Chapter Fifty-Five
Tears streamed down Joey's face and her heart was beating a mile a minute as she waited for the ambulance to arrive. Charlie continued to lie motionless in the road. Her eyes closed as if she was just peacefully sleeping. Joey feared that she was slipping away from her. She was lying at a very odd angle, her leg was twisted out at the hip in a very disconcerting position but the lady on the phone had instructed Joey not to move her. Stroking Charlie's hair back from her face, Joey kept switching her gaze from her girlfriend to the road, hoping that an ambulance would show up at any moment. Looking back down at Charlie, so broken in front of her, Joey thought her world was falling apart right in front of her eyes. She kissed Charlie's forehead softly.
"Charlie," she whispered. "You have to wake up. You have to. I need you. Charlie..."
A car door slamming made her look up sharply. There was still no ambulance in sight. She turned and saw Brett leaving his car. Suddenly everything became clear. Without leaving Charlie's side, Joey looked up at her brother.
"Get away from us!" she yelled, ignoring the cut on his head.
"It wasn't my fault, Jo," he insisted. "She was walking in the road."
"You were speeding. You didn't even try to avoid her," Joey accused.
Charlie moaned softly. Joey blanked Brett out as he hovered above them, turning her full attention to Charlie, whispering her name. Sirens blared in the background.
***
As soon as they had got to the hospital, Charlie had been torn away from Joey and taken to theatre. She still hadn't woken up. Joey had been allowed to go with her in the ambulance. She'd held her hand the entire way, letting go only when she'd got in the way of the paramedic's work. But now she was alone in the waiting room waiting desperately for news, although she knew it would be a long time coming. The doors opened and Brett walked in with another paramedic. He'd been collected from the scene with his head injury. She ignored him when he called out to her. Stepping outside the hospital doors but not moving in inch away from the building, Joey pulled out her phone to call Ruby.
***
Charlie had been in theatre for a long time and Joey was sick with anxiety.
"Joey!"
She looked up when she recognised Ruby's voice. The youngest Buckton ran towards her, tumbling into her arms. Joey held her tightly and promptly burst into tears. Ross and Morag followed quickly.
"What happened to Charlie?" Ruby asked desperately.
"She... we were going for a picnic on... on the boat... we were..."
Joey couldn't breathe, let alone speak.
"Would you spit it out?" Ross demanded. "What happened to my daughter?"
Joey visibly shrank back. Ruby held onto her.
"Dad, give her a chance," she said.
"Sorry. I'm just..."
Joey swallowed.
"She was walking in the road. She got hit by a car," Joey said quickly.
She sank back down onto her seat. Ruby forced herself not to cry as she sat down next to her sister's girlfriend.
"What's happening now?" Morag asked.
"She's having surgery," Joey said. "I don't know."
"What did it look like was wrong?" Ruby asked. "What were her injuries?"
"Her leg. I think it was her leg. And she was unconscious. I don't know."
Ross headed over to the nurse's station to find some more information. Morag followed. Joey turned to Ruby nervously.
"Brett was driving the car," she admitted.
"Brett, as in your brother?" Ruby asked.
Joey nodded and let her face rest in her palms. Ruby put her arm around her.
"It's not your fault, Joey," she said firmly, reading her guilt.
***
Angelo headed to the hospital intent on making whoever had hurt Charlie suffer for what they had done. All he knew was that some jerk had been speeding and sent the woman he loved flying and now she was having surgery. Pushing his way through the double doors, he spotted Ruby, Joey, Morag and Ross sitting in reception. He headed over.
"You're not welcome," Morag said sternly before he'd even had a chance to speak.
"I'm investigating this case," he told her.
"Well, we want someone else to do it."
The revulsion she felt for the man who had stolen the life of Martha's husband away was threatening to become violent. She couldn't bear to look at his face, let alone the uniform he didn't deserve to wear.
"Charlie would disagree with you," he said.
He turned to Ruby and Joey.
"Wouldn't she?"
"They're friends," Ruby agreed.
Morag pulled a face. Ross looked like he didn't care one way or another.
"She's still having surgery," Joey told him.
He studied her face. She looked pale and unwell, like she was struggling to hold everything together. He didn't have to try hard to imagine what she was going through. He'd had to take a minute to gain control of himself when he'd received the call.
"What about the guy that hit her?" he asked. "I was told he was brought in too."
"We're not sure what's happening to him," Ruby said.
"I'll go and ask," Angelo said, turning away.
"His name's Brett Collins, he's twenty-seven and works in the fishing industry. He drives a red... sorry, I don't know anything about cars. Do you want the address of where he lives?"
Angelo turned back to her curiously.
"You know him?" Ross asked.
"He's my brother," Joey said, staring right ahead of her.
Ross leapt to his feet angrily.
"Your brother knocked my little girl down?" he demanded.
Joey cowered in her seat and nodded.
"Get out."
Ruby grabbed hold of Joey who was frozen in place.
"Get out. You don't deserve to be here."
"Dad, you can't throw Joey out. She's Charlie's girlfriend."
"Her brother might have killed your... He might have killed Charlie!"
Morag stood up.
"Ross, there's no point talking like that. And we can't hold Joey responsible for someone else's actions, regardless of whether they're related to each other."
Ross sat down heavily. Angelo watched everyone's interactions.
"I can go if you want," Joey said quietly.
"Don't you dare," Ruby said. "Charlie will never forgive us if you're not here when she wakes up."
Angelo headed towards the nurse's station to ask where he could find Brett Collins.
***
Brett was lying in his hospital bed wondering when he could go home. He wondered if Joey was still there and if she really hated him that much that she wouldn't even come to visit while he was injured. Had the cop poisoned her mind so much against him that she would steal all her attention and take all her time? He supposed speeding up and directing the car at the dyke hadn't been the brightest of ideas but it had been a snap decision, one that he couldn't take back. All he could see in his mind was that woman having a wonderful time with his sister. She was leading her astray, taking her far away from him and the life that she should be leading. Joey was the only family he had and now she was gone and thanks to Charlie, she wasn't coming back. She may as well have moved to the other side of the world for all he saw of her. She didn't want anything to do with him.
"Brett Collins?"
Brett looked up when a uniformed police officer entered his room. He scowled at the thought of more cops.
"I want to talk to you about an incident you were involved in today," the policeman said.
***
Joey, Ruby, Ross and Morag leapt to their feet when a Doctor approached them.
"Is Charlie okay?" Ruby asked.
"She's out of surgery," the man said, clasping hold of his clipboard. "And she's going to be fine. She dislocated her hip but it's back in place now. With that and a small head injury, recovery should be easy enough."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"The procedure was a little more complicated than we were expecting because she has such a tiny pelvis," the Doctor added. "That's why it took so long but then I'm sure you've encountered that with her before, when she had the caesarean."
He swallowed when he was met with blank looks.
"Charlie's never had a baby," Ruby, ever ready with words, said.
"She um, has a scar... We just assumed..."
Joey conjured up the image of Charlie's beautiful body. She did have a scar. It was just below her bikini line. Joey had noticed it the first time they'd been together. She'd asked her about it over that weekend, curious about how she'd got it. Charlie hadn't said anything about a caesarean. She said it was some other operation.
"Charlie had endometriosis when she was a teenager," Ross explained. "She had to have an operation. That's where the scar's from."
Endometriosis, Joey thought, that was it.
"Oh well, anyway, she'll be coming round any minute now so you can go in and see her. Room 1B."
***
Charlie felt like she'd been run over by a truck when she blinked her eyes open. No, wait, it was just a car, she remembered. She shut her eyes again and then forced them open. She scanned the room. On one side of what she could only presume was a hospital bed was her Dad and Morag. On the other were Joey and Ruby. She smiled, feeling the familiar touch of Joey's hand in hers.
"Hey," she squeaked. "What brings you all here?"
Ruby couldn't help but laugh. They'd spent four hours waiting for Charlie to get through surgery and wake up and the first thing she did was crack a joke. Charlie tried to laugh too but it hurt too much. She read the deep rooted concern in everyone's faces.
"I'm okay," she assured them. "Just uncomfortable."
She squeezed Joey's hand gently.
"Can we get you anything?" Ruby asked, gazing into Charlie's face.
"A new hip would be nice," Charlie said. "What's wrong with me?"
"You dislocated it," Ross explained. "And you have a small head injury."
"Explains the raging headache then."
She turned to Joey.
"You're quiet," she said, tugging on her hand.
"Sorry," Joey said.
She felt nervous after Ross's outburst and didn't know how to be in front of him. All she wanted to do was fling her arms around Charlie, kiss her and tell her that she loved her. But she felt guilty that it was her brother who had hurt her girlfriend. And she hated seeing Charlie - strong, protective Charlie - looking so vulnerable. She leant a little closer, resting her elbows on the metal sides of the bed.
"I'm glad you're okay. I was so worried."
"Maybe we should give these two some time together," Morag suggested brightly.
She ushered Ross and Ruby out of the room. Charlie and Joey watched them leave. As soon as the door was shut, Joey burst into tears.
"Sweetheart..." Charlie said gently.
She reached out her free hand and awkwardly pulled Joey towards her. Leaning over the bed, Joey buried her face in Charlie's shoulder. Charlie felt tears wet her skin as Joey cried. All the while, Joey felt terribly guilty for not being strong but the thought of losing Charlie had been too much for her to bear.
"I'm sorry," she murmured.
"It's alright," Charlie said.
They held each other for a long while before Charlie shifted and asked Joey to help her sit up. Between them, they worked out the mechanism of the bed and propped Charlie up. She instructed Joey to push the sides of the bed down and Joey perched on the edge so that she could cuddle her. They played with each other's fingers and Joey kissed Charlie's cheek.
"I was so scared, Charlie," Joey ventured. "I hereby forbid you to get into any kind of accident ever again, okay?"
Charlie chuckled and then winced.
"I'll do my best. What happened anyway? I didn't see or hear anything coming."
"He was speeding."
"Did you get a good look at the guy or a number plate or anything?" Charlie asked, the police officer in her taking over.
"I can tell you everything about him," Joey said sadly.
Charlie eyed her curiously.
"It was Brett. And I think he did it on purpose."
Charlie sighed.
"No wonder you're so upset."
"Guilty, you mean," Joey said.
"Why would you be feeling guilty?" Charlie asked, genuinely baffled.
"He's my brother, Charlie. And he hurt you. Because of me. It's my fault."
"Did you tell him to do it?"
"No!"
"Did you secretly take over his body, get into the car and knock me down?"
"No," Joey giggled.
"Well then. You're innocent."
"Angelo's getting his statement now," Joey said. "He's pretty much going to throw the book at him."
"No..." Charlie protested. "I'll tell him to lay off."
"Why?" Joey asked. "He deserves to be punished for what he's done to you. Charlie..."
"I don't want to cause more upset. Joey, in his warped way, he probably thought he was protecting you."
Joey snorted her disgust.
"Listen to me," Charlie said seriously. "He loves you. He doesn't show it very well but he does. And he thinks I've stolen you away and turned you into some hairy legged, dungaree and flannel wearing dyke."
"My legs are perfectly smooth, thank you very much," Joey said, sticking her nose in the air.
Charlie laughed and raised Joey's hand to her lips.
"What I mean is, he did wrong but he thought it was for the right reasons. Maybe if I don't press charges, he'll lay off us," Charlie said.
"Maybe," Joey replied, unconvinced.
She bent her head to press her lips against Charlie's.
"And by the way, when I'm fit and able, I want to sample your hairless legs. And the rest of you," Charlie murmured into the kiss.
Joey grinned and kissed her more passionately. They pulled apart when someone cleared their throat.
"Angelo!" Charlie said, a little embarrassed.
"Glad to see you're feeling better," he commented.
He moved further into the room.
"I'm alive!" Charlie said in an overdramatic voice.
Joey went to move off the bed out of politeness but Charlie held her firmly in place.
"I've charged Brett Collins with..." Angelo began.
"Un-charge him," Charlie interrupted.
"What? The guy ran you over. On purpose by the looks of it."
"I don't care. He's Joey's brother."
Angelo turned to Joey.
"Listen, Joey, I know he's family but..."
"It's not Joey's call. She wants him charged as much as you do but I don't. I don't want any hassle to come from this. I just want to get healthy and get home."
Angelo looked uncertain.
"Please?" she asked.
He shrugged.
"If that's really what you want," he said, clearly unhappy about it.
"It is," Charlie said certainly.
"Well, in that case, my work here is done. I think your family's itching to come back in."
"Send them back in," Charlie said. "Thanks, Angelo."
He waved and headed out of the room.
***
"So, where's this scar?" Ruby asked.
Day was turning into early evening and Charlie visitors were still there.
"It's nothing special, Ruby. It's just a small one on my hip," Charlie said.
"No, the one from your endi... endo..."
She struggled with the word.
"Endometriosis," Ross said.
Charlie shot him an anxious look. His look matched her. Neither was lost on Joey but she stayed silent.
"How did that come up?" Charlie asked.
"The Doctor mentioned it," Ruby said. "I don't remember you being sick. When was it?"
"It was when you were a kid. You would have been too young to remember," Charlie said dismissively.
"He thought it was a caesarean scar," Ruby said. "Do they look the same?"
"They must do," Charlie said quickly.
"So where is it? Why haven't I seen it?" Ruby asked.
Her questions were relentless and Charlie's head was being to protest.
"I don't think Charlie needs all these questions," Ross interjected.
"It's fine," Charlie lied. "Ruby, where do you think it would be?"
"Well, I'd assume here," Ruby said, patting just belong her belly button. "But I've seen you in bikinis and all sorts of stuff that would show that off."
"It's... it's lower than that," Charlie said. "It's along my bikini line."
Ruby opened her mouth.
"No, you can't see it."
Ruby smirked.
"Bet Joey knew it was there."
Joey and Charlie both blushed.
"Thanks for that, Rubes," Charlie frowned.
She didn't dare look at Ross or Morag.
"That'll teach you to be all snappy," Ruby said triumphantly.
"I've had a hard day!" Charlie protested. "You'd think I could get away with it for one day at least."
Ruby shook her head.
"You did really have to bring me into it," Joey remarked, mock-glaring at Charlie's sibling.
Charlie laughed and got caught out with a yawn.
"I think we've worn our patient out," Ross said. "Shall we take you girls home?"
He and Morag both stood to leave. Ruby climbed of her chair. Joey was still perched on the edge of bed. Charlie turned to her.
"Could you stay for a bit longer?" she asked.
"Of course," Joey replied.
***
Once the others had left, Joey climbed back onto the bed. Immediately, the girls began kissing again. Joey's tongue sought tentative entry to Charlie's mouth. It was granted immediately and Charlie let her hands rove over every part of Joey's body that she could possibly reach. She just about managed to caress Joey's backside before bringing her hands round to the front, tracing her breasts. Their breath began ragged as they sought comfort and love deep within each other, frustrated by their inability to be intimate on a hospital bed. As they kissed, Joey noticed her cheeks becoming wet. Knowing she wasn't crying, she concluded that Charlie must be. She drew away slowly, maintaining contact by resting their foreheads together.
"What's wrong?" she asked, almost inaudibly.
"Joey, there's something I need to tell you," Charlie said.
