Chapter Fifty-Seven

The following morning, Charlie woke up exhausted. She'd hardly slept. Her mind had been full of everything she had shared with Joey. Her girlfriend had been unsurprisingly shocked but she'd been supportive and kind and that had meant a lot. She felt like there was nothing they couldn't survive now if Joey could stand by her knowing her sordid past. But talking about it after such a long time keeping quiet had still been hard and provoked some nightmares. It had been a very difficult night's sleep and she was very much looking forward to coming home to Joey and spending the nights with her again. She wondered how she had slept as well. It would be the first time in a while that they had slept apart and neither was sure whether Joey would sleep peacefully without her.

***

Joey had barely slept. She'd hoped that by now, she'd be able to sleep without Charlie and although her bad dreams had lessened considerably, without the comfort of her girlfriend, she'd felt lost and lonely in bed. She was very grateful that Charlie would be coming home today. It wouldn't be a moment too soon. Wandering into the kitchen, she found Ruby making herself some breakfast. She watched her silently for a few moments, puzzling over everything Charlie had shared with her the day before. The poor girl had no idea about her true parentage. And she never would. Joey hadn't quite figured out how she felt about that yet. She wondered if Charlie was doing the right thing by keeping it from her but then she supposed it wouldn't really help anyone for Ruby to know the truth. Why change everything she knew about herself and her life? Why change her perceptions of her parents and her sister? Why allow her to know that she was the product of brutality? Ruby turned and waved good morning to Joey who came to sit at the table.

"Want some toast?" Ruby offered.

"I'd love some. Thanks."

"How was Charlie when you left her?"

"She was pretty tired."

"From making out or from her injuries?" Ruby grinned.

Joey chuckled.

"From her injuries!" Joey insisted.

Ruby raised her eyebrows.

"Maybe a little making out," Joey admitted.

Ruby set breakfast down in front of them and sat down beside who she hoped would one day be her sister in law.

"I'm glad you and Charlie are together, Joey," Ruby said seriously. "You make her really happy."

Joey blushed and bit into her toast.

"Thank you," she managed.

"I mean it. In all my life I've never seen her like this. You've brought out a side to her that I've never known. I keep waiting for her to freak and she hasn't. And honestly, I don't think she will. She's just... happy. And it looks good on her. You look good on her."

Joey blushed some more. Ruby grinned.

"Okay, I'll stop embarrassing you," she said. "But I do mean it. Thanks for making her so happy."

"It's my pleasure," Joey said.

***

Charlie looked up surprised when her father entered her hospital room.

"Hi, Dad," she greeted warmly. "I was expecting Joey."

For a fleeting moment, she worried that Joey didn't love her anymore now that she knew the truth.

"Oh, I spoke to her this morning," he said. "She's coming by later with Leah to get you home but I wanted to pop in and talk to you."

Charlie was relieved that Joey would be seeing her soon but nervous about her Dad's special trip. She was sure she knew what it was about.

"We had a close call yesterday, Charlie," he said gravely.

She looked down at her hands, clasped in her lap.

"I know."

"I think it might be time to stop telling lies, Charlie."

"Dad..."

"Let me finish. Please?"

"No, Dad, I'm not..."

"There's going to come a time when I can't be trusted to keep your secret."

"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it," Charlie insisted desperately.

"There's no 'if', Charlie. Only a when and when the time comes, there'll be no reasoning with me. You're my daughter. You're my baby girl and I want to support you, protect you. I want to love you and take care of you in every single way I can, through the hardest times. If this all comes out later instead of now, I won't be able to do that. I'll be too far down the line to know what's going on. It might even be my fault that it comes out."

"Dad, I understand what you're saying but I can't... I can't tell..."

Ross sighed. He looked at his daughter lying in her hospital bed looking every bit as frail as she had when she'd been attacked all those years ago.

"Charlie, I feel like I've done you a complete disservice by teaching you to hold your feelings in and keep secrets all your life."

"I told Joey," Charlie blurted out.

He was surprised.

"I told her. I told her everything. And she was wonderful. She was perfect. But that's enough. I don't want to tell anyone else."

"I'm glad that she was good to you," Ross said. "I think you've found someone special in her, Charlie. And I need to apologise to her because I was unforgivably rude to her yesterday when I was worrying about you."

"I doubt she'll bear a grudge," Charlie said.

It wasn't in Joey's nature.

"But if you can tell her, why can't that be the first step towards lifting the lid on this whole thing?" Ross asked.

"No, Dad," Charlie said.

Tears began to spill.

"No. No, please. I can't. I can't do this. Don't make me do this."

Ross put his hands over his daughter's, calming her as her breathing became laboured.

"Okay," he said gently. "Okay, Charlie. It's okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. I just thought... I'm sorry."

***

Joey and Leah headed through the hospital and towards Charlie's room. They found her awkwardly packing her bag.

"Hey, don't overstretch yourself," Joey ordered.

Charlie turned and smiled at her guests. She limped out of the way and Joey took over packing the bag.

"How are you feeling?" Leah asked.

"In a lot of pain," Charlie admitted.

"Are you sure you should be coming home?" Joey asked worriedly.

"There's nothing more they can do for me here," Charlie said. "Besides, I want to be at home with you."

"I want you to be at home too," Joey admitted.

Leah smiled at the couple and took the bag from Joey. Charlie let Joey help her out of the room and towards the nurses' station to discharge herself.

***

Back at home, Charlie was being treated like a princess. Ruby had prepared lunch for everyone in Charlie's honour, which was especially sweet. Joey had put Charlie on the sofa with her feet up and she'd not had to get up for so much as a drink. Ross and Morag had been round to visit and so had Angelo and Amber and Joey had supplied her with many hugs and kisses. In between all the attention, she'd napped. Even though she was in considerable pain, she thought she could get used to all the special treatment.

***

The following morning, Charlie woke with a start. She looked frantically at the empty space beside her. Instantly, she panicked that Joey had left her. She ran through the events of the previous night. She'd been tired early so Joey had taken her to bed. They hadn't really talked much about her revelation. They'd really just held each other and fallen asleep in each other's arms. But now Joey was gone. Charlie winced as she attempted to get up and find her. Heart racing, she worried about where Joey might have gone to and if she could catch her in time. Suddenly, the door opened. Joey stood there with a tray.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Joey asked.

Charlie felt embarrassed and guilty.

"Charlie? Are you okay?"

Joey moved to sit the tray down on the bedside table as she rushed to Charlie's side.

"Charlie?"

"I... I thought you were gone," Charlie admitted.

"I was getting you breakfast," Joey explained. "You were crying out in your sleep and you can't take your painkillers unless you've eaten so I thought I'd give you a head start."

Charlie apologised. Joey sighed and stroked Charlie's hair. She kissed her nose and guided her back under the covers, gently setting the tray on her lap. She'd even gone to the trouble of putting a single flower from the garden in a white vase.

"I'm not leaving you, Charlie," she said softly. "You need to get your head around that, okay?"

"I know," Charlie said. "Part of me just can't understand why you'd want to stay with someone like me."

"Someone who's been through something as awful as you have? Someone who's been broken, you mean?"

Their eyes met. Charlie realised that if anyone was ever going to understand and accept her, it was Joey.