AN: I seem to be on a roll with this chapter malarky, not long til this story will be over to be honest. We'll see. I hope you enjoy, though I suspect all this angst is a bit much for some of you? I will be starting another part to my previous series, where hopefully there will be more happy times that I know you all love for our Naomily.
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"Naomi love, what is going on?" Gina gasped, following Naomi out of the flats and onto the quiet streets. Naomi didn't stop, she didn't want to talk, she just wanted to get as far away as possible.
"Naomi, please, can we go back to Geoff's and talk about this?"
Turning around on the spot, Naomi stared at her mum, looking her deep in the eye as she spoke.
"You want to talk? You want to fucking talk? What sort of messed up deal did you come to?"
Gina looked scared, she wrapped her arms around her front and leaned backwards, intimidated by her daughter. The level of anger that Naomi felt was boiling over. She'd managed to maintain a certain level of anger in the past, but for the first time it was tipping over the top, spilling itself over with such force that Naomi probably could have punched someone.
"Well?" Naomi shouted, "Are you gonna tell me what gave that pervert of a man the idea that he was going to fuck me for payment?"
"I, I don't know what you're talking about," Gina whispered, taken aback.
"You fucking liar, don't you dare tell me you don't know what I'm talking about, this is your fault, all of this is your fucking fault."
"You, you, you must be mistaken," Gina stuttered, her voice shaking with fear.
"Don't you fucking say that, you have no fucking clue do you?" Naomi shouted, shaking her head with frustration.
"Naomi, please, Geoff is a good man who is doing us a favour, don't be stupid, come home."
Home. Naomi could feel herself calming down. But instead of the anger came a bout of tears. Gina was staring at her with a look of confusion. Naomi began to sob as the tears slid down her face. She let the droplets slide down to her mouth before she finally spoke. Her voice had grown quiet, barely a whisper as she gasped for breath.
"I don't have a home, I don't have a fucking home anymore because of you."
The two blondes stood opposite each other on the pavement. Gina's eyes down turned with sadness at the sight of her daughter. Naomi's sight blurred with tears. She reached forwards to touch her daughter's shoulders, but Naomi flinched.
"Don't you touch me," she cried, "I can't fucking do this anymore mum, you fucked up my entire life, I can't do this anymore."
"Naomi please," Gina cried, tears starting to roll down her cheeks.
"Please just come back to Geoff's,"
Naomi shook her head, her face red and stained, "You haven't heard a word I've said, have you? I'm not going back to that fucking flat, not while that man is there."
"But Naomi," Gina tried. She was quickly interrupted, not by words, but by Naomi walking away. Blocking out the rest of the plea as she took herself as far from her mother as possible. She kept walking, pushing her feet onto the floor, moving herself away from everything that filled her head. She didn't stop until her feel were tired, her body was cold and her tears had run dry.
The city streets were lighter than Naomi remembered. The streetlights making her feel somewhat comforted by the lack of dark corners. She didn't want to spend the night outside, nor did she want to spend it at Geoff's. She couldn't really remember where Cook lived and as much as she wanted to go to Emily, she was scared of what would happen if she did. She was scared of spending the night outside. Homeless with a roof for the night was one thing, homeless with nothing was another. Naomi quickly regretted wearing only a small jacket instead of her thicker wintry coat. The temperature was dropping by the minute and Naomi recalled something about a cold snap in the paper the day before.
"Fucking hell," Naomi muttered, her teeth beginning to chatter as she found herself walking through the main street.
She'd walked it many times, especially in the evening when there were homeless people hanging around. She'd made fun of some of them using newspaper and boxes for shelter. As she walked the same path, she wished she had something like that to help keep out the cold. As if it couldn't get any worse, the heavens opened and an icy rain began to fall. Naomi jumped into the nearest back alley where she found a large bin filled with boxes and waste. She pulled a couple of boxes out and found a corner away from the street and the pouring rain. She thought of the first night in the hotel, of the luxury that was compared to how she'd ended up. For a moment she wondered if sex with Geoff could be better than a night in freezing cold Bristol.
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A woman left the room after delivering lunch to Katie's hospital bed. Emily stood up to help her sister rearrange herself so that she could reach the food.
"What have I missed?" Katie asked, sticking a fork into a questionable piece of meat.
"Nothing much," Emily assured her, "Dad being his usual self and mum stressing out because you're in here."
"And mum said that when you get out, she's going to buy you some girlie pants," James grinned his cheeky boyish grin.
The usual reaction to James' crudeness was a slap on the head, but Emily merely frowned at him and to her surprise, Katie just laughed. Unfortunately, laughing sent Katie into a fit of coughing.
"Are you okay?" Emily checked, standing beside her, handing her a glass of water which she sipped gratefully.
"When are you coming home?" James asked, his face less than pleased at being laughed at.
"The doctor said a couple of days, but it depends on how I feel," Katie informed them, another coughing fit taking over.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Emily checked, rubbing her back as she coughed, "I can go get the doctor."
"I'm fine," Katie muttered, "They said it's good to cough, helps clear my lungs."
"You sound worse than a horse having a baby," James muttered.
"Thanks James," Katie smiled, "But I think I sound better than a horse,"
"Your cough is pretty nasty, are you sure you can go home soon?"
Katie nodded, "Don't worry so much, it is possible to manage this at home."
"If you're sure,"
"I am," Katie laughed, "The doctor wouldn't let me go if it wasn't okay."
A nurse appeared and informed them that visiting hours were over. Emily reluctantly hugged Katie goodbye and led James out into the car park.
"She is okay, isn't she?" James asked, worry in his eyes.
"I don't know," Emily muttered, not even thinking about her answer, until she heard a small sob from beside her.
It was strange seeing her little brother cry. He cried all the time as a little kid, but ever since he turned nine he'd put on a brave face for everything. It didn't help that their dad told him to pull himself together if he ever looked sad. Emily wasn't sure what to do, whether to hug him, or to let him cry. Thankfully he took the choice out of her hands and pushed his face against her front, wrapping his arms around her back.
"Oh James," she muttered, wrapping her arms around his back to comfort him, "I didn't mean that, she's doing okay, you heard what she said, she can come home soon."
"She's still got cancer though, hasn't she? This is just extra."
She'd barely thought about it that way, but seeing Katie's illness from James' view was very different. She'd spent most of her energy ignoring what was happening. But her little brother was right. They were worrying about Katie having pneumonia, when that was only a small problem in comparison to the leukaemia.
"She's having treatment for that," Emily reminded him, "She's doing okay."
"But she can't have the chemo while she's got pneumonia, won't that make her iller?" he checked.
Emily wondered where all his questions were coming from. Then she remembered the discussion their parents had had with the specialist. She'd not really paid attention, preferring to think about going out and getting drunk than Katie's health. It was selfish. But it was the only way she could survive each day.
"Look James," Emily sighed, leaning down to his height, "Katie is getting treatment, they're going to make her better, that's all you need to remember, okay?"
James nodded.
"There's dad, we'd best go or you'll be late for afternoon lessons."
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AN: Thanks for reading...this chapter actually broke my heart just a little as I was writing Naomi's part. Please review, even if you hated it, I need to know if it's no good!