[spoilers] 8.8 - Chapter 9

[almh]

A week later...

He sat by her, too afraid to touch her, afraid that she might break. The scarring on her head, whilst still healing, was starting to fade slightly. To an inattentive observer she was just sleeping. To those who knew, she was in a coma, her mind still healing.

"Hi Ruth... It's Harry," he quietly said. "I bet you're probably sick of listening to me talking to you now but..." He looked to the wall. "Why did you have to get yourself hurt Ruth?" He turned back to Ruth, his normally still hands shaking and restless.

"It's not been the same without you and Ros. It's so quiet... I told you that Ros told us to look after you. It seems you two are finally friends... were. Ruth, please wake up. I need you." He allowed one of his hands to gently touch hers, as she had once done to his hand. "You always tell me when I'm making the wrong decision, when I'm being irrational." He stared at her face, trying to judge if she could hear him. Her face stayed as it had for the last week, emotionless. The tubes coming into and out of her terrified him too. It meant she was seriously ill, that he was highly likely to lose her again. Something he could never cope with.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "We always knew you weren't a mole Ruth, we really did. The original file you had, the one saying Mace and -" he paused, not knowing what to call him "- well, it got destroyed. Mace survived his wound, unfortunately. But he got sentenced for... for hurting you, and for killing his driver. Did you know it was him that gave you the information? You probably did, knowing you. You always know everything." He smiled slightly. "You always know the answer."

"Sarah," he continued, "Well, she was fine as well. She gave us all the information she had on Nightingale, and now she's free. Probably being hunted down by the Americans as we speak. And... and Daniel killed himself. I'm so sorry that Mace managed to find you, I should have done something more to make sure that you were safe. I let you down, and because I let you down, you got hurt and I'm so sorry for that. I've never wanted you to get hurt... I love you Ruth." He paused, the tears now freely rolling down his face as he held her hand tighter.

[End episode.]

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The end! Wow, it's been over a week (and has completely mucked up my SFAY schedule ) but this has been one of the most enjoyable stories to write, and I want to say thanks to everyone who has reviewed + repped me - Yes, I only recently noticed that you did and THANK YOU!!! I'm glad you liked it. For all interested some HR fluff will be uploaded soon To make up for this story And anyone who is interested in writing some of Ruth's Diary, please see the thread in the character area! (That last sentence was sort of related...)

One last thing - an explanation. I got this rather strange idea (well, it's strange for me, being an avid HR shipper!) from Nitrus, who said that maybe it was better that they didn't get together, so I took it on as a challenge (without Nitrus knowing!) so thanks to Nitrus for giving me the idea. Not that you knew, but hey, you can be thanked anyway