Chapter 61

Joey sat in the living room of the Moon household, trying to call The Meadow clinic to get some information on what to do. Amber was sleeping on Whitney's lap and Joey couldn't help but smile; she looked so much like her Mummy. He felt so angry with everyone, even himself. It hadn't even been an hour and he was already missing her like you wouldn't believe.

At first Joey was unable to get any information as he wasn't a next of kin or her parent, so after a rather heated phone call to Max, Joey had convinced him to call the clinic and give them permission to share Lauren's personal information with him. He waited a good hour before there was any progress and eventually someone came to the other end of the line who knew what they were talking about… "Mr. Branning?"

"Speaking" he informed them

"I've been given consent to tell you this by Lauren's father. She's been sectioned" the person on the other end of the phone line explained "I know it sounds bad but it's not as bad as it sounds. Her mother made the call and it was backed up by medical opinion so Miss. Branning has been detained under section three"

"What does that mean exactly?" he inquired, getting frustrated with all the terminology they were using.

"Section three allows us to keep Lauren for up to 28 days whilst she's assessed and diagnosed" the person replied "you have 14 days to appeal…"

"Right, and how do I go about that?" he questioned

"It's not recommended, Mr. Branning" the person admitted "if Lauren has been admitted to the clinic then a medical professional believes something is wrong. Appeals are very traumatic for all involved"

"So what do I do then? Just sit and let her stay in there thinking no one gives a damn?" he asked "Because she needs to be home"

"We provide the best care possible here at Meadow Clinic, Mr. Branning" the person informed Joey "I assure you of that. Once Lauren's awake she'll be assessed and we'll go from there"

Joey sighed, realising he was fighting a losing battle… "How is she now?"

"She's okay" the person replied "sleeping and will be well looked after when she wakes. My advice to you is to call back tomorrow morning when the doctors have been around about 11am. We'll have more information for you then"

"Okay" he sighed "thanks, goodbye"

"What's happening?" Tyler inquired as he walked back into the room as Joey hung up

"Well I can't do anything till tomorrow" he informed him "so I guess nothing"

Tyler smiled and placed his hand on Joey's shoulder "You can have Ant's room tonight if you want? He, Mum and Dad are visiting Frankie. Anything you need, just ask, yeah? We wanna help you and Lauren, right, Whit?"

"Yeah" she replied, smiling at Joey warmly "I'm mates with Lauren and the last time she was admitted to the Meadow she was so much better by the time she was released. I know it's not what you want but if she is ill, it's the best place for her"

Joey was sat staring at the his phone on the table waiting for it to ring. He hadn't moved for the last hour and was really starting to think there was something wrong with his phone. He'd called at half 11, as he'd been told to do the night before, but was told someone would call him back. Unfortunately for Joey, he still hadn't got any calls and when he'd rang the clinic for the 8th time no one answered.

"Joey I've got to get to work" Whitney sighed looking at him from the doorway, Amber on her hip. She moved into the room and sat next to him. "she will be alright Joey"

He looked at her and took Amber "what if she's not though Whitney ay ?"

"She will be. I know she will" the determination in her voice was a somewhat comfort to Joey "I'll be back around 5 if you want me to look after Amber again ?"

He shook his head "I wanna spend some time with her, she'll be missing Lauren as much as I am"

Whitney soon left the two of them alone, Joey still in the same position but with the addition of Amber on his lap. Joey was playing with her when his phone rang. He answers quickly trying to keep Amber's sounds to a minimum.

"Hello"

"Joe..." his heart stopped when he heard her voice, it was totally unexpected.

"Babe. God I'm so happy to hear your voice."

Lauren sighed "I haven't got long… The doctors want to keep me in."

"What? Why?" he could hear her heavy breathing at the other end of the line and knew she was crying "oh baby no, don't cry"

"I'm sorry, it's just, they think I'm ill Joey… mum thinks I'm sick and I'm not. The Doctors want to monitor me. They said two days. But they said that last time and it was more than two days Joey, they all lied to me…I know I need to be punished and this is it is "

He took a breath and exhaled "I promise you Lauren, I will never lie to you. I'm going to do all I can to get you out of there, baby. Your Dad agrees with me to Lo, we're going to talk to whoever we can. And Punished? Baby you've done nothing wrong, tell me you get that Lo ? "

"Ok… will you come and see me if they make me stay?"

"Of course I will" Joey heard someone's voice in the background.

"I've got to go Joey…" she cried a little "I love you"

"I love you to beautiful, I promise you I'll see you real soon." There was a mumbled response, and then a different voice came to the phone.

"Hi, Joey isn't it, Laurens partner?"

"Ye that's right" he frowned at the unfamiliar voice.

"I'm Lauren's Doctor" She explained "I know Lauren's just told you that we want to keep her in" Joey responded, explaining how Lauren was feeling and why she felt like that. " right I see… well I can understand her anxiety, but I really do only want to keep her in for a two days. I just want to make sure she's well enough to go home, to be around your daughter."

Joey gasped "I trust Lo, completely with Amber"

"it's not weather you do, it's if she trusts herself. I had a counselling session with her this morning, I was shocked by what she told me. Lauren didn't want to kill herself, she didn't want the attention, she felt she needed to punish herself because of what happened with Amber"

Joey rubbed his hand across his forehead and looked at his daughter "it was an accident"

"I know that and You know that, but Lauren doesn't, she blames herself like every new mother does, but…"

"but she felt like she needed to be punished, one bad action deserves another bad action in return" he said back "it'd something her parents drilled into her when she was little"

"I did wonder..." there was a rustle of paper at the other end "Maybe you could bring Amber in ?"

"is that allowed?" joey asked

"of course, I think seeing the two of you may just be what she needs."

So how will joeys visit go ? This story is wrapping up very soon and i'll be posting a new story this time next week so look out for that xxx