As the days passed and Katy started to feel better, she grew more and more frustrated that she wasn't allowed to do anything. The doctor that visited her every day was refusing to even consider discharging her until at least the end of the month, meaning that she was facing another couple of weeks – at the very least – until she could go home.
Tina had been to visit since her return to the Square, telling Katy all the things that her family hadn't been. She spent a long time ranting about Linda's behaviour; unable to understand why she was so keen to continue spending time with the woman who'd been so vile about Ollie.
"But he's mates with your lot anyway so why is she so bothered about getting in with these other mums so that Ollie has mates. Don't you think it's weird?" Tina ranted, her irritation growing the more she thought about it.
"Nah, I ain't surprised at all, T." Katy told her with a shrug. "Let's face it, Matthew and the twins were never really good enough to be friends with precious little Ollie, were they? Linda only put up with them because there weren't exactly many other options round the Square, were there?"
"That's not–"
"It's true, Tina." Katy replied, rolling her eyes. "Remember the twins' birthday? Linda couldn't wait to leave, despite the fact that Ollie was loving his life. Besides, she's never invited me out for drinks, has she?"
"Well, it's her loss, anyway."
"You're so sweet. I mean, who wouldn't want to hang out with this zombie, hooked up to god knows what 24/7."
Tina laughed. "You'll only be a zombie for a little bit longer, that Shelly is gonna be a bitch for the rest of her life."
That made Katy laugh as well, shaking her head and conceding that her friend had a point. Then she moved the conversation onto how things were going at the bar, wincing as Tina told her that Kathy was still annoyed that she'd just upped and left with Shirley for so long. Swearing Tina to secrecy, Katy told her what Ronnie had said about buying the e20 from Sharon.
"Isn't that going to effect the bar?"
"It shouldn't do." Katy shrugged. "We've been fine in business against the e20, this shouldn't change anything."
"Even though our promoter now owns half of that club?"
"It'll be fine, T, honestly. We'll make it work."
Apparently unconvinced, Tina knew better than to argue with the younger woman. Instead, they changed the topic of conversation to the brunette's Italian holiday. They were briefly interrupted when a nurse appeared to detach Katy from the now empty IV bag, the younger woman laughing as Tina winced and looked away.
They hadn't been talking for much longer, before Whitney appeared on the ward, glaring at her cousin and announcing that she needed to talk to her.
"Well… I'll leave you to it, then." Tina said, looking between the two younger women.
Neither of them spoke as they waited for Tina to gather her things and leave. Katy shot her a warm smile as she said goodbye, before turning towards Whitney seriously. The younger woman didn't need prompting and launched into a rant about what Tiffany had done now.
Before she even got to the end, Katy was swinging her legs out of the bed and grabbing her hoody from the chair, stating that she was not going to be left behind while everyone else went up to Scotland. Whitney did her best to argue, but Katy refused to listen.
She strode off the ward purposefully and, much to both of their surprise, no one stopped her. By the time they were in the back of a cab and heading back to Walford, Katy was already celebrating her freedom.
"If I'd known it'd be that easy I'd have done that ages ago."
"You do realise everyone is going to go mental when you turn up on the Square."
Katy shrugged. "What are they gonna do about it?"
That question was answered as the two young women appeared outside Jack's house just in time to witness him and Sonia flying through it looking extremely worried. Their expressions flitted between concern, relief and anger as they took in the sight of the blonde on the doorstep.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Her father demanded. "The hospital have just been on the phone saying you've gone missing."
"Well I'm not missing, am I? I'm here."
"But why are you here?"
"You need to be in hospital, Katy." Sonia agreed, shaking her head. "You're not well enough to be–"
"Stuff that." The blonde frowned. "I'm not staying behind while you all go to Scotland."
"You're not serious?" Jack scowled at her. "You ain't coming with us."
"Yes I am."
"No, you ain't."
"Oh, got time to take me back to the hospital, have you?"
Jack growled with frustration, before glancing at Sonia. "Can you get on to the hospital and tell them we'll get her back as soon as possible."
"Uncle Jack…"
"She ain't gonna go quietly, Son, and we ain't got time to deal with her right now, have we?"
Shooting her cousin a glare, Sonia put in the call to the hospital as they all climbed into Jack's car. Whitney shook her head slightly at the broad grin on Katy's face, knowing that the journey would be incredibly tense. Not only were they trying ot track down Tiffany before she got to Scotland and married Keegan, but now Jack and Sonia would spend the entire journey scolding Katy for her irresponsible behaviour.
"You do realise that it's gonna take us over five hours to get up there and the same back." Sonia snapped, catching Katy's eyes in the rear view mirror. "That's at least eleven hours without your medication and when you'll be exposed to all sorts of germs. Your immune system is shot and–"
"I know all this, Sonia." Her cousin replied, rolling her eyes. "It was my choice, OK? I was losing my mind stuck in there with nothing to do. I'll be fine, alright?"
"I ain't exactly got a choice, have I?" The brunette shot back. Rooting in her bag, she pulled out a bottle of antibacterial hand gel and threw it over her shoulder. "Here… have this."
"What am I supposed to do with it?" Katy asked, genuinely confused. "Drink it?"
"No, you idiot, don't drink it. Make sure you use it any time you touch something. It won't do much, but it'll go some way to helping you avoid some of the germs."
The journey was just as tense as Whitney had anticipated. Jack was point-blank refusing to speak to his daughter. Sonia alternated between phoning Bianca, complaining about Tiffany's stubbornness and muttering about Katy's stupidity. Katy was apparently unaffected by the atmosphere, staring out of the window with an unreadable expression on her face. Whitney had given up trying to get hold of anyone in the car they were trying to catch; her calls ringing out and going to answerphone every time.
Finally Jack spotted the signpost for the registry office and they turned off the main road, following a track until they reached a building set down below a bank and a large concrete space above it. The car stopped abruptly as Jack turned into a parking space, the doors almost opening before the engine was turned off.
"Are you sure this is the right registry office?" Whitney demanded, screwing up her nose as she looked around.
"Well if it's not, we're not the only ones who've got it wrong." Jack replied, motioning towards Mitch's van, which had skidded to a halt on the other side of the car park.
As they watched Karen running down the steps towards the building, Sonia shook her head. "She don't even know where she's going!"
"They ain't even here yet." Katy pointed out with a shrug, looking around the car park.
"How d'you know that?" Her father demanded, still apparently furious with her for leaving the hospital.
"Do you see a silver Audi anywhere?" She retorted, reminding them of the car Ben said was missing from The Arches.
The tension remained firmly in place as the two families came together, arguing about their next move. Keegan's family seemed to be blaming Tiffany's for the situation and vice versa. Tempers were flaring by the time they spotted the silver Audi turning into the car park.
"You're sixteen!" Sonia snapped, the second Tiffany climbed out of the back of the car.
"Listen to me, Tiff." Whitney started, attempting to be calm. "I know you think you love him, but you're making a terrible mistake."
"Look… have you really though about it?"
"And that's my dress."
As the sisters descended into an argument about the outfit Tiffany was wearing, Katy rolled her eyes and moved to lean against the car. Sonia shot her a concerned look, but the blonde simply shook her head and focused her eyes on the irritated redhead, hoping that her cousin would get the hint.
"Tiff!" Keegan called, immediately claiming his fiancée's attention. "Beale's admitted to setting me up. He said that he's gonna drop the charges, I've still got my business and I'm not gonna go down!"
"Oh my god!"
"See!" Sonia moved forward, keen to make the most of the situation. "See, you've had a wasted trip, haven't you? You've got all the time in the world to plan a wedding."
"Or live happily ever after in unwedded bliss." Karen chipped in.
There was a short pause as the couple apparently considered their options. Katy knew what was coming the second she saw the smile spreading slowly over Keegan's face.
"We're getting married today." Tiffany announced.
There was a slightly stunned silence at her words. Apparently everyone had assumed that, now the pressure was off, they'd rethink their plan and come round to their families' ways of thinking. Now, though, they didn't have much choice but to follow the young couple into the building and wait for their appointment time.
That didn't meant that anyone was remotely pleased about it. The arguing and complaining continued in the registry office waiting room. Jack seemed to have focused all of his irritation onto Katy and proceeded to tell her exactly how irresponsible and stupid she was being by leaving the hospital, while the others continued their attempts to change Tiffany and Keegan's minds.
"You know what," Keegan started suddenly, drawing their attention back to the matter in hand, "why can't any of you just be happy for us? You're ruining everything and you're upsetting Tiff."
"Well what d'you expect us to do?" His mother demanded, just as angrily. "Just smile and watch you make the biggest mistake of your life?"
"Nah… you know what, Mum, I don't expect you to do anything." He shot back. "I didn't even want you to be here because this is exactly how I knew you'd be. So stop your moaning and all your shouting and go back to Walford, yeah?"
"You don't mean that…" Karen's voice was almost inaudible as she stared at her son with devastation written all over her face.
He exhaled sharply. "My job is to look after Tiff; to love her, protect her and make her happy, but all you lot are doing are upsetting her and I'm sick of it! I've had enough!"
"Good on ya." Jack's voice from beside her made Katy jump and look at him in slight surprise.
Stepping forward, Whitney removed one of her rings and held it out to him. "Keegan…"
"That you, Whit."
"I'm proud of you, son."
Katy smiled, leaning into her father's side as Jack wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her head; their argument completely forgotten.
"Well I'm not." Karen broke the spell that had fallen over them all, stepping forward as Keegan turned to look at her. "Getting married with your collar like that and what's that muck on your face?" As she spat on her hanky and proceeded to rub at his cheek, everyone relaxed. "When Tiff sees her husband for the first time, she don't wanna see you covered in muck. And you make sure you're standing straight, alright? And speak clearly, yeah, so that everyone can hear ya. My boy's getting married."
"Right… you just make sure you tell your mum I did everything I could to stop ya, right? You're a beautiful bride." Sonia told her, stepping forward and pulling Tiffany into a tight hug.
"Right… let's do this!" Bailey announced enthusiastically.
"Mr Baker? Miss Butcher?"
Immediately everyone turned to the woman who'd called their names, eagerly anticipating the wedding.
"Are you ready for us, yeah?"
"No. You were told three o'clock and you arrived late."
"Yeah… we… we got lost."
"Well I'm sorry, but there were a few things to go over before hand and also some payments to balance and the venue's now closed." The woman told them bluntly. "We do have a slot a week on Tuesday."
Silence fell over the assembled family members, until they all started arguing and complaining at the same time. Katy was amused that everyone had changed their opinions so much in such a short space of time that they were now angry that Tiffany and Keegan couldn't get married after all.
Before anyone could do anything, Tiffany had rushed away in the direction of the toilets. Keegan was immediately on her heels. The rest of them split up; Karen, Sonia and Whitney headed furiously after the woman who had broken the news and then retreated sharply, while the others wandered outside towards the car park.
"It's out of order, init?"
"All this way for nothing."
"Should I go to Tiff?" Bernie asked, looking around in concern.
"Nah, I think best let Keeg deal with it, Bern."
Katy was about to say something about how much their opinions had altered, when the doors flew open and the three women appeared, still looking furious. Clearly they'd had no luck changing the woman's mind.
"Flaming liberty, that's what this is." Karen announced as she marched towards them. "Agincourt all over again!"
"That was the French." Bailey corrected her unhelpfully.
"Yeah, well, one of them wars with Mel Gibson in." Spotting someone on the other side of the car park, she pointed wildly. "Here! That's him!"
"Who?"
"The registrar! Yeah, I saw him marrying them blokes earlier. OI!"
Thoroughly amused, Katy followed on as everyone marched towards the man who was just about to climb into his car. He looked startled at the sight of so many people with irritated expressions (not counting the grinning blonde at the back of the rabble) striding towards him.
"My son's come all the way from London to get married," Karen told him angrily, "so you better sort yourself out and marry him."
"He arrived too late."
Karen threw herself dramatically onto the bonnet of his car, causing Katy to have to bite her lips together to stop herself laughing out loud. "You ain't going nowhere."
"Get off my car!"
"No!"
"Not 'til you agree to marry him."
"I'll call the police." The registrar threatened.
"Jack! Show him."
Fishing his warrant card out of his pocket, Jack stepped forward and held it out so that the man could see. The look of resignation on the registrar's face, combined with the expression of completely satisfied triumph on Karen's and the serious expressions on everyone else's was almost too much for Katy and she turned her back on the situation to compose herself for a moment, before looking back at the man.
"Come on then, what else you got?"