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11:00 1st March 2013 , Dingle District Hospital, Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland
The Dingles had all met for a Marlon-cooked breakfast at the cottage, then made their way to the hospital to see Chas. Cain agreed it was probably best for him not to be around if and when she woke up, so he quickly looked in on his sister, then took Evie for a walk around a nearby park in her pram.
It was a shock for Lisa, Marlon and Belle when they saw Chas lying in the bed, still hooked up to many machines. Her bruises seemed to be clearing, and she'd been taken off the ventilator, so Aaron felt quite positive about his mum's recovery. But having not seen what state she was in two days ago, the rest of the family weren't so confident in Chas's improvement.
"Honestly Belle," Aaron told his cousin, who was crying, "she's doing well. She'll be awake soon, I know it".
They sat with her for an hour, then the nurses shooed them out to do some checks, so they went up to the canteen to get some lunch. Marlon spent the time complaining about the sub-standard food you always get in hospitals, whilst Belle and Lisa picked at their food without saying much. Aaron was about to go for a cigarette when he saw a worried-looking Clara enter the canteen and look around. When she saw Aaron, she hurried over to him and he stood quickly, bracing himself for bad news.
"I think you need to come down" she told him, "your mammy's awake, but she's fighting".
"Fighting what?" Aaron asked, confused.
"Everyone and everything," the nurse answered, beckoning the family to follow her and explaining as they walked, "she started to wake up not longer after you left. She was groggy and disorientated, not remembering anything. She became more and more agitated as she came round. We tried to calm her down by telling her her baby was safe. But when I said your uncle was looking after her…"
Aaron could see where this was going. So did the rest of the family, they shared looks of trepidation as the nurse carried on talking, picking up their pace as they made their way downstairs. Aaron pulled out his phone and texted Cain, telling him that Chas was awake and to get back to the hospital ASAP.
"…well, I've never seen anything like it. She tried to get out of bed, ripped all of her lines out before we could stop her. When the doctor tried to push her back down on the bed, she punched him a good one, right in the eye. He's going to have a right shiner later, I can tell you! It's taken two orderlies and a nurse to keep her in her bed. I'm hoping one of you can calm her down because she really needs to rest. She's still on treatment for her kidneys, if it's interrupted, she may go back into renal failure. Not to mention the fluid on her lungs."
As they got onto the ward, they could hear Chas screaming at someone to let her go. Her voice sounded strangled, which made it even more distressing to hear. Aaron broke into a run, sprinting down the corridor and into the room. His mum was being restrained by two burly orderlies while a nurse tried to reason with her. Tears were spilling down her face, which was contorted in anguish. When she saw Aaron, she stopped struggling and shouting and stared at her son, not knowing how to react to his presence.
Aaron was so relieved to see her awake, but at the same time, hated seeing her in so much pain. He moved towards her, arms held out, and the orderlies moved out of the way to allow her to sink into his embrace. Huge wracking sobs took over her, just like the day she'd first told him why she'd left Emmerdale, many months ago now. And just like that day, he held her tight and waited for her to calm down.
But she didn't calm down, she kept on sobbing, repeating the same thing over and over in her croaky, wheezy voice, "he's got her, he's taken her, she's gone". Her sobs turned into coughs, painful sounding coughs that came from deep within her chest. She was struggling to breathe now, but there was no sign of her calming down. Aaron saw Lisa edge into the room, but Chas didn't notice her, she was too deeply entrenched in her misery to see anything going on around her.
Aaron pulled away from his mum and took her face in both of his hands, speaking clearly to her.
"Mum. Listen to me, she's safe, he's not taken her anywhere, he'll be here soon, with the baby, I promise"
Chas looked into her son's blue eyes for any sign of deceit, but could find none, "she's really okay?"
Aaron nodded, "she's healthy and strong".
"She's a little belter" Lisa said from the corner, causing Chas to whip her head round in shock.
"Lise…?"
Lisa stepped forwards and gave Chas a kiss on the cheek and a big hug, "oh, you don't know how good it is to see you in the flesh, love".
Chas started coughing again and Clara came over, pulling an oxygen mask over her face and gently pushing Chas back onto the bed. "Now you keep this on this time Sandy, darlin', or we'll be forced to put you back on a ventilator" she told Chas sternly. She made Chas wince as she pressed a piece of gauze onto her arm. It was bleeding quite badly from where she'd ripped her line out.
"What do you remember?" Aaron asked his mum as they watched the nurse reattach lines and wires, take readings and then leave the room.
Chas shook her head, "Nothing. I don't know" she told him, her voice muffled through the mask. "Last solid memory is working at the pub. I felt rough, Fianna kept trying to send me home but I wanted to stay. Oh god, did I go into labour at the pub? Did I pass out again and fall over? Is all of this my fault?"
Lisa frowned, "what do you mean, again?" she asked.
Aaron explained, "she's had really high blood pressure. She's fainted a few times, had to be careful about what she eats and how much she does. But you have been careful, haven't you?" he asked his mum.
"Yeah, really careful, I promise" she answered, "so what happened then? How have I ended up in here? How has Cain ended up with my daughter? And how are you two both here?"
"Not both. There's a couple more stragglers waiting outside. You up for visitors?" Lisa asked.
Chas threw a terrified look towards Aaron, but he smiled his encouragement, so she nodded in agreement.
They'd obviously been listening at the door, because as soon as Lisa started to say she'd go and find them, Belle and Marlon came bounding into the room. Chas smiled to see her cousins, she'd missed them so much. They gave her careful hugs and settled into chairs by her bed.
"How are you feeling?" Belle asked.
"You're a sight for sore eyes" Marlon said.
Chas couldn't speak, she was so overwhelmed. Tears started to fall again, running down the side of her mask.
"Hey," Marlon soothed, grabbing her hand and rubbing it, "no need for tears."
"Sorry" she sniffed, trying to pull herself together, "I just…never thought I'd see you again, any of you. I don't know how it's happened, but it's so nice to see you all".
Aaron's phone started to ring, it was Cain calling, "Hello?...No….no, you come here…she's fine, she's awake…..no, I'm not going anywhere, you come here. Bye".
Everyone looked to Aaron for an explanation. "Cain's on his way, with Evie".
"Beautiful name, by the way" Lisa said to Chas, but she wasn't listening, she was too nervous. She'd not seen her brother for months. She'd missed him, but she'd also been terrified he'd catch up with her. It seemed like that had happened, but she had no memory of it. At least, she thought she had no memory of it. Except, her mind kept flashing to an image of him snarling at her, calling her a selfish bitch, and she didn't know where it had come from. And her daughter. It seemed like everyone had met her before her. Only that wasn't true, she just couldn't remember meeting her, which was even worse.
"Mum!" Aaron shouted, finally getting her attention. She'd been staring into space for two minutes, not reacting to anything anyone was saying. Her face had been blank, like she was in a trance.
"Sorry, what?" Chas pulled herself together, and tried to focus, just as Cain walked into the room holding a little bundle in his arms.
He made no eye contact with anyone, just walked over to the bed and made to pass the baby to his sister. But she refused to take her, instead pulling the mask off her face so that she could speak clearly.
"Either I've got really bad déjà vu," she croaked, "or we've done this dance before".
"Just take her will you," he said, still not looking at her, "she's what you've been waiting for".
She grabbed his arm suddenly, making him look into her eyes, "she's not the only one" she said, before taking her daughter gently out of his hold.
Cain was taken aback by the warmth in his sister's eyes. He was expecting fear, or anger, but he saw only love, aimed at him. He didn't know what to do with that, so he left quickly. Chas didn't notice though – her sole concern was her daughter, who she held and fussed over, feeling complete for the first time in years.