Tea & Biscuits

Beth put her hand over her mouth in shock.

'Oh my god, I am so sorry... I didn't mean to say that out loud!' she was blushing furiously, making her pink and purple bruises glow brightly on her face.

Alan chuckled, a huge grin across his face. ' No problem...' he laughed 'I get that sometimes, although perhaps not in such colourful terms!' They both laughed.

'So, how are you feeling? It's great to see you awake and sitting up' he smiled down at her.

'It was you!' Beth exclaimed, her brain finally clicking into gear. 'The card..' she gestured to where Alan's card was sitting '...it's from you?' She still couldn't believe it. Alan Rickman!

'Yes, me!' he laughed again.

Beth had a flashback. Remembering how he had first encountered her in her nightshirt, bruised and bloody, she put her hands over her face in dismay and began to sob, humiliation washing over her in waves.

'I will go and get some tea...' Alan's voice was soft and full of concern.

When he returned with two steaming mugs of tea, courtesy of the staff kitchen, Beth had stopped crying and was sitting clutching a pile of soggy tissues.

'Tea' Alan stated, placing Beth's onto the trolley and wheeling it up to the top of the bed so she could reach it. He pulled the chair closer to the bed and sipped at his own mug.

'Drink it.. I make good tea' he smiled at Beth warmly.

'I'm so sorry... for what happened..for disturbing you like that...' Beth couldn't look at him, she felt ashamed.

Alan placed his cup next to hers and took Beth's hand in his. It was warm, comforting. Beth looked up as he spoke.

'You have nothing to be sorry for, Beth. Please, don't feel embarrassed. I am just glad I heard you and was able to help. No-one deserves to be treated the way you were, Beth. None of it was your fault.'
Alan was vehement, his loathing for Steve had grown to match Alice's over the past week, even though only Beth and the Police knew the full story. She couldn't bear to share the details with anyone else.

They sat quietly. Beth sipped her tea, glancing up at him, not quite believing he was there.

'It's nice tea, thankyou' she said.

'Ahhh, it gets better!' he jumped up 'I almost forgot the best part'.
He took the packet of digestives and opened them, offering the first to Beth. She took it and automatically dunked it into her tea. Realising what she had done, she looked up guiltily to see that Alan had done the same. In synchronisation, they bit their tea-soaked delicacies, caught each other's eye and giggled.

'Thank you, Alan' she spoke his name and to her surprise it felt totally normal.

'You are welcome. I will always have biscuits' he smiled.

'I didn't mean that!' Beth laughed. 'He is funny!' she thought.

Alan glanced at his watch. 'oh gosh, I have to go Beth. I'm sorry. Can I come back and see you again?'

'If you like' said Beth, incredulously ' but I thought you were busy, you know, Harry Potter and stuff?' she grinned at him.

'I am, but I come back to town most nights, when I can. So, save me a biscuit!'

He left the room and waved at her before closing the door.

*****
Beth stayed in the hospital for another week. Alan visited twice. They drank tea, ate chocolate digestives, did the Guardian crossword (or attempted it, anyway), talked about Alan's work and laughed at silly things together.

They didn't talk about Beth's rape. It was an unspoken understanding between them that this was too fresh, too raw.

Beth enjoyed his visits, they distracted her from the reality inside her head and stopped her replaying the events in the hotel.

But when Beth was alone, she was scared. Each time she closed her eyes she could feel Steve on top of her. She heard her nose breaking. She went over and over everything, trying to work out if she could have stopped it.

'What if I had been nicer to Steve, not pretended to sleep?'

'I must have done something to really upset him. I wonder if he still loves me?'

Deep down, Beth believed it was all her fault.