It was fourteen days since Adrian had been attacked – fifteen since he had been at work. Driving to the station took a new kind of courage. He knew he would be inside, safe, but he didn’t want to see his colleagues. What if they knew? What if someone figured it out just by looking at him? At least on the outside he looked the same as he usually did. His face was no longer bruised and his lip had completely healed.

When he arrived, Imogen walked across the car park towards his car, a genuine look of happiness to see him on her face. Did he even deserve her anymore? Did she deserve him? Didn’t she deserve better?

He got out of the car and closed the door. His pain was manageable now; he just had to remember to move slowly so as not to set himself back again. Appearing to be normal was his goal for now.

‘I missed you so much!’ She beamed.

‘I saw you this morning,’ Adrian said, walking slowly towards the station.

He had drifted in and out of sleep on the sofa while she slept upstairs in the bed, alone. They had breakfast together, but things were difficult right now. Maybe Imogen thought working together again could fix the rift that was forming between them.

‘I mean here – this place is shit without you.’

He smiled. ‘Thank you.’

‘I’ve been forced to eat proper lunches with Gary in the canteen every day.’

‘I’ll be deskbound for a while, so no drive-thrus just yet.’

‘Killjoy.’ Imogen looped her arm through his and whispered to him, ‘I really wish I could kiss you.’

She opened the station door and Adrian sucked in a breath before stepping inside. Here, now, there was no escaping it. Life had to go on – it was going to go on whether he was ready or not. Time to get back on the wheel and try to get back to before the attack. Back through that railway arch.

They walked through the security door and into the main room. DCI Kapoor stuck her head out of her office.

‘DS Miles, DS Grey. My office, please.’

He walked straight to the DCI’s office without looking around at the faces to see if they were watching him or not.

‘Hello, Ma’am.’

‘Good to see you, Adrian. How are you feeling?’

‘My rib still hurts a little, but I’m OK.’

‘Imogen tells me you’ve been horribly ill. Are you sure you’re ready to come back?’

‘Absolutely. I’ve been going crazy at home.’

‘Gary will do a run-through of what we know so far. He’ll recap and you can see where we are. Maybe your fresh eyes on this will help us get this bastard. It’s good to have you back.’

‘Good to be back, Ma’am.’