Thank you everyone for your well wishes. I'm really grateful. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Thirty Six

March 2009

Summer Bay, Australia

Charlie headed round to see Kat after work and was immediately stunned by the cut and bruise on her cheek.

"What happened to you?" she asked, deeply concerned.

Joey explained the vacuum cleaner story and dismissed the whole thing.

"But that was last night," Charlie pointed out, following her friend into the house and shutting the door behind her. "It shouldn't still be bleeding."

"It's only a little bit," Joey said.

Martha had come home from lunch and hassled her about it too but there was no way Joey was prepared to make a fuss.

"You might need stitches," Charlie said anxiously. "Why don't you let me take you to the hospital?"

"No!" Joey said a little too quickly.

Charlie looked stunned.

"I just... I don't like hospitals," Joey explained more calmly.

She also only had fifteen minutes until curfew and she couldn't risk breaking that – not that she could explain anything of the sort to Charlie.

"But you're hurt," the police officer said quietly.

Joey smiled bravely, even though it hurt her cheek.

"It's fine," she said. "We women bleed for several days a month and we're always fine."

Charlie snorted with laughter but pointed out that it wasn't quite the same thing.

"I promise you that I'm fine," Joey said.

"Are you sure?" Charlie asked. "I've got the car here. I could just..."

Joey held her friend's hand and looked her in the eye, insisting that she was fine. They were interrupted by the front door opening. Joey jerked away from Charlie quickly but was relieved when it was Martha waltzing through the door and not Hugo. She had Rachel in tow.

"Hey, Kat," Rachel said. "Martha told me that..."

"I'm fine!" Joey insisted in exasperation.

"Well, Rachel's a Doctor so why don't you let her be the judge of that?" Martha suggested.

Charlie looked smug and pulled Joey towards the couch so Rachel could check out her injury.

"You really need a couple of stitches," Rachel concluded, having examined the wound thoroughly.

"I really don't want stitches," Joey said.

"Nobody wants stitches, sweetheart," Charlie smirked. "That would just be silly."

Joey poked her tongue out and then turned back to Rachel, trying to convince her that a trip to the hospital was unnecessary.

"Obviously I can't force you but I really do advise that you come in with me," Rachel said worriedly. "It won't take long. I can even sneak you in past the waiting list."

The door opened again. Hugo stopped short when he saw the four women in the living room.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking vaguely amused.

"Your girlfriend is being completely stubborn and won't accept that she needs stitches for her cheek," Martha said, sinking into an armchair somewhat grumpily.

"Stitches?" Hugo asked worriedly.

He immediately began to feel guilty and sat on Joey's other side.

"Is it bad?" he asked Rachel.

"It's fine," Joey insisted.

"It's okay," Rachel said. "If you go and have some stitches to fix it."

"And I've said that I don't like hospitals," Joey pointed out.

She looked helplessly at Hugo, knowing he wouldn't want her to get treatment any more than she did. He glanced around at the women who were obviously concerned about their friend. Sighing, he told Joey that they should do what Rachel recommended. She looked surprised.

"Great," Rachel said. "Let's go."

"I'll drive Katherine separately," Hugo said. "We'll follow you up. We're going out for dinner afterwards."

"Okay, fine," Rachel said.

She headed out the door and warned them not to be long.

"Well, that's my cue to go," Charlie said, also getting up.

She hugged Kat goodbye, waved to Martha and Hugo and left. Hugo followed Joey into their bedroom so that he could fix the tag before they headed out to the hospital.

"So, did you see Kat today?" Ruby asked over dinner.

"Briefly," Charlie said, juggling her pots and pans whilst trying to pour herself a glass of wine. "Hugo took her to the hospital."

"About her face?" Ruby asked.

Charlie turned round and studied her sister in confusion before Ruby explained that Xavier had told her what happened.

"She's gone to get stitches," Charlie said.

She began serving dinner for herself and Ruby and they sat down together at the kitchen table.

"Is she okay?" Ruby asked.

"I think so," Charlie said, although she was still concerned. "She definitely didn't want to go to hospital though."

Hugo and Joey were sitting in the hospital cubicle. Rachel had taken the personal medical history that Joey had been force fed many years ago and sorted out the stitches herself, even though it wasn't technically her job and she was actually off duty. Now they were waiting for her to come back.

"I guess our dinner date is off," Joey said unhappily.

"Not if you still want to go," Hugo replied, still feeling very guilty.

Joey's eyes lit up and she smiled, confirming that she did.

"Really?" he asked. "Even after what I did?"

"In my position, you pretty much take what you can get," Joey said.

Hugo nodded quietly. They looked up when Rachel appeared in the room.

"Kat, you don't happen to go by another name or anything, do you?" the Doctor asked, shutting the door behind her.

Joey glanced a little nervously at Hugo and then turned back to Rachel, shaking her head.

"Are you sure? Because I cannot find you anywhere on our system."

"I haven't had a GP for a long time," Joey said. "I'm in good health. There hasn't been any need to see a Doctor until now."

"Never?" Rachel asked.

Joey nodded.

"Not for a bug or a prescription or anything like that?" Rachel asked. "I mean, I can't even find your date of birth or anything."

"It's 8th September 1984," Joey told her.

Rachel nodded but remained thoughtful.

"Does a lack of medical records matter?" Hugo finally asked.

"No," Rachel said. "You're just here for stitches and you've said you're not allergic to anything. It's just... weird."

Next time... we're going back in time again to the first month of poor Joey's captivity...