Chapter Eleven

Charlie was still thinking about Alex and Willow, wondering where they stood with each other and whether they might stand a chance. It reminded her of years ago when Joey had been sure of her and she had been so scared. She hoped that if Willow was interested in Alex, she wouldn't make the same mistakes.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a text message. She picked up her phone and was delighted to see a message from Joey, wishing her good morning and asking how she was. She replied quickly.

Joey was still out on the beach with Jasper. She was thrilled when she got such an immediate response from Charlie, especially as she had written and re-written her own message six times. She felt silly, being that it was only a simple, good morning message.

She stopped walking and replied, asking when would be a good time to come and visit again – if she wanted her to. When Charlie invited her to come whenever she liked, Joey called the dog back, ready to drop him back off at the caravan with Aden so that she could go and see Charlie as soon as possible.

Alex returned to Charlie's room looking a little flustered.

"So, how did it go?" Charlie asked eagerly.

Alex chuckled and shook her head, quickly assuring her patient that she and Willow had decided to forget all about the stupid kiss and stay friends. Charlie was disappointed.

"More importantly, have there been any developments with your friend?" the Doctor wanted to know.

"She's on her way to visit me now, actually."

Alex hovered beside her, keen to know what the story was. Charlie hesitated. She studied Alex's face. She was more than a Doctor. She had become her friend and a trusted confidante.

"She's actually my ex-girlfriend," she admitted.

Alex did not look surprised. Charlie queried it.

"Well, you did look pretty close," Alex said. "My only real question is how you went from Joey to Brax. It's a bit of a contrast."

"Yeah…" Joey sighed. "It is."

She thought about Brax, wondering where she and her boyfriend stood. He seemed to be barely talking to her.

"Well, you seemed pretty happy to see her," Alex nudged.

"It's amazing to see her again," Charlie said, a happy smile on her face. "She's one of the best people on earth."

"That's a pretty high recommendation," Alex said. "Can I ask what happened?"

Charlie frowned.

"I let her down," she said honestly.

"Well, she obviously forgives you," Alex remarked.

The door opened and Ruby appeared. The teenager was smiling but looked tired. She had barely slept since the shooting, despite Charlie constantly sending her away to rest.

"I'll be five minutes," Alex promised. "Every time I'm in here to actually do my job, she distracts me with gossip!"

"Oh, well I'm all up for gossip," Ruby said cheerfully.

Charlie shook her head, as Alex checked on her notes and busied herself.

"For instance, what on earth is the deal with Joey coming back, Mum? I mean, I was polite and calm about it last night but seriously? How did that happen?"

Alex smiled to herself.

"She found out what happened and she was worried," Charlie told her.

She opted not to go into the whole dream thing. It felt too personal. Ruby came to sit beside her mother. She kissed her cheek and put a coffee down beside her, as was her normal routine. They held hands.

"So, is she sticking around?" Ruby asked.

"I'm not sure," Charlie admitted. "But she's on her way over now."

She put up with Alex prodding and poking her, checking her temperature and examining the legs she still couldn't feel.

"Do you think she wants you back?" Ruby asked.

Charlie chuckled. Her daughter was never one to hold back.

"I don't think so," she said honestly. "I think she just cares."

The police officer was surprised to see that she was disappointed. She thought that she was completely supportive of her of her and Brax. Reading her surprise, Ruby attempted to explain.

"I love you and Brax, so long as he's making you happy," she said. "I just… I don't know if he's making you happy, Mum. I mean… where is he?"

"He's visited every day," Charlie said a little defensively.

"Has he?" Ruby asked. "I mean, really? Physically he might have but where is he in his head? Because he's been absent every time I've talked to him. I'm sorry but it just feels like when the going's got tough, Brax has abandoned us, he's abandoned you."

Alex felt a little awkward. She continued her examination. She was disappointed that Charlie's body didn't seem to be improving. She was worried about what the scans would show and what the specialist she had booked to see Charlie would say. She knew her patient had a lot to deal with when it came to her injuries and it looked like Ruby was about to make her face up to the fact that her boyfriend was not going to be there to support her.

"I'm done so I'll leave you guys to it," she said quietly.

She slipped out of the room. Charlie and Ruby faced each other. Charlie was struggling with the weight of the conversation. They were all facts that she knew but didn't want to think about.

"I think he's just struggling to get his head around everything," she tried.

"So are we all," Ruby said. "I thought my mother was going to die. But I coped because I had to."

Charlie nodded.

"And you, Charlie," Ruby continued. "If anyone should be struggling to cope with all of this, it's you. But you're here, dealing with it all because you have to. You've been so brave. So strong. And maybe it's not my place but I am so disappointed in him."

"Me too," Charlie admitted.

Joey headed down the corridor, clutching a small 'get well' teddy bear. She knocked on Charlie's door and poked her head around it, smiling when she saw Charlie and Ruby, who both greeted her warmly.

"I brought you a teddy," she said, waving him.

"Oh, he is so cute!" Ruby said.

"He really is!" Charlie agreed.

Joey handed him over. She had bought him on the drive to Summer Bay but hadn't been sure whether Charlie would have wanted to see her, let alone whether she would have wanted a gift. Thankfully, she had been received well so this morning, she had brought the bear along.

"Thank you," Charlie said, clutching the bear tightly and gazing at him. "He's lovely."

"You're welcome," Joey said.

She moved round to sit on the other side of Charlie's bed.

"It's good to see you both again."

"It's really lovely of you to come back, Joey," Ruby said sincerely.

She looked at the way the former couple gazed at each other. She could feel the tension in the room. Looking down, she watched her mother's hand fidget.

"Oh, would you guys just hold hands?" she said impatiently, making them laugh.

They obeyed. Ruby stood up.

"I think you've got a lot to talk about," she said. "And you're always nagging me to rest so I'm going to head home and catch up on some more sleep. Now that Joey's back here, maybe I can relax a bit with my visits. Now I know you're in good hands."

She leant down and kissed her mother's forehead.

"Call me if you need anything."

"I promise."

Waving goodbye, Ruby headed out of the room, leaving the former lovers alone.

"She's still pretty direct then," Joey remarked.

She had hold of Charlie's hand, playing with her fingers. Charlie lay back, enjoying the sensation of Joey tracing her fingertips over her skin. With such reduced feeling in the lower part of her body, it felt amazing to be touched like that. Joey probably didn't even realise what she was doing, what it meant to her to have that kind of attention and gentleness. Tears escaped Charlie's eyes before she could stop them and before she could prevent Joey from noticing.

"Charlie? What's wrong? Charlie?" Joey asked worriedly.

"Nothing," Charlie managed.

She didn't know how to explain. Joey reached out and wiped away Charlie's tears but only succeeded in making her cry harder.

"Charlie, I don't know what to do," Joey confessed. "Please? What's making you cry? What can I do to help you?"

Charlie reached out her other hand, clutching both of Joey's.

"You are helping me," she told her. "Just by being here… you're helping me."

Joey relaxed a little. She let out a breath. Lifting Charlie's hands, she pressed them to her lips, keeping them there. She closed her eyes, wishing she could do something practical to take Charlie's pain away.

"I don't think I'm going to walk again, Joey," Charlie whispered.

Joey closed her eyes tighter.

"I've got some scans later today and Alex keeps coming in, prodding me and asking me what I can feel but I can't feel a damn thing," she explained. "Nothing. At first they thought it was temporary, swelling around the injury site or something but I think they were wrong."

Joey lifted her head and looked Charlie in the eye.

"Brax has completely withdrawn from me," Charlie said. "It's like he looks at me like I'm a different person now or something. And Ruby has a broken heart. And then you come in and you stroke my hand like that…"

Joey looked down at their joined hands.

"And it's just nice to… feel."

Joey smiled sadly at her. Silently, she lay one of Charlie's hands out and began to stroke her palm. Charlie lay back and closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation. She let out a slow breath. Joey studied her face, smiling to herself as she continued to stroke Charlie's hand, wanting to do anything for her that she could.

Willow said goodbye to her PT client and walked back into the main area of the gym. She spotted Brax attacking a punch bag like it had done him some serious harm.

"Hey!" she said, walking over.

She held onto the bag, interrupting him.

"Hey!" she said again.

He stopped, glaring at her.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"I want to make sure you're okay," she said.

"I'm not," he said, punching the bag again.

"Brax, I know you're worried about Charlie…"

"How the hell do you know how I feel?" he demanded.

"Okay, fine, I have no idea," Willow admitted. "But I saw her this morning. She's doing okay, isn't she?"

Brax stood back, staring at her in disbelief.

"She is nothing like the person she was," he said. "I can hardly even look at her, Willow."

Willow swallowed anxiously, not sure she was the best person to listen to him. Where was Dean when she needed him? Or someone older and wiser like Irene or Alf?

"I go in there and I can't talk to her or look at her," he confessed. "I can barely hold her hand. She used to be this hot, strong, capable woman and now… now she can't even wash herself. She can't move. She just lies there."

"But she's talking. She's laughing, even" Willow said. "She's alive, Brax. For a moment, we thought she was going to die."

"And sometimes, I wonder if it would have been better if…"

He sank down on the nearest bench, his head in his hands. Willow quickly came and sat beside him, reassuring him that he didn't mean it. Inside, she wasn't sure she was telling the truth.

"I hate myself for it," he said. "But I just can't deal with this this, Will. I can't deal with everything she's facing. This wasn't what I signed up for."

"And it's not what Charlie signed up for either," Willow pointed out.

"I know!" he snapped. "I know. And I know this whole thing is my fault. I brought all of this on her."

"Yeah," Willow agreed. "You kind of did, Brax. Are you really going to bail on her now when she needs you?"

He looked helplessly at her and sighed heavily.

"I just don't know what to do," he admitted.

Willow didn't know how to respond. She sat silently beside him feeling awkward, torn between pity and anger at her friend's response to Charlie's tragedy. She looked up when her next PT client walked in. Her awkwardness increased. She had forgotten she had arranged a session with Alex during the Doctor's lunch break.

"I've got to go," she told Brax.

He waved her off. Willow stood up and met Alex. They shyly said hello.

"I um… I wasn't sure if we were still on or…?" Alex said nervously.

Willow broke into a big, bold smile.

"Hey, of course!" she said certainly, patting Alex on the arm.

She took her hand quickly away.

"We're friends, aren't we?"

Next time… Charlie and Brax finally talk and Willow and Dean get a shock…