Thank you for all the reviews I've received for this story. I really do appreciate them, and please keep reviewing it. From the chapter after this, it'll be more focused on Brax and Charlie. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Easter. Treat yourself to heaps of chocolate too! Lots of love xxx – BreatheSummerBay

Chapter Nineteen

Deciding that it was best to leave Charlie to herself, Brax went off to visit Casey in his room.
"How are you, mate?" he asked.
"I'm a bit sore here and there, but yeah, I guess I'm okay. Well as okay as someone can be after an accident..." Casey replied. "What about Ruby? How is she? Dr Walker told me that you would only come in here if she was out of theatre so I'm assuming she's out, yeah?"
Brax didn't want to tell Casey how Ruby was, but he knew he had to, even if his youngest brother was going through enough pain himself. It would be better if Casey heard it from Brax rather than overhearing it from someone else.
Brax hesitated before he spoke. "She's in a coma Casey."
Casey's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding?"
"I wish I was mate."
"How's Charlie coping?"
"Not well at all. We had an argument before, and obviously she's really upset."
"Argument?" Casey repeated. "About what?"
"Nothing Casey, don't worry about it."
Casey could tell that it was more than nothing. "I'm going to see Ruby," he said.
"Mate, you can't!" Brax shouted. "You've got to stay in here. You need your rest. You can't just go off to places like you normally do. You're in pain mate."
Casey didn't want to hear anything Brax was saying. He tried to wriggle himself out of the bed, but Brax forced him back onto it. "You're not going anywhere mate," he said firmly.
"I wanna see my girlfriend," Casey retorted angrily.
"Charlie will get angry."
"See, it's always about Charlie isn't it?"
"You don't understand mate. She had a go at me before because of what happened to Ruby."
"How on earth is it any of your fault?" Casey questioned.
"I'm asking myself that too."

Charlie sat in front of Ruby who was in a coma. Charlie held her daughter's hang tightly, and felt like she would never want to let go. Flashbacks of herself and Ruby began to appear in her head. When Ruby was first born, when she had to go and live with her aunty because she couldn't bring herself to look after Ruby so her parents did instead, when her and Ruby would play with each other; as if they were sisters, when she finally told Ruby that she was actually her mum, and all the little points leading up till now. Although Ruby would often go against her, Charlie still loved her ever so much. She wasn't prepared to let her little girl go.

Dr Walker came into the room to check on Ruby. There were no changes on Ruby's condition. She was still lying in the coma looking lifeless.
"Try and talk to her," Dr Walker said.
"But she won't even hear me?" responded Charlie.
"It doesn't matter. Sometimes patients gain consciousness when they can hear memories of them," explained Sid.
"What do I say to her?" Charlie asked.
"Anything; preferably good memories though. Talk to her as if she can hear and answer you." Sid said and left the room so that Charlie could speak to Ruby on her own.

Before Charlie could start talking, her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID. Brax, the screen read. She ignored it and tried to think of something to say to Ruby. All of their recent moments involved Casey and Brax, and right now, Charlie really wasn't in the mood to talk about them. Even when she thought about them, her eyes would begin to water. It isn't fair, she thought. Why can't Rubes be like Casey? He's wide awake. She looked down at Ruby and reached for her hand. "I love you baby girl," she said softly.

"What are you doing Brax?" Casey asked. He, being the one lying in bed who desperately wanted to get out of the room, watched his brother sulking on the seat next to him.
"Nothing," Brax replied.
Casey could tell that it was a lot more than nothing. "Look, just call Charlie okay?"
"I did," Brax said.
Casey raised an eyebrow. "And?"
"Nothing."
"Oh wow, how sociable are you? What do you mean by nothing?"
"She's not picking up the phone mate."
"Err... Maybe because she's worried about Ruby?" Casey said, pointing out the obvious.
"No Case, really?" said a sarcastic Brax.
"Leave her a voice message. That way, she's bound to hear it even if she is looking after Rubes."
"Good idea. No wonder you're the smart one in the family," Brax joked. "I'll leave one later. First I need to get hold of your brother first."
"Where is he?" Casey asked.
"Who knows."
"Does he even know I'm in here?"
"I have no idea. I've texted him saying you are, but he hasn't replied."
"Well he obviously cares about me, doesn't he?"
"Don't take it personally," Brax said. "You know this is typical of Heath."

Charlie could only think of her happiest memories with Ruby which included Brax and Casey. She sighed, and decided to talk about them anyways if there could be a chance that Ruby would wake up. She picked up both of Ruby's hands and kissed them gently. She then held them tightly as she began to speak.
"Remember when you and Casey thought it would be funny to get me on an online dating site? You two got up to no good. You took a picture of me and posted it for god knows who to see. Suddenly you two came across the creepiest people, as well as a few nice people here and there. When I told Brax, seeing as we were together then as well, he started laughing his head off. You and Casey got me to choose someone out of the men you two narrowed it down to."
Charlie stopped talking to see if Ruby had reacted. Unfortunately, she hadn't. Charlie didn't want to get her hopes up, but all she wanted was for Ruby to wake up, so she continued with the story.
"Funnily enough Rubes, I cancelled the date without you knowing, and Brax and I had a "date" instead. Well it wasn't a proper date because as you know, we didn't want to risk anything. Anyways, when I got home, you saw me coming in with lipstick smeared all over my face, and you wouldn't stop interrogating me. You seemed to find it awfully funny," Charlie said and ended the story.
Ruby was still as one in sleep. Tears dripped down Charlie's face. "Baby, please please please wake up!" she begged. She started to recall another memory.
"Remember when I found you and Casey at the back of Xave's V8 car undressed? You probably didn't know that I was the one who had to take Casey home. I had a word with Brax, telling him what had happened. I explained how I found you two in the backseat. All he said was 'I didn't know you had it in ya.' Obviously, being a cop, I had to act professional and I couldn't laugh at it, although I did find it quite hilarious deep down."
Charlie paused for a moment, hoping Ruby had done some sort of movement, but yet again, nothing happened. She was about to talk to Ruby again, until she heard her phone ringing. Like before, it was Brax. She ignored it, leaving for voicemail to pick it up.
"Hey Charlie, I'm sorry for what's happened to Rubes, I hope she has made progress. I know you're not in the mood, but I want us to talk. I don't get why you're blaming this on me. Call me when you can Charlie? Give Ruby love from Casey and I. We hope she gets better soon. Casey really wants to see her, and he misses her like crazy-"
Brax's message was still going, but Charlie had been watching Ruby the whole time.
"Dr Walker, Dr Walker!" Charlie shouted as loudly as she could.