Thanks again for all of your reviews! I really love reading what you think about the story. Thanks especially to WatsonFan who took the time to review seven chapters in a row :) Thanks!
So here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy...
Chapter 56
"You're worrying" Joey said as she gazed down at Charlie whose head rested on her lap "More than usual I mean"
"Can you blame me?" Charlie sighed in frustration at not being able to do something "She looked really sick Jo"
"Maybe we should head to the diner" Joey suggested as she ran her fingers soothingly through Charlie's dark hair.
"I don't know..." Charlie bit her lip unsurely "I don't want it to seem like I don't trust her or something but...I guess this Grant thing has me really freaked out"
"Yeah..." Joey nodded in agreement "That's completely understandable though. Ruby understands that you're only worried about her and that's why you're being so overprotective of her" she paused for a minute before speaking again "Or should I say more overprotective than usual"
"I hope she's not sick" Charlie said quietly, her worry evident in her voice "She didn't look very well before"
"Maybe it's just because she hasn't been eating" Joey pointed out reasonably "That couldn't possibly be good for her and well...We've all been stressed for the past few days"
"I guess so" Charlie nodded slowly "I can't help but think it's something else though..."
"Ruby will be fine" Joey smiled reassuringly "Cameron's with her"
"I know" Charlie responded though she still seemed concerned "I guess I just like to stick close to her at times like these...So I know she's okay"
"She's lucky to have you" Joey commented with a warm smile.
"I don't know..." Charlie shrugged modestly "I just seem to be bringing trouble lately. My issues with Dad, My issues with Ruby, Grant..."
"But we'd still be lost without you" Joey said seriously.
"Yeah?" Charlie sat up slightly and smiled softly at her wife "Well I'd be pretty lost without the both of you too" she leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to Joey's lips "Because you mean the world to me" with that said she pulled the younger girl into a slightly deeper kiss.
"So..." Joey beamed when they finally pulled away "Maybe we should go to the diner now to ma..." she was cut off by the ringing of the phone.
Charlie stood up from the couch and picked up the cordless "He...Summer?" she frowned at the frantic sound of the other girl's voice "Summer calm down. Take a deep breath...What's wrong?" she listened for a moment her expression darkening by the second "What do you mean she's in the hospital? What happened?! GRANT?! What does he have to...Summer!"
"What?!" Joey asked in alarm as Charlie lowered the phone from her ear "What happened Charlie?"
"Ruby's in the hospital" Charlie answered monotonously "The line was distorted so I couldn't really make sense of much but Summer said something about Ruby being in the hospital and...Grant" she quickly snapped out of her shock and jumped up grabbing Joey's hand "Come on. We have to get to the hospital!" they raced quickly out of the house and towards Charlie's car.
---
"Cameron?!" Charlie questioned in panic as she raced into the hospital and caught sight of the blonde "What happened? Where is..." she stopped still when her eyes focused on the man leaning against the wall "What is he doing here?!"
"He won't leave!" Cameron exclaimed sounding close to tears herself as she clutched Summer's hand "He just followed us here and now he won't go away!"
Before anyone could say anything else Charlie stormed towards Grant and grabbed him roughly by the collar pinning him to the wall "I swear to God if you've hurt my daughter in any way you're miserable life isn't going to be worth living!"
"I didn't do anything" Grant smirked at her "And I have a right to be here with my daughter"
"She is not your daughter!" Charlie stated adamantly "She is nothing at all like you"
"Charlie..." Joey rushed to her side and attempted to tug her away from Grant "Let go of him...He's not worth it"
"Yeah" Grant laughed "Just let go Charlie"
Charlie's mind clouded with anger and without a second thought she punched him hard across the face. He would have stumbled back from the sheer force if he wasn't already pinned to the wall.
"Charlie!" Joey exclaimed loudly as she continued to attempt to pull her back from the man. She glanced at Cameron for help and the blonde immediately rushed to Charlie's other side. Between the two of them they managed to pull an enraged Charlie away from Grant.
"I mean it" Charlie swore in a dark tone "If you've touched so much as a hair on her head I'm going to kill you"
"Well I didn't" Grant said as he wiped blood from his nose, his smirk long gone "So I have nothing to worry about"
"You have plenty to worry about!" Charlie corrected furiously "Now get out before I call security!"
Grant huffed moodily but moved towards the exit anyway.
"You're bleeding" Joey said quietly as she looked closely at Charlie's right hand.
"I'm fine" Charlie said distractedly as she looked at Cameron "What happened to Ruby Cam? Is she okay? Was it Grant?"
"She collapsed" Cameron answered as she ran a shaky hand through her long blonde hair "We were in the diner and she wasn't really eating because she felt sick. We were just talking and Grant walked in. I told him to leave us alone and he did. Then when we walked out of the diner...Ruby felt really terrible. She couldn't even walk by herself. I was going to take her to the hospital but she just collapsed"
"Oh..." Charlie bit her lip in worry as she nodded slowly "Hey, where's Summer?"
"She was right here before..." Cameron looked around until her eyes fell on her sister who was sitting in the furthest away waiting room chair she could find her knees drawn to her chest "There she is" she frowned at the pained guilty look in her sister's eyes and started towards her.
"Cam?" Charlie touched her arm lightly, stopping her in her tracks "Do you mind if I talk to her for a minute?"
"Not at all" Cameron motioned for her to continue "Go ahead"
"Thanks" Charlie smiled weakly before she moved over to Summer and sat next to her "Hey"
"Hey" Summer sighed miserably as she leaned her head on her knees.
"You're being unusually quiet" Charlie commented softly as she gazed closely at the teenager "Is something wrong?"
"I guess there's just nothing to say" Summer responded sadly. She looked up at Charlie through teary eyes "I'm kind of scared"
"I know" Charlie wrapped an arm around Summer's shoulders and pulled her close "So am I Sum"
"Charlie?" Charlie looked up as Rachel approached her with Joey and Cameron right next to her.
"Rachel!" she exclaimed as she stood up with Summer at her side "What happened to Ruby? What's wrong with her?"
"Well it seems that Ruby suffered from what's called a 'Hypo' otherwise known as hypoglycaemia" when she received four blank looks she continued "She had low blood glucose which caused her to pass out. She's showing signs of diabetes"
"Is she okay?" Joey asked as she reached for Charlie's hand and squeezed it comfortingly.
"She's fine...She's awake" Rachel informed them quietly "She's asking for you both. She's kind of freaking out"
Charlie nodded in understanding "Can we go and see her Rach?"
"Go ahead" Rachel nodded "Just follow me...I need to talk to her anyway"
Charlie nodded and glanced back at Cameron and Summer.
"We'll wait her" Cameron reassured her quickly with a small smile.
"Thanks Cam" Charlie smiled before she walked away hand In hand with Joey. They followed Rachel into a room and Charlie sighed in relief as her eyes fell on Ruby who was sitting up in the hospital bed.
"Rubz..." she moved forward and hugged her daughter tightly, feeling suppressed tears build up in her eyes "You're okay..." she pulled back and looked at Ruby closely "How do you feel?"
"I feel fine" Ruby managed a weak smile "A little bit weak but...I'm fine" she glanced at Joey and smiled when she sat on her other side and took her hand.
"That's normal" Rachel said quietly as she stood at the end of the bed, a small smile tugging at her lips "You had low blood glucose...Caused by Diabetes and not eating enough"
"Oh" Ruby looked away guiltily.
"I injected you with a hormone called glucagon which will increase the amount of glucose you have in your body" Rachel informed them "But it's completely normal to still feel weak and sick"
"Great" Ruby muttered dryly "As if I wasn't feeling bad enough already"
"Since there's no actual cure for diabetes" Rachel continued "All I can tell you to do is eat regularly to make sure your blood sugar levels don't get too low and prescribe you some insulin which should help to regulate your levels...Will you be okay for a minute while I go and get that prescription? Then you can leave right away Rubz"
Ruby nodded and smiled gratefully "Thanks Rachel"
Rachel nodded and walked out of the room.
"You scared me half to death" Charlie said quietly as she pressed a soft kiss to Ruby's head "Don't do that again, okay?"
"Sorry" Ruby apologised guiltily as she looked down at their joined hands. She frowned when she noticed Blood on Charlie's "Hey what happened to your hand?"
"Oh...That. I um...I punched Grant" Charlie answered hesitantly "He was here and I thought he had hurt you so...I hit him. I know it was a pretty stupid thing to do but I was just really pissed off at him"
"Oh" Ruby nodded and glanced at Joey "Are you okay Jo? You seem kind of quiet"
"I'm fine" Joey answered reassuringly "I was just thinking...That's all"
"About...?" the teenager prodded.
"Nothing important" Joey laughed at Ruby's questioning "I'm just glad that you're okay. That's all"
"Me too" Ruby said barely suppressing a yawn as she leaned back into Charlie's embrace "I really hate hospitals"
"Same here" Charlie agreed quietly as she looked around the small hospital room which reminded her remarkably of one she had been standing in with Ruby only a couple of months ago. She shivered fearfully when her mind flitted to the possibility of losing her daughter.
"Are you okay?" Joey whispered to Charlie noticing that Ruby seemed close to falling asleep.
"I'm fine" Charlie responded in a voice that was just as quiet "Just...Remembering"
"It..." Joey was about to reply when Rachel walked into the room with a small bag in her hands.
"You're all free to go" The doctor said in a soft voice as she too noticed Ruby's semi-conscious state "Make sure that she gets plenty of bed rest okay?"
"Got it" Joey smiled in response as she took the bag from Rachel and watched as the older woman walked out of the room again.
"Ruby?" Charlie gently shook her daughter awake "Ruby wake up Honey"
"What?" Ruby blinked at her fuzzily "Can we go home now?"
"Yeah" Charlie said in a whisper as she stood up helping Ruby off the bed. She wrapped an arm around her daughter's waist when she wobbled slightly "And you're going directly to bed"
"Hmmn...Okay" Ruby nodded as she leaned her head against her mother's shoulder.
"Come on than" Joey smiled warmly as she reached Ruby's side and placed a supporting hand on her back "We should get out there before Summer has a heart attack from worrying about you"
Ruby nodded In response before they walked out of the room.
TBC
