Chapter 3

Joey sighed as she gently brushed a strand of dark hair away from Charlie's cheek with her free hand. The older girl had so far showed no signs of waking up but Rachel had reassured them after checking that she was improving.

"Charlie?" she said softly as she raised Charlie's hand to her lips and placed a tender kiss on her knuckles "Rachel says I should try talking to you...That you might be able to hear me..." she paused, gazing intently at Charlie's features for any sign that she could hear her "Or maybe I'm just talking to myself...I missed you when I was away. More than I thought I would..." Joey closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking back at Charlie "You have to wake up Charlie. I have to tell you how...sorry I am for hurting you. I have to tell you that I forgive you" when there was once again no response Joey leaned forward slightly and placed a gentle kiss on Charlie's cheek "I'll wait for you" she sunk back in her seat although she still held tightly to Charlie's hand and gazed contemplatively at the other girl.

"Joey?" a voice sounded from the doorway.

"Jesus!" Joey jumped slightly and looked up at the doorway to see Ruby standing there.

"Nope, Just me" Ruby smirked as she stepped into the room.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Joey asked placing her free hand over her rapidly beating heart.

"No" Ruby laughed as she held one of the polystyrene cups in her hand out to the older girl "But I do bring Coffee"

"Thanks" Joey smiled weakly as she took the coffee and inhaled the strong aroma deeply. She sipped tentatively at the steaming black liquid as she turned back to Charlie.

"Still nothing?" Ruby questioned even though she had only been gone for about twenty minutes.

"No" Joey shook her head and set the coffee down "Not yet"

"She'll be okay though, right?" The younger girl questioned in worry "She'll wake up?"

Joey gazed intently at Ruby wishing she could give her the teen the reassurance she so obviously craved "I don't know, I..."

"Hey" a female voice interrupted them. Both conscious girls looked towards the doorway to see Rachel enter, a clip board held loosely in her hand.

"Hey" Joey said quietly as Ruby offered a small wave.

"How are you guys holding up?" Rachel questioned in concern.

Joey glanced at Ruby who shrugged and turned her gaze back to her sister "We're doing okay I guess..."

Rachel nodded understandingly before she continued hesitantly "I have good news and I have bad news..."

"Great" Ruby mumbled dryly as both Joey and herself subconsciously squeezed Charlie's hands tighter "What's the bad news?"

"The bad news" Rachel responded calmly "Is that the bleeding on Charlie's brain was worse than we thought..."

"What does that mean?" Joey asked hoarsely when she noticed that Ruby seemed unable to speak.

"It means that there will be a definite effect on her recovery...The chance of brain damage is higher..." At both Joey and Ruby's stricken expressions she held a hand up "Now you shouldn't think the worst...The effect could be minimal..."

"And if it's not?" Ruby questioned wearily "What happens then?"

The young doctor paused for a moment "I can't say right now...There's no way I can predict how bad the damage is going to be"

"How bad could it be?!" Ruby persisted.

"I honestly can't say" Rachel answered "We have to wait until she wakes up"

"You mean if she wakes up" Ruby murmured quietly. Joey glanced up at her in shock and was about to say something when she noticed tears glittering in the teens eyes.

"The good news" Rachel continued, in a slightly more upbeat tone than before "Is that Charlie could wake up anytime now. Her vitals are strong and everything seems to be in order"

"You're saying that she's definitely going to wake up?" Joey asked "That she's going to be okay?"

"Well...I can't say that" Rachel winced slightly at the disappointed expressions of both of the girls in front of her "But she's out of the woods now..." She allowed her voice to trail off for a moment before she spoke up again "I have another small piece of bad news"

"You have got to be kidding me" Ruby groaned covering her eyes with her free hand.

"When she does wake up she's going to be in a LOT of pain. The estimate for a recovery is about 5 months"

"Uh-oh" Ruby mumbled casting a fond look at her sister "She's gonna hate that"

Joey nodded in agreement before glancing back at Rachel "Is that all of the bad news?"

Rachel nodded "Yeah, but I have a suggestion..."

"What is it?"

"You two" Rachel motioned between Ruby and Joey "Need to go home and get some sleep." They both started to protest at the same time.

"There's no way I'm leaving her again!"

"We have to stay here with her!"

"What if she wakes up while we're gone?!"

"You can't make us..."

"Woah!" Rachel exclaimed holding her hands up to silence them. They fell silent and glanced at each other sheepishly.

"What I'm trying to say" Rachel spoke "Is that you both have to go home and get some sleep but you can come back tomorrow morning..."

"But..." Both girls began to argue.

"Ah!" Rachel made a zipping motion across her lips "I'll put this another way..." she smiled warmly at Joey and Ruby "It would be much better for both of you if I didn't have to have you thrown out..."

"What?" Ruby questioned sceptically "Come on, you wouldn't..."

"Try me" the young doctor stated before her expression turned slightly more serious "Seriously though neither of you are going to be of any use to Charlie when she wakes up if you're both exhausted or hyped up on Coffee" she motioned towards the two polystyrene cups "I promise I'll watch her and I'll call you if she wakes up"

"Fine" Joey finally spoke up reluctantly "We'll go"

"What?!" Ruby exclaimed "But..."

"Rachel's right Ruby" Joey sighed "We have to go home..."

Ruby looked disinclined to the idea but nodded shortly at Joey.

"Have the police found anything out about who did this?" Rachel questioned as she checked Charlie's stats.

"Not yet" Joey frowned "They say that they're still investigating the scene of the crime but..." she sighed and shook her head "I don't know...There has to be something...All criminals leave some trace..."

"You've spent way too much time with my sister" Ruby stated offering Joey a small smile.

Joey shrugged "Yeah, well..."

"I expect you two to be gone when I come back" Rachel stated as she headed towards the door. She left leaving Joey and Ruby alone with Charlie.

"Shit" the teen mumbled as she leaned forward slightly and closed her eyes.

"Language Ruby" Joey reprimanded softly.

Ruby glanced up in surprise and looked between Joey and her unconscious sister "God, you're even starting to sound like her"

"Should I take that as a compliment?"

Ruby shrugged "Maybe"

Joey stood up "I guess we should go than..."

"Yeah" Ruby nodded grudgingly "See you later Charlz" she squeezed her sister's hand one more time before releasing it. She glanced at Joey and motioned towards the door "I'll wait outside for you, Okay?"

Joey nodded and flashed the younger girl a grateful smile. She watched Ruby leave before her gaze focused on Charlie once more. She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the other girl's cheek "I love you Charlie..." she swallowed against the lump in her throat as she felt her eyes moisten "Remember what I said...I'll be waiting for you..." she pulled back and released Charlie's hand before forcing herself to walk out of the room.

"You Okay?" Ruby asked quietly as she moved towards Joey.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Joey said quietly as she wiped quickly at her eyes and walked out of the hospital with Ruby "I Just...I don't know..." Ruby nodded in understanding and they fell silent as they walked.

"Hey" the younger girl spoke up suddenly "You're going to stay with us, right? Tonight?"

"I don't know" Joey answered unsurely "I was just going to walk you home then head back to where I was staying"

"What?" Ruby questioned in concern "No way. There's a psycho out there somewhere Jo! Just stay with us..."

Joey bit her lip nervously "Are you sure you want me to?"

"Yes!" Ruby exclaimed without hesitation "I don't really feel like being alone...I mean I know Leah will be there but...It's not really the same y'know? You understand what I'm feeling..."

"Okay" Joey said quietly. The silence once again fell between them. Joey glanced at Ruby noticing she seemed slightly distracted.

"Hey" she said as she nudged the teenager gently "Are you okay?"

"Yeah" Ruby nodded "I'll be fine"

Joey nodded though she didn't believe Ruby's answer.

---

Joey found that she felt surprisingly better after a long hot shower to soothe her aching muscles and frazzled nerves. She leaned back against the couch watching Ruby fidget slightly next to her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked in concern.

Ruby glanced up at her hesitantly "Uh...No...Not really"

Joey frowned as she leaned forward slightly "What's wrong?"

"I wanted..." Ruby swallowed hard, finding her throat drying up "To apologise. For not supporting your relationship with Charlie..."

"Ruby..."

"Wait" Ruby held up a hand "Just let me do this okay?" Joey nodded silently and Ruby carried on "All I want is for Charlie to be happy. And she was...She was happy with you. But I was selfish and...Maybe if I had been more supportive..."

"Stop" Joey said firmly, holding up a hand to stop the teen continuing "Me and Charlie breaking up was not your fault okay? It was just a lot of mistakes made by...me and Charlie..."

Ruby nodded slowly "Do you think you guys will be okay? When she wakes up?"

"I hope so" Joey sighed "I've forgiven Charlie for...what happened. I just hope she can forgive me for hurting her..."

Ruby nodded and they both ascended into comfortable silence again.

"I guess I should go to bed" Ruby said as she stood up and stretched "Will you be okay? You're staying in Charlie's room, right?"

Joey hesitated for a moment before nodding "Yeah, I'll be fine...'Night Ruby"

"G'night" Ruby responded as she made her way to her room.

Joey released a deep sigh when she heard the door to Ruby's room close with a deep click. She pushed herself up off the couch and allowed her feet to carry her automatically to Charlie's bedroom. She entered and crawled under the covers of the bed only now realising how exhausted she actually was. She buried her face in Charlie's pillow and inhaled the familiar comforting scent which still clung to the blankets. A deep sadness filled her at the lack of Charlie's presence and she felt tears build up in her eyes once again. After a while exhaustion took over and Joey finally succumbed to sleep.

---

"Hey" Joey offered Ruby a small smile as she watched the younger girl enter the kitchen, looking more alert than she had yesterday "How do you feel"

"I'm fine...Can't wait to get back to Charlie" Ruby responded simply "What about you?"

"Same" Joey stated offering a cup to the teenager "Coffee?"

"Thanks" Ruby smiled as she took the cup "Where's Leah?"

Joey shrugged "I think she left earl..." she was cut off by the ringing of the phone. Ruby sighed but got up to answer it anyway. She returned o the kitchen a moment later, looking slightly shocked.

"What s it?" Joey asked in concern "Did something happen with Charlie?"

"She's awake" Ruby replied. She seemed to snap out of her shock as she grabbed Joey's hand and pulled her towards the door "Come on, We have to go!"

--

When they finally got to the hospital they found Rachel waiting for them but Ruby pulled Joey straight past her towards Charlie's room. The young doctor sighed and followed them quickly.

"Charlie!" Ruby exclaimed as she entered the room to find her sister sitting up in the bed. She rushed over to her and hugged her tightly.

"Okay" Charlie winced as she returned the hug "I'm really happy to see you too Rubz but I'm still kind of sore"

"Oh!" The teen pulled away quickly "sorry"

"Don't worry about it" Charlie smiled weakly at her sister who had latched onto her hand. She glanced at the other occupant of the room besides Ruby and Rachel.

"Wait!" Rachel held up a hand "I have to explain..."

"Do I know you?" the words escaped Charlie's lips shocking both Joey and Ruby.

"She has short term memory loss!" Rachel stated.

"What?!" Charlie questioned looking around the room "Wait I'm confused and you..." she pointed at Rachel "Aren't answering my questions so..." she looked towards Joey "Who are you?" she turned her gaze to Ruby "And where is Dad? They said something happened but they won't tell me anything..."

"Oh Shit!" Ruby cursed as her hand flew to her mouth. This time Joey didn't reprimand her as she stood in silence, tears filling her eyes.

TBC