Another review was granted on Carla's condition, Jenny was there for moral support as Peter was once again ignoring her. She didn't know whether to be annoyed with him or be understanding towards his addiction. He was struggling and she knew that but she couldn't help but feel alone in all this. Carla had been working hard these past two weeks on trying to gain movement in the parts of her body which were paralysed but it made her so exhausted over everything and there was very little improvement which meant that they had to review her condition once more. Jenny was sitting with her holding her hand and performing her step-motherly duties as Johnny was inside for his armed robbery back in the day whilst the doctors sat with her and were ready to explain to her what was going to happen.

"So as you know Carla you're currently experiencing paraplegia which is paralysis from the legs down" the doctor smiles, Carla nods slowly "Your health is doing well all the superficial injuries from the accident have cleared up which is a positive"

Carla goes to pick up her phone,

"What about my speech?"

"You're having a speech therapist to see if we can help with moving that along"

"When can I get out of here?"

"This is what we wanted to talk to you about, as you know this past week you've been moved into the rehabilitation unit where we've been doing a lot of intense physiotherapy to see if we can start building your strength up. Ideally, before we think about discharging you we would like you to be able to move from a wheelchair to a normal chair and have the strength to move your body"

"Right"

"We would like to try that now if you think you're ready?"

Carla nods biting her lip as Jenny moves out the way

"This would be helpful for us to know so we can start building on the muscles which you will need to move yourself from one place to another"

"Ok so Carla I'm going to hold your waist, can you sit up for me?" the nurse questions, Carla bites her lip and tries to sit up, the nurse supporting her weight "Ok I'm going to let go now"

Carla nods allowing the other nurse to swing her legs over the side of the bed, she feels the nurse let go of her waist

"Are you ok?" the doctor questions, Carla shakes her head so the nurse holds her body whilst she types out on her phone,

"Dizzy"

"It's completely normal for you to feel that way you've been lying down for most of the time but this is really good progress Carla you should be proud of yourself"

Carla glances through the window with a small smile seeing Peter standing there and watching her, she picks up the phone

"Can I move to a normal chair?"

"You want to try?" the doctor says, Carla nods as the doctor brings the chair over, an accessible one which could change height, the nurses change the height of it

"So what you'll need to do is move from the bed to the chair using your arms, the nurses will be there to help you if you need it"

"O...o...k" Carla stammers holding her weight, she leans over and grips onto the chair, the nurses stay close "N…"

"Stop?" the nurses assume, Carla nods allowing them to help her back into bed

"That's fine" the doctor reassures her "We just need to work with building your strength a bit more thats all. You've done really well Carla"

"O...o...k" she nods as the nurses pull the covers over her legs, Jenny sits down beside her and takes her hand

"So now what?" Jenny questions, Carla bites her lip

"Well we're going to focus on the strength of your arms so you're able to move yourself more efficiently, whilst you're here we're going to continue to carry out tests on your paralysis to see if it improves"

"Will it improve?"

"The longer we go without improvement then the more likely your paralysis could be permanent. Right now with the physio, we are doing we would have liked to have seen some improvement however we do understand these things take time"

Carla picks up her phone

"I might not walk again?"

"We're trying our best to help you Carla and there is still every chance that you might walk again. The longer we go on without movement or feeling in your legs then the more likely it is that you might not be able to walk again"

"O...O..k-k" she stammers slightly before sighing in frustration

"There's also the effects of the brain injury as well," the doctor says quietly, Carla nods "We know that your paralysis is caused by brain damage and an injury to the spine, we don't know how these things are going to affect your everyday life when you're out of here as this is quite complex so it's also partly a learning curve for us as well as you but right now I say we keep up with the physio"

"That's fine"

Carla smiles up at her doctor who nods and leaves the room, Carla eagerly glances to the window seeing Peter there looking at her, Jenny follows her gaze

"I can tell him to do one if you want?" she offers, Carla shakes her head and smiles, she picks up her phone,

"It's fine"

She assures Jenny who smiles at her

"I'll leave you to it," Jenny says, Carla nods watching her leave and speak to Peter briefly before he enters, she just looks at him before picking up her phone

"You came then, eventually"

"I'm so sorry baby-"

"Don't"

She scowls at him with a glare wondering how he could leave her in here to fend for herself

"Simon's told me everything about your drinking"

"Well whatever he's said it's not true"

"So you're calling your son a liar. Classy"

"I'm sorry"

"I needed you Peter, we needed you"

"I know" he responds saddened by her accusations, she sighs feeling guilty

"Speak to me"

"It's hard" he admits, she nods slowly "Seeing you in here at your worst, not being able to hear your voice in the way I want to hear it, the possibility of not being a father to that baby, it's so hard seeing you struggle. I just want to love you in the way I used to"

"And you don't love me like this?"

She questions as the tears prick her eyes at the thought of her disabilities coming in the way of their relationship.

"I love you so much Carla I just need to adapt just like you need to adapt. I went to a meeting yesterday"

"That's a good start"

She softens slightly at the lengths he was going knowing it was hard for him.

"Did it help?"

"It's not the best feeling after you've been sober for so long but it helped, yeah" he nods sadly, she leans over and takes his hand squeezing it gently "How are you?"

"Still no feeling in my legs. My speech is improving slowly with the speech therapy so I think they're more hopeful with that"

"That's good" he responds "Not about your legs but…"

"I have an appointment with the midwife tomorrow, they're going to conduct the twelve-week scan if you want to be there. You don't have to if you find it hard I can ask Jenny"

"I'll think about it then text my answer through to you in the morning"

"O...o-o-k...k" she smiles, Peter sits beside her on the bed and she immediately curls into his side

"You seem brighter" Peter observes, Carla nods pulling her sleeves down over her hands and smiling

"A-m...m" she nods, Peter kisses her on the forehead watching her pick her phone up

"Jenny's been great"

"That's good," he smiles "Now that I'm back on the straight and narrow I'll try and visit more often. I'm sorry I wasn't here, I was just trying to restrict myself from seeing you in pain as in a weird way it caused me pain to see you like that. Don't blame yourself I won't have none of it and I'm trying to be honest with you"

"I appreciate it"

"How about I see if I can sneak some sort of takeaway in here so you don't have to eat this horrible hospital food?"

Her eyes light up

"Ok"

She beams up at him, he kisses her on the top of the head as she fiddles with the sleeves on her jumper

"Any preference?"

"I really want a kebab"

"Seriously?" Peter chuckles, she looks up at him and nods eagerly "A kebab? Very unlike you to actively want a greasy kebab"

"It sounds so good"

"Fine. I'll get you that kebab then" he chuckles slightly pulling a face at her very odd request "I'll see you when I see you"

"B...y-y...ye," she says with a small smile, Peter blows her a kiss and leaves causing her to sigh, she glances to the cup which was on the counter at the back, the roses wilting ever so slightly leaving her to wonder if it was a metaphor for Peter's love for her…

Peter went and picked up a kebab for Carla and snuck it into the hospital on the lowdown, as soon as she got it she tucked in and ate the entire thing in one sitting causing him to raise his eyebrows at her attitude and mannerisms. Soon enough she fell asleep and he was left watching her just drift away into dreamland, in a way he was jealous of her having the capability of just dealing with her problems head-on whereas he felt weak for succumbing to his demons quicker than her. There was also something magical about watching her sleep and how peaceful she was which led him to think about the next few months and how tricky they would be for him and for her, well, mainly for her as she would have to come to terms with not being able to move. In a way, it put the fire back in Peter's belly to support her as he realised now how much she needed him to help her through this and this is what they did when the going gets tough they help one another and fix one another and this was another occasion of that. Soon Peter left the room only to be clocked by a figure leaning against the wall in the waiting room who soon went into Carla's room and sat down on the chair which roused her from her sleep.

"Hey" he whispers, stroking her arm as she yawns tiredly and opens her eyes "Who was that who just left?"

"B...o-o-y...f" she whispers stretching the limbs she could

"Boyfriend?" he questions, she nods "Finally came to see you then," he says pulling a rose out from his pocket, Carla smiles glancing to the cup which he retrieves from the counter and puts the simple black rose in it

"Pr-e-e...t…" she smiles, he chuckles and nods passing her the rose so she could examine it

"It is pretty isn't it? Just like you" he leans forward and looks into her eyes, she smiles slightly "You look tired, I won't keep you"

"T-T...t...h-an-n" she mumbles with a small smile, he smiles at her taking her hand and squeezing it

"It's no problem you know that" he softens slightly, she smiles at him "You get some rest yeah?"

"O...k-k...k" she hums allowing him to pull the blanket over her body so she was warm enough

"Have a good sleep yeah?"

"B...y...y...e" she stammers closing her eyes and allowing him to leave her room...