Chapter Twenty Five

March 2004

It had been a long night of spontaneous work and Charlie was exhausted. She'd been told to go home on more than one occasion but she'd promised Joey that she'd wait and she wasn't prepared to break a promise. Judging by the state of Tanya and the medical exam that had been done on her, she had been beaten, raped and abandoned. It didn't take a genius to work out who was behind it. Matthew and Lisa had gone looking for Robbo but so far there had been no sightings and his car was gone. Charlie had no idea how she was going to tell Joey. She wasn't even allowed to tell her really but she knew she was going to break the rules on this occasion. She sat up when she heard the blonde girl stir.

"Tanya," Charlie said gently.

"Where am I?" Tanya asked.

"You're in hospital," Charlie told her.

Immediately, she began to panic and try to get up. Charlie hit the panic button that would call in a nurse as she tried to calm her herself.

"It's okay," she said. "You're safe. Nobody will hurt you now. You're safe."

"Where's Robbo?" Tanya asked, tears forming in her eyes.

***

Charlie let herself into Joey's house later that morning, still in her uniform. She walked past Brett asleep on the couch and trotted up to Joey's room, knocking softly on the door.

"Hello?" came a small voice.

Charlie poked her head round the door, finding her friend still tucked up in bed. They smiled at each other and Charlie came to perch on the edge of the bed.

"How is she?"

"She'll be alright," Charlie confirmed. "She has a lot of cuts and bruises and a broken rib but she should be out of hospital later today."

"It was him, wasn't it?"

"I don't have any evidence but I presume so."

Charlie looked and felt distraught.

"Charlie, what is it?"

"Nothing."

"There's something else. I know there is," Joey urged.

Charlie sighed and held Joey's hands.

"You can't tell anyone I've told you. I'm breaking confidentiality."

"I won't."

She sighed again.

"It looks like… It looks like he might have raped her."

Tears formed in Joey's eyes.

"What?" she asked quietly.

"We can't find him and she's not talking to us."

"What does that mean?"

"It means there's nothing we can do," Charlie said.

"Nothing you can… So he can rape somebody and get away with it because she's scared to open her mouth?" Joey asked.

"It's the way it happens sometimes," Charlie said sadly.

She looked away, unable to cope with the grief on Joey's face. She felt guilty for not having known how bad her best friend had been feeling about Robbo all this time.

"Charlie, you have to do something!" Joey ordered, her voice high pitched.

"I'll do everything I can," Charlie promised. "But I can't force her."

Joey nodded and sank back against the pillows.

***

April 2004

Over the next two weeks, Charlie worked diligently on Tanya's case, despite the girl's insistence that there wasn't one. Robbo had returned to town the next day and he and Tanya had told Charlie and Jack that they had argued on the way home. Robbo felt guilty apparently for storming off and leaving her to go on a drinking binge for a day to teach her a lesson. Alone in the night, Tanya had been jumped by a gang on guys who had beaten and raped her. She had just about managed to crawl home where she'd collapsed until Charlie had sent her colleagues in to find her. The story was shot with holes but with the victim not willing to make a statement incriminating her boyfriend for what Charlie and her colleagues were sure he had done to her, there was little they could do. Charlie had been trying to spend time with Tanya and convince her to press charges but Robbo had got wind of it and made a complaint so she had been forced to cease.

***

At work, things had only got worse for Joey. Robbo's personal problems were making him and even more unpleasant person than he had been before. He had developed a tendency for eruptions of anger, usually at Joey. He'd even gone so far as shoving her a couple of times. Gibsy defended him to Brett who was equally ready to excuse him, knowing what his friend was suffering but Aden was reaching boiling point. Both he and Joey were certain that he had attacked Tanya, although only Joey knew the details of the case and even she wasn't supposed to.

***

Charlie was sitting at her desk staring at the closed file in front of her. It was time to put Tanya's case away and try to forget about it now, as much as she didn't want to. She had called round first thing to try and talk to her one last time but had been met with an angry Robbo who had told her that Tanya ad left town. He'd even allowed her to look around and indeed, it looked like she had departed. To double check, Charlie had contacted her by phone. Tanya had reluctantly answered and told Charlie in no uncertain terms that she had decided to leave town and move in with her parents along the coast. Everything had got too much for her and she needed a fresh start. She thanked Charlie for her support and pleaded with her to drop the case and move on.

***

Joey was enduring another fraught day at work. Robbo had been late, delaying their trip out and was in a worse mood than usual. She looked up when she heard heavy footsteps storming towards her. Robbo had his head down as he charged along the deck and wasn't looking where he was going. She hurried to dodge out of the way. Looking up at the last minute, Robbo charged on anyway. He barged into Joey, knocking her sideways. She tried to grab onto anything she could to steady herself but she was too close to the side of the boat. Arms flailing, she fell, bracing herself to hit the cold water. It hurt when the waves hit her body and face, stinging her and the gripping her as she sank beneath them. She kicked up violently, beginning to panic, desperate for air. By the time she surfaced, Gibsy, Robbo and Aden were all leaning over the side. Gibsy looked concerned, Aden looked horrified and it was the first time Robbo had cracked a smile all day.

"Joey!" Aden yelled.

She wanted to tell him that she was alright but she didn't know if it was true. Besides, her lungs hurt too much from the shock for her to be able to call out to him. Back on the boat, Aden leapt into action. Watching his friend struggle, his manager remain inactive and Robbo find the whole thing a wonderful piece of entertainment was too much for him. He pulled his t-shirt off and dived into the water and swam for Joey in order to bring her to safety.

***

Back on the boat, Joey stood cold, shaken, soaking wet and furious.

"Nice day for a wet t-shirt competition," Robbo commented, still amused.

Joey launched herself at Robbo, screaming swear words and managing to slap him once in the face before the other two pulled them apart.

"I should do you for assault!" Robbo protested. "Get your hot little girlfriend to arrest you."

"I should do you for a lot of things!" Joey snapped, struggling against Aden's restraint.

"I wish you would, sweetheart."

His leer was the last straw. She turned to Gibsy, declaring that she was going home.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Aden asked.

"No, I need to be by myself," Joey said, walking away.

She stopped and turned back to him.

"Thank you," she said sincerely.

Joey stomped towards home, listening to the squelching of her shoes through the water in her ears.

"Joey!"

She recognised Charlie's voice before she saw her. Looking up, she fought the urge to break down. Noting the state of her, Charlie hurried over. She was still on duty.

"Joey, what happened?" she asked.

"I went for a swim," Joey replied sarcastically.

She kept on walking. Charlie fell into step beside her.

"What happened?" she asked again.

"Robbo shoved into me and I fell overboard," Joey explained.

"What? I hope he's being sacked!"

"Of course he's not being sacked. What kind of world are you living in?"

She felt guilty for taking her anger out on her friend but she couldn't seem to help herself.

"Then I'm going down to talk to him right now," Charlie said, changing direction.

"No!" Joey protested, gripping her arm.

Charlie turned back to her.

"Joey, you can't keep ignoring this. It's getting ridiculous. You could have been really hurt."

"I don't want you to interfere," Joey argued. "Just let me handle it my way, okay?"

"But you're not handling it."

"I'm fine!"

Joey began to hurry away, forcing all her emotions to one side. Now wasn't the time to get lost in an abyss of sadness. She heard Charlie chasing after her.

"You know the most unconvincing way to saying you're fine?" Charlie challenged. "Yelling it!"

"Just leave me alone, Charlie."

"Joey, please don't do this again," she begged.

Confused, Joey turned to face her, looking into her eyes.

"Do what?"

"Get so stressed that you force yourself into isolation, close yourself off. Talk to me, Joey. I need to know what's going on so I can help you," Charlie begged.

"You can't help. Just… just focus on helping Tanya."

"She's gone," Charlie admitted.

"Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

"She's left town. Gone to live with her parents. She's asked me to drop the case completely."

Joey felt her resolve weaken, not for herself but for Tanya. She clenched her jaw as the first tears began to spill. Charlie reached out to hold her.

"You'll get all wet," Joey protested.

"It doesn't matter," Charlie assured her.

They held each other in the street for a few moments and Charlie brushed her hands through Joey's soaked hair.

"Let's get you home," Charlie said.

"Aren't you working?" Joey asked.

"You're in distress. Dealing with distressed people is my job."

They pulled apart and began walking.

"You really are getting creative with your job remit, Charlie," Joey commented.

Charlie laughed as they turned into their road and headed towards Joey's house. Joey let them in and headed upstairs. Even though it was the most inappropriate time, Charlie couldn't help but notice how well Joey pulled off the wet look.

"So, Robbo just gets to walk away?" Joey asked.

She perched on the edge of the bed and tugged at her sodden shoes and socks before standing and peeling off her jeans. With Joey in front of her in nothing but underwear and a tight, wet t-shirt that revealed she was starting to get cold, Charlie hardly knew where to look.

"I'm afraid so," she said.

"It's not fair, Charlie," Joey protested. "He beat her. He raped her. Doesn't that mean anything? Can't you prosecute him anyway?"

"Not if she's denying it ever happened," Charlie said.

She watched Joey struggle with her t-shirt, getting stuck. Flinging it back down, she growled in frustration.

"For fuck's sake!" she shouted. "I can't even get my damn t-shirt off!"

She looked close to tears. Charlie rushed to her and helped her out of the top, slinging the sea drenched item on the floor. She turned Joey around and undid the strap of her bra, promising not to look. Keeping her word, she returned to the bed and covered her eyes as Joey rooted around for a clean t-shirt, briefs and tracksuit bottoms, skipping on the bra, having decided to vegetate at home for the rest of the day. She sank onto the bed, prompting Charlie to grab a towel, sit behind her and gently start to dry her hair. Joey appreciated her gentleness, the loving gesture of kindness that showed yet again that Charlie would always do everything she could to protect her.

***

November 2004

Elsie left the hospital, cursing herself for not learning from her best friend's mistakes. She remembered lying on the beach with Clara who had complained about fat ankles. It had been a symptom. Constantly she had been faint and breathless but she had ignored it until Joey had bargained with her to go and see a doctor. Now, with a heavy heart, Elsie wished she had remembered it at the time. Or perhaps, she had remembered it and chosen to ignore it, push it to the back of her mind and hope it would go away. Charlie took after her in that respect. Watching her daughter and her daughter's best friend was becoming torturous. She knew they loved each other but she hadn't seen an obvious shift in their relationship that suggested they had woken up to their feelings. Elsie felt sad about all the time they were missing out on as she came face to face yet again with the prospect that life was far too short.

***

Having finished work, Joey had headed straight round to Elsie's house to do the garden for her. It was something that Elsie liked to keep tidy and fresh but while Ross and Charlie tried to find the time during the day to keep it going, it wasn't easy to juggle it between shifts so Joey had taken on the task. Everyone had noticed Elsie's lack of energy since the start of the year. She didn't talk about it and shut people down when they brought it up but it was there and Joey was terrified. She could see her mother all over again. She wasn't ready to lose her second mother too. Surely it wasn't fair to lose so many parents by the time she was nineteen?

***

When Elsie arrived home, she saw Joey's bag in the kitchen, indicating that the young woman was mowing her lawn with dedication. It was one of those things that Joey insisted on, silently letting her know that she was aware that not everything was alright and that Elsie needed help. While Elsie hadn't allowed anyone to have a conversation with her about how unwell she was feeling, a couple of words of Joey's had sneaked through, mostly about how if Clara had gone to the Doctor sooner, she might had been saved and everyone's worlds might not have fallen apart. That had been the final thing to make Elsie go. Standing at the back door, she watched Joey work, catching her eye when she happened to look up. Joey waved and smiled cheerfully. Elsie made a gesture that she hoped meant 'do you want a drink' and Joey gave her a thumbs up. Elsie hurried away.

***

A couple of hours later, Charlie had arrived home exhausted from work but pleased that she and Angelo appeared to have genuinely called a truce. He had been a nightmare since New Year when not only was he dealing with Charlie dumping him but Belle dumping him too. After several months of being a very angry man, Watson had lost her patience and told him that if he didn't stop being an attention seeking, self-pitying cranky pants then she was moving out. His first job had been to apologise to Charlie and mean it and although it had taken a couple of days, he had now succeeded and they had achieved an afternoon of rare tranquillity. Lying on her bed now with Joey stretched out beside her, they listened to a chill out album and caught each other up on their day.

"Any more hassle?" Charlie asked, referring to Robbo.

"Just the odd comment," Joey said. "He's back to normal again now. Just commenting and stuff. I can deal."

Charlie still wasn't happy about it but as long as Joey was no longer frightened, she supposed that was an improvement. There was a knock at the door.

"Hello?" Charlie called.

It would presumably only be her mother or sister. Her father never really came to her room. Elsie poked her head round the door.

"Hey, girls. I really need to talk to you. Could you come down please?"

Immediately concerned, Charlie leapt off the bed and so did Joey, who shoved her feet into her shoes. Downstairs, Ross and Ruby were seated on the sofa.

"I'll um… leave you to it," Joey said, sensing a family occasion.

"No, Joey. I'd like you to stay if you don't mind," Elsie told her.

Joey and Charlie exchanged glances and sat down beside each other on the two-seater. Feeling vulnerable, Ruby hauled herself into her sister's lap.

"Elsie, don't you think this is a time for family?" Ross asked awkwardly.

He liked Joey. She was a nice girl and he thought a lot of her but this was serious now and whether she was Clara's daughter or Charlie's best friend or whatever his girls referred to her as, she wasn't related really. His wife looked at him sharply.

"Joey is family," she told him, warning him not to make a fuss.

"I really don't mind leaving you to it," Joey said, starting to get to her feet.

Elsie put a hand on her shoulder, guiding her back down.

"I need you to stay," she said.

Sitting back down on her own seat, Elsie turned back to Ross and hissed at him that it wasn't about him. Then she took a breath and prepared to face all three of her girls.

***

That evening, Elsie, Ross, Charlie, Joey and Ruby felt lost in their own worlds. Once Elsie had painstakingly explained that she had thyroid cancer, the small group had stayed together for quite a while. Elsie revealed that she had been to the hospital over the last few days to finally explain how unwell she felt. After an initial examination, the Doctor had been alarmed to find a lump in her neck that Elsie hadn't noticed before. She'd just thought she was putting on weight. Clara's ankles had flashed in Joey's mind at that point. Elsie had then gone for an ultrasound and had been told there and then that she needed to go and wait for her consultant. When she did, she was told that she had Medullary Thyroid Cancer, possibly from an unhappy gene further along in her family, alongside an under-active thyroid of her own which she had been treating with medication since she was twenty. She'd been told that she was at stage four of the disease, meaning that it looked like it had spread beyond her thyroid gland and so she was booked in for a scan at the end of the week to see what was happening. Ruby had burst into tears asking if her mother was going to die and Elsie had promised that there were options and treatments and that the Doctors were helping her. Unsatisfied, Ruby had flung herself into her arms and wept. Joey had forced herself not to cry. Charlie had managed no such thing but took comfort in Joey holding her hand. Ross had remained silent throughout. Since then, exhausted from the emotions of the day, Elsie had slipped away to bed early. Ross had spent a lot of time sitting out on the porch looking up at the sky in silence. Joey had left the house, deciding that as much as they were family to her, blood was thicker than water and the Bucktons' needed to be together without a Collins around. Charlie had focussed on helping Ruby deal with the situation. She'd held her while she cried and accepted the request of a bedtime story even though really she was too old for those now. In her pyjamas, Ruby had let Charlie brush her hair in a way that she found relaxing and soothing. Tucking her under the blankets, Charlie kissed her sister goodnight, turned out the light, shut the door and promptly burst into tears.

***

"Joey, are you okay?"

Joey looked up from where she was sitting on the beach when she heard Zoe's voice. She tried to smile but it was pathetic. Sensing Joey's grief, Zoe sat beside her.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell anybody."

"It won't go any further."

Joey sighed. She looked at the moon and apologised to Elsie for spilling her secrets. She had to unburden her heart.

"Elsie has cancer," she said.

Her tears surprised her. She had suppressed them ever since she'd found out. She felt Zoe slip her arms around her, holding her close and letting her cry, offering gentle condolences, knowing how much Elsie meant to her ex-girlfriend.

"Hey, why don't you come back to mine for a cup of tea?" Zoe suggested. "You shouldn't be by yourself."

As if numb, Joey let herself be guided to her feet. It would be nice to have a cup of tea with someone who, despite everything that had gone on, she felt safe with – someone who wasn't connected to Elsie's suffering in any way.

***

Inside the house, Joey was disappointed to find Robbo watching television. After Tanya had left, he'd given up the tenancy on the flat they'd briefly rented together and moved back home. Zoe made their drinks and then led the way up to her room, realising that Joey probably wouldn't want to be hassled by Robbo right at this moment. Joey followed and perched on the edge of the bed, still numb with silent tears rolling down her cheeks.

"So, will she be okay?" Zoe asked.

"She says that there are treatments she can have but I just have this sick feeling inside. Because of my Mum, I guess."

Zoe nodded. She reached out to wipe Joey's tears away. Joey smiled weakly. Zoe slowly leant closer and brushed her lips against Joey's. Surprised, Joey pulled back but didn't resist when Zoe came back a second time. Kissing Zoe felt familiar and comforting. It made her feel safe, wanted and needed. Their kiss became more intense as Zoe ran her fingertips along Joey's still wet cheeks. Their tongues interacted gently and Zoe guided Joey's hands to rest on her breasts. Joey began to run her thumbs over the fabric, aware that this moment was out of feeling lost not lust. She pulled back guiltily.

"I… I don't want to complicate things," she said. "I don't think we should get back together."

Zoe titled Joey's face towards her.

"It doesn't have to be about that," she informed her. "It can just be about tonight if you want."

Joey agreed and kissed her again, fumbling with her shirt buttons, opening most of them and reaching inside. Easing Zoe back onto the bed, they kissed as Joey explored, slipping one hand inside her jeans.

"Zoe, are you still up?"

Robbo burst into the room without knocking. Joey and Zoe sprang apart.

"What the hell is going on?" Robbo demanded.

Joey managed a couple of vowel sounds and looked helplessly at Zoe.

"She attacked me!" Robbo's sister declared.

Joey just stared at her, hardly believing that she'd said those words. Zoe hurried to do her buttons back up, never looking away from her enraged brother.

"Elsie's dying and she was upset so I brought her back here to cheer her up and she just pounced on me. I'm so glad you came in, Robbo! I don't know what else she might have done. I couldn't stop her!"

The fright in her voice was genuine, if caused by something else. Joey just looked at her helplessly. She turned back to Robbo just in time for him to grab her by the throat and pin her to the wall. She struggled to fight back but he kneed her in the stomach, screaming at her to keep her dykey fingers to herself, that Brett would disown her when he found out and that she would pay for what she had done. Several kicks and punches and a short but painful trip down the bottom half of the stairs later, Joey found herself out on the street. Breathless and bleeding, she looked up at the house, still trying to figure out what had just happened. Zoe opened her window.

"I'm sorry!" she called desperately.

"No, you're not," Joey replied, walking away as quickly as she could.

***

At eleven o'clock, when Joey was tucked up in her bed, shaken and sad, she was startled to hear a soft knock on her door.

"Who is it?" she asked, her voice shrill.

"It's Charlie."

Joey physically relaxed and invited her in. She watched her familiar shape move through the room she knew so well and approach the bed. Joey was grateful for the darkness. It meant that Charlie couldn't see her cut lip and black eye.

"Could I sleep with you tonight?" she asked meekly. "I can't see to be by myself."

Joey smiled, even though Charlie probably couldn't make it out.

"Come on in," she said.

Charlie took her shoes off, having come over in her pyjamas and slipped into bed with Joey, curling up in her arms.

"They say that when you're scared you're meant to go to your safest place," Charlie said. "Well, here I am."

Joey held her a little tighter, ignoring the pain that the contact was inflicting on her body.

"You're my safe place too, Charlie," she said.

"Joey, please tell me that we'll be together forever."

"We will be."

"Even when we're old and grey, we'll still be doing this, right? We'll still love each other just as much, we'll still hold each other through the night when we need to. We'll never leave each other, will we?"

"Nothing could keep us apart, Charlie," Joey promised. "You're stuck with me always."

"I'm glad. I've never needed anyone like I need you. I've never loved anyone the same."

"Nor have I. You're my world."