Chapter 11:
Nick
"So everything's sorted now then?" Michelle asks me, knowing we had finally waded through all of Carla's things that had been moved over. The only thing we hadn't sorted was Lauren's pot, which was currently resting in the living room, as we hadn't found a spot for it in our small, compact garden yet, and wanted to do it together.
"Yeah." I nod, scribbling data down on a notepad, trying to work out a sum and failing drastically, clutching my head. "Ah, what's eight times seven?"
"Fifty six." Michelle works out almost immediately, and I envy the fact that I used to be able to do multiplication with the snap of my fingers. "Why don't you use a calculator."
"There's not much to do." I sigh, placing the pen down and she observes me, clearly noting that something was up.
"Everything alright?" She checks, putting down the napkins she was folding.
"Yeah." I nod, turning my head to look at her. "Thank you for being there for Carla the other night."
"Sorry?" She frowns, clearly having no recollection of me knowing.
"Last week." I prompt her. "Carla, pregnancy test."
"Oh." She looks surprised and it dawns on me that she assumed Carla wouldn't have told me. "That's ok..." She trails off, careful of what she's saying in case she spills something she shouldn't do.
"Don't worry, she told me everything." I assure her and she flashes me an apologetic smile.
"...I think she wanted it to be positive." She inserts, as if not knowing whether to continue the conversation on this subject or not. "Got herself quite wound up beforehand though."
"Yes well, that's Carla for you, isn't it?" I point out, jumping at the sound of her voice.
"What's me?" She sits down on one of the stools in front of us.
"I didn't hear you come in." I exclaim, her inquisitive gaze switching between me and Michelle. "The factory, I was saying how hard you're working yourself."
"Well those orders aren't going to come reeling in by themselves." She points out.
"Well no, but you've got Johnny and Aidan there to help with that." Michelle reminds me. "Haven't you?"
"So if you ever need a break, I'm sure they'd be understanding." I add and she continues to glance at the pair of us.
"You know, I don't know whether I like you two working together." She narrows her eyes as I pour her a glass of wine, placing it in front of her.
"Uh, why?" Michelle retorts. "At least we get on!"
"Yeah but what if you become best mates, and I feel left out?" She jokes. "Or have a steamy affair? Hmm?"
"Damn, she's cracked us." Michelle winds her up, nudging me and I laugh slightly, not taking my eyes off Carla.
"Anyway, you can get your boyfriend to rustle me up some tapas." She orders Michelle, who raises her eyebrows. "Need to eat something on my dinner break."
"Coming right up." She replies, heading into the kitchen.
"Don't work yourself too hard, will you?" I ask her, doing that look I do that always talks her round.
"I've worked in a lot more stressful situations than this!" She reminds me, taking a sip of her wine. "Oh, the gas man called, wanted to ask some questions about our updated records."
"Is this what our lives have come to?" I contemplate. "Having lunchtime conversations over the 'gas man'."
"Apparently so." She agrees, dipping her head and typing something out on her phone.
"Who's that?" I ask.
"Aidan." She replies. "Wants to know how many units there are in the Hanlen order."
"Well can't he ask somebody else?" I question, protectively. "You're supposed to be on your dinner break."
"Ah right on cue." Carla grins as Michelle emerges from the kitchen, putting a plate down on the bar in front of her and she puts her phone back into her bag.
"This looks good." She tucks in, picking up an olive on a cocktail stick and shoving it in my mouth before I can object.
"Oi, I'm not supposed to eat on shift!" I argue, swallowing it anyway.
"Well I don't like olives." She reminds me, like a stroppy teenager.
"Well just leave them then." I chuckle, looking down at my notepad and groaning.
"Do you want me to get you a calculator?" Michelle sighs and Carla latches on to what was going on.
"Let's have a look." She spins the notepad around, reaching up with her other hand to run her fingers through my hair, soothingly. She writes some numbers down underneath my messy sums, before turning it back around to face me. "Better?"
"Thank you." I feel slightly embarrassed, but she looks at me with a loving look, as if my flaws actually made me more attractive to her.
"And you say I work too hard." She shrugs. "You struggling today?"
"No." I deny, and she gazes at me with a knowing look.
"Nick?" She prompts me, care in her tone.
"Not overly, I promise." I admit, putting the pen back down and pointing to Michelle. "I usually give her all the academic jobs, but she's on napkin duty today."
"And having the time of my life." Michelle flashes me a sarcastic smile.
"Right I'd better go." Carla hears her phone beep again, checking it and getting up. "I'll see you later." She leans over the bar, kissing me gently, pulling away and turning to Michelle. "Make sure he takes it easy."
"I will." Michelle promises as she leaves, looking at me for a few seconds. "Get folding napkins, you. I'll do that."
"Ugh..." I moan, swapping places and reluctantly picking a napkin up, as she laughs at my reaction.
Carla
"So that's two hundred pairs Mr Jenkins?" I put on my usual professional, flirtatious voice down the phone, bypassing Aidan's smirks from the other side of the desk. "That's brilliant, the samples will be ready for you on Monday." The door flies open and Nick enters, nodding at Aidan as a greeting. "I'm sure you will Mr Jenkins. Looking forward to seeing you too. Ok, bye bye now." I put the phone down. "Sleazy pig."
"I did warn you." Aidan gloats, turning to look at his computer. "Two hundred was that?"
"Indeed." I reply, as he quickly types out some figures on his computer. "One hundred navy, fifty white and fifty pink." I change my tone, acknowledging Nick. "Hiya sweetie, two secs."
"Coral or magenta?" He frowns at the screen, as I input the number on my notepad onto my computer.
"Oh sorry, coral." I correct myself. "Can you imagine if I got that mixed up?"
"Carla?" Nick prompts me and I hold my finger up, dialling the number into the phone.
"Sorry." I whisper, hearing Mr Hanlen's voice on the other end of the phone. "Hiya Mr Hanlen, it's Carla Tilsley. Yes, I'm just checking that order is with you..."
"You not working?" Aidan makes conversation with Nick.
"That's brilliant news." I giggle flirtatiously and see Nick lean up against the door exasperatedly. "Ah yes, well reliability is our strong point, I won't argue with that... Yes you will see me soon, that's great Mr Hanlen... Thank you, bye." I hang up, putting it down again and marking the order as received on the computer.
"All go to plan I take it?" Aidan guesses and I nod, scanning the figures on the computer, as the printer makes a noise.
"Oh are you printing those designs?" I ask him and he holds them up once they've printed. "Wonderful, make sure they start with the navy."
"Carla!" Nick exclaims, as Aidan sits down, scribbling something onto the sheets he has just printed.
"Sorry, what's the matter?" I address him, whilst filing in details to the output column on my spreadsheet.
"I've got the afternoon off." He tells me. "I need to talk to you."
"Ah I'm really busy Nick." I reply, frowning. "Aidan what was the output figure for McKnees last week? It went out on Thursday I think."
"Uh..." Aidan mutters, pulling something up on his computer. "Ah I needed to clarify that with Kirk, shall I call him in?"
"If you could." I respond, as Aidan begins tapping on the keyboard viciously. "Or I'll do it." I stand up, kissing Nick briefly before opening the office door. "Kirk, could you come here please?"
"Carla, can I talk to you, please?" Nick insists and I sigh, turning to face him.
"Is it important?" I question, urgency in my tone. "Because I'm really busy, can't you see?"
"Kind of, yeah." He reminds me. "So if you've got a second-"
"Yes Mrs Connor?" Kirk enters, clipboard in hand.
"Tilsley." I correct him and Nick rolls his eyes.
"Sorry, I'm not very good with names." Kirk chuckles to himself. "Hi Nick."
"Hi." Nick responds, irritated.
"Do you have the output figures for the McKnees order?" I demand and Kirk checks his clipboard, flicking back a few pages.
"I thought I gave it to Mr Connor." Kirk frowns and I glance at Aidan. "Oh sorry, Mr Connor senior."
"Oh great." I groan, going over to Johnny's desk.
"Ah actually, I bet I know where that is then." Aidan pulls open one of the drawers in the filing cabinet, searching through and producing a sheet, handing it to me.
"Thank you." I cheer, sitting back down in my chair and inputting the numbers to the spreadsheet.
"So is that a no then?" Nick persists and I exhale sharply to make a point.
"Yes Nick, that's a no." I finalise. "As I've said twice already. We'll talk later, ok?"
"Right." He mutters, and I can see him getting frustrated out of the corner of my eye. "Sorry for bothering you."
"You could call that gas man though if you've got nothing to do." I prompt him, noticing Kirk was still lingering. "Kirk haven't you got boxes to pack? Come on."
"Sorry Mrs Connor." Kirk apologises, obediently.
"Tilsley!" I exclaim. "How hard is it to get a name right?"
"Well, it does change every five minutes." Aidan smirks and I shoot him a look.
"I'll go by myself then." Nick mutters.
"Ah, I needed to call Matthew Singh." I remember, pulling the post it note off the bottom of my screen.
"I'll do it." Aidan offers.
"Bye then." Nick suddenly leaves, and my attention is diverted for a second as I watch him go, before handing Aidan the post-it note.
"You know, you can go and talk to him if you want to." Aidan offers. "I can take care of things here."
"I think it's too late now." I grimace, feeling slightly guilty as the phone rings again. "Hello Underworld." I answer, hearing Michelle's voice on the other end of the phone.
"Carla, it's Michelle." She answers.
"Chelle why are you calling my work number?" I frown, pulling a face at Aidan and pointing at the post it note.
"Because you wouldn't answer your mobile." She replies, bluntly. "Hasn't Nick arrived there yet?"
"Arrived? What is he, a parcel?" I joke, half-heartedly, holding the phone between my ear and my shoulder so I can type out an email. "Yeah he was here for about ten minutes, muttering and moaning."
"Yeah I told him to take the afternoon off." Michelle tells me and I grab the post-it note off Aidan briefly, tapping out the reference number in the subject box. "Didn't he tell you?"
"He said something about it yeah." I drone, attaching the photos I had taken earlier of the samples.
"So where is he now?" Michelle interrogates me and I give up with the email, sighing exasperatedly.
"Michelle is this going to take long because I've got stuff to do." I snap down the phone and she goes silent for a second.
"Carla, Audrey's in hospital." Michelle tells me and I push my chair back from the desk, turning my full attention to the phone. "Nick's just found out, it sounds pretty serious."
"Oh God." I wince, immediately feeling terrible and Aidan looks at me, concerned. "Has he gone there now?"
"Well that was the plan." She replies. "He came to get you and was going to go straight there."
"Right thank you Michelle." I sigh. "I'll go and find him now."
"What's going on?" Aidan frowns, as I put the phone down, gathering my things.
"Stupid, ignorant, self-centred cow!" I shout, watching Aidan's bewildered expression.
"Who? Michelle?" He questions.
"No me." I admit. "Audrey's in hospital, that's what Nick wanted to tell me."
"Oh dear." Aidan winces. "Look I'll be fine here, you go. Don't worry about coming back."
"Cheers." I mutter, before opening the door with such force it rebounds against the wall, storming out of the factory with a sea of faces staring after me.
Nick
"Anybody want a coffee?" I ask mum, David, Sarah and Ken, who were all sat around deep in thought.
"May as well." David shrugs and I get up, going over to the machine and entering some coins from my pocket. I collect the drinks, handing them out individually, placing mum's on the floor as she was completely zoned out.
"Look, I'm sure she'll be ok." Sarah reassures mum, her arm around her shoulders, whilst Harry sits on her lap. "She's pulled through before, hadn't she?"
"Yes but it only takes one, doesn't it?" She stresses and I exchange a look with David.
"No Carla?" David asks me.
"She had to work." I mumble, taking a prolonged sip of my coffee.
"Glad she's got her priorities straight." Mum croaks, sourly and I hear the sound of heels clacking towards our waiting room. The door opens slowly and Carla enters, looking shifty. "Speaking of the devil."
"Hi." Carla addresses, awkwardly, looking straight at me with an apologetic gaze. "Nick could I talk to you for a second?"
"I thought you were busy." I remind her, childishly, and she glances around the room.
"I..." She trails off, noticing Gail's glare and begins to walk over in my direction, sitting down on the chair next to me. "I'm sorry." She whispers, trying to make it quiet enough so nobody else could hear, but because it was so silent and eerie, even the quietest words echoed.
"Forget it." I shrug, pulling some change out of my pocket and handing it to her. "Get yourself a coffee, we could be here a while."
"I don't want a coffee." She hisses, through gritted teeth, despite the fact everybody was looking at her.
"And I don't want you here." Gail retorts and Carla looks up at her. "But here you are anyway."
"Mum." I warn her and I can see Carla is close to tears. I sigh, getting up and beckoning her out into the corridor. "What?"
"Nick, I am so sorry." She pleads and I raise my eyebrows. "I'm a heartless bitch."
"Shh..." I prompt her. "They can probably still hear you from in there."
"Yeah well I'll scream it from the rooftops if I have to." Carla insists.
"Yes well there's a time and a place." I scold and she looks down at the floor, ashamed. "Don't worry about it, ok? All I care about now is that gran is alright."
"What happened?" Her face softens.
"Heart attack." I inform her. "Again. I got the phone call and came straight to the factory. Did you drive here?"
"Yes." She responds, guiltily. "Nick-"
"Good because I got a cab." I tell her. "Saves us a few quid at least."
"Come here." She holds her arms out, and I hesitate, before walking into them, feeling them wrap around me. "It'll be ok."
"You a doctor now?" I muse, pulling away. "Because you were definitely a factory manager half an hour ago."
"I'll make it up to you." She promises and I shake my head.
"Don't worry about it." I assure her, hearing footsteps and seeing a nurse walking towards us.
"Are you Audrey Robert's family?" She inquires in a professional tone.
"Uh, yeah." I inform her, opening the door to the waiting room. "Come through." I sit down on the nearest seat, Carla accompanying me, and she takes my hand, squeezing it reassuringly.
"Is she alright?" Mum worries, standing up to address the nurse.
"Well she's stable." The nurse nods and I feel myself relax slightly. "There was a blockage of blood clots building up around the artery, and that's what most likely caused the heart attack, but we've managed to remove the majority of these. She's still under sedation so it's just a waiting game now."
"So she is going to be ok?" David asks, taking Harry from Sarah as she gets up to pace around.
"Well it's too early to say for definite but she's in the best possible hands." The nurse explains.
"Any idea when we'll be able to see her?" I question.
"I think maybe just one person for tonight." She checks her clipboard and I glance at mum.
"Mum, you go." I tell her and she gets up instantly, I wait for her to leave before addressing the others. "David you'd better get off, Max and Lily will need picking up soon, and you Sarah. I'll stay and wait for mum."
"Will you contact us if there's any news?" Sarah asks, standing up and gathering her things.
"Nick, you get yourself off as well." Ken smiles. "You've all got things to do, I can wait here for Gail."
"It's ok, I don't mind." I offer.
"I insist." He orders me, gently. "The only thing I'm missing out on is walking the dog and watching Countdown. I can get Tracy to record it for me."
"Ok well if you're sure." I hesitate before standing, Carla following suit. "I'll pop in to yours and ask Tracy to record it if you like?"
"That would be great." Ken chuckles, watching us all leave.
"You alright?" I ask Sarah and she nods, as I put my arm around her.
"Yeah I mean, she's in the best place isn't she?" She points out, searching in her bag for her car keys, holding Harry on her hip.
"Are you gonna be ok driving?" I worry, and she groans, struggling to find her keys with one hand, before turning and handing Harry to Carla.
"Sorry Carla, have him." She passes him over and I watch Carla take him awkwardly. "Where are my keys?"
"Look like a natural." I turn to look at Carla, who is being poked in the face with Harry's tiny fingers. She looks up at me, longingly for a few moments, before tending to him again.
"Well he is my Godson." Carla reminds me, unsure of how to phrase the word. It was the most responsibility she'd ever been given over a baby, probably since Ryan was born and she'd only have been a teenager herself then. "Wouldn't say a natural though." She mutters and I drop back, so I'm next to her, tickling Harry under the chin so he giggles and placing a kiss on the side of Carla's head. I look up to see David watching us, a surprisingly meaningful look on his face, winking at me.
"Got them." Sarah finally cheers, victoriously.
"You need to clear that bag out." David rolls his eyes, and Carla hands Harry back to Sarah when we reach reception.
"Right if there's anything you need, let us know." I tell the pair of them and they nod, waving us off before walking off in the other direction. It is quiet for a few minutes, walking back to the car and it's not until we get inside that Carla says anything.
"Nick... I'm so, so sorry." She apologises, leaning across the drivers seat and putting a finger under my chin to turn my head to look at her. "If I'd have realised it was because of this, I'd have been straight up and out of there."
"Yes well, I didn't feel like blurting it out to your whole workforce." I admit, calmly and I can see she's beating herself up about it. "It's fine though."
"No, it's not fine." She insists, guiltily. "If that had been me you'd have dropped everything straight away."
"You did look pretty busy." I shrug and she sighs, staring at me momentarily.
"Why are you so nice to me?" She asks, quietly and I meet her gaze. "Any other guy I've been with would kick off, shout at me, guilt-trip me... Hit me... Worse."
"Well I'm not any other guy, am I?" I remind her, meeting her gaze and pushing the hair that was covering her face behind her ear. "Have you met me? Nick, Nick Tilsley."
"Yeah and have you met me? Carla; the one who can't stop screwing up." She persists and I manage a slight smile. "She's going to be ok, you heard the nurse."
"I suppose." I nod, playing with her fingers on the gear stick. "Then again, I've learnt not to get my hopes up over time."
"Tell that head of yours to stop stressing." She taps my forehead, lightly. "You know stress doesn't help you; it's the worst thing for it, the doctor said."
"I know." I acknowledge, not afraid of looking weak in front of her.
"Hey look..." She grins, searching in her bag suddenly and pulling out a ball, handing it to me.
"What is this?" I frown.
"A stress ball!" She exclaims, looking chuffed with herself and I laugh, squeezing it between my fingers. "I got it on the way back from my dinner... Thought it might be useful."
"I'm not that stressed." I assure her. "Some days are just better than others, but thank you."
"You know I'm always here for you." She lowers her tone, meaningfully and I put the stress ball in my pocket, meeting her gaze.
"I know." I smile and she sits up, turning on the engine and beginning to drive away. "Let's go home."
Carla
"Ah I meant to call in to Ken's." Nick groans, as he sits down on the sofa.
"Well I'll do that." I tell him, putting my coat back on. "You sit down. Do you want me to go and pick us something up for dinner?"
"We need to do that food shop." He reminds me and I pull a face. "Don't try and prolong it!"
"Ok, ok but we can do it tomorrow." I roll my eyes, going over to him. "I'll be ten minutes, I promise." I kiss him on the top of his head, before leaving, pulling up my hood to stop the drizzle messing my hair up. I bang harshly on number one, wondering why I was actually putting in the effort of asking Tracy to record a TV program. I wait a good few seconds, before the door opens and Peter comes face to face with me.
"Oh... Hello." He greets, forcing a smile on to his face.
"What are you doing here?" I ask, more harshly than anticipated.
"Um, Simon and Amy?" He indicates. "Dad had to go to the hospital."
"Right." I nod and we stand in an awkward silence for a moment.
"Did you want something?" He coughs, and I mentally kick myself.
"Oh, yeah." I splutter. "Ken wanted me to ask Tracy to record Countdown for him."
"That's why you came over?" He frowns and I search for another made up excuse, to make me look less stupid.
"Yes..." I drone, bluntly, knowing I had nothing up my sleeve. "And he probably won't be back for a few hours, he's staying with Gail."
"How is Audrey?" Peter questions.
"She's stable, yeah." I nod, shuffling my feet and aching to move away so I didn't have to seethe in this awkward tension that was building around us. "Anyway, I'm gonna go."
"Right, ok." He smiles again, that smile I hated so much, that smile that was so fake but so believable, that I'd fallen for countless times.
"Don't forget to record that program." I add, before walking off and he watches me go as I pace up the street towards Dev's.
"Evening Carla." Dev greets as I enter the shop and I pull my hood down, surprised he could recognise me with it up.
"Hiya Dev." I smile, having no clue what I was looking for on the shelves. This was usually Nick's area of expertise, the only items I ever purchased from here were wine and milk.
"Looking for anything in particular?" He tries to make conversation.
"Something for dinner." I mumble, feeling stupid as I say it and scanning the tins of spaghetti and baked beans. Beans on toast? Surely I could manage that. "Got any bread?" I ask, grabbing a tin and he points over to the other side of the shop. I go over, pulling a loaf of bread off the shelf and being side tracked by the nappies and baby food that were next to them. I feel my heart beat faster, looking at the different labels; newborn, six to twelve months, twelve to eighteen months...
"Are they for your Godson?" Dev suddenly asks and I snap my head around, startled.
"Sorry?" I manage to muster.
"The nappies." He looks confused, pointing to the shelf I had been identifying. "Are they for Harry?"
"Oh... Well." I stammer, failing again to think of another excuse. "I was just looking..."
"Are you ok?" He frowns, staring at me, concerned.
"Yes." I finalise, emphasising the word and grabbing a basket to distract myself, chucking whatever came into my eye line into it. Cheese, toilet roll, laundry detergent, a multipack bag of chocolate chips. "Bottle of red as well, actually make that two."
"You take it steady tonight." He warns, taking two bottles off the shelf and placing them down on the counter. I freeze, immediately annoyed that he had the audacity to tell me what I could or couldn't do. He didn't even know me, he didn't know what I'd been through, or how I felt.
"Sorry?" I snap, my words sharp and he is quick to scan the items through the till, bagging them up for me and handing me the card machine. I pause, giving him a dark look before pulling my card out of my purse and tapping it on the sensor.
"Have a good night." He tries to sound bright and friendly, and I grab the bags, spinning around and storming out of the shop.
"Ah, well look who it is." Tracy's voice booms over the cobbles and I close my eyes, leaning up against the cold brick wall. Just what I needed. "Wow, stocking up for the winter?"
"Do one Tracy." I order, trying to push past her.
"Uh, you don't have to be so rude to me." She plays the victim, a sickly smile on her face.
"And you didn't have to ruin my life." I point out, sourly. "But you still did."
"Oh you got everything you wanted in the end." She rolls her eyes, bitterness in her tone. "As you always do, it always works out for you. Doesn't it?"
"Everything I wanted?" I lower my tone, practically hissing at her. "I didn't want to have to move to Devon. I didn't want everybody to hate me, including my own mother-in-law, who will never forgive me. I didn't want to lose my baby girl! So no, I didn't get everything I wanted."
"Oh well that was hardly my fault." Tracy shakes her head, her tone so severe I shudder at her words. "You always knew yourself you weren't fit to raise a child."
"What?" I raise my head to look at her and she just shrugs, bitchily, a glint in her eye as if she was actually desperate to find something to beat me down about. "How dare you."
"Hey, I'm just stating the facts!" She insists and I dump the bag of shopping on the floor, slapping her clean around the face. "Oh you've done it now." She runs at me, grabbing at my hair and I claw at her coat, trying to push her down on to the floor.
"Woah!" I hear a male voice, possibly Kevin or Pat Phelan, but I didn't care. I push her down with such force she lies on her back, panting before I am pulled backwards by two arms. I watch Tracy get up, glaring at me before running at me again, despite me being held back.
"Carla?" Michelle's voice comes into earshot and I see her running out of the Bistro, towards me, as Tracy's fist collides harshly with my cheek, my right ear suddenly ringing and everything going blurry.
"That's enough!" The voice behind me shouts and I turn dizzily to see that it is Kevin holding me back, letting me go to stand between us, Gemma and Jenny gawping at us from across the street. I look up at Tracy, dazed, everything swimming in front of me, my ears ringing louder and louder, before everything goes black.
Nick
"I don't understand, why would she be fighting Tracy?" I try to get my head around the situation, continuing to stare at a lifeless Carla, who we had managed to get onto the sofa with the help of Kevin and Tyrone.
"Well she probably wound her up again." Michelle paces the room, annoyed. "I don't know, most days I get the urge to swing for her. Wouldn't have the bottle to do it though."
"Well now we know the consequences." I point to Carla. "You know we could report this to the police."
"What and drag her down to the station when she wakes up? Yeah she'd love that." Michelle sighs, rubbing her forehead and sitting down in the armchair. "Besides, Kevin said Carla started it, slapped her apparently."
"Do you think I should take her to hospital?" I worry, looking at the bruise on her cheek.
"Nick she blacked out." Michelle puts a hand on my shoulder. "You've already got one family member in there at the moment, just wait and see if she comes round."
"She said she was only going out to get something for dinner." I shake my head, softly rubbing my thumb across her cheek.
"Oh which reminds me." Michelle places some shopping bags down in front of me. "They were left on the street."
"You're very calm." I point out and she sits back down.
"Yes well I grew up with her remember." She tells me. "The amount of fights she had weekly on our estate, you get used to it after a while. The hospital was her second home."
"Still probably is." I sigh, watching her breathe steadily, as her eyelids begin to flutter slightly. "Carla? Carla it's me." I whisper, squeezing her hand gently and her eyes open momentarily before closing them again.
"Nick..." She murmurs, wincing as she tries to speak. "Ah..."
"Don't try to talk." I tell her, as her eyes open and she blinks to adjust her vision. "Can you see alright?"
"Nick you just told her not to speak." Michelle laughs and the corners of Carla's mouth twitch upwards.
"He's worrying again..." Carla mumbles, the same croaky, adorable tone she usually has when she wakes up. "Chelle... Is he worrying?"
"Yes." Michelle admits, a grin on her face as she looks at me. "At least you know he loves you though."
"Mm..." She exhales, her brow furrowing before trying to sit up. "What happened?"
"You had a run in with Tracy." Michelle explains, as I put a cushion behind her, still holding her hand. "I came out of the Bistro to see you both at each other's throats, Kevin had to hold you back."
"Uh..." She groans, closing her eyes momentarily and raising a hand to her cheek. "I feel like my jaw is broken."
"Maybe we should take you to the hospital." Nick stresses and I adjust my gaze so I can look at him.
"Nick, I was joking." She reassures me. "I wouldn't be able to talk if it was."
"Tracy punched you in the face, you went all weird for a second and then blacked out." Michelle finishes off the story and a look of embarrassment washes over her face.
"Oh no..." She moans, pushing the hair out of her face and trying to compose herself, still not seeming fully conscious. "Not again, I don't half like to make a drama, do I?"
"You said it yourself." I shrug. "Can I get you anything?"
"Some ice?" She suggests and I get up, going to the freezer and wrapping it in a few tea towels, before going back and gently placing it against her cheek. She winces, jumping and I move it backwards as she places her hand over mine, pressing it against her skin.
"Sorry." I smile, and she manages to return one. "That's the last time I send you out to get something for dinner."
"I don't even know what I bought." She points to the bag, frowning as if trying to remember. "Some chocolate chips I think..."
"Nutritious." I nod, raising my eyebrows at her.
"I'll get Robert to make you something before he clocks off." Michelle pulls her phone out, sending a message to him, as a look of recognition flashes over Carla's face.
"Oh... Audrey, how is she?" Carla suddenly remembers. "Have you heard?"
"Yeah she's come round." I tell her and Carla relaxes. "Mum's still with her. Sounds like everything's ok though."
"Ah good." Carla sighs. "See, what did I tell you?"
"Yeah except now I've got another casualty on my hands." I point out and she looks at me apologetically.
"I'm so sorry." She whispers, pulling the ice away from her cheek.
"What did she do? To make you hit her?" Michelle asks, softly.
"She was making digs at me... About..." She trails off, looking at the pot in the corner of the room. "How I'd be a rubbish mum... I think anyway, it's hard to tell with her."
"That cow." Michelle shakes her head, fury on her face, which I mirror. I wasn't surprised Carla had slapped her, because hearing that made me want to storm over there now and do a lot worse.
"Mm..." Carla mumbles, painfully. "Well I needed to do something to wipe the smile off her face."
"It doesn't help that you had two bottles of wine in that bag." Michelle points to it.
"I wasn't going to drink them both!" She insists and Michelle smiles at her, standing up and gathering her things.
"I'd better go, I was only supposed to be on a fifteen minute break." She tells us, placing a kiss on Carla's forehead. "You stay out of trouble, missy."
"I'm sure Nick will make sure I do." She teases me, reaching out and grazing her finger down my cheek.
"I'll drop that dinner round in a bit." Michelle squeezes my shoulder and I nod.
"Yeah, thank you Michelle." I stand up, opening the door to see her out. "See you in a bit."
"Bye Chelle." Carla calls weakly from the sofa and I close the door behind her, turning to look at Carla's hard done by expression, which I can't help but chuckle at.
"Are you gonna milk this now?" I ask her, smiling as I approach where she is still lying, propped up against the cushions.
"No." She shakes her head. "A hug would be nice though."
"Don't go scaring me like that again." I wrap my arms around her, her breath soft against my cheek. We sit there for what feels like forever, listening to the clock ticking the seconds away, knowing we were making the most of every single one of them.