Warning - Continued adult themes everyone. Big shout out to all my reviewers guys, you guys rock and I'm glad you are enjoying and getting a good vibe from it. I've got big plans for this story my friends. Thanks again.
0o0o0o0o0o
24 Hours. 24 Hours and still no change. Tanya was still in the seat next to Lauren's bed her hand in a vice like grip in her own. Max was sat opposite her his head slumped on the side of the bed. Heavy black bags surrounded Tanya's eyes. She hadn't slept now for around 42 hours. She couldn't. Her worry was just too much to sleep on. The soft rhythmic beeping of the life support machine gave her some sort of comfort though. It told her that Lauren was still alive.
A buzzing noise hit her ears and she realised that her phone was ringing. With a sigh she dropped Lauren's hand and picked up her bag rummaging through it for the phone. But when she pulled her hand out the one thing she couldn't face seeing right now was in her hands. The bananarama CD that Lauren had bought for her as a surprise with the money that she had accused her of using on Absinthe. Her mind wandered back to that altercation by the table. The last conversation they had. Possibly the last things ever said to one another. The last real kind of conversation they would ever have.
0o0o
"Do you wanna smell my breath or something?" Lauren said accusingly as she looked at her mother who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. They were all sat around the table eating the homecoming meal that Tanya had made specifically for Lauren… A homecoming meal. She was still delighted that her little girl had finally come home.
"Ey, no!" Tanya defended as she watched her daughter switch straight into default mode. Defensive. She hadn't wanted for it to come out like this. She wanted this to be a happy family moment but she couldn't remember when the family had one of them last.
"Oh come on something's obviously going on I'm not stupid. Ever since I've got back!" Lauren said as she eyed every single one at the table.
"No, I'm just asking what you've been up to that's all" Tanya said with a light laugh as she tried to defuse the situation before it got worse.
"No you all think I've drinking don't you. Just admit it!" Lauren said as her anger began to seep through. How dare they accuse her of that. The one time she hadn't done anything wrong.
"Alright Lauren come on that's enough. It's only a simple question!" Max said calmly as he watched the scene unfold before him. He knew what was coming next.
"Well what happened to a fresh start? First you shift all the booze and now this. God it's like I never moved out!" Lauren said putting her knife and fork down on the plate her appetite suddenly gone completely.
"Right that's it. I'm drawing a line under this right here right now!" Max added on his voice still calm which was a change for him.
"Oh for god sake why don't we just tell her!" Cora said not wanting to beat around the bush and get straight to the point. "No mum!" Tanya said wanting to avoid this situation at all costs but she knew it was too late for that.
"Tell me what. Go on!" Lauren piped up as she stared at her grandmother wondering what she was getting at.
"Your mother's getting concerned because I saw you earlier with that West Indian bloke!".
"What Winston?" Lauren scoffed at her grandmother not believing what she was hearing.
"Alright I didn't want to bring this up until after lunch, but since it has come out I just want to say that I'm not cross with you Lauren. I did a lot of silly things myself when I was your age so I'd be a hypocrite to say any different… But Absinthe Lauren!" Tanya said as she tried to wrestle control of the ensuing situation.
"Absinthe?" Lauren spoke back shocked at what her mother was accusing her of.
"I saw you paying for it darling so don't deny it!" Cora spoke firmly.
"I was just smelling it. I mean I hardly even tasted it!" Lauren said defensively not being able to believe what she was hearing right now.
"Don't lie Lauren!" Max chipped in as he too had lost his appetite and he placed his cutlery down on the plate and looked at his daughter who's face was filled with mixed emotions.
"Dad I was buying a CD!" She replied looking intently at her father who just shook his head at her. "You don't buy CD's Lauren you download all your music!".
"For mum! Bananarama… a bootleg right, Japanese import with a rare B-Side and interviews. That is why I was talking to Winston because he knows about that stuff!" She said with a raised voice as she stared at her mother incredulously. Lauren put her hand in her breast pocket and practically snarled at her mother. "This was going to be a surprise and I was going to wrap it but there you go!" she said slamming the CD down on the table in front of her mother.
"Lauren I'm so sorry!" Tanya began as guilt washed over her but Lauren cut across her sharply. She looked to be on the verge of tears.
"No, nothing I do is ever going to please you lot is it!" She said angrily pushing her chair out behind her. "Ugh I just hate you!" She screamed standing up and marching out the door. "I hate all of you!".
0o0o
I hate you. The words were ringing in her ears. Tanya's body filled with that familiar guilty feeling that she had become accustomed to the last few hours. A completely innocent and kind act by her daughter had been made out as something worse. Her hands clasped at the unopened gift. She held it so tightly that her knuckles had gone white. She could feel her lips tremble as more sobs threatened to escape her throat but she held them back. "I'm sorry!" She whispered hoarsely the lump in her throat muffling her voice.
With that she got up and exited the room and as soon as she got outside the sobs escaped. She slid down the clinically clean white walls as her body shook violently with the emotional tremors the CD still in her grasp. She pulled it tightly to her chest, cradling it as if it was Lauren. I hate you.
0o0o0o0o0o
"I can't go… I can't see her like that!" Lucy said as she sat with Whitney and Fatboy in her living room. A deathly silence filled the air as no one really knew what to say. They had filled Lucy in on everything that they knew. Lauren's condition. Her chances.
"Luce, babe I know it's hard but I really think you should go!" Fatboy spoke his usual spunk and charm completely gone from his voice.
"If I had chased that car down harder, I could have pulled her out you know. We would have been home, she would have hated me but at least she'd have been safe!" Lucy spoke as she remembered those eventful and fateful few minutes.
"Even you can't run that fast babe!" Fatboy tried to console but he knew it wouldn't get through the blonde. She was far too shook up by it all. That same horrible silence came across them once again. "Look we're gonna go back down in a few hours, so we'll drop you a text yeah babe. It's be great if you came though, just to show Lauren that you're there!" He spoke getting to his feet. He placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.
"Not as if she's going to hear me!" Lucy spoke back her voice never changing pitch as she spoke. She still couldn't get her head around it all. It started off as such a fun night. Getting drunk, exchanging stories. Doing the usual drunk I love you conversations. And then it turned sinister. In a blink of an eye it turned into a living nightmare.
"Don't think of the 'what if's' Lucy" Whitey spoke up as she finished the dregs of her coffee and stood up alongside Fatboy. "Just think about coming down to the hospital okay" She spoke and with that exited the Beale household along with Fatboy.
Whitney broke away from her ex-boyfriend with a goodbye and headed back towards her place kicking her heels along the floor as she went. She hadn't wanted to leave the hospital the day before but Jack had insisted that there was nothing else they could do for her now. So she went back to Tyler's and sobbed in his arms the entire night.
Pulling out her key she entered the Jackson household and wasn't surprised to see Carol sat by the table anxiously awaiting her return. She'd heard about what happened to her niece from Jack and had wanted to go down to the hospital to see Max and Tanya but there was no one to take Morgan and Tiff and so she had resigned herself to waiting for Whitney to come home and fill her in on everything.
As soon as Carol saw her surrogate granddaughter she rushed over to her and wrapped her up in her arms tightly. "How is she?" She asked sadly pulling away from Whitney and ushering her into the kitchen.
Whitney just shook her head. "I don't know. I haven't heard from anyone since yesterday. I'm gonna head down later if you wanna come?" Whitney asked and Carol nodded at her.
"Have the police found anything yet?" She questioned looking at Whitney's weary from. Whitney shrugged her shoulders and looked at the woman.
"I couldn't tell you. I just still can't believe it. Should see the state on her though Carol, I didn't even know It was possible to hurt someone so much. Her face is so swollen you can't even tell it's her!" Whitney spoke sadly her voice breaking as the image of her friend that was imprinted in her mind came to the forefront once more.
Carol winced at the words not liking the sound of it. She knew it was bad, Jack had told her everything the doctors had said to them. "She'll be okay Whitney. You've got to keep thinking that okay! Don't be negative, she's going to pull through and when she does she's going to need you more than ever!" Carol consoled as she kept that stiff upper lip rigidly. She had to stay strong for the girl in front of her who looked like she would break at any given moment.
Whitney just nodded at her. "I didn't sleep last night so I'm going to try and catch an hour before I go back down there okay!" She said quietly and without even a glance at Carol she headed up the stairs and into her room. She shut the door behind her and flopped straight down onto her bed the emotional exhaustion of the last 24 hours taking it's toll on her. She rolled onto her side and her eyes landed on a photo on her bedside table. Instantly she reached out and touched the cool glass as she looked at the picture. It was the one of her, Lauren, Tyler, Fatboy and Anthony all laughing and joking down at the field near the allotments. Tears stung her eyes as she grasped the photo and wrapped her arms around it holding it to her body tightly. And finally with the photo still in her hands she managed to find a small sense of solace in sleep.
0o0o0o0o0o
A knock at the door roused Max from his slumber. Looking up he could see two police officer's stood there. Tanya turned her head to look at the new arrivals and gulped wondering what they had to say. "Mr and Mrs Branning?" The young female officer said her voice soft and soothing as she made her way further into the room.
The two nodded and Max straightened himself out. Looking at his wife he could see the fresh red stains on her cheeks. "Have you found them?" Max spoke straight away praying that those bastards had been caught.
She shook her head sadly her eyes drifting to the girl in the bed. So young. "I'm afraid not but we're currently scanning all CCTV images and we're near to a lead!" She reassured showing them that they were doing something. "There's no easy way to tell you this but we've analysed the rape kit and it does indeed seem that your daughter was sexually assaulted multiple times!" She said gently and she could see the young girls mother's body deflate completely as the probable became reality. "It also came back positive that she wasn't assaulted by just one person… we found four different DNA samples".
Tanya went completely rigid at her words. Not only had she been raped once by someone but numerous times by four different men. As soon as the words registered she was bolting out the door hand covering her mouth. Max felt his anger flare up again and his hands tightened in the bedsheets. "I know this is hard Mr Branning. But I assure you we're doing everything we can to catch who did this to Lauren. You have my word that I'll see to it personally that these men are caught!" The officer said strongly as she thought about what that young girl had gone through and what she'd have to if she woke up.
Max couldn't even speak. The blood was rushing around his body wildly and he felt like murdering someone. "You better find those pigs before I do, because I'll kill them" He snarled aggressively as he tried to calm himself but that was impossible.
"We will Mr Branning. We'll be in touch if we get any leads!" The officer replied with a nod and with that she spun and exited the dreary room quickly. Max watched her go and he was sure he was going to explode but that anger all depleted when his eyes landed on his eldest. She was lying there so helpless, a thick tube sticking out of her mouth. The only thing keeping her alive. All the rage and energy left his body and he slumped forward onto the bed once again his hand finding her broken one.
He heard the door open and presumed it was Tanya but when he looked up he found that it was Jack. "I just saw the police leave. Have they caught them?" He asked hopefully praying that they had been caught and would pay for what they've done.
Max shook his weary head at his brother. "The assault kit came back!" He said quietly feeling sick even speaking about what he'd just heard. Jack came up alongside him waiting for his next words. "She was assaulted… by four different men loads of times!" He spat out disgustedly and Jack felt as if a ghost had just walked over his grave. "My little girl was… violated over and over… beaten senselessly and…" He trailed off sadly and the urge to cry was becoming too much. "How could they do this Jack? To her?" He questioned hoping that his brother had the answer but he knew he didn't.
"Because they're animals!" Jack replied holding himself together but only just. "I'm gonna make a few phonecalls okay, to some of my mates on the force and try and pull some strings. Don't worry Max we'll get them!" He said and practically ran from the room. He was going to make some phonecalls but first he needed to get some air after what he had just learnt.
Fatboy pulled up and parked at the hospital Whitney and Carol with him. The trio exited the car and walked across the car park with pace wanting to get in there as soon as possible. As they neared the front entrance though they could see Jack leaving his face white as a sheet and eyes red. Oh no Whitney instantly thought as they practically ran over to him. "Jack please don't tell me… Is she okay?" She spoke but Jack shook his head.
"She's still the same!" Jack said knowing exactly what she was thinking. "The police have just been here." He said and told them quickly what Max had disclosed to him not minutes earlier. Whitney felt her legs start to go from under her and she didn't know how she stayed on her feet.
"No…" She managed to get out before heading into the hospital leaving Carol and Fatboy with Jack. She headed up to the quiet ward where Lauren was wanting nothing more than to see her just to see that she was still the same. Though she wouldn't be the same again if she woke up. Just as she neared the room she could hear someone crying and retching from the women's toilet just across the hall and she knew exactly who it was. Turning direction she pushed open the door and wasn't surprised to find Tanya hanging over the sink as she splashed water over her face. "Jack just told me!" Whitney said and Tanya turned to look at her, eyes bloodshot and unfocused. Without even thinking Whitney stepped forward and engulfed the older woman in a hug allowing the tears to spill onto her coat. Her own broke past the floodgates and the both of the women's legs went as they each comforted each other by allowing the salty substance do drip down their faces. They just sat there holding each other tenderly and after a few minutes another pair of arms joined them and Whitney knew straight away that it was Carol who must have followed her up.
"Let it out!" Carol cooed in a way only a mother could as she sat with the distraught women. Finally Tanya managed to calm herself down enough to get back to her feet and wash her blotchy face once again. Whitney did the same as she tried to make herself look a little more presentable and Carol patiently waited for the two by the door. Slowly they exited the bathroom and crossed the hall back into Lauren's room where Max was sat with Fatboy and the young girl.
Carol wanted to pull her eyes away from the girl in the bed but she found she couldn't. She took in every cut, every bruise that was visible on her pale skin. Sickened was an understatement. She didn't speak as she made her way over to her brother and put her hands around his neck and shoulders giving him a consoling hug. He did respond to the contact but not much. "Any change?".
Max shook his head. "No… She's still the same as yesterday, the doctor said if she doesn't wake up soon that she's not going to wake up at all" Max said bluntly as he thought of what the old doctor had said to them a few hours before. Carol let out an audible sigh at his words. Between them they had lost two children but to lose a third in the spate of three years just wasn't an option. But then she thought of what Lauren would have to go through if she did wake up. The emotional suffering that she would have to endure as well as the physical. And she couldn't help but think right at the depths of her mind that maybe it was better for the youngster if she didn't. But the thought was wiped away instantly as she remembered when she lost Billy, that feeling of emptiness that could never be filled. And there was no way she wanted Max and Tanya to have to go through that again.
"She'll wake up man!" Fatboy spoke up his voice filled with proudness. "I know for a fact that my girl is gonna wake up!" He said strongly. There was no way he was going to doubt it, he just knew that she would because he knew her. She would fight tooth and claw till the end.
0o0o0o0o0o
The hours had ticked by and people had come and gone paying their respects. Tanya was sure that most of the square had visited by now. Her mother had managed to get Dot to mind Oscar and had finally made an appearance but she couldn't stay very long seeing her granddaughter like that and retired back to the house. She looked out the window and could see the sun setting on the horizon. Another night was closing in on them. Max had gone to get them some coffee's so she was left here alone with Lauren who's hand was once again entwined with her own.
With a pained groan she put her head down on the bed trying to find some sleep but it just wouldn't come. Peace had fallen in the room and the rhythmic sound of the machine next to her was calming her. Finally it seemed as if sleep would find her but as soon as her eyes began to drop she was sure she felt some pressure on her hand. Her head shot up and she was sure her heart had stopped beating for a minute. Because when she looked at her hand she could see Lauren's bruised one tightening slowly around her own. Her eyes then found Lauren's face and she stared in shock as she watched one of her daughter's brown eyes crack open ever so slightly. "Lauren sweetheart can you hear me?" Tanya exclaimed as she leaned right over her so that her face was inches from the girl.
Lauren looked blearily around. Pain swam through her entire frame and she didn't know where she was. Everything finally began to come into focus and when they did the first thing she registered was her mother's face hovering above her own. "Lauren squeeze my hand if you can hear me!" Tanya said again this time with more vigour as she watched her daughter's brown orbs scan around slowly. With her words Tanya felt the light pressure on her hand and she burst into tears right then.
Max came in and could see his wife crying and ran over praying that nothing had happened to his daughter. So he was shocked to see her eyes flutter open and closed slowly. "Max go and get the doctors quickly!" Tanya half yelled at her husband and he placed the coffee's down and sprinted out of the room looking for the nearest nurses. "There's my girl. There's my strong girl!" Tanya cooed as she held Lauren's bruised cheek gently. She could see her daughter was trying to speak but the tube down her throat prevented her from doing it. "Don't speak. Don't speak just look at me and try and focus okay!" She said trying to keep her daughters attention.
Lauren nodded her head weakly and she could feel the tears slip from her own eyes as the pain finally became visible. Her entire body felt like it had been ran over by lorry. She was trying to remember how she got her but the pain was just to consuming. "My babygirl… thank god!" Tanya sobbed as pressed her lips to Lauren's forehead affectionately once more. She was awake. She had done it. She had come back to them.
0o0o0o0o0o
Right I'm going away for a few days so the next chapter should be on monday some time my friends. So another one down. So Lauren is waking up but this is just the start of the journey to recovery which is undoubtedly going to painstakingly long. So if you enjoyed please just drop me a few words my friends as I said before I'll get these chapters out way faster the more I get XD. Peace out all and thanks again for the support guys. You kickass!
Gwen
