NOTE: Peter's alive.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
"I'm so sorry that I wasn't here for you yesterday," Tasha said softly, as she sat on the end of Martha's hospital bed. "Rob feels the same way".
Martha smiled lightly at her. "It's okay. You were in the city, so you weren't to know," she said.
It was only the next morning and Martha was already going crazy. She just wanted to get out of that hospital and go home. Sally and Cassie had both dropped in earlier that morning. Shortly after they left, Alf, Ric and Macca had showed up again. And now Tasha and Robbie were in visiting her. But Robbie had just left to go to the toilet, so Martha and Tasha were alone.
"So, now that it's just us, do you want to tell me how you're really feeling?" Tasha questioned.
"I told you I'm fine," Martha replied, but didn't look up. She just continued to pick at her nail.
"You're not fine Mac," Tasha started. "You've just suffered a terrible loss. And I can tell from your face, that you're not doing well," she continued.
"Please Tash, I really don't want to talk about it," Martha insisted as her eyes started to well up. "Let's talk about something else".
Tasha frowned, but she wanted to respect Martha's wishes, so she dropped it. "Okay, well have you heard that Tony and Lucas are moving into Beth's over the weekend?" she asked Martha.
"No, I didn't even know that they were thinking about it," Martha shook her head. "What about Jack? What's he doing?" she wanted to know.
"Jack's staying where he is. But Kim called us this morning and told us that he's moving in with Jack," Tasha explained. "And now that Kit and Kim have decided to give their relationship a chance, Kit's gotten a transfer to Yabbie Creek University. So she's moving back to Summer Bay," she continued.
"That's great," Martha smiled. "So does that mean that she's going to be moving in with Kim and Jack," she then asked.
"Not right now. They don't want to rush things, so for the moment Kit is going to take Kim's old room at Irene's," Tasha told her.
"Anything else interesting that you can tell me?" Martha asked Tasha. She just wanted to take her mind off her dad. So she was willing to talk about anything.
"Um, well you probably already know, but, I think Ric and Belle are already having problems," Tasha replied.
"Ah, yeah," Martha nodded. "Ric mentioned it to me the other day. I think he and Cassie may still have feelings for each other," she explained.
"And Belle's been spending a lot of time with that new kid, Drew. Did you hear that he is Peter's son?" Tasha laughed.
"What? No," Martha exclaimed. "When did all this happen?"
"Apparently, Peter's known about him for a few years and never told anyone. But last week, Peter decided that it was about time he spilled the beans," Tasha began. "He went and picked Drew up from boarding school, and brought him to Summer Bay, and now he's staying for good," she finished.
Martha smiled lightly as Tasha continued to talk. She was thankful because it took her mind off her dad. She just hoped that it would stay that way.
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LATER THAT DAY
Jack decided to go for a walk along the beach with Tony before he went back to the hospital to see Martha. He'd already been in before lunch to see her, but she didn't speak much. He couldn't blame her though. She'd just lost her father, and he knew that it would take a while for her to get over it. But no matter what; he was going to help her get through it.
During their walk they came across Megan. She had gotten a bit snotty with him, because he didn't go and visit her and Grace that morning like he had promised. Jack just wanted to yell at her. It was like she had forgotten what had just happened with Martha the day before. It was either that, or she just didn't care about anyone but herself.
Jack was just about to have a go at her when Tony's phone rang.
"Hello," Tony said into the phone.
Jack looked away while his father spoke quietly over the phone. A few moments later, Tony hung up. "Um, that was Alf," Tony told Jack.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked.
"The hospital just called him, and apparently Martha just got up out of bed and walked out," Tony explained.
"What?" Jack yelled.
"Yeah, and now they can't find her," Tony sighed.
"We got to go fin………….," Jack started to say but was cut off by Megan.
"I think that's her sitting up there in the sand," Megan blurted out and pointed to a spot further up the beach.
Jack and Tony spun around and took off up the beach with Megan close behind them. The closer they got, the easier it was to recognise that it was Martha. She was crouching in the sand, and sobbing uncontrollably.
"Is she crazy? The doctors ordered her to stay in hospital, but she ignores them. Is she trying to hurt her baby?" Megan spat out. "Talk about stupid".
Tony turned around and glared at her. "No, she's not stupid. She's just lost her father and she's grieving," he snapped. "So why don't you just mind your own business".
Jack couldn't help but smile to himself. Finally someone put Megan in her place. And it was his dad, of all people.
"I'm going to go talk to her," Jack told his dad, and started walking towards Martha.
"Wait," Tony pulled Jack back. "Let me," he said.
Jack nodded and let his dad go to Martha. He stood back with Megan.
"What's your dad's problem?" she spat out. Jack just glared at her, and chose to ignore the question.
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Martha looked out at the sea; her vision was blurry due to the tears that were streaming down her face. She jumped a little when she felt someone sit down beside her and pull her into a hug. It was Tony.
"What are you doing love? You should be at the hospital," he said to her.
"I hate it there," Martha started to sob. "I feel so lonely when I'm there. And when I'm lonely, it makes me think of my dad. And I don't want to think about him, because it hurts so much," she cried.
"Of course it's going to hurt. It only just happened yesterday," Tony soothed.
"It isn't fair. Everything was fine, and then all of a sudden he was gone," Martha started to cry harder. "And he was so happy about the baby, and now he won't even get a chance to see it. He's gone, and I just feel so empty," she said.
"You just need to stay strong. You need to stay strong for yourself and for the baby. And you don't need to feel empty or alone, because you have so many people around who want to help you," Tony began. "Especially Jack. He loves you, and your baby. And he hates seeing you so upset. He just wants to help," he finished.
"I don't need help," Martha said stubbornly.
"If you don't want help from anybody, then at least help yourself by getting up and going back to the hospital. Everybody is worried, and Alf's running around the bay like he's just had his head chopped off," Tony told her.
"I hate it there," Martha told him again.
"I know, but you have to go back. If not for your sake, then at least for the baby's sake. Please," Tony pleaded.
"Okay," Martha agreed.
"Good," Tony smiled. "Come on," he said as he helped her up.
Martha then noticed Jack and Megan standing further up the beach.
"I don't like her," Martha exclaimed.
"Really, I hadn't noticed," Tony laughed sarcastically.
Martha smiled and took Tony's hand.
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"So, I heard that your dad and Lucas were moving in with Beth, and that Kim was moving in with you," Martha said to Jack, when they were back alone in the hospital room.
"Yeah, I was going to tell you, but I never got the chance," Jack told her. He then looked at her, straight in the eye. "Don't you ever do that again," he said in a serious tone.
"What are you talking about?" Martha asked him.
"Do you have any idea how scared I was when I heard that you had just got up and walked out of here?" Jack said sternly. "What if something had happened and we couldn't find you?"
"I'm sorry," Martha looked away from him.
"Hey, I'm being serious," Jack grabbed her arm, and turned her to face him again. "Don't ever do it again, do you hear me?" he ordered.
Martha glared at him. "Loud and clear Constable," she snapped.
Stupid Jerk, she thought.
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