Thanks for the reviews! Some of you have asked about Moving Forwards…Life is pretty busy but if I get enough requests I may just have a think about it…;)
The next-morning, Peter was sleeping-in a chair at his Dad's hospital bedside. Ken had woken-up for a few minutes yesterday, long enough for Peter to show his face to him anyway.
Leanne arrived-at the hospital with Simon that morning and shook Peter's shoulder to try and wake-him-up.
Peter slowly opened his eyes, in a little bit of a daze and aching rather a lot after an uncomfortable night's sleep in the chair.
"Hey." Leanne said softly with a sympathetic smile.
"Owh Hey…" Peter replied.
"Any news?!" Leanne asked.
"No…But then again, I've been asleep so…" Peter trailed-off.
"Have you been here all night?!" Simon asked-his Father.
"Yeah…I meant to go and get a coffee then head-home…But I must have dozed-off…" Peter told them both.
"Well make-sure you take-care-of yourself hey?! Last-thing we need-is you ending-up in here too…" Leanne told-him sweetly.
"Yeah I know…I will…Thanks…" Peter said, as his phone-buzzed. It was Carla.
Carla: Would it be okay if I came to the hospital today?! X.
"Who's that?!" Simon asked.
"Urh…No-One important…" Peter told his Son, of-course, he didn't mean that…But he didn't want Simon to get suspicious…Or Leanne for that matter. Him & Carla weren't even close-to being back together yet, so there was no-point in starting unwanted rumours…
"You're very quiet…Everything okay?!" Leanne asked-him, worriedly.
"Yeah everything's fine…Well…As fine as it can-be at the moment I suppose…I think I just need a coffee…I'll be back in a minute…" Peter said, making his way out-of the room and into the corridor where he began-to text Carla as he walked-towards the hospital cantene.
Peter: Yeah of-course it would-be okay. Come-in whenever you like. X.
Carla: Okay. Thanks. Cya Later. X.
A couple-of hours later and Leanne and Simon had now gone, so Peter was on his own with his Father once again.
"I really hope that you're gonna be okay soon Dad…I hate seeing you like this…So weak and helpless…Besides…I kinda need you right now…Everyone hates me…Even Tracy…I mean, talk about holding grudges…The only people who don't hate me are Leanne, Simon and Carla…Surprisingly. I saw her yesterday.
We're friends…I think…Well, we're definitely not enemies anymore anyway…I told her that I'd finally grown-up…But right-now…I'm just that little boy you left all those years ago, who'd lost his Mother and now had lost his Dad too. And now we've lost Deirdre too…I feel exactly the same way…I don't hate you for what you did Dad…I promise I don't hate you…I love you…And right now…I really…really need you."
When Peter finished speaking, he had tears in his eyes, and he let a couple fall down his cheeks. He had always felt so misunderstood, all the mistakes he made…He wasn't a bad person…He was just that lost little boy…Pining to be shown some love.
Just as he wiped the tears from his eyes, Carla entered the room.
"Hey." She said with a gentle-smile.
"Owh…Hi." Peter said, as he sniffed-away the rest-of the tears.
"Have you been crying?!" Carla asked-him, concerned.
"I'm Fine…I Promise." Peter insisted.
"Peter…I was married-to ya once…I thought you'd know by now not to lie around-me 'cos I can tell…" Carla told-him.
"I'm Sorry…It's just a long few days taking their toll on me…That's All…" Peter told-her.
"Did you sleep okay last night?!" Carla asked-him.
"No…Not a wink…" Peter replied, looking-over at his Dad sadly.
"Come-On…It's doing you no good being stuck-in here 24/7, I can tell that it's getting-to ya…Let me take ya for a coffee or something…" Carla offered.
"Alright, but only to the canteen okay?!" Peter said.
"Peter, you need-to get out of this place. It'll drive you crazy if ya don't take a break now and again." Carla told-him, sensibly.
"But he'll be all on his own, what if something happens and I'm not here?!" Peter asked, worriedly.
"Then they'll ring ya won't they?! Now come-on…" Carla partly-insisted, although she wouldn't force-him to leave if he really didn't want-to.
"Okay Then…" Peter trailed-off, a little-bit reluctantly, but listening-to Carla's advice none-the-less.
A short-while later and Peter & Carla were now sat-in a Local Coffee-Shop together. Carla had a hot chocolate and a cake, whereas Peter just had a small-coffee.
Carla looked-over-at a very down looking, and worn-out Peter…She was worried about him.
"Are you sure that's all you want?!" Carla asked-him, looking at his tiny coffee compared-to her large hot-chocolate, piled with marshmallows and whipped-cream…
"Yeah I'm sure, this will be fine." Peter told-her, quietly.
"I hate seeing you like this…I always have done…" Carla said, not sure how-to handle this situation. Seeing other people sad made Carla feel awkward, it always had done. She never knew what to do, or what to say.
"You frustrated-me when we were married…" Peter said, intending-it as a joke, but it didn't come-across that way…But luckily, Carla knew him well.
"Owh Charmin'…" Carla chuckled, amused-by his random statement.
"You'd either snap-at me when I wanted sympathy or give-me sympathy when I wanted-you to shout-at me…I'd like to say you got better at it…I mean, they say practice makes perfect after-all…And I certainly gave-you a lot of practice…" Peter told-her, reflecting-on their time together.
"Owh come-on you weren't that bad…" Carla said, although, they both knew that he really-was at times…
"Ya know what you said earlier about knowing when I'm lying?! Well it works 2 ways love…" Peter said with a quiet-laugh.
"Sorry…But we had happy times together didn't we?!" Carla asked, sipping-at her hot-chocolate.
"Yeah we did…" Peter trailed-off, thoughtfully. "I'm sorry for all the pain that I caused-you Carla." He told-her.
"Don't…It's in the past now Peter…And we've both moved-on…So there's no need to bring-it all back-up again…Besides, now is not the right-time…You just focus-on your Dad." She replied.
Just then Peter's phone began-to ring.
"Who's that?!" Carla asked-him.
"It's Leanne." Peter said as he answered the phone.
Carla watched Peter's facial-expressions drop as Leanne spoke-to him. She knew that something bad must have happened.
"Okay, I'm coming now." Peter told Leanne, before hanging the phone-up, standing-up and grabbing his coat from the back-of his chair.
"Peter, what's happened?!" Carla asked.
"Tracy rang Leanne, my Dad's taken a turn for the worst…The next 24 Hours are gonna be crucial…I'm Sorry Carla, but I've really gotta-go…" Peter said, rushing towards the door-of the coffee-shop.
"Wait…" Carla called-out, making Peter stop-in his tracks as she walked-towards-him. "Dya want-me to come with ya?!" She asked-him, sympathetically.
Peter thought for a second. "Urm…No…If that's alright…I think it should just be family…Sorry…" He trailed-off.
"No it's okay, I understand, I promise…Now Go…You need-to be with your Dad." Carla said, and with that, Peter rushed-off back-towards the hospital.
Carla looked-on as she watched Peter run-down the high-street. Despite everything that had happened-in the past between the both, there was something-inside Carla that still loved Peter a heck-of a lot…And she wondered-if it would ever go-away…
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