Well, I'm all excitable and awake and awaiting pizza. I ordered eight minutes before Dominos closed. Poor staff. But I'm all giddy because I just got back from seeing Wicked. For the third time. I may be a tad besotted with the show, I think. But in celebration of my good mood – after a long few weeks of post-hospital bad mood, here is chapter eleven for you. Enjoy! IJKS xxx

Chapter Eleven

"Charlie!" Joey screamed, crashing onto her knees in fright.

Angelo rushed to his girlfriend's other side. A frightened Gray pulled out her phone and called an ambulance, giving the details as hurriedly as possible.

"Charlie?" Angelo said, touching her face.

She made no move to respond. Joey fought tears and she watched the love of her life lie lifeless on the tarmac.

"Who the hell are you?" Angelo demanded.

"I'm..."

He looked between the three women. It didn't take a genius to work it out.

"Get the hell away from my girlfriend," he snapped.

Joey swallowed but wouldn't move.

"Charlie?" Angelo said again.

He heard her moan, deep in her throat. There was nothing coherent about her. Joey sank back on her heels, tears spilling down her cheeks. Gray crouched beside her, putting her arm around her and feeling jolted by just how broken Joey was about what had happened.

"The paramedics will be here in a minute," she said.

Angelo left Charlie's side and approached the car which had crashed into a post. The driver was just climbing out, looking dazed.

"Do you realise what you've done?" Angelo yelled.

He looked bewildered. Joey blanched when she realised that the driver was Brett. She watched Angelo push him. An argument quickly ensued as they heard sirens wailing in the distance. Joey shut everyone, including Gray out, as she held Charlie's delicate hand and wept, begging her to open her eyes and be okay.

Ross, Morag and Ruby arrived at the hospital in a rush. Angelo had called them on the way over. He hurried up to them looking distraught.

"Is Charlie okay?" Ruby demanded.

He nodded and explained that she'd dislocated her hip and that the doctor was treating her now. Ruby turned and saw Joey and a woman she presumed was the girlfriend Charlie had mentioned, sitting on the chairs looking fraught. She raced up to them, searching Joey's face.

"What happened?"

"She got hit by a car," Joey said. "We were all outside my old house and... Brett came speeding round the corner and..."

Gray's hands were frozen in her lap. Her mind was racing and she couldn't offer her girlfriend any comfort. All three women looked up when Angelo approached.

"Would one of you care to explain to me what the hell is going on?" he asked angrily.

Ross and Morag approached, also needing to know what had happened. Ruby looked between the sorry mess of people and took a deep breath.

"Okay, this is Charlie's ex-girlfriend Joey," she said.

Ross and Morag looked startled.

"And Angelo is her current boyfriend."

Confusion turned to anger. Ruby turned to Gray.

"I presume you're Joey's current girlfriend," she said.

Gray nodded.

"So, how did Charlie end up in a car accident?" Ruby asked.

"Constable Rosetta?"

Angelo and the rest of the group turned as the Doctor approached them.

"Is Charlie going to be okay?" Ross asked.

If there was ever a time to find out that he had a bisexual daughter who was dating a murderer, now wasn't it. But now was the time he didn't care. All he wanted to know was that she was alive.

"She's going to be fine," he said. "She's in a lot of pain but she's alright. We'll keep her in overnight but then tomorrow, she should be free to go home."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can I see her?" Angelo asked, not caring that Ross or Ruby and especially Joey, might want to see her first.

"Of course," he said. "Come this way."

Joey followed Gray outside the hospital and into the fresh air.

"I'm going home," Gray said.

Joey looked startled.

"Could we just make sure that...?" she began.

"No, I'm going home alone," Gray said firmly.

Joey looked tearful again. She reached for Gray's shoulders, pleading with her to change her mind. Gray took a deep breath and looked her girlfriend right in the eye.

"Joey, I love you," she said. "I would happily spend the rest of my life with you but..."

She sighed heavily.

"You'll never feel the same way about me."

"I do!" Joey insisted. "I love you!"

"I know you love me," Gray said. "But you will always love her more. I've always known it and today proved it."

Joey held on a little tighter.

"Gray, I explained the kiss. I've apologised. I've told you..."

"It's not about that," Gray said. "The way you reacted when she was hit by that car..."

"It was a normal, frightened reaction," Joey said a little too defensively. "I'd react like that if I saw anyone get run over or hurt."

Gray shook her head.

"You wouldn't," she said certainly. "Joey, don't feel bad about this."

"How can I not feel bad about this?" Joey asked.

"I love you, okay? And sometimes, when you love someone, you have to let them go."

"And I'll let Charlie go..."

"No, you won't," Gray insisted. "You'll try but you'll fail because you'll always wish that things could have been different. You'll always love her above anyone else in the world."

"She doesn't want me," Joey pointed out. "So even if..."

"I'm not saying that you should go in there and steal her away from her boyfriend," Gray said gently. "But you owe it to yourself to at least talk to her again, to try and work out some way forward. And I'm sorry, I can't be around for that. I won't be second best."

Joey dissolved into yet more tears. Gray kissed her tenderly goodbye.

"I'll drop your stuff back at the caravan park and ask them to look after it for you," she said. "I'll tell them you're coming back, okay?"

Joey nodded mutely and watched her leave.

Angelo swallowed uncertainly as he perched on the edge of Charlie's hospital bed. She looked so small, frail and defeated lying there. She smiled weakly and attempted to take his hand but he refused.

"Tell me about Joey," he said.

She sighed and closed her eyes, her heart feeling more and more weighted down by the second. When she'd woken up, she'd hoped that the whole thing had been a bad dream but Angelo had now proved otherwise.

"She and I were an item before... before you and I got back together. We split up a few months ago. I... I couldn't handle the idea of being in love with a woman. People were talking. I got into trouble at work. Her brother spray painted my car. I couldn't cope. So I... I cheated with a guy in a desperate bid to prove my heterosexuality. I slept with... I slept with Hugo."

Angelo looked disgusted.

"She left town," Charlie continued. "She left me. But she came back for Aden and Belle's wedding. They were friends."

Angelo studied her face. It was full of shame.

"So, what am I?" he asked.

"What?"

"Am I another desperate bid? Does it mean you're gay or...?"

"No!" Charlie snapped. "I don't know what I am. I just... I just fell in love with her. I didn't mean to. But Angelo, my feelings for you are real. I know I left some stuff out but I haven't lied to you. I want to be with you."

"Do you?" he asked. "Because that's kind of an important part of yourself to keep hidden."

"It wasn't relevant," Charlie said. "Joey and I were over. You and I are... we're a fresh, new thing. Does it matter that I was with a woman before?"

"It does if you're still in love with her," he said.

Charlie sighed heavily and closed her eyes for several moments. She opened up again.

"I will always care for Joey," she said. "But I'm with you now."

"Do you love me?" he asked.

"It's... it's early to..."

"How long did it take for you to fall for her?"

She sighed again.

"A few weeks," she admitted.

He stood up, looking hurt and began to pace. Pausing, he turned back to her.

"And is it true?" he wanted to know. "What that girl said? What her girlfriend accused you of?"

Charlie swallowed. Her throat ached with grief.

"Did you kiss Joey today?"

"Yes," Charlie admitted quietly. "But it was a one off. I didn't mean to..."

"Then yes, your relationship with Joey matters to me," he said, leaning closer. "You went behind my back. Maybe not as badly as you did with her but you still cheated on me. And I'm certain you've been cheating in your heart and your mind from the moment you and I got together."

"Angelo..." she said desperately, hating the anger in his voice.

"So now you're free to do whatever the hell you like, Charlie. It's over."

He stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him.