And the momentum begins to build... Enjoy! Love, IJKS xx
Chapter Twenty-Five
"What the hell are you doing?"
Joey jolted awake and stared blearily at Angelo who was towering above her looking furious.
"I..."
She forced herself to recall the events of the night before and her nightmare hit her like lightening.
"Well?" Angelo demanded.
His heart was racing. Once more, Joey had swooped in and got closer to Charlie than he had managed. He feared that if Charlie was to wake up, this kind of thing was a portent of the future.
"I came round last night..." she explained, not fully coherent. "And I guess I fell asleep."
"Very clever," he snapped, moving round to the other side of the bed, needing to get as far away from Joey as the small room would allow.
"What?" Joey asked, bewildered.
"Only you could manipulate a situation like this in order to get close to her..."
"I didn't," Joey protested.
"Well then how come you're the only person who can spend the night with her? With my girlfriend?" he asked.
Joey sighed. She looked down carefully at Charlie's sleeping form, only too aware of what an argument could induce.
"Look," she said, staring Angelo directly in the face. "I had a nightmare. I came over to the hospital to check that she was alright and I guess the nurses took pity on me and let me stay."
He opened his mouth to interrupt but she continued.
"So, why, instead of being rude to me and getting ridiculously insecure and jealous, you just be happy that Charlie had more company than she usually does?"
She bent and kissed Charlie's forehead without shame, promising to see her later and then turned and left without another word. Surprised to find himself trembling slightly, Angelo sank into a chair and buried his face into his palms, feeling bad for mishandling the situation yet again. He reached out for Charlie's hand and silently thanked her for not reaction to them this time.
***
Charlie fled the darkness and charged towards the light. There was too much pain. Too much confusion. Too many conflicting emotions. She'd had enough. Before she went too far, she stopped and became still again, deciding that it was too big a decision to make in haste. Entering the darkness or the light was a forever deal and she still hadn't made her mind up.
***
Monday rolled around and once again, Ross, Morag, Ruby, Joey and Angelo were crammed into the relative's room with Charlie's Doctor and nurse. Each relative was afraid that the next suggestion would be to turn off Charlie's life support machine. They were surprised when he broke into a smile. Ruby instinctively reached for Joey's hand, holding her tight.
"As you know, we ran some tests this morning," the Doctor began. "And we've got some good news."
"What is it?" Ruby squeaked.
"It seems that with a combination of rest and treatment, Charlie is starting to respond."
Joey thought she might cry from sheer relief.
"Her body is starting to repair itself and it looks like there is much more brain activity than there was before. I have to admit that I'm stunned. I thought it was over. But it looks like she might survive after all."
Ruby sank against Joey who held her tight. Ross turned to Morag. Angelo just stared ahead of him, suddenly picturing a perfect future with the woman he loved.
***
Ross and Morag sat in Charlie's room, talking to her with lifted spirits. They now had their heart set on Charlie waking up. Each held a hand and filled the room with their hopes and dreams that she would soon wake and be with them again. They were determined to make every pain in her life go away. The future was for loving and protecting her, making her want to live again.
***
Ruby had phoned Geoff on her way back to school and excitedly told him that it looked like Charlie had taken a turn for the better and that the Doctor was wondering if she might wake up after all. He'd been thrilled and they'd arranged to meet for lunch. He'd also agreed to go with her to the hospital after school again. Once he'd recovered from his nerves last time, the visit had gone well and he was pretty much willing to do anything to make his girlfriend happy.
***
"Hi, Joey," Leah greeted when her housemate entered the Diner.
She eyed her curiously. These days, it was rare to see any of Charlie's loved ones smiling but Joey was positively beaming.
"They think Charlie's going to be okay," she announced, eager for the whole world, and by that, she meant Colleen, to hear it.
"Really?" Leah exclaimed.
Joey nodded.
"She's starting to respond to the treatment. They think she's going to wake up!"
Leah hurried round to the other side of the counter and squeezed her friend tightly.
"That is so great!" she said.
"That really is wonderful news," Colleen said.
She hurried away to wipe a happy tear from her eye. Finally there was good news.
***
Angelo arrived at work with a coffee for Watson and one for himself. She'd barely said hello when he'd burst out that Charlie was likely to be okay after all. Watson had looked particularly choked up, hardly daring to let herself believe the news.
"What's all this?" Robertson asked, approaching the pair.
"Charlie's making improvements," Angelo informed him, unable to stop smiling.
Robertson smiled too.
"That's wonderful news!" he said.
Angelo nodded, still feeling a rush of adrenaline and joy in his veins.
"Could I have a word with you about Joey Collins?"
Angelo frowned, his bubble momentarily bursting. Glancing uncertainly at Watson, he followed Robertson into his office.
***
Noise startled Charlie as she floated around the white arena that had been her home for the last forever. She struggled to decipher language as it infiltrated her ears. It had been a long time since she had heard sound. She stepped towards the dark with a new resolve, pausing only when the sound was gone.
***
Angelo sat awkwardly in a chair, his good mood a little distilled.
"I'm waiting on a warrant to search Joey and her room," Robertson explained, perching on the edge of the desk.
He folded his arms.
"What's this got to do with me?" Angelo asked.
"I'm looking for a suicide note that Charlie may have sent her. Joey denies it exists but I've heard it mentioned several times and I need to find it. Do you know anything about a letter?"
Angelo pondered over what to say. He hated that Charlie had written to Joey instead of him and he too wouldn't mind getting his hands on it himself. His face fell suddenly. He'd been so happy to learn that Charlie was going to survive but the more he thought about Joey, the more he began to fret. What if Charlie woke up and still didn't believe in him? What if she thought Joey was a better option? What if she loved her? What if she didn't love him?
"I heard her say Charlie had written to her," he said. "And when you get the warrant, I wouldn't mind going with you to search her place."
***
For the second morning in a row, Joey woke amid some confusion. Rubbing her eyes, she hauled herself out of bed and grabbed her robe, stumbling downstairs and into the kitchen. She was startled when she saw Robertson, Watson and Angelo standing in front of her.
"What's going on?" she asked in confusion.
Robertson thrust a piece of paper towards her.
"Joey Collins, we've got a warrant to search this property," he informed her.
"But..." she protested weakly as the officers made their way through the house.
Joey followed them, more and more awake by the second.
"If you want to save some time and help us out, you can just hand the letter over," Robertson said.
"I don't have a letter," Joey lied.
Her heart was hammering in her chest as she pictured her beloved letter tucked neatly beneath her pillow.
"You two search the rooms and I'll keep Miss Collins company," Robertson told his crew.
Angelo and Watson headed back through the house. Watson reluctantly took Charlie's room, immediately fighting flashbacks of the last time she'd been in there. She was relieved to find it clean and fresh and tidy. Angelo headed up to Ruby's old room, knowing that that was where Joey was sleeping. He was determined to be the one to find that letter.
***
Ross couldn't help but feel disappointed. He'd gone to bed with the not so faint hope that when he returned the next day, his daughter would have woken up. But she hadn't. She was lying there, unresponsive, the same way she had the day before and the many excruciating days before that.
"How are you doing, my darling girl?" he asked, taking her hand. "We can't wait for you to wake up so we can tell you to your beautiful face, just how much we love you."
***
Joey waited anxiously in the lounge, dreading the moment that Angelo would present Robertson with the letter she had tried to hide. She wasn't so much concerned with getting into trouble as she was about Charlie's innermost thoughts becoming property of the police. It wasn't evidence. It was heartfelt and it meant everything to her. She couldn't bear to think that it would soon be taken away.
***
Angelo hurriedly rummaged through Joey's belongings. He rifled through her drawers with suspicion as he searched for any trace of Charlie. It made him feel a little ashamed but he experienced a sense of power at being allowed to turn Joey's room upside out. Approaching the bed, he lifted the blankets and the pillows. A folded piece of paper fluttered to the floor.
"Bingo," he said, bending to pick it up.
***
Joey didn't look at Robertson who was carefully but silently scrutinising her every facial expression. She worried about what she might be giving away. Watson appeared.
"Nothing," she said, not sure whether she was happy or sad about it.
Obviously the letter was important but she felt like she was invading her friend's space. Joey looked up sharply as Angelo trotted down the stairs empty handed. She eyed him curiously.
"Anything?" Robertson asked.
He shook his head.
"Nothing," he lied.
Joey was confused. The letter was in an obvious place. Surely the cop wouldn't have found it difficult to figure it out? He wants to protect her, she thought, the realisation hitting her. She wondered why she was surprised. Any anger he had towards her would obviously be outweighed by his love for Charlie. He would have known that there could be something incriminating in it and he wouldn't have wanted to let his girlfriend down.
"Can you turn out your pockets please?" Robertson asked.
Joey turned the one small, empty pocket inside out.
"Any others?" he asked.
"I'm in my pyjamas," Joey pointed out. "How many pockets do you think I have?"
Sighing unhappily, Robertson nodded and the three police officers left her to it. She immediately raced up to her room to get the letter. She froze in the doorway. Angelo had tuned her bedding over without any manners and her letter was definitely gone.