A Moment for Mother and Son
This story has been prompted by roscoesareamazing and who want a Ziggy and Sandy chapter, so here you go! After overdosing Ruby is in a dangerous coma at the hospital with Ziggy keeping watch on her day and night. Knowing all to well what her son is going through, Sandy visits him to try and help ease his pain.
I wrote this before Ruby's heart attack in the actual show, so there are a few differences between this and that, just a warning. Hope you enjoy!
It was all his fault. If he hadn't cheated on her, if he hadn't been so horrible then this would never have happened. The girl he loved with all his might wouldn't be in a coma, practically dead to the world as her family sat by her bedside, begging for her to wake up and come back to them.
Those were the thoughts that circled Ziggy's mind as he stared through Ruby's hospital room window, trying desperately to control his tears and wishing that he could go back in time and just fix everything.
He remembered the moment he had found her, sprawled on the floor of the Dog toilets, barely even breathing as he tried to desperately rouse her. If he hadn't been at the pub, celebrating the fact that Lindsey and Joe were having another baby, would this have even happened?
Because she had seemed fine before she had spotted him at the bar. Then her smile had turned into a frown and she had flounced off to the toilets, leaving the customers she was serving at a loss of what to do.
Ziggy hadn't gone after her straight away, but when Ruby still hadn't returned after a good ten minutes, he swallowed his pride and entered the ladies, determined to fix the sorry mess between them once and all. He had expected for Ruby to start shouting at him. To be glaring and maybe even crying. He hadn't expected, not in a million years, that she would be lying on the floor, limbs sprawled at such an angle, it was obvious she had collapsed.
After that, the rest of the evening was a blur, though Ziggy remembered Ruby being carried to an ambulance in startling detail. The Osbournes had quickly shut shop then, rushing to the hospital to be with their loved one, Ziggy close on their heels, arriving just in time to hear the doctor's diagnosis.
Drugs overdose.
Most likely cocaine.
Would have had trouble breathing shortly after taking the drugs.
Fallen into a coma.
The words revolved round and round in Ziggy's mind and he felt himself going weak as he realised just how much danger Ruby was in. The doctors had said they needed to take more tests to see just how severe the damage was. That had been over an hour ago and still no word had come back, leaving the Osbourne family and Ziggy all on edge.
Frankie had briefly left Ruby's side to tell Ziggy to leave, though he had refused point blank. Too many times he had failed Ruby, the beautiful girl in front of him, and he was damned if he was going to do that again.
No, Ziggy was going to stay by her side (or at least on her ward if he wasn't allowed any closer), until she woke up. Then he was going to help her get better and do everything she needed him to do and more and maybe, just maybe he'd be able to win her back round, to convince her that he was serious about their relationship.
That had been two days ago and still Ruby showed no sign of waking up, though Ziggy still hadn't left. The Osbournes had been flitting in and out of the hospital, visiting whenever possible, though the young mechanic refused to do such a thing, despite how many people tried to make him leave.
He couldn't leave Ruby, he had done too much to fail her in the past and he was not going to do that to her once more, by not being there when she woke up. Every member of the Osbourne family had tried to make him go home at least once, as well as half of his own, though their efforts were never successful, hell it was a challenge to get Ziggy to leave the ward to even go to the toilet, so to make him leave the building altogether was like mission impossible.
And so that was where he stayed. Sometimes right by Ruby's bed, clasping her hand tightly and promising to never leave her once more, though more often than not, out in the corridor watching in as Frankie or Esther sat by her side, praying for the school-girl to wake.
He was in the corridor when Sandy found him, in the same seat he had taken when Ruby had been first admitted to the hospital, staring blankly into her room as Tom kissed her cheek goodbye and left, smiling weakly at Ziggy who nodded in return.
"I thought I'd find you here love."
"Well I'm not likely to be anywhere else am I?" Ziggy replied gruffly, in no mood for pleasantries, not when Ruby's life was still in so much danger.
"I guess that's true. I mean I haven't seen you since Friday and Darren says you're always here when he visits Ruby. Have you even gone home Ziggy?" Sandy asked, already knowing the answer by just taking in Ziggy's rumpled state.
Her usually flirtatious son was still wearing the same clothes as he had been the night Ruby had overdosed and his once gelled, well styled hair was lying in an inelegant flop. Bags were marking his face and the stress from the last few days had aged him unbelievably so.
"There's no point, I'm not leaving her."
"You can't stay here twenty four/ seven love," Sandy tried, knowing how hard it was going to be to break through to her son.
"And why not? She is in there wasting away and I don't know if she'll ever wake up again. I'm not going to waste my time at home or work, when I should be saving what I have left with her. I love her mum and I... I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to tell her that again."
"Don't say that love, you know the doctors are going to try and bring her out of the coma tomorrow, they think her body should be able to handle it."
"And what if it doesn't hey? Because I know just how scared the doctors are, I see their faces as they leave Ruby's room and I know they don't fully believe that bringing her out of it will work. And if she dies tomorrow and I wasn't here because I was working on some stupid car, I'll never forgive myself."
"Ruby wouldn't want you -"
"How would you know what she wants?" Ziggy practically screamed, tears spilling over for the first time since the earlier incident just a few days before. "You barely even knew her mum, none of you did! You all acted like she was a silly little school-girl and never gave her a chance. But you know, she was so much better than that, she was kind and funny and so much smarter than people gave her credit for.
"And she was mature despite her age. She was one of those people who knew what they wanted to do with their lives and would do it no matter what. I was in awe of her Mum and I completely ruined it, ruined her."
"You can't blame yourself Zig, that's not going to help anyone," Sandy protested, hating seeing how broken-hearted Ziggy was and knowing there was nothing she could do about it. Seeing him in such a state, reminded her of herself all those years ago when Alan had passed. She had barely left the hospital in his last few days, only doing so because of Joe, Freddie and Ziggy, those three had kept her sane, but Ziggy, well what did he have really?
"But it is my fault mum," Ziggy admitted, ready to speak about all the sins he had committed whilst with Ruby, ready to face his punishment. "I cheated on Ruby, with Frankie. I slept with her goddamn guardian and when Ruby found out I lied, pretended that it never happened and pushed her away. I broke her completely and that's why she took the drugs, that's why she's lying on that hospital bed in a coma, dead to the world and with a chance that she'll never wake up."
Sandy was silent for a few moments, trying to process everything that Ziggy had just told her and knowing full well why he was blaming himself, though she knew it wasn't just her son's fault for Ruby's current situation, the blonde just had to show him that.
"Ziggy you can't blame yourself for this, I know it feels completely your fault, but you have to believe me when I say it isn't. I mean, relationships like yours and Ruby's break down every day, but you don't have people in Ruby's position start to take drugs because of it. She's had a lot to deal with in her life and that will have left her troubled, but you cheating on her, was not what caused this."
"How can you even say that?" Ziggy spat, completely disgusted with his actions and unable to believe that Sandy wasn't disowning him on the spot. "I broke Ruby's heart, betrayed her in the worst possible way, of course I was the one to cause this."
"I'm not saying what you did wasn't wrong Ziggy, because it was, and it would have left Ruby completely broken-hearted, but she didn't take those drugs just because of you. When Alan found out about me and Jack he was furious, completely enraged.
"He got into fights and got drunk, but he never did anything out of the ordinary, because although he said he felt like his whole world was crumbling at that very point, he hadn't experienced that feeling before or after that incident. Ruby however has gone through an awful lot for a girl her age.
"With her friends and fiancé dying in that horrible car crash last year and then with Tom going missing and Esther's suicide attempt, well it's a surprise that she hadn't gone off the rails before this point, because a lot of other people would have done so. What I'm saying Ziggy, is that yes you're in the wrong for cheating on Ruby, but not for one second did you cause this."
"But I have to make it up to her somehow mum," Ziggy protested, seeing sense in Sandy's words, though too stubborn to take them at more than face value. "I can't just leave her, I can't-"
"In case she dies whilst your not there," Sandy supplied when Ziggy paused, unable to let the words leave his mouth, as if they would be the thing to cause Ruby's death. His silence only told Sandy just how right she was, and she sighed as once more she had to place herself back to twenty years ago, when her own soulmate had passed away.
"That's exactly how I was when your Dad was in hospital. I didn't leave his side for a whole week, didn't wash, barely ate and never slept, in case something happened whilst I was gone, just like your doing now. I understand how you're feeling Ziggy, a lot more than most, but you have to listen to me when I tell you this isn't the way to go about it.
"Ruby wouldn't want you wasting away in here, because she loves you and that's how I know what she would want for you. Because when you love someone, you don't want them to suffer like your doing now.
"You have to still live your life Ziggy, even if it hurts. I know this whole thing has been a shock and you're still adjusting to it all, but you can't put your life on pause, especially when you don't know what's going to happen next."
Ziggy was silent for a few moments, mulling over his mum's words and trying to accept she was right, because he knew she was, but acting on what she told him, leaving his Ruby all on her own, was another thing entirely. Just as Sandy was giving up all hope on Ziggy talking to her once more, he turned to her, obviously trying to keep strong.
"How did you do it? How did you leave Dad after all those weeks?"
"Because I had you. You, Joe and Freddie were what made me leave that hospital, because although it felt like my life was ending right then and there, I knew it wasn't because I had you three to keep me strong. Everyone has that one thing to keep you going through difficult times and you will too Ziggy, you just have to find it and fight for it."
"What if my thing is Ruby? Then what do I do, because then I really won't have anything to live for."
"Then you find something else to fight for, to love. Whether it be your family or your friends or yourdamn love of tanning! But you're strong Ziggy and I know you can do it, that when Ruby wakes up she won't find you half dead by her bedside, but stronger than ever and ready to show her just how much love you have for her."
Ziggy smiled slightly at Sandy's speech, he couldn't help himself, but for the first time since Ruby's overdose, he felt somewhat better about the future and he knew he could cope. After all, if Sandy had been strong enough to pry herself away from Alan, her husband and father of her three children, then he could leave the hospital and at least get a wash.
"Thanks mum, no really. Everyone else has told me all this optimistic crap about her chances still being good and all that, but you're the only one who's understood me. I can't leave her yet, there's no-one with her, but Darren said he's coming round later to check on her after Nancy. If I can, if I think I'm strong enough, then I'll at least try and go home to change my clothes."
"That's all I want baby," Sandy said with a watery smile, proud of her son for taking even the most smallest of steps, because although they seemed insignificant to the average person, Sandy knew just how difficult it would be for Ziggy to leave Ruby's side. "I'm proud of you love."
With a quick kiss to her son's cheek, Sandy stood and walked away, turning just in time to see Ziggy enter Ruby's room, to finally spend some personal time with her, the girl he loved.
The nurse prayed that the school-girl would be okay, not willing to see just how broken Ziggy would be if she wasn't, though she had no doubts that Ruby wouldn't recover and be back to full health in no time after all. Because she was a fighter, just like Ziggy.
I hope you all enjoyed this, I haven't written much between just Ziggy and Sandy before, so I hope I did their relationship justice!
Next Chapter – Robbie's loyalty to Finn is pushed to the limits, when he finds out his friend has killed somebody – prompted by Little Miss Bovver
Upcoming Prompts!
58 – A Jason and Holly oneshot, expect a lot of fluffiness and cavity inducing sweetness between the young couple! - Hollyoaks Lover
59 – Darren finds himself spending the week at the Roscoe's house and if that's not bad enough, he has to share a room with one of his brothers. But are his new-found family really as bad as they seem?-LawyerlyBrunette
60 – Drunken antics can lead to the funniest of games, this time is no different when the Roscoe boys find themselves playing a game of Truth or Dare after one to many beers - Tasha
61 – Robbie may be a homophobic little bully at the best of times, but even he has his limits. When he finds out about Finn raping John-Paul he is disgusted and tells his friend that, inadvertently angering Finn. But how far will he go to get his revenge on Robbie and who will walk away the winner? - Little Miss Bovver
62 – There's a reason why Robbie and Jason never talk about their Dad, he's an evil and twisted man who last time they checked was rotting away in a prison cell because of assault. But now he's a free man once more and determined to get revenge on the family who got him imprisoned – Becky
63 – A sort of spin off from chapter 9, You Leave Me Spelbound, though this time Jason is performing at olympics for the first time with his gymnastic team – Lydia
64 – Jason isn't the innocent virgin people assume he is, in fact when he arrives at Hollyoaks village he's a father of one, with his baby's mother long since gone from the scene. He may still be at school, but he loves his child dearly, though it's not always easy looking after her – Cburns1995
65 – Jason has always been the smart one, in fact he evens get into Cambridge University. A look at him leaving Hollyoaks Village behind and settling into one of the most prestigious universities in Britain – Lydia
66 – A look at the boys when they were younger and the trouble they got into as teens – Cburns1995
67 – Despite Jason being instantly infatuated with Holly when he first arrived in the village, it's safe to say she didn't feel the same. But what changed between then and now – Brooke Tate
Leo – Aww thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoy my writing style and that you continue to do so
Aleks – Saviour of Christmas that's me ;)
As always, thank you so much for all the lovely reviews, they mean the world to me and I can't believe how much feedback I get from you guys, it truly is incredible! Till next time!