Finally, an update! I did say it would take me a while.*Shrug* Like I said, I'm busy. I' am still unsure as to why I even contemplated starting another fiction when I have so much on my plate and I still have my Sea Patrol fics. But anyhow...
Thanks to those that reviewed the first part. It made my day and encouraged me to write more. Thank you so much.
About twenty minutes, which felt like twenty hours to Rachel, her Grandfather's Camry finally pulled into the parking lots at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital. Barely even closing the door, Rachel launched herself out of the passenger seat before Ted had even turned the car off.
"Rachel!" called out Ted, watching as his oldest and only granddaughter began to hurry off. She didn't even hesitate at her name being called. He hurried in her path, watching as she hurried towards the entrance, still in her fluffy pink slippers and pyjamas, not that she seemed to care. Just short of the sliding entrance doors, Rachel stopped, allowing Ted the chance to finally catch up to her. He caught up to her and expected her to continue on, but she didn't, as if she was frozen to the spot. "Are we going to go in?" prompted Ted. Rachel just stayed frozen.
"What if I don't want to see him," said Rachel suddenly. It was like her whole body was frozen; legs, arms, face, head, body; all stuck on the same spot.
"You're the one that's been moping about him for weeks!" Ted told her.
"No, I mean, like that," jumped in Rachel quickly, facing her beloved grandad. Ted thought for a moment, wanting to choose his words carefully before answering.
"And if you don't go, you'll regret it for the rest of your life." With Rachel's current blank expression, it suggested she was absorbing and processing exactly what Ted was saying to her. Suddenly she turned as if she was going to walk away quickly. Ted instantly reached out to catch her arm, knowing if she walked away now, she'd never forgive herself.
"I can't Grandad," her voice barely a whisper as she said the words. He could tell she was on the verge of breaking down.
"Rachel, when someone you love needs you, no matter how hard it is for you, you have to be there for them. It's what you do when you love someone," Ted told her, dwelling on his own experiences, not that he told his distraught granddaughter that. "Rachel," he prompted again when she didn't move.
"His mum wouldn't want me there," replied Rachel distantly, appearing to be miles away in thought. "I have to respect that."
"Stop procrastinating and go! Jake wouldn't have called you if he didn't want you here!" His last words registered in her head and she turned slowly to face him, tears streaking her face.
"He didn't call me; the police did." Ted realised what he had said and tilted his head, pulling his granddaughter into a hug as she began to cry. They stood there for minutes, the early morning breeze not even affecting them. Finally, feeling composed enough, Rachel pulled back and looked up at her grandad. "I don't think I'm strong enough."
"You? Not strong enough? We are talking about my granddaughter here, aren't we? And I know how strong she is," replied Ted, thinking mainly back to Rachel's past experiences, mainly caused by her ex, Daniel. "And unfortunately sweetheart, there are times like these were you just have to step up and be strong enough, even if we feel too weak to do so." Rachel nodded and Ted slowly pulled her away, the two figures guiding their way through the cool night.
0600am, Royal North Shore Hospital
At 6am, Rachel and Ted were still waiting. They had asked countless passing doctors and nurses for updates or to be allowed to see the patient but no one had seemed to know anything, frustrating an already agitated Rachel. Sitting on the seat along a long corridor, the first flecks of the morning light appearing through the windows and landing on both Ted and Rachel's faces, Rachel had her head in her hands while Ted was leaning back deeply against the chair.
"Rachel? Ted?" Both Rachel and Ted looked up at hearing their names, spotting Melissa walking towards them down the corridor. At the sight of her brother's girlfriend coming closer, Rachel jumped up, depending upon her friend for answers to the questions she was so desperately waiting for.
"Mel, you'll tell me. Where's Jake? Is... Is he okay?" Rachel pounced on poor Melissa, taking the nurse by surprise.
"You know about Jake?" was Melissa's response.
"The police called," Rachel replied quickly. "I was the first number in Jake's call listings. But look, is he okay?"
"Rachel, you know I can't..."
"Please Mel!" interrupted a desperate Rachel. "I need to know." Melissa looked around slightly, as if to see no one was watching.
"He was brought in earlier. He and his mum need surgery. His brother is asleep," replied Melissa, her voice dropping largely so that no one even had the slightest chance of hearing.
"Surgery!" exclaimed Rachel. Melissa grabbed her arm.
"Shhh! Okay, it's all I know," she told Rachel, who was running a hand through her un-brushed hair. She was clearly distressed.
"Rachel, calm down," added Ted, noticing just how stressed she was at this time.
"Calm down?" replied Rachel, her voice lowered. "How can I calm down?"
"Rachel? Rachel," called Mel, pulling on Rachel's arm to make her face her again. "I've just finished my shift okay? I'm going to go home for a bit and then I'll come back. But I'll ask the receptionist to keep you informed. Alright?" Melissa was searching Rachel's face for an answer as she waited for Rachel's response. Eventually, Rachel nodded slowly.
"Thanks Mel," she replied, wiping her cheeks. Mel nodded, patting her arm before heading off, leaving Rachel to take a seat back next to her grandfather.
0610am, Rafter House
At the Rafter house, the family were beginning to rise. Dave was awake and in the kitchen, making coffee whilst Nathan emerged from his bedroom. Sammy was in the shower before Julie was awake; knowing she wouldn't be able to get her shower in once Julie awoke from her slumber.
About ten minutes later, Julie was awake and surprisingly in the kitchen, rather than the bathroom. Sammy emerged into the kitchen after he shower, joining the others for coffee and breakfast.
"Hey, where's Rachel?" she asked, stealing a piece of toast from over her husband's shoulder. Dave turned around from the sink to look at his daughter-in-law.
"Isn't she in her room?" asked Julie, thinking it was slightly odd too for Rachel not to be awake with all of them. Sammy shook her head.
"No, the doors open. I went to ask her something and she was gone," replied Sammy as she swallowed a piece of toast, accepting the coffee Dave handed to her at the same time. "Thanks," she told him, taking a sip. Julie frowned before shrugging.
"Maybe she left for work early," suggested Julie.
"I doubt it," interjected Nathan, spying his sister's keys hanging from the hook. He moved over to pick them up to show the family around him. "Besides, it's only 6.30!" Julie was still for a minute.
"Who knows? It's Rachel we're talking about," she laughed, sitting down. Nathan shrugged, replacing the keys while Sammy sipped her coffee, wondering to herself.
0630am, Carbo, Ben and Melissa's house
Ben was still asleep at this time. For once, Carbo was actually awake, in the shower and getting ready early. Melissa climbed the stairs, pushing open Ben's door and finding him still asleep in a tangle of blankets. Mel simply went and sat on the bed which stirred him.
"Ben," Melissa said as she nudged him. He muttered something, clearly still in sleep mode.
"Wake up!" Mel tried again, thumping him harder.
"Oi!" he grumbled, turning over and rubbing his eyes. "What did you do that for?"
"Rachel's at the hospital," she told him, knowing that would get his attention and wake him up properly and pronto. And it did the trick.
"What?" he asked, his voice still husky from sleep as he pulled himself into a sitting position, waking up more as words his sister could be in trouble hit him. "Is she okay?!"
"It was Jake, not her," replied Melissa to calm him down. Ben took a second to collect his thoughts; his mind still sleep addled.
"What happened?" he simply asked, the best sentence he could string together in such a state.
"I'm not sure exactly," replied Mel. Despite knowing she could trust him, she didn't know enough and didn't want to dish out the wrong facts. "But she was pretty distraught."
"I'll bet," replied Ben, rubbing his eyes. "She might not be going out with him at the moment but I know what she feels for him."
"It isn't half obvious," agreed Mel. She nudged him before getting up off the bed to get changed out of her work uniform. Ben too gathered himself, getting out of the bed and making for the clean clothes on the chair he had dumped them on last night; they hadn't quite made the wardrobe yet and it didn't look as if they were going to either.
0645am, Rafter House
Julie was sipping her cup of tea, sitting with Sammy as they both glanced over the paper in between them. Dave was on the computer, checking emails whilst Nathan had disappeared to get ready for work. But her resurfaced now, causing the other Rafters to turn their gazes to him when he spoke.
"Where did Grandad go?" Dave looked to Julie at this, not having a clue.
"Maybe he went for a walk," was her reply. Nathan, who was standing near the bench in the kitchen, glanced through the half open kitchen window and then back at the hook he had pulled Rachel's keys from earlier.
"His car's gone," stated Nathan, beginning to wonder why everyone was disappearing this morning. Julie was about to say more when Ben came in through the door.
"There's no milk," jumped in Dave instantly, recognising his son's usual raiding of the fridge and pantry early in the morning and went to put a stop to it before Ben could do anything.
"Hey, what happened to Jake?" asked Ben, standing next to Nathan at the bench, resting his palms down on it. The others looked back at him, not saying anything.
"You tell me," replied Dave, breaking the silence. "First we've heard about it."
"Has something happened?" added Julie. Ben shrugged.
"I thought you'd know! Isn't Rachel at the hospital?" asked Ben, slightly confused at his family's lack of knowledge. Julie frowned.
"We didn't know where she was," stated Julie, thinking deeply. "Anyway, what do you know?"
"Mel just got back from work and said that Rachel was there because something happened to Jake," replied Ben. "She didn't know much either."
"That's probably where Grandad is," reasoned Nathan logically, nodding his head slowly as he spoke.
"I'm going to ring the hospital. And Rachel and Dad," decided Julie, pushing herself up from the sofa. Sammy stood up too, putting her hand on Julie's arm to steady her.
"We've got to go to work. Call us if you hear anything," said Sammy as Julie walked towards the phone. Julie nodded.
"I will. Have a good day."
"Come on, you ready?" asked Sammy, tugging on her husband's sleeve. He nodded, downing the last dribble of his coffee before placing the cup on the sink.
"Yeah. Have to move Rachel's car; she's blocking us in," said Nathan as he turned back around.
"Here I'll do it," offered Ben. Sammy removed her and Nathan's keys from the hook, and also Rachel's, handing them to Ben over her shoulder.
"This is all Rachel needed," said Sammy suddenly as she, Nathan and Ben made their way towards the cars outside.
"Yeah I reckon," agreed Ben, opening the door to his sister's red Beetle and getting in. Sammy climbed into the passenger's side of their car whilst Nathan hopped into the drivers.
"She'll be fine," Nathan told his wife, knowing his sister would cope. He watched in the rear view mirror as Ben reversed Rachel's car out of the driveway and into the street, allowing Nathan plenty of room to reverse his own car out.
As he watched Nathan and Sammy drive off down the road, Ben drove Rachel's Beetle back into the driveway, wondering the whole time whether his sister was okay. After all, this wasn't what she needed.
There we go for now. I don't know where this story will lead to. I have a sketchy plan but nothing concrete. Like my story for Sea Patrol "Underlying Facts" turned out completely differently to what I had planned it. And I'm not promising anything on the update side.
Anyway, please read/review. Much appreciated.