As Heather woke up in her bed the next morning, she could feel someone lying next to her with his arm around her waist. "Morning Ben," she said sleepily without opening her eyes.
"What's that?" he mumbled in his sleep.
"That's not Ben's voice," Heather said quietly to herself. She opened her eyes to see... Paul.
"Oh my God!". Heather's heart started racing as she remembered what she and Paul had done.
Paul woke up and his eyes opened. He saw Heather in bed next to him in her night dress and gasped. "I can't believe what we did," he said, feeling embarrassed. He got up and picked his trousers off the floor, and started to dress.
Heather looked at the alarm clock beside the bed. "Ben will be home soon," she panicked. "You'd better go!".
But it was too late. They listened in horror as the front door opened and Ben shouted up to Heather. "Are you up yet honey?".
"Hide!" Heather hissed, pointing at the bed as Paul crawled under it.
Paul was hidden just in time. Ben came in and sat on the bed next to Heather. "Hi, did you miss me?" he asked her.
"Yeah," Heather said, her cheeks flushing red.
Under the bed it was very dusty. Paul felt a sneeze coming but he stopped it just in time.
"Have you checked on Nicole yet?" Ben asked.
"No, not yet, I've only just woken up,".
Ben walked into Nicole's room to see... two other cots, where the twins were peacefully sleeping. "Why are Kris and Jamie here?" he asked, puzzled.
"Um... Helen asked me if I could look after them last night while she and Paul went out somewhere. She'll come over and get them later," Heather lied, feeling awful. She hated doing this to Ben.
"I'll drive them home now if you like," Ben offered.
"Ok, thanks," Heather smiled. Once he left she could let Paul get out of hiding.
Five minutes later, Ben had left with the twins. Paul came out from under the bed, covered in dust. "He's gone, thank God," Heather sighed.
"Look, I'm really sorry for leading you on and everything," Paul said. "We'd both been drinking...".
"Yeah, let's forget about it," Heather agreed.
After Paul had left, Heather went into the living room to do some tidying. The place was still messy from the party.
"Mummy," Nicole said as she wandered into the room holding a doll. "What was all that noise coming from your room last night? I know it wasn't you and daddy playing because he wasn't here last night,".
"Um," Heather gulped, flushing with embarrassment. "It was the TV, I was watching a film late last night. I'm sorry if the volume was too high, did I keep you awake?".
"No," Nicole shook her head. "When's daddy coming home?".
"He'll be back soon, he's over at auntie Helen's house with the twins,".
Heather was disturbed by the phone ringing. "Hello?".
"Oh Heather, thank goodness you're there!". It was Linda.
"What's up?" Heather asked with concern, she knew something must be wrong.
"It's Helen," Linda said in a serious tone. "She was hit by a car last night and she's in hospital,".
Heather gasped in shock, she felt like she'd been punched. "I need to sit down," she said as her legs started to give way. "How is she?! Is she OK?!".
"I'm afraid not. She's in a coma. The doctors don't know if she'll pull through,".
Paul, Heather, Linda and Lucy stood in the hospital waiting room. The doctors was to come out and talk to them in a moment.
"This is all my fault," Heather said with tears in her eyes. "If we hadn't had that argument it wouldn't have happened,".
"Don't blame yourself, it was an accident," Paul said as he have her a hug.
Doctor Batney came out and addressed the three of them. "Sit down," he said.
"Has she improved since last night?" Linda asked.
"I'm afraid not," Dr Batney said with a sad face. "Last night we gave her a 50% chance of or living...". He paused. "But now we think she only has around 30%. She has serious internal injuries which need operating on as soon as possible,".
"No!" Paul cried. "I've got to see her!".
"Calm down," Dr Batney said. "Yes, you can see her, but remain calm and quiet, and don't touch anything,".
He led them into a small white room. Heather felt sick as she stared at Helen. She was worse than she had expected.
Helen lay completely still, her face as pale as the white bed sheets. She has tubes coming from every direction and was linked up to a big machine which was bleeping. Her leg was in a cast and there were bandages all over her.
Paul couldn't take it. He turned away, unable to look.
"When are you operating on her?" Heather asked, still staring at Helen.
"Tomorrow," Dr Batney sighed. "We need to do some tests before we can perform the operation,".
Just then, Helen's parents arrived so the girls left the room. Paul took one last look at Helen then rushed out.
"I can't believe this," Paul said as he got into Heather's car; she was giving him a lift home.
"I know, it's a big shock," Heather agreed.
"What if she dies?!" Paul said, the reality of what was happening sinking in. He burst into tears.
Heather handed him a tissue. "She might not die," Heather said soothingly, stroking his arm.
"My wife is dying," Paul said as he wiped his eyes. "Oh God, how am I going to tell the twins? How am I going to look after them alone?".
"I'll help," Heather said. "I'll come over whenever you need me,".
"Thanks," Paul said gratefully.
Heather ate dinner with Ben, Christian and Naomi later that night. Everyone was still in shock over Helen.
"I'm worried about Paul," Ben said as he cleared away the plates. "I've tried phoning him but he's not answering,".
"I'll go over and check on him," Heather offered.
As Heather arrived at Paul's house, she noticed his car parked outside so she knew he was in.
Paul answered the door with a beer in his hand. "Come in," he offered.
Heather put the twins to bed then went and sat with Paul. "Want a drink?" he asked her.
"OK, I'll have a vodka and coke," she agreed.
"I feel so helpless, sitting her not doing anything to help her," Paul said in frustration. "My wife is dying and I'm sitting at home drinking with her best friend!".
"You're visiting her tomorrow so don't worry," Heather told him.
Heather turned the TV on, hoping it would take his mind off things.
Later on, Paul turned to Heather. "I enjoyed last night?".
"What?".
"I enjoyed spending last night with you. I feel really guilty about it, but I don't regret it,".
Heather look at Paul, not knowing what to say. "Well, um... I enjoyed it too. I don't like cheating on Ben, but...".
"But you feel the same way about me, right?" Paul said, putting an arm around Heather.
Heather paused, feeling really bad. She was betraying both her husband and her best friend who was dying, yet she couldn't help herself. "Yes," she nodded.
Paul lent over and gave her a kiss. "Stay with me tonight," he whispered.
"OK," Heather agreed feeling guilty. But when Paul took her in his arms and gave her a passionate kiss, all thoughts of Ben and Helen vanished from her mind.
.