"You don't need to be here, Hugo," Georgie said in a low and threatening voice. It didn't seem to matter how many times she said it, he refused to budge and it was only her love for her son and Martha that kept her hands by her side and not going around this arrogant shit's neck to throttle him for turning up and acting as if he belonged there.
"I'm here because I care for Martha."
Alf put a calming hand on Georgie's arm. "I think it's time you left, Hugo," he told him.
"Not until I see Martha."
"It's family only," Alf said.
"Then why is she here?" he took pleasure in saying as he pointed to Georgie. "She's not family."
"Georgie is family," Roo spoke up. "And I know my daughter would want her here." More than she'd want you here, her tone implied.
"Gee, you've sure changed your tune Roo," he sneered. "You've never had a good thing to say about that woman before."
"I'm thinking of what is best for my daughter and whether you like it or not, it's Georgie that Martha loves and needs by her side and to be there for their son."
"Jackson is Jack's son, not hers," Hugo fumed. Jackson should have been his son and he still resented his cousin for swooping in and taking Martha before he could win her back. And to make things worse, she'd then turned to that bitch and not him when Jack died. "If anything, being Jack's cousin gives me more right to be there for Jackson than some woman who's not even related to him."
"Martha considers Georgie to be Jay's other parent and technically, as your stepsister, Georgie is related to both you and Jack and therefore, Jackson," Roo told him with some smugness. There was a time when she'd have preferred Martha to take Hugo back instead of embarking on some lesbian relationship, but not now. Maybe it was because her opinions were changing lately, she wasn't sure, but right now, Hugo was coming across as a much bigger jerk than she ever remembered him being.
"Did you just say stepsister?" Hugo said, his eyes widening in horror. "Is this some sick joke?"
"I wish," muttered Georgie.
"John is her father," Roo said.
"Oh, that's just fucking wonderful," raged Hugo. First his cousin and now it seemed, his stepsister had stolen the woman he loved.
"I'm not too happy about it either," Georgie said.
"I don't give a fuck what you feel or want."
"It's pretty obvious you don't give a fuck about what anyone but yourself feels or wants," Georgie fired back.
"I care about what Martha wants."
"Then get the fuck out of here," she yelled at him.
Hugo folded his arms across his chest and stared at them all defiantly. "No. I love Martha as much as anyone else here, so I'm not leaving."
"Oh fuck," Charlie murmured as she came upon the scene. She'd gotten here as quickly as she could and was relieved to see that no blood had been shed just yet, but even though Hugo towered over her much smaller cousin, she knew that wouldn't stop Georgie and going by the way her cousin was squeezing her hands into such a tight fist, she was barely holding back. "What's going on?" she asked in a calm voice, though she was ready to jump into the fray if need be.
"I just came here to offer my support to a friend," Hugo told her. "And that woman started laying into me."
"You miserable piece of shit," Georgie shouted.
"Georgie, let me handle this," she told her cousin. Charlie turned to Alf.
"It was Hugo who showed up and started laying into Georgie about this being her fault and how he would have protected Martha more."
"I didn't even know he was back in town."
"First thing this morning," Alf said. "He's back for Gina's birthday next week, but came here as soon as he heard about Martha."
With everything that had happened, Charlie had forgotten about Gina's birthday and with Shandi returning for that, she should have realised Hugo would most likely be back as well and his timing couldn't be worse.
"And I ain't leaving," Hugo stated firmly.
"We've asked him to leave a few times, but he won't listen," added Roo.
Charlie turned her full attention to Hugo. She'd never been much of a fan of his and he still bore that old arrogance and selfishness about him. "This is a hospital Hugo and the family has asked you to leave, so I suggest you do that before I arrest you for disturbing the peace."
"This is bullshit!" he snarled. "And you can't do that."
"Georgie, who is Martha's next of kin?" Charlie asked her. She already knew the answer but this was more for Hugo's benefit.
"I am," Georgie replied.
"Since when?" demanded Hugo.
"Since we became a family," Georgie confidently said. Despite her current worries, she enjoyed wiping the cockiness off his face.
"I think that settles it then," Charlie said. "As Martha's next of kin, that gives Georgie the right to say who stays or goes and so if you keep causing a scene and refusing the family's request for you to leave, then I will arrest you."
"I'm staying in the Bay for awhile, so don't think this is the last you'll be seeing of me," Hugo warned as he deliberately banged into Georgie when he stalked past her.
"Bastard," she muttered, rubbing her shoulder.
"Maybe you should have a word with Sid, have him put Hugo on the list of people not allowed near Martha's room," Charlie suggested to her.
"I will and thanks Charlie, I wasn't sure how much longer I could refrain from going for that prick."
"If he does come back and refuses to leave again, call the station and I'll send someone straight away."
Georgie nodded. "Thanks again Charlie, but I gotta get back to Jay now."
"This is the last thing they needed," Charlie said after her cousin had left.
Joey stifled a yawn. They'd been rushed off their feet for the past hour and a bit after a busload of tourists had turned up, but things were starting to settle down enough for her to take a break, just as she had promised to Charlie that she would.
She picked up her mobile when it started screeching and smiled when she saw who was ringing.
"Hey baby," she greeted her girlfriend.
"Hey baby back," Charlie said, a smile coming to her face at the sound of Joey's voice. "How's work going?"
"Busy, but I'm not overdoing things," she assured her. "I'm actually just taking a break and getting some fresh air outside."
"That's good."
"How's your work going, because you're sounding a bit frazzled?"
"I just had to make a quick dash to the hospital."
"Is Martha alright?" Joey asked worriedly.
"Martha's fine, or I should say, there's been no change in her condition, but I had to get to the hospital because Hugo Austin turned up and caused a scene."
"Hugo?" Joey said. The name rang a bell but she couldn't quite place it.
"Hugo is Martha's ex fiancé."
"Oh, that's right, he was Jack's cousin too, wasn't he?"
"Yeah and unfortunately, he's never managed to let Martha go, even though she's twice moved on from him with other people and today he turned up as if he had more right to be there than Georgie did."
Joey could just imagine how that went down with Georgie. "Did everyone survive?"
Charlie chuckled and let some of the tension ease from her shoulders. "It was a close call, but all are well, though that might change as Hugo is planning on sticking around like shit on a boot."
"Eww."
"Hugo has that affect on some people," Charlie said. "And he knows Georgie has a temper, so he just loves needling her to try to get a reaction out of her."
"Sounds like a real charming guy," Joey said sarcastically.
"Martha was well pleased to escape their engagement, it's just a shame Hugo refuses to see that he has zero chance of ever getting Martha back."
"He and Angelo would probably get along like a house on fire with that attitude," Joey murmured. "Can you stop by for lunch?"
"I'd love to, but I have to get back to the station. Robertson should have turned up by now and hopefully, there might be a lead on the accident." She didn't say anything about Angelo driving a car the same colour as the one that caused the accident, not wanting to unnecessarily upset Joey in case it turned out to be someone else. Still, she wasn't looking forward to telling Joey if it did turn out to be Angelo's car, because despite how Joey currently felt about Angelo, she had loved him and cared for him at one point and so finding out he'd hurt her friend and left her there, would upset her.
"I really hope they are getting somewhere with the investigation. Just about everyone I see is talking about it."
"I've noticed the same thing."
"Well, I'll let you go so that you can help get this person and I'll see you later. I love you."
"I love you too, bye."
Joey shut her phone. This accident was affecting so many people, so the quicker the person was caught and Martha's condition improved, the better for everybody. And she was really looking forward to the day when she and Charlie could relax and really get into enjoying their relationship without the stress of the accident and investigation and all the conflict with Angelo and Georgie. As tragic as the accident has been, it had set Georgie and Charlie in the right direction, so that hopefully when Martha was better, they could build on it and finally have the close relationship they both seemed to want. Angelo, on the other hand, was an entirely different problem. She'd completely misjudged what sort of man he was and wanted him out of her life, but she knew he was unlikely to let go, much like Hugo hadn't let Martha go after all this time.
She jumped when her phone went again. "Hello?"
"Hello Joey, this is Morag Bellingham."