even more of a mess than it already was after she had hacked away at it with a blunt pair of scissors?

"I don't live there anymore." That was all Gail replied with.

"What do you mean?"

There was no reply, Holly was seriously worried, and she couldn't call Oliver to go and rescue the blonde this time. That gave Holly a lump in her throat. Oliver was gone.

"Gail."

There was a sigh from the other end of the phone.

"Please talk to me." Holly could feel the tears rolling down her face; this Gail scared Holly because she didn't know how to control her from this far away. Gail didn't talk about her feeling, she didn't communicate through physical affection, but with Holly she did. Holly could hold her hand when she cried and Gail's trouble seemed to wash away, Holly hadn't learnt how to talk her down though, they didn't last that long for her to find out.

"I shouldn't have rung you. We haven't spoken in what...." Holly could hear a cupboard door open and shut again then glass hitting the kitchen counter.

"Please don't drink anymore."

There was another bang, Holly waited for a snarky comment back, but was met with pure silence. This wasn't the Gail that she knew, she would have said something.

Holly waited patiently; she could hear Gail moving around.

"Honey..." She didn't mean for that to slip out, but it was so easy with Gail.

"He wasn't supposed to die..." Holly heard glass slam on the counter again the liquid being poured. "He pushed me out the way, the moron..." Gail took a drink of something and Holly sighed. "It should've been me Hols...someone died for me...AGAIN!"

Gail started to explain how it was just a normal call-out. They were joking around in the car, Oliver telling her that Celery wanted to try for a child; Gail had said he was getting too old to chase a toddler around. He wasn't even supposed to be out in the car with her, but because of short staff problems he had stepped up, typical Oliver.

Holly could tell that Gail was getting more and more drunk, and her words were muffled, probably from her knees that were probably under her chin.

Gail went on, saying how the man just came out of nowhere into the empty room in the house. She heard Oliver shout her name, there was a bang and she fell to the floor. Her ear rang, she had turned to look at Oliver but just saw red running from his throat.

"He was choking Hols..." Gail was in sobs, replaying the events. "The gunman just ran, but I didn't care Hols, Oliver was just there one second then he wasn't...." Holly could hear Gail's breathing change; she could tell she was in a state.

"Please calm down Honey."

"I need to go to bed, this day has..." Holly heard Gail get up, was she sat on the floor?

Holly didn't say anything; she could hear Gail walking around, then a door shutting, then what she took as covers moving.

"I can't believe he's gone." Gail whispered, the tears were falling again, it was audible to Holly, she knew this Gail all too well.

"It's not your fault, please remember that. Gail you have so much to be grateful for, you have a family that is made up of your friends..."

"You don't know anything, do you Lunchbox." It wasn't meant to be mean, Holly knew that but it still hurt a little. "I don't have anyone, you left and then everything went...and...shit hit the fan Hols."

"What do you mean?"

Gail's breathing was starting to settle, and Holly could tell she was starting to fall asleep.

"Honey?" She needed to stop saying that.

"Mmmmm...I will tell you someday...I miss you Lunchbox." That was the last thing Gail said before her breathing evened out and Holly knew she was asleep.

"I miss you too." Holly moved the phone from her face and ended the call. She placed it back on the side and snuggled back down the bed.

She moved her arms around her 4-month bump that was barely visible if you were looking at her with clothes on. She rubbed her stomach and felt a flutter, nothing big but she could feel something.

"That was Gail." She whispered to the bump. "We love her." She rubbed the bump again and started to sob, not only from the pain of Oliver dying but from hearing Gail for the first time in over a year.