Rachel walked out of Ruby's bedroom and closed the door behind her. She walked down the corridor and out into the living room to Leah and Charlie. When she entered, Charlie was sitting on the couch clasping her hands together. Leah was sitting beside her with her had on Charlie's shoulder, tring her best to comfort her. When they heard Rachel walk in they turned around. Charlie stood up quickly and then Leah. Rachel walked over to them and placed her medical case on the living room table.
"Howz, Ruby, is she ok?", Charlie asked, trying to sound calm.
"She's fine right now. I've given here a check up and gave her a sedative to calm her down. But I think Ruby may be suffering from and anxiety disorder brought on by the traumatic experience of the shooting. Has Ruby talked to you about the incident or how she's feeling?" Rachel asked Charlie, a curious expression across her face.
"Well, no. I've been so busy dealing with doctors and with Derricks arrest. We haven't had time to talk properly", Charlie answered, a pang of guilt sounded in her voice.
Rachel nodded at her understandingly. She picked up her case and reached inside, pulling out a pill bottle. She handed it to Charlie and then closed back up her case.
"Here are some sedatives. If Ruby has another bad attack, help her breath through it then give her one of these to calm her down", Charlie nodded looking at the bottle.
"Ok, thanks Rach, I know it's early, I just panicked", Charlie said gratefully.
"That's perfectly alright. If you need anything else just give me a call", Rachel replied smiling.
With that Rachel said her goodbyes and left. Leah made her way into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. She felt after such an intense morning wake up call They could do with a strong dose of caffeine. She picked up the bag of coffee that Charlie had taken out earlier up from the counter and cleaned up the small spill. She emptied the contents into the bin and then turned on the kettle to re-boil the water.
Charlie walked down the corridor and knocked on Ruby's bedrrom door. She opened it and walked in. Ruby was sitting upright, propped up by some pillows behind her. She half smiled at Charlie. Her face was complexion was very pale and her eyes looked as though they'd lost their spark. Charlie walked over to the bed and put the pill container on the bedside locker next to Ruby's insulin kit. She stroked Rubys hair, pushing the front bits back behind her ear. Ruby grabbed a hold of Charlie's hand as she was pulling it away.
"So, do you want to talk?", Charlie asked her, searching Ruby's eyes for contact.
Ruby tugged on Charlie's arm and gestured her to sit down on the bed beside her. Charlie walked around the bed to the opposite side of Ruby and climbed onto the bed, crossing one leg under her and stretching the other one out. She grabbed hold of Ruby's hand and cupped it between hers.
"I've been having this dream...nightmare...I'm right back in the house and all I can see is his face. It was....it was evil", Ruby said choking back tears.
"Oh Rubes, why didn't you tell me", Charlie asked her concerned.
Ruby shed a tear. She raised her hand and wiped it away. She looked at Charlie and squeezed her hand. She felt emotional. She had been holding this in for three weeks and leeting it out felt like a relief to her. She didn't know why she kept it to herself. It was just something she was used to. When her grandmother died she bottled everything up and kept her feelings from Charlie and Ross. But deep down she felt like, after everything that had happened, with Charlie, with Grant, with Ross, her diabetes and now this, it felt like bottling it up was talking one step forward and two steps back. She wanted to have an open honest relationship with Charlie and if this was to happen she was going to start now.
"I didn't want burden you with it. You were already dealing with everything else, I didn't want to add this on top of it", she said looking down.
Charlie swallowed hard. Ever since Ruby was little she had always be independent. Trying to figure things out for herself. She hated when Ruby kept things to herself but then she realised that Ruby really was her mother's daughter. Charlie hadn't exactly been the best role model about opening up over the she wasn't going to make that mistake now. Not when she was finally able to be a mother to Ruby. She placed a hand under Ruby's chin and pulled her head up so she was looking her in the eye.
"Ruby, I know your intentions ere good, but I don't ever want you to hide something like this from. Especially if it's hurting you like this", Charlie said. "I know I've been focusing a lot on doctors and everything but it's because I want you to get better. I can't take care of you if don't let me know what's going on".
Ruby nodded. She completely understood where Charlie was coming from. It was hard on Charlie trying to take care of Ruby and juggle her duty as a cop. By hiding things from her she was only making it more difficult.
"Rubes, you are the most important person in my. I love you more than anything. It hurts me to see you like this and to know that I can't physically do anything to ease your pain. But Ruby I am here for you. I want you to talk to me like you did before everything thats happened. If your hurting I want to be there to comfort you. Promise me that from now on, no matter what, you'll open up to me....", Charlie said, a wilfull look in her eyes.
"Ok, I promise", Ruby said nodding her head in agreement. "I'm sorry", she said.
Ruby embraced Charlie, hugging her tightly and wiping away her tears. She felt such relief. Like a hugh weight had been lifted off her shoulders and it eased the tension she was feeling. Ruby squirmed a little, her chest starting to pain her. Charlie shifted herself and then pulled away from the embrace, realising Ruby was hurting. She truned around leaned across to the bedside locker and grabbed the painkillers. She took two out of the pill bottle and picked up the glass of water. She gave Ruby the pills and then the water and when she was done she put the glass back on the locker.
Ruby began to doze off, the pills taking effect and making her drowsey. She tried to fight it but she didn't physically have the energy. Charlie helped Ruby move into a lying down position. She lifted her head and placed the pillows underneath. When she was done she turned around and placed the lid back on the pill bottle. Just the Ruby placed a hand on her arm.
"Mum......stay with me", she asked.
Charlie smiled and nodded. She slid down in the bed so that she was lying down and turned on her side so she was facing Ruby. She stroked Ruby's arm as she watched as her daughter began to drift off. She kissed her on the forehead and lay her head back down.
"Sweet dreams sweetie", Charlie said, hoping there wouldn't be a repeat of the earlier incident.
I'm not 100% impressed with this chapter but I hope you like it. Feel free to add suggestions for future chapters.
