Just a short extra chapter before Christmas. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed. I really appreciate it. (Joey and Willow will appear shortly, I promise!) I hope you all have a lovely Christmas whatever you're doing and whoever you spend it with. Love, IJKS xxx

Chapter Three

It was hours later when Ruby woke up, disorientated and confused. For a moment, she couldn't remember what had happened. Then all the horror of the day before came rushing back. Pain gripped her as she gazed at her mother's beautiful face and listened to the ventilator keeping her breathing.

She looked up when the door opened. Jasmine Delaney, a nurse at the hospital entered.

"Oh, you're awake," she said. "How are you doing? You must be uncomfortable."

"A bit," Ruby admitted. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. What's the time?"

"It's early," Jasmine said, beginning to do Charlie's half hour obs.

"How's Charlie?" Ruby asked.

She stood up and stretched, her limbs aching.

"She's doing okay," Jasmine said.

"Jasmine, is she going to survive?" Ruby asked seriously.

Jasmine sighed, looking directly her friend's daughter.

"I hope so," she said honestly. "She had the best surgeons we have working on her and I've only just met Doctor Neilson but I gather she's pretty damn great. She stayed well past the end of her shift last night because she wanted to make sure Charlie was stable before she went home."

"She seemed nice," Ruby agreed. "Brax was horrible to her and she didn't even react. She was just… calm."

"She used to work in the city, I think," Jasmine said. "I imagine she's dealt with worse than Brax before."

"I don't know," Ruby said, looking sadly at her mother. "If it wasn't for him, perhaps Charlie wouldn't be in this mess."

Alex had hardly slept. It was difficult that at the times that she really needed to catch up on sleep, she was too wired when she when she got home, that she couldn't seem to get any rest. She wasn't due back into work for several hours but she thought she would probably go in early. The state that that poor woman had been in last night had genuinely affected her, not least the state her poor daughter had been in. Of course all of her patients were important but sometimes, people stood out. Sometimes, there was no choice but to take the emotion of a patient and their story home.

This morning, she was up and dressed and decided to go for a walk. She had only been living in Summer Bay for a couple of days. She had moved from the city, taking different temp jobs over the last couple of years. A couple of years ago, her whole life had changed. She and her ex-girlfriend had been in a happy relationship for ten years. Then they had broken up, having come to the horrible realisation that they wanted different things. Well, Alex had wanted the same thing they had always wanted – each other, their home, the life they had planned. Her partner had wanted to travel and whole new lease of life. She had decided that life with Alex was boring and she wanted more. She'd walked out, leaving Alex with a broken heart. One minute, they'd been planning their wedding and talking about children. The next minute, she was gone.

The funny thing was, it had left Alex completely unable to settle herself. She had sold the house instead of buying her ex-partner out, although she would have been able to do so. She hadn't wanted to stay in the home they had built together. It hadn't felt right. But then she hadn't been able to settle anywhere. So she'd quit the job she'd been in for years. She'd left her friends and everything she knew. And now, every few months, her contracts ended and she moved on somewhere else. It had become her way of life.

This morning, she walked into a modern looking Diner and politely ordered a coffee.

"Of course, darl," said a pleasant looking woman. "Just take a seat and I'll bring it over."

"Doctor Neilson? Alex?" said a voice.

Alex looked up from the seat she had taken, recognising a pretty woman around her age. She had been at the hospital last night with Charlie Buckton and her family.

"Yes," she said, offering a smile.

"I'm Leah," the woman said. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"Of course," Alex said, secretly grateful to have someone to talk to.

It was lonely pitching up in a new town and not having any friends.

"I just wanted to say thank you for everything you did for Charlie last night," Leah said. "And for all of us. We're so scared and…"

"It's going to be a long fight but you've got me and the whole team, Leah," Alex said kindly.

Leah nodded gratefully.

"I don't suppose you have any news?" she asked.

"I don't," Alex apologised. "But I'll be heading back to the hospital in a couple of hours."

"So soon? You must have barely been home!"

"Well, I just want to see how she's doing myself," Alex said.

"I think Ruby slept there," Leah sighed. "I couldn't persuade her to come home with me."

"I'll do my best to look after her while I'm there too," Alex promised.

"Thank you," Leah said.

Irene brought her coffee over.

"It's on the house," Leah said before explaining to her colleague exactly who Alex was.

"Oh, well, no question then!" Irene said. "I hear you're quite the hero."

"Just doing my job," Alex said shyly. "But thank you."

Irene patted her on the shoulder and headed off to serve another customer. Leah thanked Alex again and headed off to do the same.

It was a couple of hours later and Alex had arrived at the hospital. She dumped her bag in her locker and headed straight for Charlie's room. Her patient was still unconscious, in an induced coma and her exhausted daughter was sat by her side.

"Hi, Ruby," she said gently. "How are you doing?"

"Just… worried," Ruby said. "The other Doctor hasn't really told me anything."

Alex picked up the folder at the end of Charlie's bed and read through it quickly.

"She's still stable so that's really good news," Alex said. "But she's currently still using a ventilator to breathe so the next stage is to bring her out of her coma to see if she can breathe by herself."

"When will you do that?" Ruby asked worriedly.

"I think we could try it this afternoon, if you agree?"

Ruby nodded, happy to do whatever the Doctor advised. They were interrupted by Casey arriving. He hugged her girlfriend, asking after Charlie.

"She's okay," Ruby said. "I mean, she's not. But she's stable. Doctor Neilson is going to try and bring her out of her coma this afternoon."

"That's good, isn't it?" Casey said hopefully. "She'll be back on her feet in no time."

Alex smiled weakly, as she checked Charlie over. Even if she did wake up and was able to breathe on her own, it would be a long time before she was back on her feet.

"Where's Brax?" Ruby asked her boyfriend.

"I don't know," Casey admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "He was back late and gone before I woke up."

Ruby looked worried. He had been so erratic at the hospital last night. He was definitely someone to act impulsively and with vengeance. She dreaded to think what he could be doing if he wasn't keeping a vigil by Charlie's bedside, which she felt was what he ought to be doing.

"Well, maybe he'll bother to show up sometime," Ruby said sarcastically.

Alex felt sad for her but remained quiet. It sounded like their family setup was a little complicated. But then, it wasn't like she didn't have a complicated life of her own. She supposed everyone did.

"I'm sure he will, Rubes," Casey said. "You know what Brax is like."

"Yes," Ruby said grimly. "I do."

Casey kept his arm around her as they sat by Charlie's beside. Alex slipped out and left them to it.

It was the afternoon and Ruby, Leah and Casey were all present for the moment that Alex and the rest of the medical team attempted to bring Charlie out of her coma. Alex was about to start when Brax burst in. He had a black eye. Everyone opted not to mention it. He rushed up to Charlie, barging the others out of the way, holding her hand and kissing her forehead. Leah put her arm around Ruby, feeling protective and knowing that she felt pushed out when Brax was there.

"Are we all ready?" Alex asked, talking directly to Ruby.

"So, she's going to wake up now?" Brax asked.

"As I explained to Ruby, that's the hope," Alex said. "But if we find that Charlie is unable to breathe on her own, we'll put her back on life support. Then I'm afraid it'll be a case of having to make some decisions about what's in Charlie's best interests."

Brax looked alarmed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

"She means that Charlie might not survive this, Brax," Ruby snapped impatiently.

"She has to survive!" Brax yelled back.

"Well, let's cross each bridge as we come to them," Alex suggested. "Hopefully that isn't one we'll reach."

Brax nodded mutely and continued to hold Charlie's hand as Alex, Jasmine and the rest of the team worked on her. Ruby squeezed Leah's hand to the point of breaking as they waited desperately for Charlie to be able to breathe independently. It took more moments that Ruby could cope with. But she did. She managed. Charlie was the fighter they had spent the past day declaring she was.

Brax felt tears rolling down his cheeks as he collapsed into the chair that was thankfully behind him, still clinging onto her hand. Ruby collapsed against Leah. Alex allowed herself to share a smile with Jasmine.

"This is really good news," she said. "Hopefully, it won't be long before she wakes up. Then we'll know exactly how she's doing and how her injuries have affected her."

"Thank you," Ruby said tearfully. "Thank you."

Next time… Charlie wakes up and Ruby looks out for Alex…