A hand had moved... trailing itself along Joey's hair and made its way down her back and under her top, waking her up out of her slumber. As she raised her head she looked up to see a pair of gorgeous blue eyes looking down at her. Joey was mesmorised.... frozen in a moment of time. She didn't want to move, afraid that she was dreaming.

Then she spoke...

'So where have you been?'

......

Joey stumbled for an answer, unsure as to whether Charlie had her memory back or if her question was a generic one.

She smiled back to Charlie and replied

'Honey I've been waiting for you, here in the hospital since they bought you in. I haven't left your side. Ruby's so worried about you. Do you remember what happened?'

Charlie glared at Joey, her eyes fueled with a combination of anger and sadness all at the same time. Through gritted teeth and a clenched jaw she hissed,

'You left me Joey Collins. You got on that boat without a single word of hope. All you said was that you would miss me. I've had to live with that each day, knowing that my soulmate, the woman who I was so passionately in love with had left. You didn't call. You didn't text. You didn't even offer me a return address to where I could write'... her voice continued to rise...

'and now you sit by my side, smiling, telling me you have been by my side since I was bought in. Now I'm supposed to be happy because you came back. You have some nerve Joey Collins. If I didn't know better I would kick your backside out of here and shut that door for good!!'

Joey slumped in her chair, her eyes unable to look into Charlies no more. Gathering her thoughts she whispered,

"Charlie, honey... I can't force you to remember but I promise you I've been back for some time. Ruby and I, we've waited for you to come back to us. We thought we had lost you for good."

Joey couldn't say anymore, tears had filled her eyes and one more word, she knew she would break down in front of Charlie and she just couldn't do that. She couldn't face any more of Charlie's rage. She slowly began to stand up, all life and happiness had withdrawn from her soul.

As she rose, she cupped Charlie's face, gently planting a kiss on Charlie's lips, tears began to stream down her face, unable to hold them back, she whispered once more

"I love You Charlie Buckton, more than words can describe right now. Believe me when I tell you I came back for you. We healed each others hearts and souls. I will never leave you but right now, I think it's best I do." As she moved away from her chair, she removed the diamond encrusted gold ring from her left finger. One last time she looked into those blue eyes, that were once a sea of love and happiness. In their place, nothing. She placed the ring into Charlie's hand and closed it, continuing with the tears streaming faster down her face,

"Remember us Charlie. Please remember what we had." With that she kissed her hand and walked towards the door; unable to control the tears that had now become a fountain of sadness.

Charlie meanwhile, was confused by the rings symbolism. She couldn't remember giving it to Joey yet there was something tugging at her heart. Several images flashed before her eyes.

"Joey. Come Back!!" She cried out. 'What have I done?' she thought to herself. Images continued to invade her mind.

TBC

Thankyou to everyone who reviewed. I hope this chapter hasn't dissapointed.

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