Charlie sat in silence in the exact spot she had been in for the last three hours. Leah had arrived shortly after Ruby was brought to the operating theater and had been closely followed by an anxious Geoff. Nicole came soon after hearing with Aden in tow. All of them remained quiet the whole time. Nicole sat next to Aden, who had a comforting arm around her. Geoff paced the floor up and down so many times he was making everyone dizzy and Leah just sat beside Charlie. Hoping her presence was comforting.
"Do you think she'll be alright?", Nicole asked Aden looking up at him with a worried expression.
"Well Leah said when they brought Ruby in she was conscious so that's a good sign", he said trying to boost her spirits.
"I just feel so hopeless. She's my best friend and there is nothing I can do except sit here", she replied in a quivering tone.
Adend placed his hand under her chin and lifted her head until her gaze was directly in line with his.
"And that's the important. Your here supporting her like a best friend should", he told her giving her kiss upon the top of her head and pulling her into his embrace.
Across the corridor Charlie stared blankly into space. Blocking out all noise and ignoring those around her. She didn't want to seem ungrateful to them for being here to support Ruby, but she just couldn't focus on anything. She had to be strong. If there was a bad outcome for Ruby she would need to be able to be a pillar of strength for her. As she thought the worst, she began to hear the piercing screams running through her mind as she replayed the events of the last twenty four hours.
"What the hell is taking so long?", Geoff asked impatiently as he smacked the wall with his hand.
"Hey mate take it easy. You losing your head isn't gonna help Ruby", Aden told him from his seat, trying to calm Geoff before he lost the plot altogether.
Just then Rachel appeared at the end of the corridor. Leah nudged Charlie to snap her out of her trance and pointed in Rachels direction. She stood up and placed a hand over her stomach. Trying to settle the knot that had formed after they took Ruby to surgery. She looked on at a tired Rachel who was making her up to them slowly. Too slowly for everyone's liking. After a couple more seconds Charlie couldn't restrain herself and found she was speed walking towards Rachel to meet her.
"Rach, how's Ruby? Is she alright?", she asked before Rachel had time to catch her breath.
"We managed to remove the glass and any other fragments and stop the bleeding. We also repaired the stitching in her chest...", Rachel was cut off by a rlieved Charlie who was now joined by the rest of Ruby's support group.
"Oh Rach that's great", Charlie said letting out a sigh of relief and smiling at the others.
Rachel looked at them with a cold stare and lowered her head. She scratched her forehead and then removed the surgical scrub cap and let out a large breath. She looked up at the group who were now looking at her with puzzled expressions on their faces. Rachel turned her attention back to Charlie an gestured for her to sit down on the chairs they were standing beside which she did. Taking hold of Leah's hand for support.
"We managed to remove the glass. But there was some serious scare tissue and damaged and severed nerves in Ruby's lower back were the glass entered", Rachel explained to confuced stares.
"Rach, what does that mean, what are you trying to tell us?", asked Leah, hoping Rachel would cut to the point.
"Ruby has, what's simply called a spinal cord injury. She's paralysed from the waist down", she finished.
Charlie's eyes welled up and she could feel herself shaking at what she had just heard. Her beautiful daughter was paralysed. A million thoughts started racing through her mind. How would Ruby cope? How would she cope? This wasn't a hurdle they could face like the last time. This was like a climb to the top of Mount Everes. To try and make things as normal as possible would be an uphill struggle.
"Is this permanent?", Charlie asked afraid of what the answer would be.
"From the damage we saw when we were operating, yes, it looks like it could be permanent", Rachel told her.
"Could be permanent...so there's a chance it might not be?", Nicole asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.
"Well with injuries like this it's hard to tell whether or not the person will walk again. In most cases they don't. But sometimes when they begin to recover and the injuries start to repair themselves a pataient can show signs that walking again could be possible. But that's in a minority of cases and I don't want you to cling to false hope", she replied.
Charlie sat there processing the information. Her head hurt form all the thinking and worrying. All she wanted to do was see her daughter.
"Can I see Ruby?", she asked stopping the conversation from continuing.
"Of course, she's been asking for you since we talked to her about her condition", Rachel said.
With that both women stood up and walked down towards the ICU. The place was all too familiar to Charlie and she felt sick as she got to the double doors. She pushed one open and entered. Ruby lay on her side, a pillow propped up behind her back and all the same wiring she had the last time she was confined to the ICU. Ruby turned her towards the door and spotted Charlie looking at her.
"Mum....", she said.
Charlie smiled and walked over to the side of Ruby's bed. She caressed her daughters hair looked her up and down. She couldn't help but notice the wheelchair in the corner of the room. A tear slid down her cheek as she realised that it was probably going to be her daughters future.
"Mum, I can't spend the rest of my life in a wheelchair....I can't do it", Ruby siad through tears.
Charlie looked down and tried to choke back the tears. It was bad enough Ruby had to go through this, she didn't want her to have to depend on a mother who couldn't even cope with the situation.
"Look at me, you are going to be fine. We're going to get you through this one way or another, alright? We'll adjust, do whatever it takes", Charlie reassured her daughter.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out her locket. She took hold of Ruby's hand and placed it in it and closed Ruby's hand over.
"This has gotten me through some really tough times. I think it's time you feel it's healing power", Charlie said.
Ruby looked down at her hand and opened it up to find Charlie's beloved locket staring back at her. She opened it up and looked at the pictures and then closed it back over. She gave it a rub, almost as if for good luck and then took a firm hold of it. Ruby turned her attention back towards Charlie. She began to sob. Ruby placed her arm around Charlie's neck, bringing her down to her level and pulled her close to hug her. Charlie hunched down and engulfed Ruby in a hug, placing one arm under her side and the other around her shoulders.
"Thanks Mum", Ruby said through her tears.
"I love you baby", Charlie replied.
How will Ruby take it when the reality of her injuries becomes too real?
Can those close to her give her the support she needs?
Will Charlie continue to push Angelo away?
