A FEW DAYS LATER, Dad is now well and truly on the mend.

After the excitement of Archie and me arriving had died down, I asked the doctor what had happened, as Dad was being cagey to try and protect me.

He had pneumonia, a nasty attack of it at least, and the reason he collapsed was due to a momentary lack of oxygen. With the quick work of Mel, who he had been with at the time, and the help of all the wonderful doctors here at Whipps, he was getting back to his old self again.

After nine hours of thinking I might have lost him, I wasn't willing to leave his side. The nurses set up a cot for me, with Archie and Mel helping me out in making sure he was never alone. He's in and out, with some powerful meds knocking him out, but with each new day, he's getting stronger and stronger, the colour returning to his cheeks. Yesterday, the doctors told us he only needed to be in for a few more days, and this was music to my ears.

Today is day five, and my neck is killing me, not that I'd ever admit it. It's the first day I've contemplated leaving his side to go home and get some fresh clothes, as so far Archie had been driving back and forth for me. But now that Dad's road to recovery is more clear, Archie has managed to convince me to go home, unpack my suitcase and spend a night in my own bed.

As much as I wanted to stay, I am excited.

Dad comes out of the bathroom to find me packing the last few things. He chuckles, throwing my slippers over to me to slip into the side of the bag.

"Thanks," I tell him, zipping it up. "Now are you sure you don't want me to stay tonight?"

"For the tenth time," he chuckles, even though it's more like the fiftieth time, "Yes, I am fine. You need to have a night in your own bed."

I smile, but I knew that if I didn't go home tonight, my neck may walk home by itself.

"You got everything?" he asks. He gets up with ease, now no longer attached to an IV, and comes around to where I'm just closing up my bag.

"Yup, think so. Arch is treating me to a coffee before we go though, so I'll be back up in a bit.

He smiles at me. "I'm glad he's back."

"Me too," I admit just as Archie comes through the door. The weather has taken a turn in the last day and he's dressed in an arctic ski coat, covered in snow. He's holding up a similar one and hands it to me.

"It's snowing?!" I ask him.

"Yep! It's like a blizzard out there."

I rush to the window and it really is a blizzard. The trees were now covered in a thick blanket of snow and gone were the beautiful autumn colours we'd had a week ago.

"You ready for coffee?" Archie asks, taking his coat off now that he was inside.

I nod. "You bet. Dad, I'll catch you later okay. I'll be back up to get this." I tap my bag at the same time Archie leaves both of our coats on the chair.

"Bet you're excited to get some real rest now that Tess is going home," he jokes, putting an arm around my shoulder.

Instinctively I lean into him, but swat his stomach at his dig. "You're getting the coffees for that!"

He rolls his eyes, but starts dragging me out of Dad's room before I change my mind. "Catch you in a bit Andy!"

When we get downstairs, the cafeteria is quite full so Archie tells me to find a table whilst he ordered. I find one in the middle of the room, checking my messages whilst I waited.

I had a few messages from Charlotte, but I'd mainly received a flurry of messages from Jamie. I'd called him and told him about Dad, but because he was on the mend, I insisted he stayed in Australia. Dad was coming home in a few days, and he didn't need to worry. I miss him, of course I do, but for some reason, part of me knows he would have resented being pulled away... or maybe that was me being hard on him.

Being here this week with Archie has been great, because he understands Dad, and knows what's best for him. Jamie gets on fine with Dad, but he will never make him smile the way Archie has this week.

"Here we go," Archie announces, climbing awkwardly into the bench. "Latte for the lady, and a carrot cake. I think?" He frowns as he checks the packaging but nods with a satisfied smile at confirmation that it is indeed carrot cake.

I put my phone away and take my coffee from him. "I'm good for cake. I am never eating hospital food ever again after today."

Archie opens the cake and takes a huge bite. "You sure?" he asks, basically shoving it at me.

I narrow my eyes, but do take what's left, shoving it in whole, making him laugh. "Okay, that's not too bad," I say, my mouth so full I spray him with crumbs.

"Nice!" he laughs.

I smile. "No one is allowed to be in hospital for the rest of my life, okay." I point at him with my coffee stirrer. "That goes for you t-"

My words stop in my throat as a familiar bushel of hair comes through the main doors.

Holy shit. Holy shit, HOLY SHIT!

Archie's frown deepens as he follows my line of sight. "Tess? You okay?"

I can't speak, but as his eyes meet what I'm looking at, I swear the colour drains from his face, same as mine.

I wanted to tell him to get up and leave before Jamie saw him, but I've lost the ability to do anything.

My mouth bobs open and closed like a fish, but as if this couldn't get any worse, Jamie spots me and makes a beeline for me. As he weaves through people, I know I only have about ten seconds to get Archie out of here... because no way was Jamie going to be okay with this. Not ever.

"Baby?! Oh thank God. Jesus Christ... I went to the house. Tess, baby, are you okay?" He asks, looking me up and down.

Managing to at least coordinate my legs with my brain, I stand as he gets to the table, returning the embrace he gives me. In the corner of my eye, Archie's head ducks, as if to hide himself, but as Jamie frowns, he sees my eyes flit sideways.

"Jamie, I can..." I start, but I stop, realising I don't have to explain anything. Not yet. "This is Archie."

Archie, for his part, lifts his head, looking at me before looking directly at Jamie. Now that they're both here, standing nose to nose, Archie stands taller than him, but right now, I'm just praying that Jamie can keep his temper in check.

"What the fuck?" Jamie turns to me, gesturing to Archie. He doesn't say it quietly either, and he repeats himself much, much louder as he grabs my forearm.

"Hey, man, keep your voice down," Archie warns, grabbing Jamie's arm. He loosens Jamie's grip on me, which I'm grateful for.

"Don't fucking touch me, or tell me what to do," he spits at Archie before turning back to me. "What the fuck is he doing here Tessa?"

My mouth bobs open and closed, unable to find the right words to say.

I look at Archie, steeling myself. "We got the call... about Dad. And he... flew me home. He helped me get h-home."

Despite it being the truth, it clearly isn't what he wanted to here.

"You're here now, so what the fuck is he still doing here?" He turns, stepping so close his nose almost touches Archie's. "Go home to New York."

His behaviour is starting to annoy me, not to mention everyone in the cafeteria is staring at us. I step towards them and pull Jamie's arm away, yanking him hard enough to make him take a step in my direction.

"Jamie!" I hiss at him, twisting his head forcefully so he has to look at me. "Stop making a scene. Take me home and I can explain!" I whisper, trying to appeal to him.

His face softens as he sees my pleading expression.

"I've been calling you and calling you!" His face contorts into an angry snarl. "And all this time you've been ignoring me because you've been here. With him!" He shakes his arm free from mine. "You told me that I had nothing to worry about... and now this?!" He runs a hand through his hair, pulling at it, clearly warring with his emotions.

I know what happens from here. Jamie gets angry, and I have to apologise and pick up the pieces.

"Hey, look mate, now's not the time for this, okay. Andy's upstairs, and she's been through a lot this week. Lay off, will you," Archie tells him, stepping forward, clearly sensing my distress. "I brought her home to her dad, that's it. Nothing more."

As grateful as I am to Archie for sticking up for me, he's wrong to do it. The whole world goes into slow motion as I watch the fire ignite in Jamie's eyes, his fist tightening. He takes a step towards Archie and swings as my feet start to move to try and stop him from causing even more of scene in the middle of the cafeteria.

He didn't see me move, and the white, hot pain lances through my face as his fist connects with my nose and cheek, sending me sprawling to the floor.

A bystander kneels down next to me. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" She pulls me up and I realise my hands are shaking as blood gushes from my nose. I automatically push my head back, but I panic at seeing Jamie going full throttle at Archie, and Archie putting up no fight at all.

"Ow," I mutter as the stranger puts a cold wad of tissue underneath my nose. I take it from her and try to stand. She doesn't object to me starting to stand, but I note she keeps a firm hand on me, whoever she is. Once she knows I'm not going to fall, she steps back, joining the crowd of gawking strangers.

Archie's face is covered in blood. His nose is streaming with blood, same as mine, and each grunt of pain sends a painful lance through my chest. Raising his fist high, Jamie hits Archie so hard in the gut that he collapses to the floor, his breath knocked out of him just as Jamie delivers a secondary blow with his foot.

I've gone back in time. I've gone back to the Wall house, watching as someone else delivers harmful blows to the innocent boy who deserves none of this.

After that, Jamie stops, surveying his work as Archie groans on the floor, rolling away from Jamie. Jamie follows, but I have had enough.

Holding the cold compress to my nose, I stride forward between them, put my hand up in the air and scream at him.

"STOP IT!"

He stops immediately, his face white as he sees the blood on my face, realising what he'd done. Archie's expression falters as he sees me too, tears forming in his eyes.

"GO. HOME." I scream again, rage boiling in my chest as I fight to control my own temper.

"Te-"

"NOW!"

He looks at me for a few seconds before looking at Archie. He looks to be trying to make a decision, but as grit my teeth and clench my fist, he finally does as I say, backing away from me before pushing through the crowd.

I watch him disappear, but a cough from behind me snaps me out of it. I turn just as Archie spits up blood onto a tissue the same stranger had given him. He's holding his ribs with his other hand, blood streaming from his nose and a nasty cut on his cheek.

"Archie?"

I don't have time to lean down because a few gasps and returning footsteps pull my attention away again.

"You're taking his side?! You're staying here with him?"

My vision reddens again as I stand. "You hit me! And look at Archie." His head moves to Archie for a second before coming back to me. "When did you become this person?!"

His face softens, but I look over his shoulder as security shows up. They see me and walk towards us. They put a hand on Jamie's shoulder to start leading him out but he looks at me pleadingly.

"Tess, please? Don't do this."

I shake my head at him. "Go." He resists for a moment, but when I say it again more forcefully, he lets security lead him out without another glance.

After I know he's gone, the low buzz of talking starts up again and I rush back over to Archie, who has now managed to sit up.

"Archie, oh my god, are you okay?" I gingerly run a hand over him, checking him. He doesn't seem too badly hurt, but same as me, his cheek is swelling and I notice another nasty, deep cut on his lip.

"I don't care about me. Are you okay?" He asks me, taking my face in his hands, his eyes concerned. "What were you thinking stepping between us?"

In all honesty, I didn't really know. I did it on instinct because I knew Jamie was going to do it.

"I didn't want him to hurt you," I say softly, a tear dropping down my cheek. "Can you stand?" I ask.

I kneel up to help him and he braces himself as someone else takes his arm, getting him sat on a chair behind us.

"Ow." He screws his eyes shut and his hand goes to his ribs. "One, two, three," he counts quickly, grimacing as he pushes past the pain and stands up. "Your turn." Despite in visible pain, he leans forward and offers me his hand. I take it, pulling myself mostly so as not to hurt him, and get to my feet.

"Come on," a voice comes behind us. "Let's get you guys checked out."

I don't disagree with them. I'm starting to see black edges in my vision, and my nose feels like its broken. We gingerly lead each other down the hall, people's eyes watching us as we head out of the cafeteria, towards A&E.

"I'm so sorry, Archie," I whisper as we turn the corner. "You've already gone through so much, and then this. You can't know how sorry I am."

He shakes his head. "Don't worry. I did kind of have it coming..."

I tut at him, pulling him to a stop.

Realisation crosses his face as he looks at me. "You didn't tell him about..." he trails off when I shake my head. "Oh good, he just hates me."

"He kind of sees red when it comes to you. You're his red flag, and he's the raging bull." He puts his hands softly on my shoulders as I continue my explanation. "I'm sorry. I told him about you, because I had to, and... well. He doesn't usually react like this. Shouting maybe, but I've never thought he would actually hit you."

"Or you," he adds, cupping my cheek gently.

"I don't blame him for this. I only got hit because I stepped between you," I say quickly, because I don't. When he calms down, I know Jamie will feel horrible.

He sighs, seeing that I wasn't going to let him blame Jamie. Him hitting me wasn't his fault. I should know better than to get between that boy and his sometimes-uncontrollable anger management issues."

He sighs as he kisses my forehead, leaving his lips there for a few seconds. I close my eyes, savouring the feeling, sighing as the adrenaline starts to disappear. I feel like I'm falling asleep, but the gentle stroke of Archie's thumb on my cheek is keeping me here with him.

I open my eyes, looking into his, and smile up at him. He leans in closer, looking at my nose.

"Is it bad?" I ask.

He shakes his head, grinning. "At least it doesn't look like your nose is broken."

"It feels like it is," I laugh. "Yours however..." I touch it gently but he flinches. "Yep, let's get you looked at."

Taking his hand, I pull him through the A&E double doors where we're immediately spotted by Mel. She rushes over to us, pulling us over to a free cubicle.

"What happened?!" She cups my cheek very gently and looks closely at my nose before doing the same to Archie. "Tess?"

Archie and I turn to each other and he slips his hand into mine. "A misunderstanding," he explains. I smile, nodding in agreement.

"Sure it was." She frowns, looking between us, but then waves over a nurse for each of us. "Let's get you cleaned up."

***

I HAVE NEVER BEEN in so much pain before in my life.

When we finally get a cubicle and sit down, Archie makes sure I'm seen to first. He simply sits down next to me the whole time, offering me a hand to squeeze whenever it hurt.

I thought I'd been brave about pain until now, but I suppose I had never been punched in the face before.

The nurse said it wasn't too bad, but every time she touched it, I felt like my whole face was being prodded with a million needles. I've always bruised like a peach, so God only knows what my face looks like right now. Careful around my eye, she said there was a small cut, which only needed a couple of stitches, and the whole time I was squeezing Archie's hand so hard I was surprised he didn't need an x-ray.

"All done," the nurse announces after nearly half an hour. "Good as new," she adds with a smile. I appreciated her efforts to make me feel better so I smile sheepishly back, wincing as the movement pulled at the stitches in my cheek. "Right, your turn," she gestures to Archie, who switches places with me.

I am a total baby next to him.

Incredibly, despite the number of blows I'd seen Jamie land, the only major cut he had was the one above his eye. It had split his eyebrow, and it required five stitches, but he remains still, just answering all of the questions I'd been asking him, thinking I was helping.

"There we go," she announces again as she puts the last steristrip on Archie's eyebrow.

I look up, and he looks a lot better. He has a bruise forming on his lip, as well as a little cut, but the damage he's sustained seems to not have been as bad as I'd thought it was. I'm sure it all hurt, but compared to me, he didn't show it at all.

A dark part of me spiralled as I realise he may tell me that he's more used to it, given what Millie had told me, and knowing what I did about Richard. He must sense me spiralling, because a few seconds later, his hand takes mine and he kisses the side of my head.

"Right, you both need to ice those, okay. Mel, make sure they do," she adds as Mel comes over, putting her arm around me.

"I will. Come on guys. Your dad will have a heart attack," she says jokingly but my heart sinks.

As we head upstairs, I feel like my legs are made of lead. Dad is going to fly off the handle, and as if he isn't stressed out enough already. Archie takes my hand, but we both feel a breath of relief come out of us when we reach Dad's room.

He's fast asleep, a blessing in disguise, but the look Archie gave me agreed that we should leave it for today. Right now, I wanted to get home, knowing that Jamie would be losing his mind. Archie reluctantly agreed, and with a promise to speak to Dad first thing tomorrow, Archie takes me home.