Ever the doting partner Serena had attended to Bernie's every need over the past 24 hours, going so far that she at times made a nuisance of herself and got in the way of the trembling hospital staff. It was bad enough for them to be treating a senior consultant, let alone with the added pressure of the CEO checking their every movement, chart and observation. Without realising it Serena had become somewhat neurotic about Bernie's care, unconsciously recalling that it had been Jasmine's one little mistake that had contributed to Elinor's untimely death and she wasn't about to allow that to happen again. When for the fifth time in an hour Serena shone a light in her eyes Bernie had decided Serena needed to get away from the hospital. Expressing a desire for one of Serena's homemade moussakas and her favourite hoodie Bernie had got Serena to reluctantly leave the hospital, on the proviso that Bernie text her immediately if she wanted her to come back. She had felt bad about sending her away initially but the relief she could see on the F1's face when she came to take a set of obs and found Bernie alone told her she had done the right thing for herself, Serena and the staff.
Bernie spent the remainder of the afternoon drifting in and out of sleep. Sound asleep is exactly how her daughter found her when they came to visit that evening. Although both her and Cameron had agreed they would wait to visit Bernie until she was back at home, Charlotte had been unable to wait, needing to see with her own eyes that her mother was okay. Creeping into the room she placed her large holdall carefully at the end of the bed and slipped into the chair beside her mother. She glanced around at the different machines bleeping, then the tubes attached to her mother. Her limited medical knowledge and understanding of what everything was panicking her. She surmised from all the hospital programmes she watched though that the absence of any loud alarms meant there was nothing to be immediately concerned by and she settled down quietly to wait until she woke.
A few minutes passed before the door to her mother's room was slowly pushed open to reveal her mother's partner, Bernie's hoodie thrown over her arm and a dish of food in her hand. "Hello. I wasn't expecting to find you in here… I thought you weren't visiting until the weekend." A warm smile lit her face as she whispered quietly so as not to wake Bernie, popping down the contents of her hands before opening her arms to invite the young girl in for a hug, which she gratefully received. Although Charlotte had found coming to terms with the revelation her mother was a lesbian difficult, she had grown very fond of Serena in the time she had known her and knew that she made her mum happier than she had ever been before. Charlotte smiled coyly as she pulled back, her eyes flitting over to her mother.
"I needed to see she was okay for myself." She paused for a moment before sighing a little. "I know she text to say she was okay, but after the IED she told Cameron and I on the phone that she was fine, when in fact she had a broken neck and was recovering from heart surgery. Mum's version of okay and mine aren't really the same thing." Serena nodded knowingly, her arm still wrapped around Charlotte's back, the young girl instinctively leaning in to the embrace.
"She'd have just wanted to protect you both then, but really she is fine. I wouldn't have gone home for a while if she wasn't." Charlotte nodded slightly.
"I've always just preferred to know what's what though… Walking in here and seeing all these machines and stuff panicked me a bit… I don't understand it all like Cameron does." Serena thought for a moment, wondering if Bernie would object to the thoughts formulating in her mind.
"All of this is because she has had a general… it'll all go by morning hopefully… But would you like me to explain what all of this is?" She gestured to the monitors and machines. "And perhaps explain a little more about what your mum had done? I'm sure she won't mind." Serena really hoped she wouldn't as right now an explanation is exactly what her daughter needed.
"Is that okay? I don't want to be a nuisance." Dismissing her concerns about being a nuisance Serena set about explaining exactly what all the machines attached to Bernie were doing, taking the time to show her on the monitors what each reading was and explaining the normal ranges. It was as she was telling Charlotte about the surgery that Bernie began to stir, a smile spreading across her face as she heard not one, but two familiar voices.
"Isn't this a nice surprise to wake up to." She said as her eyes opened, her blinking rapidly adjusting to the light in the room. Pausing their conversation Serena leant in and caught Bernie's lips with her own.
"Hello sleepy head. Feeling okay? Any pain?" Bernie shook her head.
"Feeling fine, no pain." Her eyes moved from Serena to her daughter who was hanging back apprehensively. "Hello Lottie." Charlotte gave her mum a small smile, taking a hesitant step closer to the bed.
"Hi mum." She said quietly, unable to form any more words. Realising the reason for her being here wasn't going to be forthcoming now her mother was awake Serena squeezed Bernie's hand and reached for Charlotte.
"I've just been giving Charlotte a little medical lesson, teaching her what all these monitors are showing us. It would seem she needed to see for her self that her mum was in one piece." Glancing around at her own monitors Bernie nodded.
"Still alive. I've not popped off the mortal coil yet…"
"Don't!" Charlotte snapped quickly, before her voice lowered. "Please don't joke about that, Mum." She reached for her mother's hand, clinging to it tightly in her own as tears built in her eyes.
"Hey… shh…" Bernie's face contorted to one of panic upon seeing her daughter get upset, releasing her hand from Serena's she pulled Charlotte to her, holding her tightly to her chest. Although not close to her daughter Bernie was able to tell something more than her being in hospital was causing this in Charlotte, neither of her children having inherited her ability to bury the truth from those around them. "Lottie… what's the matter?"
"Oh, it's nothing, Mum." Charlotte said, pulling back from her mother, still clutching her hand tightly. "I've just been worried about you."
"Peach stones…" Bernie raised her eyebrows at her daughter, a 'I know you're lying' look painted across her face. Charlotte's shoulders sagged, her eyes fixing themselves firmly on the floor.
"Dad and I had a huge fight… he was so horrible, Mum… he said…" Tears bubbled in Charlotte's eyes, her head shaking in disbelief as her father's words played through her head again.
"Lottie… what did he say?"
"He said… that he… oh God Mum I don't want to tell you. I didn't know he could be so cruel." Bernie couldn't help but feel that she knew exactly how cruel Marcus was able to be, after all during their divorce he'd successfully managed to manipulate everything to paint her as an awful wife and mother. The whole experience leaving her very bitter towards her former husband.
"Sadly, I do… I don't want this eating you up on the inside Lottie… please tell me." Her thumb traced lightly over her daughter's knuckles in an attempt to soothe her.
"I told him you weren't well… and he said he hoped you'd die, that he wished you'd died when the IED blew you up because then you'd have never blown our lives apart." The words came out of Charlotte's mouth barely above a whisper, the very notion her father could say that about her mother sickening her. During their exchange Serena had quietly remained at the foot of her bed but at Charlotte's words she couldn't help but gasp audibly.
"That man!" Bernie shook her head at Serena, pulling Charlotte closer to her. Moving up the bed Serena ran her hand over Charlotte's back in a movement to match Bernie's, her other hand stroking the outside of Bernie's thigh.
"That's utterly despicable. It can't have been nice to hear that from your father." Sitting up Charlotte shook her head, using her palm to wipe away the tears that were falling from her eyes.
"No… we yelled at each other for a while after that and I then packed my bag and left…" Serena then clocked the large bag on the floor, before looking again to Charlotte.
"So that is what this bag is…" Charlotte nodded her head shyly. "Where are you going to stay tonight?" She asked, her eyes meeting Bernie's both women sharing the same concern.
"I hadn't figured that one out… one of my friend's sofas probably." The young blonde shrugged her shoulders, it wasn't the first time she'd found herself in an argument with her father and not staying at the house. It was just the first time she'd come to see her mother after such an incidence.
"You will do no such thing!" Serena blurted out. "You will stay at our house." she went on, in an insistent tone. "We have plenty of space, the guest room is yours for as long as you need it."
"Are you sure? I er… I don't know how long it would be for." Serena didn't even need to ask Bernie for confirmation that this was alright with her, her eyes were sparkling at the thought of being under the same roof as her daughter again.
"If it needs to become long term or even permanent then the guest room shall simply become your room." She held Bernie's hand in her own. "We would never see one of our children without somewhere to call home." In that moment Bernie didn't think she could be more in love with Serena, hearing her refer to the children as theirs made her heart swell with love. Serena's huge heart pouring out endless love and compassion. Charlotte was stunned as the generosity being shown to her, it hadn't been what she expected at all when she arrived here. Overcome with emotion she flung her arms around both women, all three of them ending up in an awkward three-way hug.
"Thank you… both of you…" the gratitude in her voice was plain.
"As Serena said my darling girl, you'll always have a home with us if you need it." Bernie spoke tenderly.
"Now though it does somewhat complicate my plan for tonight…" At Serena's words Bernie's brow furrowed.
"And what was that plan Ms Campbell?"
"Well I didn't plan on leaving the hospital." She said, her cheeks pinking. Bernie shook her head with a small laugh.
"As CEO you should know that unless I am under 18, which I'm not… I am not allowed any overnight visitors."
"But… being CEO means no one would boot me out." Serena grinned mischievously before looking to Charlotte. "However, as long as you promise to call me if you need me, I will take Charlotte home and stay there with her until morning when I'm sure we'll both be back." Both of the blondes nodded their agreement to Serena's words.