Title: White Christmas
Chapter 7 – Dresses, Beer and a Broken Arm!
Dedication: Nat, Blaire, Megan, Manda, Mandy, Haylz and Chantal!
"Wow, it's really coming down out there. Are you sure we're able to get to the shops?" Susie asked.
"This is nothing Suse." Chuck smiled. "You should see it when we've got a blizzard."
"Brrrr." Susie pulled her jacket close. "Now I know why I chose to stay in Australia."
"Come on. It's not that bad!" Jonesy said. "I like the snow."
"Come on, the bus is waiting." Ellen cried. "We want to get to the shops before the rush."
"Okay Mum, we're coming." Susie followed Ellen, Chuck, Amanda, Macca, Lisa and Jonesy onto the bus.
"I like this dress." Susie walked out of the change room wearing a blue satin gown that flowed down her slender body showing off her curves.
"Oh no. that dress makes you look fat!" Lisa cringed.
"Are you sure?" Susie looked at herself in the mirror. "Hmm, I guess it is a little too clingy."
"Here try this one." Ellen handed Susie a pink dress.
"No offence mum, but pink is really not my colour." Susie laughed and shoved it back on the rack.
"Ooh this one is nice. I'm going to try it on." One of Susie's sisters in law Amanda picked up a light blue halter neck dress with a low back.
"Ooh yeah. You should try it on." Susie smiled.
"Hey I wonder how the boys are getting along."
"I don't know. But I hope that they are being nice to Jonesy." Susie sighed.
"I'm sure they are. Your brother and his friends are sensible boys they wouldn't do anything stupid."
"I hope not." Susie sighed.
"What do you think?" Amanda asked.
"Wow that looks amazing." Susie smiled. "It's perfect."
"How much is it?"
"Mum it doesn't matter, Chuck is paying for it remember." Amanda laughed.
"Even so. I don't like you spending all his money." Ellen sighed.
"Hey mum you should try this one on." Susie's other sister in law Natalie picked up a nice black dress with long sleeves and a v-neck front.
"Yeah that would look really nice on you." Susie replied.
"We're not here to shop for me. I've already got my outfit. We're here to get Susie a new dress so she can impress her fiancée."
"Why would she need to impress him if she's already engaged to him?"
"Because she has to compete with Alice." Amanda sighed. "I really hate her. She's always made life hell for us."
"Susie is not competing with anyone." Ellen cried. "As far as I'm concerned Alice means nothing to us. She's not a part of this family and she never will be. Now let's get back to our shopping."
Meanwhile…
"Okay so what are we meant to do now? The girls are going to be at least another couple of hours." Chuck asked.
"We could go check out that new virtual reality thing downstairs. It's supposed to be good."
"Trust you to suggest something like that Macca." Chuck teased.
"Hey just because I like computers doesn't make me a…"
"Yeah it does." Chuck laughed. "Come on Jonesy. Let's go check out the pub. You look like you could do with a nice stiff drink."
"Ah yeah sure." Chuck led the way towards the pub.
"Now let me buy you a drink." Chuck gave Jonesy a brotherly slap on the back as he led the boys through into the pub.
"Chuck my boy!" The bartender smiled and greeted Chuck with a handshake.
"Afternoon Kell." Chuck replied.
"What brings you to this neck of the woods? I thought you would be busy preparing for that big ball tomorrow night."
"Well that's why we're here. We had to help Jonesy here pick out a suit. I figured we may as well come and enjoy a drink while the girls are shopping for dresses."
"Ah. So you're in need of a drink then. Well you've come to the right place. Pull up a pew."
"Oh this is my brother in law to be Evan Jonesy. Jonesy this is my old mate David Keller also known as Kell."
"Nice to meet you." Jonesy shook Kell's hand.
"So you're the one that's captured young Susie's heart."
"Well I wouldn't call Susie young." Chuck laughed. "She's past thirty now."
"Already. I remember when she was just a young tacker. Not even a teenager yet. Boy there were some good times back then." Kell laughed.
"Okay so who's for a beer?" Chuck asked.
"Maybe just one." Jonesy replied.
Two hours later the girls finished their shopping and made their way to the meeting place they had arranged to meet the boys at.
"Where are they?" Susie asked.
"I'll give you three guesses…" Amanda said.
"Kell's." The four girls all said at the same time and Susie sighed.
"Come on then." Susie started walking towards the escalators which led down to the pub.
"I knew it." Amanda laughed when she saw Macca and Chuck sitting at the bar pissing themselves laughing and each of them holding a beer. As Susie approached she noticed that Jonesy wasn't with them.
"Hey guys." Susie and the other girls walked up to them.
"Hey girls. Look Macca it's the girls." Chuck slurred his words.
"You're drunk." Susie sighed. "Where is Jonesy?"
"Hospital." Macca replied then followed it up with a big burp.
"Hospital? What's he doing at the hospital?"
"Kell reckons he broke his leg." Chuck hiccoughed.
"How did he manage that?" Amanda couldn't help but laugh.
"Fell down the stairs he said." Macca burped again.
"I leave him with you for two hours and he ends up in hospital." Susie cried. "I can't trust you with anything."
"Calm down Suse, he'll be fine. He's probably too drunk to feel pain anyway." Lisa and Amanda laughed.
"Mum I've got to get to the hospital. Do you think you could get Dad to bring the car down and take me?"
"Sure. I'll just give him a call." Ellen walked off. Susie turned back to Chuck and slapped him.
"What was that for?"
"Because you're an idiot!" She replied and she stormed off.
"Susie wait!" Amanda walked off after her.
"I can't believe you got him drunk." Lisa laughed. "Now I know for a fact there aren't any stairs near here, so what really happened?"
"Well he was being really stupid. Chuck dared him to run across the tables, so that's what he did. Course the tables weren't strong enough to support his weight and the legs broke. It looked quite funny actually." Macca laughed.
"Funny? It was fucking hilarious." Chuck cracked up laughing. "You should have seen his face."
"It's not funny Chuck. How could you be so stupid? You could have hurt him. You know how much he means to Susie. You realise she probably wont speak to you for the next couple of days. You've got a lot of grovelling to do." Lisa sighed. "Come on let's get you home." Lisa helped Chuck up off the chair and Chuck put his weight on Lisa's Shoulder.
"Where are Susie and Amanda?" Ellen asked when she walked back up.
"They are just outside. Chuck here has really pissed her off this time."
"The poor girl."
"Well at least it wasn't Alice this time." Lisa laughed.
"Chuck you should know better. I know you're old enough to look after yourself, but this is ridiculous. You need to sober up and then you've got a lot of explaining to do."
"Just don't tell Susie about the tables." Chuck slurred.
"Alright I won't tell Susie about the tables." Lisa laughed and led Chuck out of the pub, shaking her head.
At the hospital…
Susie walked through the Emergency Department of the local hospital and up to the reception desk.
"Can I help you?" The woman asked.
"I'm looking for Evan Jones."
"Ah yes. The drunken guy with the broken arm." She laughed.
"So you know where he is then?"
"Ah yeah. Just down the corridor, first door on the left." The nurse smiled.
"Thanks." Susie replied and she walked off.
"Kell!" Susie smiled when she saw the old man standing in the corridor talking to a nurse.
"Susie!" Kell grinned. "Look at you." He gave her a hug. "I suppose you're here to collect your fiancé?"
"How is he?"
"He's fine. He's just very bruised. And he's fractured his wrist pretty badly too. His ankle is in pretty bad shape as well but that should heal by tomorrow night." The burse explained. "He'll be a bit sore when he wakes up but apart from his arm he's fine."
"Thanks. Can I take him home?"
"Sure. He's just in here." The nurse replied.
"I'll give you a hand getting him into the car." Kell said.
"Thanks Kell." Susie replied and she and the nurse walked into the cubicle. When she saw Jonesy she sighed. He was sitting in a wheelchair sleeping.
"What have they done to you?" Susie shook her head and went and stood beside him. "Hey Jonesy wake up!" She shook his shoulder.
"Ugh." He groaned.
"Jonesy!" She shouted.
"Dfdrvkaqrhdk." Jonesy groaned.
"Wake up!" Susie shook him again and he opened his eyes suddenly. He started mumbling again.
"Shh." She put her fingers over his mouth. "What happened to you?" She asked.
"Brodrudkepd." He mumbled.
"You're worse than Chuck. At least he could speak." She sighed. "Come on let's get you back to the hotel so you can sober up." Susie started wheeling the chair out of the room. Kell followed behind her and helped her load her into his car.
"I'll give you a lift back to the hotel."
"Thanks Kell." Susie sighed. "What exactly happened?"
"I'm not sure. I was in the store room when it happened. He said he fell down some stairs."
"Okay. Well I'm sure I'll find out tomorrow." Susie replied and she climbed into the car and Kell started on the road back to the hotel.
Okay so that's it for this chapter. There is only going to be 3 or 4 chapters left…and then maybe an epilogue. I'm off to bed now…cheerio!
Jess!
