I’d left Val alone on her own for almost three hours. When I went out to find her, she was lying under a sun umbrella, and she wasn’t very talkati...e, to say the least. I figured she was angry at me for having left her on her own for so long.“She’s pretty good at it.” Said Ollie cheerfully.I looked at Val, wondering why she hadn’t said anything to me about her going jet-skiing. I felt like somehow I had been betrayed. It wasn’t like her to hide things from me. Something was going on between her. I'll see you when I'm better."Annie walked with her to the bus stop, and by the time she got back I'd cooked breakfast of bacon, eggs, mushrooms, and fried bread. She ate like it was her last meal and then suggested a walk in the sunshine.We strolled over the fields at the rear of my flat and to a canal where we sat and watched the barges going up and down. Many were piloted by men while their wives or girlfriends lay on the flat roofs, sunbathing in bikinis."That's the life," Annie smiled,. I looked up and she met my eyeswith a sly smile."That's how you will clean all of my undies from now on, and your ownas well! Your laundry day is Sunday, though I doubt you'll have much todo tomorrow, so that will really start next week. Now I want you toread and follow the directions on the bottle and when you're done, puteverything back in the basket and report to me in the dining room.I filled the sink with warm water, soap and began scrubbing each of thepanties and bras until each one was. ‘You must be Angel.’ A masculine voice said from the depths of a blood covered set of hospital scrubs. ‘Yes, has he asked for me?’ she asked simply turning back and forcing herself to take another step closer to James. The Doctor cleared his throat. ‘No, he has been unresponsive since he came in. They said he came around once in the ambulance, but all he said was that he was sorry. They didn’t have any idea what he was talking about.’ Angel felt the color drain from her face. ‘Oh James, why?’.