I'm so thrilled with the reviews I've got... I was worried it had been too long since I'd posted and everyone would've stopped reading Jouren stories... Glad you're all still here! I've replied to all reviews that I could reply to... Keep 'em coming... xx

Chapter Two.

Joey was once more sitting in the chair next to his uncle. He'd slumped down next to him about twenty minutes earlier, since his uncle had told him what had happened to Lauren. He was somewhat in shock. To know that she'd been crying out his name… it meant something. It meant a great deal to him if he was being honest. Now though he was thinking about what Max had seen when he saw her. He was also worried about her injuries… worried about how badly she'd been injured. She wasn't in intensive care for no reason.

There was the sound of approaching footsteps and both men looked up, getting to their feet when they saw a doctor approach to them. "Mr Branning?" he said.

"Yes?" both men replied.

The doctor looked between the two men standing before him, both of them wearing concerned looks on their faces, "Max Branning?" he tried again.

"That's me… This is my nephew Joey…" Max said as he held his hand out towards him. The doctor shook his hand. "How's Lauren?"

"We've sedated her… She has superficial burns to her hands and face… mainly first degree on her face but her hands are second degree… these should all heal pretty well." He said, looking down to consult the file he was holding in his hand. "We've currently put cool dressings on them and we'll be keeping an eye on them over the next few days." Max relaxed beside Joey, "Unfortunately she has other burns that will be harder to treat… These are predominantly on her back and her lower legs. These burns are full thickness, third degree burns and they're going to require surgery."

"When will you want to do the surgery?" Max asked.

"Now… if we have your permission…" he said, "the sooner we do the initial surgery, the better off your daughter will be…"

Max looked at Joey, "What do you think?"

"She needs the surgery… there's no decision to make…" Joey said calmly, although it was the very last thing he was feeling.

"She may possibly need further surgery in the coming weeks… she might also require skin grafts… I won't know that for certain until I operate on her and take a closer look at the damage she's sustained. She's going to be spending a lot of time in hospital… and she's going to be in a lot of pain as she heals… And this will be a very lengthy process… There is no quick fix for this…"

"But she can be fixed?" Max said, hope in his voice.

"She's currently in a critical condition, Mr Branning. The surgery I need to perform is risky and there's no guarantee that she'll make it through… There has been damage to her throat and lungs from smoke inhalation and those aren't ideal circumstances to perform surgery under but I have to… I can't delay it until she's stronger…"

"So what are her chances?" Joey asked. The doctor stared at him, "Her chances of getting through the surgery?" he clarified.

The doctor looked at them both for a long time before he spoke again, "less than 50%... but she needs to have the surgery now. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure she gets through the surgery… but there's always a risk and I can't swear there won't be any complications while I'm in there."

"And the chances of her making a full recovery?" Joey asked softly. "If she makes it through…"

"Let's get this step over with first…"

"Please?" Joey begged him.

The doctor sighed, "If she gets through the surgery, then I'd like to think the chances of her recovering are good… As to whether it will be a full recovery or not depends on how the next couple of days go… and a lot of her recovery will depend on Lauren herself…"

"Can we see her before she goes for surgery?" Joey asked.

"Of course… but you should be aware that she doesn't look much like the Lauren you're familiar with… She's lying on her front to keep the pressure off her wounds… She's covered in gauze and dressings… over a majority of her body… She's unconscious…" he told them softly.

"I need to see her…" Joey whispered.

"So do I." Max said.

The doctor nodded. "I'll just go and let the nursing staff know… You'll need to gown up to go in there. The last thing Lauren needs now is to get an infection." He said. "One of the nurses will be down in a couple of minutes once they've finished dressing the wounds on her hands…" He walked away after shaking both of their hands again and they watched as he spoke to the nurses at the desk, making some notes on Lauren's chart.

"I need to let Tan know what's going on…" Max said, "You go in and see Lauren first…" he said, "I'll see her once you're done." He said.

"Are you sure?" Joey asked in surprise.

"Yeah… I think my call will be easier if I haven't seen Lauren first…" he admitted.

Joey glanced at his uncle, seeing the anxiety in his voice, "She's going to get through this, Uncle Max…" he said softly.

"Will she?" Max said, staring at him intently. "She's not exactly stable, is she? This will be more than enough to push her back to the booze… It's been hard enough for her this year already… with you leaving… and then Lucy dying…"

"Maybe you should let Peter know what's going on too…" Joey said.

Max stared at him, "It wasn't him she wanted, Joey… she made that perfectly clear…"

"He still might want to know." Joey reasoned.

"I'll call him…" Max agreed. He stared past his nephew as he saw the nurse approach. "The nurse is here… why don't you go with her and see Lauren…? I'll be in shortly…"

Both men stood and Joey was about to walk away with the nurse when he knew he needed to say something, "I'm going to be there for her, Uncle Max…" he said, turning his head to look back at him, "Every step of the way…"

"Never doubted it for a second, Joey…" Max said.

A/N: So you have a small clue about Lauren's injuries… I should say that in this story the fire wasn't started by Alfie… or anyone in the square… it was simply an accident. I just didn't want him to be responsible for what has happened to Lauren. Don't forget to send me a review… let me know what you think. Back tomorrow…