I can only apologise to you all for making you wait for the next chapter on the cliffhanger! So sorry guys but here it is. I know it is a little smaller then other chapters but I wanted to get this out for you so you know what happened.. sort of! Let me know what you think happened and what you want to happen!
Later in the day, Carla and Michelle both left the flat to pick up Haisley. They wanted everything to seem normal to her.
"Mummy, Auntie Michelle" Haisley called as she ran over to them.
"Hello baby, we thought we would both come and get you today" Carla told her "since mummy overslept this morning"
"That is silly mummy" Haisley laughed "you need to get up in the morning"
"I know, so we thought we would go to the park" Carla told her.
"Yay" Haisley screamed.
Once they were at the park Carla watched as Haisley ran over to the slide. Carla rummaged through her handbag for her phone.
"Oh no, I must have left my phone at home" Carla told Michelle.
"That's ok, we will can make our way back soon" Michelle told her "and I have mine if anyone needs us"
Carla nodded at her.
Once Haisley had had enough they all made their way back to Carla's. She rushed through the door to see if Peter was home.
No sign.
Carla sighed. Michelle placed her hand on Carla's shoulder for support.
"I am starving" Haisley said "can we eat?"
"Yes baby" Carla told her "how about I do you some special beans on toast"
"Yummy" Haisley responded. She then made her way to her room whilst Carla made her dinner in the kitchen.
"I am going to kill him" Carla told her "how dare he stay out for twenty four hours, I am done with him"
"Carla, I don't know what to say to you"
"Can you finish this whilst I find my phone"
"It's on the table, babe" Michelle told her.
"It's dead" Carla said rushing into the kitchen to find the charger "how can it be dead, what if he has tried to phone me"
"Carla, calm down" Michelle told her "here" she took the phone off of her and plugged it into the charger.
"I can't believe it is dead, what if he needs me"
"So you are not done with him then" Michelle said, sarcastically.
Carla gave Michelle a look.
"I am going to call madam" Michelle said, plating up her beans on toast "Haisley" she called.
"Coming" Haisley called back. Michelle placed her plate on the dining room table and returned to the kitchen to comfort Carla.
"Yummy" Haisley said, tucking in.
Carla's phone turned on. It was flooded with messages from Ken and Johnny.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door.
Carla had a look of panic on her face from reading all the messages "oh no"
Michelle answered the door at the same time Carla read the messages. Johnny rushed through.
"Why haven't you answered your phone? Where have you been?" he asked.
"It died and we took Haisley to the park after nursery"
"Peter is in the hospital" Johnny told her. Carla went white as a sheet "I will take you there now" Johnny told her.
"No, Michelle can take me, can you have Haisley?" Carla asked him "she will think it is normal to have a sleepover with you rather then Michelle sleep here with her"
"Ok" Johnny replied.
"What happened to him?" Carla asked.
"He was seriously assaulted and left for dead" Johnny said delicately.
"Oh my God" Carla said "I have to get to him"
Carla ran out of the flat with Michelle right behind her.
"Hello grandad" Haisley said, when Johnny took a seat with her on the table.
"Hello princess, you are coming for a sleepover with me tonight" he told her.
"Yay, that will be fun" Haisley said. The little girl was oblivious to the panic that her mother was feeling and the injuries her father had sustained.
Over at the hospital, a panicked Carla had just arrived with Michelle in tow. She was shown to the waiting room where Ken and Simon were waiting.
"Ken" Carla called, he stood to greet her with a hug "What has happened?"
"Someone has attacked Peter, they don't know if it's a mugging or if he was targeted directly"
"I am so sorry I wasn't here sooner, Can I see him?" Carla asked.
"The doctors are with him right now, they said we can see him later on" Ken told her "He was found this morning, but they think he was there for sometime"
"Oh god" Carla said, releasing some tears. Michelle pulled her in for a hug "I knew he didn't come home and I did nothing… what use am I"
"Carla, you had no idea something like this would happen" Michelle said to her.
"I could have been out looking for him" Carla pulled away "but instead I accused him of drinking and leaving me and Haisley"
"You did what?" Simon said to her.
"Si" Carla started but she was interrupted by an angry Simon.
"You thought he was drinking and left him for dead?"
"Simon" Ken scolded.
"If he dies, it's on you" Simon said, barging past her to walk out the doors.
"Ignore him Carla, he is just hurting and needs someone to blame" Ken told her.
"He is right though, instead of supporting him, the first sign of him not coming home and I thought he was out drinking, what sort of partner does that make me?"
"Carla, don't beat yourself up about this, you were not to know" Ken tried to comfort her.
"Yes Ken is right, you weren't to know and I'm not being funny Carla but previously with Peter if he hasn't come home it's because he was drinking, no one blames you for thinking that" Michelle said.
A little while later, Carla was allowed in to see Peter.
"Oh baby" she said as she rushed to his side. She took his hand in hers and kissed it "i'm so sorry"
"He is still in a coma i'm afraid, we have done our best to bring him round but he has had quite the blow to his head"
"What does that mean?" Carla asked, not taking her eyes off of Peter.
"It means that we don't know what Mr Barlow's state of mind will be when he wakes up" the doctor told her.
"So you do think he will wake up"
"We can never be too sure in situations like this, but Mr Barlow is responding nicely to the treatment we have given him so we are all positive he will"
"Ok, thank you" Carla said to them.
"If you have any questions, you know where I am"
Carla nodded. She sat next to him on the bed "oh Peter, who would have done this to you"
Carla didn't want to leave Peter but she knew the hospital would kick her out eventually. Michelle offered to take her home and stay with her whilst she came to terms with what had happened.
Haisley was fast asleep by the time Carla got home, so she left her with Johnny. She also knew that she was in no state to look after her right now.
"Why don't you go to bed and I will sort everything here" Michelle told her, looking around the flat and seeing the mess.
"Do you mind, I just need to go into my head right now" Carla said, sadly.
"He will be ok you know" Michelle said to Carla as she walked away in the direction of the bedroom.
Carla stopped and turned to Michelle "I know, just when everything was going well, something like this always has to happen to us"
"You will get through this Carla and then you can both look to the future together and with a new baby, maybe"
Carla gave her a small smile, then she was gone.
Michelle did as she promised and gave the flat a tidy. She knew that Haisley would come home tomorrow and notice if things weren't normal. Carla was a clean freak and liked everything to be away after she used it so Haisley would notice if everything was messy.
The next morning Carla was up at the crack of dawn. She couldn't really sleep and when she did she dreamt of Peter making her even more upset. She hated herself for thinking badly of Peter.
Michelle stayed in Haisley's room, she wanted to give Carla some space but not too much space so she couldn't keep an eye on her.
"Chelle, I'm going to have a shower and then can you take me to the hospital?" Carla asked.
"Yes of course, I will make you something to eat too as you need to eat" She said knowing that Carla would not eat.
Carla rolled her eyes but agreed. After she had showered and been practically force fed by Michelle, Carla was back at the hospital by Peter's side.
He still hadn't woken up but the doctors said he was responding really well to treatment overnight.
Haisley on the other hand didn't know anything was wrong. Johnny had made sure she had fun at his house and he took her to nursery for the day. Aiden was going to pick her up and wait with her until Carla got home.
Carla sat by his side all day, partly from love and partly from guilt. There was a small knock on the door. Carla looked to see Simon stood sheepishly at the door.
"Can I come in?" he asked.
"Of course you can" Carla smiled at him.
"Carla, I am so sorry" Simon told her "It was all just too much to handle yesterday, I know that I shouldn't have shouted at you"
"It's ok Simon, everyone deals with things differently and I did deserve someone to shout at me"
"It was only natural you thought that and he does have a track record" Simon said with a smile, lightening the mood.
They both sat and had a catch up. Carla filled Simon in on what the doctors had told her and Simon filled her in on his horrible day at school.
All was quiet, Peter hadn't made any progress and Carla was starting to worry. Simon had gone home as Leanne wanted him to come back at a decent hour so he wasn't tired for school.
Suddenly Carla heard a groan come from Peter.
"Nurse" Carla shouted.
Peter moved his head and tried to open his eyes.
"Peter, baby open your eyes" Carla said to him "I am here" she squeezed his hand.
The nurse rushed in with the doctor "he moved his head and groaned" Carla told them.
"Peter, can you hear us?" the doctor asked him as he shined a light onto his face.
Peter opened his eyes "Peter" Carla sighed in relief.
The doctors assessed him and made sure that he was ok. He had no lasting damage in the brain and seemed to respond to all the tests they carried out. After the doctors had finished with him, he was left alone with Carla.
"You had us all worried" Carla told him, stroking his face.
"Haisley" Peter managed to say.
"She is fine, she doesn't know what is going on, she had a sleepover with Johnny and she is with Aiden right now"
Peter smiled.
"Peter, I was so worried" Carla told him, releasing a tear. He lifted his hand to her face and wiped it with his thumb.
"I'm okay" he said slowly.
"I wouldn't call this okay but at least you are awake"
"Carla" Peter smiled "I love you" Peter couldn't say much, he was in pain and had just woken up but the fact that was one of the first things he said filled Carla with joy.
"I love you so much Peter" she placed a kiss onto his forehead "Listen, I am going to go home so Haisley doesn't think something is wrong but I will be back first thing tomorrow and then we can figure out who and why someone did this to you"
"Ok" Peter replied before his eyes shut again. He was tired and needed to recover. She kissed his hand and released it from hers.
Over at Carla's flat, Aiden was playing games with Haisley.
"Well look at you two" Carla said, standing in the doorway.
"Mummy, I beat uncle Aiden" Haisley said, running over to Carla.
Carla scooped her up and gave her a squeeze. She breathed in the familiar scent of her child.
"I missed you" she said, still hugging her.
"I missed you mummy" Haisley placed a kiss onto Carla's cheek. Carla smiled at her cuteness and put her down.
She told Aiden that Peter woke up and filled him in on her day.
"Thank you so much for having her Aiden" Carla said, walking Aiden to the door.
"It was my pleasure" Aiden told her "It's good practice"
After Aiden left Carla spent her time with Haisley, some good old fashioned quality time. They watched a movie, snuggled up together. Carla wanted her little girl to feel loved right now as she was going to have to tell her about Peter.
But tonight was all about her.