Chapter Fifty-Two

'Who?' Max asked her, placing his cup down on the table, wanting to give Lauren his full attention.

'Joey' she replied. 'He's alive. Turns out he didn't die in the tsunami after all'

Max frowned and slid his foot off his knee and sat forward. 'How do you know?'

'I saw him' Lauren said to him, raising her eyes to his. Max sighed, thinking she was having another one of her episodes.

'Lauren, sweetheart…you remember what your counsellor said to you. The mind can make you see things that aren't really there' he reminded her gently.

'No dad. I bumped into him, literally…I fainted and hit my head and he called an ambulance and came to the hospital with me' she explained to him.

'You haven't been in hospital' Max shook his head sadly. Lauren seemed to be getting worse not better like he'd hoped.

Lauren sighed 'remember the night you called Lucy and she said I was staying at hers?' she asked him and he nodded his head 'Well I wasn't at Lucy's I was in the hospital. I didn't call you because I didn't want you to worry and fuss over me. The doctors kept me in overnight and Joey came back to see me in the morning' Lauren said to him. 'He didn't die, dad. He just…saw me and Marcus together in the square and he left'

'What do you mean he left?' Max frowned.

'He went to California or something…he wasn't even in Hawaii when the tsunami hit. He didn't even think to call me or write to me to let me know he was okay because he thought I was with Marcus'

Max frowned at her 'wait a minute, let me get this straight…' he said. 'For the past six months this boy has been alive and well and you…you've been mourning his death?'

'In a nutshell' Lauren nodded her head 'but it wasn't just him dying though dad…it was what I saw in Hawaii too' she told him and she looked down. 'But I did blame myself for Joey dying' she told him. 'And he's apologised so…'

'Is that all?' Max snapped angrily 'That's very big of him…He needs to do more than bloody apologise'

'Dad…' Lauren shook her head. 'I don't want to hear what he has to say. I feel pretty stupid that all this time I thought I was going crazy because I was seeing him everywhere…'

'When you really were seeing him everywhere because he's bloody well alive' Max finished for her 'you wait until I get my hands on him. He's going to wish he was dead…'

'That's not going to help dad' Lauren told him softly.

'Does he know what he's put you through? Does he know you went to Hawaii looking for him? Does he know the state you're in now?' he asked her.

'Yes' she nodded her head 'and he's sorry'

'He's going to be so much more than sorry' Max frowned. Lauren sighed and looked down at her coffee. He looked up at her and his gaze softened. 'I'm sorry sweetheart. I just…I've watched you withdraw into yourself over the past six months, you lost your job, you've lost far too much weight and you're not sleeping or eating properly. You're a shadow of the girl you used to be and I'm just worried about you. You're my little girl and I feel helpless to stop you suffering' he explained to her. 'Punching this Joey bloke in the face three or four times would go some ways to making me feel a little bit better' Lauren looked up at him in surprise, a faint smile on her face. He couldn't help but smile back at her and then he frowned again. 'Has he tried to contact you since the hospital?' he asked her.

'He put a letter through the door. Gave me his address and phone number' she told him.

'When?' he frowned.

'The night before you suggested we come away' she replied. 'I read the letter and he was saying how sorry he was and how guilty he feels…that we needed to talk' she told him.

'Do you want to see him?' he asked her.

Lauren considered this for a moment and then shook her head 'no' she said firmly 'I don't'

Max nodded his head 'then you don't. And if he starts hassling you then me and Uncle Jack will go pay him a visit' he told her 'make sure he gets the message'

'Thanks, dad' she smiled at him.

Max looked at her as she picked up her coffee. She raised the cup to her lips and then stopped, her eyes widened slightly and he turned to look over his shoulder at what she'd seen. It was nothing unusual. A small boy of about four or five had lost his flip flop as he was walking along. He turned back to look at Lauren and could see she was lost in her thoughts again. He wondered what she'd seen and experienced in Hawaii that he would sometimes see such a haunted look on her face. Oh yes, this Joey bloke certainly had a lot to answer for. And Max was going to make sure he faced up to what he'd done to his daughter.

AN: Max is not happy with Joey! I think if they ever meet he's probably going to punch him in the face several times! At least Lauren has opened up to her dad, although I don't think that was what he was expecting to hear, especially after seeing the haunted look on her face after a little boy lost his flip flop. Poor Lauren, she's been through so much and all of it didn't have to happen if Joey had done the decent thing and told her he was safe! Back tomorrow. Don't forget to leave me a review.