Chapter One Hundred and Fifty Six

The next couple of hours passed by in a blur. Panicked, Charlie and Joey had tried to wake Ruby but she was out cold, seemingly for no reason. She was breathing, her heart was beating and she didn't look to have a head injury. Charlie had hurriedly thrown some clothes on while Joey stayed with her and Leah waited outside to flag down the ambulance. Charlie had gone in the ambulance with her daughter while Joey had phoned and woken Aden who had shown up quicker than should have been possible in order to take her to the hospital to be with her partner and wait for news on her step-daughter. Now, with Geoff also having been called, he, Charlie, Joey and Aden waited anxiously for news. Finally, the Doctor appeared. All four of them stood up.

"What's wrong with her?" Charlie asked desperately. "Is she okay?"

"She's okay," the Doctor said.

Charlie was disappointed at hearing nothing more reassuring than that but comforted by Joey holding her hand.

"What's wrong with her?" Joey asked.

"She's diabetic," the Doctor explained.

"Sorry?" Charlie said in sheer confusion.

"She has diabetes," he told her patiently. "And to be honest, she's very lucky. She must have had symptoms for some time. If it had gone on any longer or you'd found her any later..."

Charlie went pale. Joey squeezed her hand.

"What would the symptoms have been?" Geoff asked.

"There are lots of them but the one you'd probably notice would be if she'd been particularly thirsty recently."

Geoff and Joey glanced at each other. Both felt guilty. They had definitely noticed it. And they hadn't done anything. Charlie saw them look at each other.

"Did you two notice?" she asked.

They quickly apologised.

"No," Charlie said, shaking her head. "No, I just feel terrible because I should have noticed."

"Hey, that doesn't matter now," Joey said gently.

She turned back to the Doctor.

"Can we see her?"


Ruby was sitting, propped up in the hospital bed when Charlie, Joey and Geoff entered the room. She promptly burst into tears and reached out for her Mum. Charlie struggled with tears of relief and sentimentality as her daughter clung to her. Joey smiled, although she felt surprisingly heartbroken at seeing Ruby so small and fragile hooked up to several machines. Geoff hung around anxiously in the background, feeling close to Ruby but not yet part of the family.

"How are you feeling?" Charlie asked softly, stroking Ruby's face.

They held hands as Ruby said she was still feeling weak but not so bad. The rest of her loved ones gathered around her and the Doctor began to explain more about Ruby's condition.


It had taken a fair amount of convincing for Charlie to agree to go home. The Doctor wanted to keep Ruby in overnight to keep a close check on her but had assured Charlie and Joey that they could collect her in the morning. Saying goodbye to Ruby repeatedly, Charlie eventually left the hospital with Joey, Geoff and Aden, who dropped everybody home. Exhausted but unable to sleep, Charlie made hot drinks for herself and Joey. Taking them into their bedroom, they shut the door on the world. Unable to stop fretting about her daughter, all alone in hospital after such a scary night, Charlie leant against Joey and wept.


The following morning, Charlie was up early, despite very little sleep. She and Joey headed on over to the hospital in order to collect Ruby. They found her sitting up in bed, happily laughing with one of the nurses.

"Hey, Rubes," Charlie said, hugging her.

"Morning," Ruby said.

"You look like you're feeling better."

Ruby nodded proudly. She'd had a better night's sleep than she'd had for a while and although her head was still reeling over all the information she'd been given about her newly diagnosed condition, she was glad that at least there was an official reason over why she had been feeling rough for weeks. It wasn't that she had specifically chosen not to mention it. Really, she just hadn't quite known how to express how she was feeling.

"Are you two here to take Ruby home?" the nurse asked.

"Yeah," Charlie said cheerfully.

She was relieved to know that Ruby was already picking up and she was proud of her strength.

"Well, let's get her discharged now then," the nurse said pleasantly, heading out of the room.


It was only early afternoon but Ruby was already frustrated. She knew Charlie was trying to be her Mum and that she only had her best interests at heart, but she was fussing too much and it was driving Ruby crazy. She was doing exactly what she'd done when Ross had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, taking over and getting herself into a state. All Ruby wanted was to feel normal.

"Charlie!" she finally snapped. "I don't want pillows! I don't want to lie on the couch! I'm not sick!"

Charlie looked crushed and took the pillows away. Ruby felt guilty but couldn't quite bring herself to apologise. Joey hovered in the doorway, wondering what to do.

"Sorry," Charlie mumbled.

She quickly headed into her bedroom and closed the door. Ruby sighed heavily and glanced at Joey who stepped forward.

"She's only trying to do her best for you, Rubes," she said. "A little appreciation would go a long way."

Joey followed Charlie. Ruby hurried out of the house.


Next time... Geoff gets into an argument with Xavier and Ruby struggles with her new diagnosis...