Chapter 2
Ruby sighed softly as she watched Charlie sleeping fitfully on the couch. The older girl had eventually cried herself to sleep in her sister's arms after Joey had left.
"Damn it Joey" Ruby whispered as she leaned forward and leaned her head on her fists. A soft shuffle drew her attention back to her sister and she froze in an attempt to remain as quiet as possible.
"Joey..." Charlie mumbled in her sleep as she shifted restlessly clutching tightly to the blanket Ruby had thrown over her.
Ruby's heart clenched painfully in her chest as she shuffled closer to her sister on the couch and placed a hand on her arm.
"Shh" she soothed in an attempt to calm her sister down "its okay Charlie..."
"Rubz?" Charlie mumbled as her eyes fluttered open.
"I'm right here" Ruby mumbled comfortingly "Are you okay?"
Charlie sat up and ran a hand through her slightly messy hair "Not really" she pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around them.
"I'm sorry" Ruby whispered "I have no idea what to say to make you feel better"
"There's nothing to say" Charlie responded as tears flooded her eyes "Just...come here" she held out a hand to her sister.
Ruby didn't hesitate as she took Charlie's hand and allowed herself to be pulled close into a warm embrace. They sat in silence apart from occasional sniffles from Charlie.
"She said she loved me" the older girl spoke up suddenly, startling Ruby from her daze "But she left me...I don't understand this Rubz..."
"Can I do anything?" Ruby turned slightly in her sisters' loose embrace to look at her "Do you want me to beat her up for you? Because as much as I like her, I'll still do it"
Charlie shook her head and smiled tearfully at her younger sister "No, but thanks anyway Rubz"
Ruby reached up and wiped Charlie's tears away gently "I'm sorry"
"You're sorry?" Charlie sniffled in confusion "Why are you sorry?"
"I'm sorry I can't do anything" Ruby answered sadly "I'm sorry that I was so hard on you for loving Joey...Maybe if I hadn't been so against you wouldn't have felt the need to..."
"Sleep with Hugo?" Charlie questioned quietly "Betray Joey? Throw the best thing that's ever happened to me away?" she shook her head adamantly "That was all my fault. I chose to hurt Joey. I'm the only one who's to blame..."
"Charlie..." Ruby whispered "C'mon don't be so hard on yourself"
"I don't know what else to do" Charlie admitted as she met Ruby's eyes "She said that she still loved me but...I don't know why she would still love me after what I did to her..." she released a bitter laugh "It's so typical of me...I didn't realise how happy she made me...How much I loved her until she was gone"
"Charlie, Please!" Ruby squeezed her sisters' hand tightly "Don't do this to yourself"
"Why not?" the older girl questioned tearfully "I'm such an IDIOT Ruby!"
"You're not!" Ruby insisted forcefully "You made a mistake Charlie!"
"A mistake which cost me the love of my life..." Charlie sighed dejectedly. She wiped the remaining tears away from her eyes and pulled away from Ruby to stand up.
"I need to get out of here for a while" she remarked painfully "I have to think"
"It's dark out" Ruby pointed out in concern as she too stood up from the couch "Maybe you shouldn't go anywhere...You're not exactly in a very good state of mind Charlz"
"I'll be fine" Charlie responded as she crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to control her raging emotions "I just need some air Rubz"
"Okay" Ruby nodded hesitantly "But don't be long okay?"
Charlie nodded as she wrapped her sister in a hug "I love you Rubz"
"I love you too" Ruby responded as she returned the hug.
Charlie pulled away from the hug and started towards the door.
"I'll be back soon"
"See ya later Charlz"
---
Charlie leaned heavily on the white fence in front of her as she looked out at the waves below her. She closed her eyes for a moment allowing her mind to drift to past memories as her tears flowed freely.
"I think..." Charlie paused for a split second "I'm in love with you too"
Her heart skipped a beat at the sight of Joey's barely suppressed grin.
"What are we going to do about it?"
Charlie turned back to gaze out of the windscreen of her car avoiding Joey's gaze.
"Do you want to be with me?" Joey's voice had turned slightly more serious.
Charlie nodded and a moment later she felt Joey smooth a hand comfortingly over her hair. She turned to the younger girl and grasped her hand, her confidence growing slightly.
"Yes" she answered firmly "I want to be with you"
They both leaned forward at the same time and pressed their lips together in a tender kiss.
Charlie was brought back to the present at a slight shuffling from behind her. She looked over her shoulder but found she couldn't see anything through the dark. She released a soft sigh as she looked at her watch, surprised to see how late it was.
"Damn it" she said softly as she wiped her fallen tears away with the back of her hand "Ruby's gonna kill me..."
She turned around and began to walk forward when she heard the quiet shuffling closet this time. She swallowed hard as she glanced around herself.
"Who's there?!" she questioned quietly.
When there was no response she shook her head and began to walk again "You're paranoid Charlie"
A matter of seconds later she felt a sharp pain in the back of her head before everything turned black.
---
Joey shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her jeans as she walked slowly gazing out at the waves below her.
"You're such an idiot Joey" she mumbled to herself as she felt tears prick her eyes. She glanced around suddenly realising where she was. She was close to where she and Charlie had shared their second kiss. A soft sigh escaped her as she continued walking. She noticed a man dressed in black jogging towards her but thought nothing of it until he pushed roughly past her.
"Geeze" she muttered rubbing her shoulder "Rude much?"
She shook her head and once again continued walking to her destination. As she neared the spot which was dimly lit with moonlight she caught site of somebody sprawled on the ground. She sped up her pace until she was running towards them but stopped short when she recognised the girl before her.
"Charlie?" she croaked out as she slumped to her knees only now noticing the blood which surrounded the older girl.
"Charlie?!" she repeated in panic as she tapped the other girl's cheek lightly. She allowed her eyes to run down the other girls' body to assess her injuries and winced when she noticed that most of the bleeding appeared to be coming from her stomach.
"Oh God" she whispered as she placed a hand on the wound to stop the bleeding. She quickly pulled out her cell phone with her free hand and dialled 112.
"I need an ambulance" she said quickly "My girlfriend's been stabbed" she didn't even notice that she hadn't referred to Charlie as her friend but rather, her girlfriend. She was quickly reassured that the ambulance would be there as soon as possible. Joey hung up quickly and flung the phone carelessly to the side.
"Charlie" she whispered as she lifted a hand to the other girls' cheek "Please wake up!" she ran a hand down the other girls hair and released a quiet sob as she felt blood covering her hand. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead lightly against the other girl "I'm so sorry Charlie...Please don't leave me..."
---
A while later Joey sat in the waiting room of the hospital gazing numbly at her bloody hands as tears cascaded down her cheeks.
"Joey!" she heard Ruby's voice yell. She looked up to see Ruby storming towards her with Leah hot on her heels. She had asked the doctor to call them a while ago.
She stood up quickly to face the younger girl "Ruby..."
"The doctors said that she's in critical condition!" Ruby said tightly though tears flooded her eyes "That she has to have an operation!"
"I didn't..." Joey looked away having no idea what to say.
"You didn't WHAT?!" Ruby exclaimed loudly "You didn't THINK before you decided what the hell I'll go and shatter Charlie's heart into a million little Pieces?! You didn't want this to happen?!" she paused breathing heavily "This is all your fault Joey!"
Joey offered no response as her tears continued.
"Ruby" Leah said softly as she placed a placating hand on Ruby's shoulder "That's enough!"
"NO!" Ruby exclaimed as she pulled away from Leah's touch "It's not enough...It never will be!" she narrowed her tear filled eyes angrily at Joey "She's all I have Joey, and if I lose her..."
"I'm sorry..." Joey whispered weakly.
"You're SORRY?!" Ruby exploded as she shoved Joey roughly backwards "I told you not to fucking HURT her Joey. I TOLD you! And you...you just..."
"RUBY!" Leah exclaimed quietly "Stop it!"
"I didn't mean to hurt her..." Joey said quietly.
"But you did!" Ruby exclaimed "You did hurt her Joey and now she...she could DIE Joey!" The teenager released a pain filled sob "She could die..."
"Ruby..." Joey moved forward and attempted to pull the younger girl into her arms but Ruby resisted valiantly "I'm so sorry..."
"I don't want to hear it!" Ruby sobbed as she attempted to push Joey away from her "I don't want to hear it Joey..." she finally collapsed into the circle of Joey's arms and they both slumped to the floor together sobbing.
---
"She'll be okay" Leah spoke up a while later as she watched Joey a while later. Joey looked up from where she was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. Ruby had fallen asleep a while ago and now lay with her head resting on Joey's lap.
"How do you know?" Joey questioned her voice slightly hoarse from crying.
"She's Charlie" Leah answered quietly "She's a fighter...You know that..."
"What if she thinks she has nothing to fight for?" Joey asked guiltily as she looked down at Ruby.
"She has you" Leah pointed out "And even if she doesn't think so right now she would never want to leave Ruby...She has to live for her"
Joey nodded slowly "I know" she looked up into Leah's eyes "I love her...But I hurt her and now she's REALLY hurt!"
"It wasn't your fault" Leah said quietly.
"Ruby seems to think so" Joey protested "And quite frankly so do I"
"Ruby was upset" Leah reasoned "She didn't know what she was saying..."
A quiet cough from next to them caused them to look up to see Charlie's doctor. Joey set about gently waking Ruby up while Leah quickly stood from her chair.
A moment later they stood in front of the doctor gazing at him in anticipation.
"Is Charlie okay?" Ruby spoke up nervously.
"She's out of theatre" the doctor answered gently as he gazed at them sympathetically "But there are some complications..."
"What kind of complications?!" Joey questioned anxiously.
"There was a build up of fluid on her brain as well as some bleeding" the doctor answered "We've managed to remove it but you have to be prepared for the possibility of..."
"What?!" Ruby questioned.
"There could be some brain damage" the doctor informed them quietly.
"Oh my God" Ruby's hands shot to her mouth and she began to sway slightly. Joey wrapped an arm around her waist to hold her steady and swallowed hard against the lump in her throat.
Leah turned to them and motioned toward the door of the hospital "I should go...Call..." Joey nodded quickly and watched her leave.
"Can we see her?" she questioned quietly as she blinked against the tears in her eyes.
"Are you family?" The doctor asked.
Joey was about to respond in the negative when she felt Ruby clutch her hand tightly.
"Yeah" Ruby answered shakily "She is"
---
"Do you think she'll be okay?" Ruby questioned quietly a while later as she held her sisters hand in both of her own.
"I hope so" Joey replied as she gazed down at Charlie who looked had a number of cuts and bruises and a number of wires attached to her. The doctor had explained that Charlie had a number of additional injuries including a fractured wrist and a broken leg.
"Thanks for before" Joey spoke up suddenly "For what you said to the doctor...You didn't have to do that..."
Ruby shrugged "I needed you here" she finally looked up at Joey "I didn't mean what I said before..."
"Don't worry about it" Joey cut her off "Everything you said was true..."
"Joey..."
"Let's just drop it okay Ruby?"
Ruby nodded as she watched Joey who kept her eyes trained on Charlie "You still love her don't you?"
Joey nodded tearfully "I do"
"Are you still going to leave?" Ruby asked "When...If she wakes up"
"When" Joey corrected positively "...she wakes up, I'm not leaving...I don't know what I'm going to say to her though..."
Ruby nodded and they lapsed back into silence apart from the steady beeping of Charlie's heart monitor.
TBC
