Sitting in the kitchen, nursing a now cold cup of coffee, Charlie's mind had drifted off into obscurity as she thought about what the doctor had talked to her about earlier. She knew that Ruby's best hope of a match would be from that of a sibling. But the idea of knocking on the door of her dead rapists widow wife and asking her to allow a bunch of doctors take samples from her children, it just seemed completely surreal and unrealistic. Even sound of it made the idea seem like some fake real life tv movie..
But what wasn't fake was the fact that every second that she spent contemplating the idea, Ruby was slowly being consumed by her illness. Every inch of Charlie's being screamed at her to stand up, be a mother and fight for her childs life. But then there was the realist in her that quietly reasoned with her that while it was only natural to want to do whatever she had to in order to make Ruby better, she still had to ask the question, could she really put someone elses child through that ordeal, even if it might make her own daughter better?
Charlie turned at looked at the table beside the food storage room that was used to put their keys on. Leah had put picture frames on it to make it look presentable, pictures of family, friends and of their house party a while back. One of the frames held a picture of Charlie, Ross, Morag and Ruby. She looked at it sadly. While she loved Morag and considered her part of the family, she could never replace the void left behind by Charlie's own mother. She missed her terribly and in tough times like this, she wished she were around to be her tower of strength, her words of wisdom, her guiding light.
Then there was Ross. Although he was still alive, held in a secure facility for murdering Grant, his mind was deteriorating day by day and sooner rather than later he too would be gone. Which only left Ruby. While it was hard letting go of her parents, the thought of ever having to let go of her own daughter was more than Charlie could take. Ruby was all she had left and most days, it felt like Ruby was all she needed. As long as her daughter was happy, healthy and doing well in life, Charlie didn't need anything else. She didn't need her career or Angelo, just the love of her daughter.
And she had that, more than she would ever know. But if Ruby didn't get the help she needed and fast, she didn't know how much longer she would that love for. Standing up, she picked up he cup and brought it over to the sink, emptying out the remainder of her coffee and rinsing out the cup. Picking up the towel she dried off the cup and placed it on the rack on the counter with the rest. Folding up the towel, she placed it back down and then turned to make her way to the living room.
Just then a knock at the door stopped her in her tracks and she moved towards it to open it. There in the doorway stood Angelo in his police uniform, He smiled when he saw her, a twinkle in his eye, but Charlie didn't notice. Stepping back she allowed him to enter and they sat down at the kitchen counter. It was only at that moment that she realised just how uncomfortable the knew high stools were. Angelo grabbed a hold of her hand.
"How are you doing?", he asked, genuinely concerned for her.
"I'm fine, but then I'm not the one fighting cancer and sitting through chemo", she said sounding irritated by the question.
"Yeah but that doesn't mean your fine Charlie, Your daughter ill, that must have some effect on you?", he replied trying to get her to open up to him,
Charlie looked at him with a look of annoyance spread clearly present. How could he ask such a stupid question. Then again it wasn;t uncommon for him to say idiotic things. It seemed to something that came quite naturally to him.
"Of course it has an effect on me Angelo. My daughter's slowly dying and I'll I can do is sit back and watch. Every single day", she said. "It hurts, it pains me to watch her struggle when I know there is nothing I can do about it", tears began to build up in her eyes and her voice started to shake as she continued. "Ruby is the one thing in my life that has been constant, and good. There are times I sit and wonder, how was I blessed with such an amazing daughter who makes me proud every day? She is the one thing in this world that means everything to me and the idea of losing her , it......", she trails off unable to speak.
Angelo looked at her, feeling slightly dejected by the her last statement. He always felt deep down that he loved Charlie, more than she could ever love him. It was a fact he learned to live with because he just wanted to hold onto her. But to hear her more or less point out the obvious, didn't make him feel good. As he sat there he realised that Charlie was slipping away from him. It had been happening snce before Ruby's diagnosis, but with everything that was going on he thought she would fall back into his arms so he could be her knight in shining armour, a shoulder to cry on.
Instead, things seemed as distant and cold as they had before. Like Charlie was settling for second best rather than being alone. But know she was starting to find her own two feet and Angelo felt like he was quickly becoming cast aside. He knew he had to make some grand gesture to win her over again, but what? He couldn't propose marriage because he knew that would be too big a commitment for Charlie. He couldn't whisk her off on a romantic holiday as Charlie needed to be with Ruby. Then it hit him. He grabbed both her hands.
"Move in with me", he said with a firm tone to his voice.
"What?", Charlie replied, not knowing whether it was some big joke she wasn't in on.
"I'm serious. We can get a place together, you, me, Ruby. I can help you take care of her", he stated trying to convince her of what he had just said.
"You seriously think that's going to work? That you could look after her?", she asked as she stood up and walked into the living room, folding her arms across her chest as she stood by the couch.
Angelo stood up and followed her, stopping in front of her and placing a hand on her folded arms.
"Yeah I do", he said with confidence.
Just then the door to Ruby's bedroom opened and out stepped the frail, shaken teenager, stagger along against the walls as she desperatly tried to get to the bathroom. Charlie looked up and saw her daughter struggling and bounded after her, worry setting in instantly. Angelo stepped back slightly shocked, He'd never seen Ruby look that bad. Snapping out of his daze, he quickly followed suit to the bathroom and stopped at the doorway.
Peering in, he found Ruby on a heap on the floor hurling up everything left in her system, while Charlie kneeled down beside her clutching her around the waist to keep her daughter upright over the toilet bowl. When Ruby was finished she collapsed into her mother's embrace, her head spinning, unable to move. Charlie wrapped her in her arms dabbing away the traces of blood from Ruby's nose. She turned and looked at Angelo who was staring at them both in an anxious sweat.
"Angelo get me a damp cloth", she said as she stroked Ruby's forehead. Turning back she saw Angelo still standing in the doorway. "ANGELO NOW!!", she snapped, frightening a dazed and confused Ruby who clung to her with whatever energy she had.
Angelo rooted around for a face cloth. Finally finding one, he dampened it with cold water and handed it to Charlie who snatched it from him. Annoyed by his presence. Dabbing Ruby's forehead with the cloth she listened as the young girl grunted, falling in and out of consiousness. Then she looked up at Angelo and began to speak.
"You really think you can look after her?", she said and looked as he stood there in silence unable to answer. "Didn't think so", she finished and then turned her attention back to her daughter.
With that Angelo walked out, realising he had failed yet again to win Charlie over. He couldn't let her go but he didn't know how to hold onto someone who didn't want to held on to. Rubbing his head in frustration, he kicked the bind outside the house and then jumped in his car, Speeding off down the road towards his home.
Back inside, Charlie scooped Ruby up and helped her to her room. Once inside, she placed the teenager back into her bed. Removing her shoes, Charlie climbed in beside her daughter, not wanting to leave her alone on that night. Pulling the blanket up, she cuddled up next to her daughter and grabbed a hold of one of her hands. She kissed Ruby on the top of the head and then watched over her as she slept. Tomorrow would be another stressful day but in that moment, Charlie basked in the peacefulness of watching her baby sleep.
