-x- Chapter Four -x-

Duffy had returned to cubicles, having avoided looking in the direction of Charlie's office, and spent most of her time monitoring her patient, who had come into the E.D. with sickness and dehydration. She stood writing up notes for her patient on the computer, in the middle of admin, when it had been quiet.

David appeared, at the other side of the computer, he coughed, then asked, "you ok now?"

"Yeah, better, thanks." Duffy replied, shyly.

"Good. I'm always here if you need to, 'chat'." David replied, and smiled back at her.

"Thanks." Duffy smiled shyly back at him.

Robyn walked around behind David, and placed her notes onto the completed pile, just as Noel appeared at the end of the desk.

"David, he still hasn't come back." Noel said, looking anxious.

"Um?" David quickly walked over to him, and tried to usher him away.

"It's not like Charlie to just walk out like that." Noel added, as David tried to make him move away from the desk, and down the corridor.

David just smiled, and tried to shake his head at Noel.

Duffy looked up in shock, upon hearing Noel's words.

Robyn turned to look at Duffy, and smiled weakly at her, looking a little worried.

"Robyn, what's going on?" Duffy frowned at her.

"Nothing, nothing, I'm sure he's fine. Just fine." Robyn said, as she walked down the corridor following David and Noel.

Duffy frowned again, and slammed her notes onto the desk and followed after them.

As she opened the door into reception she saw David, Noel and Robyn gathered behind the desk, Robyn had her phone out, presumably calling Charlie. Whilst David and Noel were chatting.

"He's been gone an hour David, it's not like him to just get up and leave." Noel said, looking concerned.

"Ok, but you didn't need to announce it to..." David replied, as he looked up and saw Duffy standing in front of them.

"Oh, um, right." Noel interrupted, as he looked up at Duffy, and smiled shyly.

"Announce it to who David? Me? His wife?" Duffy replied, as she folded her arms at them all.

"Duffy, we were just erm..." David began to say.

"Where is he David?" Duffy asked, and she scowled at him.

"Um, we don't know." David replied.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'?" She replied, now looking concerned.

"He left, well, um, not long after you and he, um, had words." Noel explained, sheepishly.

"That was ages ago. He just walked out?" Duffy asked, looking shocked.

Noel nodded.

"Out of work, in the middle of a shift?" Duffy added, now getting worried, he'd never done that, never.

"I'm calling him, but it's just ringing and then going to answer phone now." Robyn mentioned, as she sighed, looking down at her phone.

"He's never walked out of a shift, not as long as I've known him." Noel explained, as he looked at Duffy.

"No, not as long as I've known him either." Duffy replied, frowning, and then she raised her hand to her forehead, shaking slightly.

"I think I might know where he is." Robyn interrupted.

"Where?" Duffy asked, looking directly at her.

"The pub, he's gone there every night, after his shift." Robyn replied, looking sheepishly at Duffy, trying to not worry her further, but knew it would have struck a cord with her.

Duffy sighed, and closed her eyes, shook her head, as she put her hand to her forehead, then replied, "the pub, right."

"This is all my fault, I shouldn't have come in today." Duffy added, as she sighed once again, shaking her head at herself.

"No, no. We'll, um, we'll go and get him." Robyn added, as she smiled sympathetically at her.

"No, no, I'll go. It's my fault he's there in the first place." Duffy added.

"Duffy, we can go." David added.

"No, no, I need to make sure he's ok. Will you cover for me whilst I'm gone?" Duffy explained, as she turned and looked at all of them.

"Yeah, of course we will." Robyn replied, as she smiled at her wistfully.

"Yeah, we will." David added, and smiled at her to thoughtfully.

"Thanks." Duffy replied, and turned on her heel, and walked down the corridor, and out of the double doors into the ambulance bay.

-o-

She sighed as she looked up in the direction of the pub, she straightened down her tunic, and walked towards it.

As she neared the double doors, she took in a deep breath, then walked through them, unsure what she may find at the other side.

She saw him stood at the bar. His hand on the whiskey glass, as he looked down at it, his other hand on his forehead, he took a sip, and then continued to stare at the glass.

She sighed, as she walked towards him.

"That's not going to help Charlie." She said, as she a few metres away from him.

Charlie sighed, and ignored her, he didn't look up, he just drank the last gulp of his whiskey and swayed slightly on his feet. He then dropped the glass down onto the bar.

"Same again." He said, as he slurred his words slightly, and looked at the barman, away from her.

"Charlie? You're supposed to be at work." She said, in astonishment, then folded her arms at him.

He replied angrily, "and you're supp'osed to be my wife, didn't stop you did it?!", as he continued to look away from her.

She took in a breath in shock.

The barman placed another whiskey in front of him.

He lifted up the glass, and took as sip, then said, "What?! Shock you did I?! Pfft, not nice is it?" He continued to look away from her.

"Charlie, please, you don't need to..." Duffy found her words.

"What?! Don't need to do this?" He said, as he took another gulp of his whiskey.

She stood looking shocked at him.

"Just go. Leave me. So I can do what I damn well please. If you can, so can I." He added, as he rose his glass to his lips once again.

Duffy sighed, and took a step closer to him, reached out and put her hand on his arm, before he could take another drink.

"Charlie, don't." She said, and looked at him worryingly.

He froze, and frowned as he looked at her.

"Don't touch me." He said, as he looked down at her hand.

He pulled back, but not forcefully. He looked into her eyes, and turned away from her.

"Please Charlie, don't do this." Duffy pleaded with him.

He put the glass down, and picked it up with his other hand, then drank all of it in two gulps, and then dropped in onto the bar. He swallowed the liquid, and turned to look at her.

He furrowed his brow at her, before he spoke, "just go."

Duffy looked at him, shock, horror, and worry. Tears began to form in her eyes, and she then took in a breath before she replied, trying to compose herself.

"No."

"Fine, I will then." He said sternly, and stood up off the bar, he was resting against. His legs buckled slightly under him, as he tried to steady himself, by reaching out for the bar. He slipped, and she reached out for his arm, grasping him, preventing him from falling.

"Get off." He snapped, as he stumbled backwards, and tried to grasp the bar again, this time he managed to rest against it.

"No. Charlie, you're drunk." Duffy replied.

"Get off me woman!" He said, and pulled his arm back from out of her grasp.

"Charlie?!" She yelped.

She let his arm go, and he fell backwards, the glass that had rested on the bar flew off and hit him, smashing against his arm, blood began to pour from it.

"Shit!" He shouted, as he looked down at the shards of glass around him, and the blood running from his wound.

"Oh God, Charlie!" Duffy said, as she rose her hand up to her mouth in horror.

She then bent down to help him. He moved his arm back away from her.

"Charlie for God's sake, you're bleeding, let me help you." She said to him in annoyance.

She turned to look at the barman, and asked him, "have you got a clean towel, anything so I can stem the bleeding? Then I'll ring Robyn and David to help me walk you across to the E.D."

"I'm not going back there." He replied, as he tried to stem the bleeding with his hand.

"Ooooh, shit that hurts." He added, he wincing in pain, as blood seeped through his fingers.

"Oh, great thanks," Duffy said, as she took the white tea towel from the barman.

"Charlie, you need to go, you'll need sutures." She added, as she bent down and pressed the towel to his hand, that grasped his wound.

He took it from her, and applied pressure to it. "Oh, bloody hell!", he swore, wincing in pain once again, as he could feel the glass in his arm, but he had to keep the pressure on regardless.

"Will you just keep the pressure on." Duffy said, as she took her mobile from her tunic pocket.

"What do you think I'm doing. Bloody hell. Shit." He replied, as the blood leaked through the towel, he winced again.

Duffy dialled Robyn's number, regardless of them not speaking lately, she was the only one she knew who was just as worried about Charlie as she was.

"Robyn, I'm with Charlie now. He's um, had a bit of an accident. Will you bring a pressure dressing pack with you, and ask David to bring a wheelchair too. I'll need a hand to get him to the E.D. he's um, fallen over and cut his arm on a whiskey glass. Yes, yes, other than that the stupid fool is fine. Drunk, but fine. Right, ok, see you shortly then. Thanks. Bye." Duffy said, as she tapped her phone to end the call.

She looked down at him and shook her head at him.

"Don't, ok. Just, don't." He said, as he looked up at her, shaking his head, and wincing in pain once again.

She just shook her head at him, and folded her arms at him.

"Well, this is one way to get you to speak to me."

"What?! Throw me to the floor, and chuck a whiskey glass at me?" He said, his words slurred again.

"That's not what happened Charlie." She frowned at him.

"Isn't it? Pfft." He said, as he winced, as he moved his hand slightly on his arm.

"Stop being such a..."

"What?! Hmm?"

"Bloody child. We need to talk. Drinking yourself into oblivion whilst you should be working is not the answer!"

"Isn't it. Was working just fine until you showed up."

"Yeah, well. Look at the state of you now."

"Pfft, yeah. I could do with another drink, to take the edge off." He winced again.

"I'm surprised you can feel it, the amount you've had. You can barely walk!"

He looked up at her, and angrily said, "that's not what it was for! It was to stop me thinking about..."

She looked at him shocked, as he stopped mid-sentence.

"About what?" She asked, sounding worried.

"You fucking Bill!" He said angrily.

"Charlie!?" She gasped, as she raised her hand to her mouth in shock.

The barman raised his eyebrows at the couple in front of him, and could now understand exactly why he had come into the pub every day for the passed few weeks. He stood in amazement, and tried to busy himself, by cleaning the bar with a tea towel.

Duffy just stood in shock, as it hit her exactly why he was there, today, right now. Because when he looked at her earlier, all he could see was her in bed with Bill. She understood why he needed the alcohol to numb him, to wipe out those images from his mind. Seeing her again, it had brought them all back.

Tears formed in her eyes as she looked down at him. He was looking down at his arm, covered in his own blood, wincing in pain, and it was all her fault.

"I'm sorry Charlie, I'm so, so sorry." She said, as a tear ran down her cheek, her hand still covered her lips.

He ignored her, and swayed slightly, as he continued to press down on his arm.

-x-