Chapter Nine

Joey lay nervously in Charlie's bed, dressed in one of Charlie's oversized t-shirts. Her hair was down and her body was tense as she prepared to try and sleep. Brett had tried to call her seven times so far and she hadn't been able to bring herself to listen to any of the voicemails. Part of her thought she should call him back and let him know that she was safe or perhaps even get dressed and go back home. But she feared that Robbo would still be there, waiting for her to apologise for pressing charges against him and she just couldn't bear to do that. She looked up when she heard a gentle tapping on her door.

"Hello?" she called.

"It's Charlie."

Joey pulled the duvet tighter around her.

"Come in," Joey replied.

Charlie nudged the door open.

"I brought you a cup of tea," the police officer said gently.

She entered the room and set the cup on the bedside table.

"Are you okay?" she asked, noticing how anxious Joey looked.

Joey nodded unconvincingly, sitting up. Charlie perched on the edge of the bed.

"Brett keeps calling me."

"He's probably just concerned about where you are. Perhaps you should just send a text to let him know you're safe. Say you're staying with a friend," Charlie suggested.

Joey nodded and began to text. Charlie got up to leave.

"Thank you for everything," Joey said, not quite ready to let her go yet.

Charlie sat back down again.

"I've just done what anyone would do," she said.

"You've gone above and beyond," Joey insisted.

She silently cursed herself as she became overemotional again.

"Sorry," Joey whimpered, turning away.

"Hey," Charlie said kindly, reaching out to her.

"Sorry," Joey said again. "I'm just so scared. I don't know how I got into this mess."

"It's alright. I'm going to help you get out of it. You're not going to have to face any of this alone. I promise you."

Joey broke down. Charlie crept closer and let Joey fall into her arms.


A short while later, Charlie had made herself more comfortable against the pillows, holding a fragile Joey against her. All she wanted to do was protect her and make things better but she wasn't exactly sure how she could do that. She could take charge of the case against Robbo. She could ensure that he didn't go near her again. But she couldn't erase the memories of what had happened. She couldn't stop the pain she was in. Joey began to regulate her breathing again and suddenly realised where she was. She glanced up at Charlie, gathered her senses and apologised, pulling away. She had felt safe there for a moment and now she felt embarrassed.

"That's okay," Charlie said. "I told you I'm here to take care of you, Joey."

Joey smiled gratefully.

"You must be a saint or something."

"Hardly!" Charlie chuckled.

"Well, you're saving my life right about now," Joey said sincerely.

Charlie hugged her and moved to get off the bed.

"I'd better let you get some sleep," she said. "I'll wake you in the morning and we can go down to the station, reissue your statement and then go down and talk to your brother, okay?"

"Okay," Joey agreed, trying to sound more certain than she felt.


That night, Charlie hardly slept. Lying beside her sister, she stared into the darkness, trying not to fidget and disturb her. Ruby had been great about sharing her room for the night once Charlie had explained the necessity of the situation.

"Charlie, are you okay?" Ruby whispered.

"Yeah," Charlie said weakly.

"Are you worried about Joey?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you're helping her, aren't you?"

"I know. It just doesn't feel like it's enough."

"What's happened to her?"

"I can't tell you the details, you know that," Charlie said, although she really wanted to.

"An altercation with a horrible guy," Ruby remembered.

"Yep," Charlie confirmed.

Ruby turned to face her sister.

"Charlie, I know you're doing everything you can for her. And she knows that too," Ruby said firmly. "So try and go to sleep. Refresh yourself so you can be totally on form to be everything she needs you to be tomorrow, okay?"

Charlie nodded and closed her eyes, thanking Ruby before she attempted sleep again.


In Charlie's room, Joey had a fitful night. As she had done every night, every time she fell asleep, she woke up sweaty and breathless with nightmares. She was just grateful that she hadn't screamed audibly. The last thing she wanted was to further inconvenience the woman who had been so kind to her.