Chapter Sixteen

I feel like the happiest person in the whole wide world right about now. It's early days and we're taking it all very slowly and carefully but Joey has given me a second chance. I can't even begin to describe how that makes me feel. I took the risk of finding her, opening up to her and putting my heart on the line. I was so sure that I was going to go home utterly defeated but she really cares about me. She really wants us to try again.

It has been the strangest day, really. I saw Joey again, passed out, ended up in hospital, poured my heart out to her after all and then had to wait for her response while the Doctor checked me over. I'm still in hospital and I have to stay the night until my oxygen levels are stable again. And I've been given several lectures about looking after myself properly. Maybe now that I feel so happy and so peaceful, I will really start paying attention to my health and do better with keeping my breathing in check.

After the Doctor finished with me, Joey came back into the room. She sat by my bedside and caught hold of my hand. I gazed fearfully into her eyes as I tried to prepare myself for whatever she had to say.

"I'm really touched by everything you've said today," she began. "I'm also pretty overwhelmed. It… it seems like so much has changed. When I was last with you, Ruby was your sister and being a cop meant everything to you. Now, suddenly she's your daughter and you fell so deeply for a guy that him being a criminal didn't matter to you. You were willing to give everything up for him, when I couldn't even get you to hold my hand in public."

I nodded and apologised quietly, convinced that she wouldn't even consider taking me back.

"Charlie… what do you expect from me?" she asked.

I looked up at her, never breaking eye contact.

"Anything you're willing to give," I replied without hesitation. "I mean, ideally you'd give me another chance and we'd go skipping off into the sunset…"

"Let's not skip," Joey smirked. "I don't want you fainting on me again!"

I giggled and then wheezed.

"How about we walk sedately into the sunset with my inhaler close at hand?" I suggested.

She grinned back at me and nodded before my tone became more serious.

"But honestly, I'm not really expecting that," I said. "I've been dreaming of it but I'm not expecting it. I just knew I needed you in my life again, even as just a friend or an acquaintance or something. I just… miss you."

She smiled softly at me and I tingled over the way she was stroking the back of my hand.

"I've missed you a lot," Joey admitted. "I was devastated when I realised I couldn't come back to be with you."

"Why didn't you come back?" I asked anxiously.

"Brett told me that you were dating someone else," she said. "Something about a car accident and you being on a date with him and…"

She trailed off and I apologised.

"I was lonely," I said. "I was still waiting for you in my own way."

She nodded and continued to stroke my hand.

"I'm at a bit of a crossroads in my life right now," she told me. "I finished my job on the cruise ships today and I'm hoping to set up my own business."

"Where?" I asked.

"I'm not entirely sure yet," Joey said. "I'll be living off my savings from the ship while I set myself up."

I nodded, hanging off her every word.

"And I suddenly feel like my whole life has changed in the space of a few hours," she added. "My head is telling me to get away from you."

My heart sank and I closed my eyes for fear of crying.

"But my heart knows that I can't do that," she said.

I opened my eyes again, ignoring the tears that had already formed. She gazed at me and reached out to wipe my eyes.

"I've loved you for as long as I've known you," she said.

The machine beeped but neither of us cared.

"I…" she faltered. "Can I try something?"

I looked confused but nodded. She leant closer and pressed her lips against mine. I felt the surge of loving passion rise within me in a way that it hadn't since the last time I had kissed her. Her lips were every bit as soft and warm as I remembered. A thrill shot through me when her tongue touched my lips and I eagerly allowed our contact to deepen. She held one of my hands and my other found its way to her shoulder, pulling her a little closer. I wasn't ready for the kiss to end and could have stayed there for an eternity if the machine hadn't beeped to break us apart.

We were both blushing by the time Joey settled herself back into her chair, still holding onto my hand. She smiled shyly and my heart began to pound in the hope that she might really be giving me a second chance.

"There was a time when I didn't think I'd ever see you again," she said. "There was even a time when I didn't want to see you. But suddenly, right here, right now, I can't for the life of me remember why."

I looked uncertainly at her, studying her face as she smiled.

"I have no idea how this is going to turn out," she admitted. "But I don't want this to be the end. I want it to be the start of something special. I want us to be to each other everything we always wanted to be."

She leant forward and kissed me again. I felt like I was in Heaven.

Next time… Joey opens up to Charlie about what she has been doing during her time away…