Chapter Thirty-Six

Charlie woke up with a jolt. She had no concept of time and she still couldn't see but she felt a weight on her right arm, the only uninjured part of her body.

"Joey?" she called anxiously.

"I'm here."

Joey voice was sleepy and cute. Charlie smiled and felt reassured.

"What time is it?"

Joey, who had been asleep, resting her head on the bed beside Charlie, still clutching her hands, looked at her watch.

"It's four in the morning," she said.

Charlie groaned.

"I feel like I've got no concept of anything. I can't see. I can't feel anything except pain. The only bonus here is that I don't have that damn oxygen tube up my nose."

"Rachel said they'll take the bandages off this morning," Joey reminded her. "Things will feel clearer then."

Charlie nodded.

"I bet I look stunning, don't I?" she grinned, ignoring the pain in her cheek and lip.

"You look beautiful," Joey said sincerely.

Charlie chuckled.

"You're very cute for lying," she said affectionately.

"I'm not lying," Joey said. "No amount of injuries could stop you being beautiful."

She leant over and kissed that one spot on her mouth that wasn't hurt. Charlie felt around and managed to lift her hand to the back of Joey's neck, pulling her harder against her mouth. Joey grinned.

"You need to behave," Joey murmured into Charlie's mouth.

Charlie grumbled.

"How long will it take for at least my mouth to be fixed?" she asked.

Joey looked at the cut on Charlie's lip lower lip and the bruise above it.

"Hopefully only a few days," she said.

"What about the rest of me?" Charlie asked, her voice low.

Joey marvelled at how Charlie could be so seductive lying in a hospital bed, but she'd managed it.

"We'll have to ask Rachel," Joey told her, kissing her lightly one more time.

"Do you think Ruby will be back tomorrow? Today?" she corrected herself, remembering the time.

"Of course! Do you know how hard everyone had to work to get her to leave?" Joey laughed.

After Ross had departed Joey had stayed with Rachel to explain the situation to Charlie. As soon as Rachel had finished speaking, Ruby had lost the ability to control her desperation to see her sister and rushed into the room. The moment she'd laid eyes on Charlie, she's burst into tears – partly because of the state she was in and partly from pure relief that Charlie was talking and moving, albeit with severe limitations. She had stayed with her until Leah had been forced to take her away so that she could collect VJ, who had been deposited at Irene's house for the evening.

"She seemed pretty upset to see me," Charlie commented.

"It's hard to see you like this," Joey ventured.

"So ugly?"

"So hurt."

"I can't wait to get these bandages off," Charlie said. "I just want to know what I'm dealing with."

Joey yawned.

"Sorry, I'm keeping you up. What are you still doing here anyway?"

"I promised to stay by your side," Joey reminded her.

"I didn't mean literally. You can go home and sleep in a comfortable bed."

"I'm fine."

"And don't think I've forgotten that you were hurt too," Charlie added. "You've been really vague but I'll see it all later, won't I?"

"I've just got a few cuts," Joey said, not for the first time. "It's not big deal."

"How did you get them?"

"Just, you know, the hazards of helping to save you."

"Rachel said you saved me single-handed," Charlie pointed out.

"Well, Jack was the one who brought you to the hospital," Joey said.

"Who found me?"

She was certain it was Joey, judging by what Rachel had said and she had a vague recollection of Joey being with her in the woods.

"Um… I did," Joey admitted.

"And Skip was still there?"

She had a hint of memory about witnessing Joey and Skip together but she couldn't picture what they had been doing.

"Yeah, she was," Joey said. "But it's all over now so let's just forget about the whole thing."

She didn't want to talk about this. Charlie frowned.

"Sorry," she apologised. "I just… the last thing I remember really clearly is Skip leaving me handcuffed to that post and telling me that I was going to die slowly and painfully. It would help to know what happened next."

Joey sighed, deciding to be vague and quick.

"She took me to see you. She told me you were dead. I set you free and got you to the car. Then Jack and Angelo found us. Angelo set off to look for Skip and Jack took you and I to the hospital."

"Did Angelo find her?"

"I don't know."

"How did you get her to bring you to me?"

"She was sure you were dead so I guess she didn't think it would matter," Joey lied.

She was far from prepared to confess to Charlie that she had promised that she and Skip would be together, even though she hadn't meant it and had purely agreed in order to get to Charlie.

"And how did you convince her to let me go?"

"Does it matter?"

Joey was ashamed of attacking Skip, regardless of how necessary it had been and how much she had deserved it. Violence went against her nature and her moral code.

"Yes, it does."

Joey sighed.

"I hit her."

"You hit her?"

Joey worried that Charlie would be ashamed of her.

"Yes."

"You hate violence."

"There was nothing else I could do!" Joey said desperately. "She was expecting me to sit there and watch you die. And you looked like you were going to do just that any second. I had to do something."

"I'm not judging you," Charlie said gently, reaching out to hold her hand.

She felt Joey's palm in hers and ran her hand over her knuckles, furrowing her brow when the skin didn't feel quite right. Joey looked down at their joint hands.

"Some of the cuts are on my knuckles. From the fight," Joey explained.

Charlie nodded.

"So is that how else you got cut?" she asked. "She hit you back?"

"That's right."

"And how… how did you get me to the car? And how did you even drive the car? Did you drive it? Or did Jack and Angelo find us by then?"

"I put you in a blanket," Joey said heavily. "And I pulled you to the car. I feel terrible about it because it really hurt you but I had to get you to safety. I managed to get you into the back of the car and then I figured out which pedal did what while I attempted to steer."

"You really did save my life," Charlie agreed.

"And I did it with so much style!" Joey grinned, trying to lighten the mood. "None of this sweeping you up into my arms rubbish! Nope, I dragged you on a blanket. And driving… well, put it this way, by the time Jack and Angelo found us, the lights were flashing and the windscreen wipers were on because I kept failing to find the right buttons!"

Charlie laughed.

"It sounds like you did perfectly," she said. "Thank you."

Joey shrugged.

"Anyone would have…"

"Kept themselves out of harm's way," Charlie interrupted.

"I just did what needed to be done," Joey said. "What other choice was there? I couldn't let you slip away from me, from your family and your friends."

"The humblest of heroes," Charlie teased.

Joey blushed and then yawned again.

"You need to go to bed, Joey."

"I'll just rest my head here," Joey said.

She laid her head down in the space beside Charlie and kept hold of her hand.

"I can't even see you and I know that's not comfortable."

"It's fine," Joey said.

Charlie stopped nagging. Even though she was genuinely fretting about Joey's comfort, secretly she really didn't want her to go away.