Chapter One Hundred and Seventy Four

"Ruby!" Charlie gasped the following morning when she found her daughter asleep at the dining table.

She hurried to gently wake her up. Ruby came to, looking rather confused.

"Huh?"

"Did you sleep here all night?" Charlie asked, concerned.

Ruby stretched, wincing in pain from the awkward way she had slept. She nodded.

"Ruby..."

Charlie immediately felt guilty for not checking on her when she had known the night before how hard she was working.

"I got my assignment done," Ruby said happily.

"At what cost?" Charlie asked.

"I'm fine," Ruby lied. "Nothing a nice breakfast wouldn't cure!"

She grinned and fluttered her eyelashes. Chuckling, Charlie agreed to make her whatever food she wanted.


It was a muted breakfast over at Martha's house. Xavier was ignoring Gina because she had been on a few dates with John. Both he and Gina were also still a little annoyed with Hugo for risking his relationship with Martha, although at least that was back on track now. However, nobody would really have known that things were good again between them judging by Hugo's mood. He was strangely sullen and introverted, which made Martha feel disappointed. She was feeling more and more like she hardly knew her boyfriend at all these days. It unnerved her. He'd explained that he'd disappeared in the night because he'd gone to tell Suzy to leave them alone. He'd reiterated that nothing more than business had ever happened between them and that he loved Martha more than anything else in the world. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to offer him her full trust. But she was worried. Opting to ignore her concerns, she focussed on Bambang. He'd only been in her life for five minutes but he already brought her a lot of much needed joy.


Charlie and Joey dropped Ruby off on their way to the city to see Ross and Morag. She was tired but adamant that she was going to school. If nothing else, she had worked far too hard on her assignment not to hand it in.

"Tell Dad that I love him," Ruby requested as she climbed out of the car.

"We will," Charlie promised. "Have a good day."

Ruby smiled and dashed into school. Charlie pulled back onto the main road in order to head out of town. It had been a little while since they had seen Ross and Morag and they were looking forward to spending the day with them.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Charlie asked.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Joey said, placing a hand on Charlie's knee.

"You'd better not slide that hand any further up, young lady," Charlie teased. "Because I really don't want to get involved in a car crash."

Smirking, Joey slipped her hand a little further up.

"Joey..." Charlie warned.

"Okay," Joey said, sighing dramatically. "I shall have to ravish you later!"

"Count on it," Charlie laughed.


Home alone, Hugo paced the living room, fretting over what to do. Suzy had told him in no uncertain terms the night before that he had a few days to tie up loose ends and then she expected him back in Indonesia. She'd even bought him a one way ticket and he knew that his 'wife' did not make idle threats. But he also knew that he didn't want to live this life anymore. He just wanted to settle down with Martha, run a legitimate dive business and leave his criminal past behind.


Joey and Charlie sang happily along to Joey's iPod as Charlie drove them towards the city.

"Aw," Joey cooed when their song came on.

Blanche Dubois sang out of the stereo. Charlie reached out to hold Joey's hand for a moment.

"Happy memories," Charlie smiled.

"Happy?" Joey teased. "If I remember, the first time we listened to this song together, you tried to swim all the way home!"

"I'd just kissed a girl!" Charlie protested. "I was scared. Cut me some slack."

Joey squeezed her hand and then let her return to the wheel.

"Don't worry," she assured her. "I do. Kissing me can be pretty overwhelming!"

Charlie giggled.

"It definitely can," she said. "It's amazing!"

"I'm glad you enjoy it," Joey smirked. "It'd be horrible if you didn't!"

"I don't think it's possible not to enjoy a kiss with you," Charlie said. "You're the best kisser ever!"

"I know," Joey said, although she was deeply flattered and trying not to blush.

Charlie glanced at her, smiling at how adorable she was, trying to act cool when she was clearly embarrassed.

"I think you're the most amazing kisser in the world though," Joey mused, leaning against the closed window. "I reckon you'd win an award or something. Not that I'd ever let anyone else kiss you! That would be horrible."

"My lips are forever yours," Charlie promised.


"Are you sure this is right?" Miles asked when Ruby handed over her assignment at the end of her English lesson.

The teenager looked confused. Miles pointed to her handwritten corrects.

"Oh no!" Ruby exclaimed. "I handed in the draft. Please, please, please can I go home and change it? The real one is right there on my laptop. Please?"

"Just this once," Miles said. "Be back before the end of lunch, okay?"

Ruby nodded and dashed off in a hurry. In the corridor, Xavier watched her go. He still missed his girlfriend terribly and he felt like an idiot for it. She had clearly and quickly moved on with Geoff and didn't so much as look at him anymore. But he knew he would give anything to be with her again.


Charlie pulled up outside her father and step-mother's house and cut the engine.

"Yay!" Joey grinned. "We're here."

Charlie chuckled. She had been so concerned once upon a time about whether her Dad would accept that she was in a relationship with a woman. But Ross and Joey got along better than she could even have hoped for. She thought it was nice that Joey had been so readily invited to be part of the family.

"Sometimes I think my Dad actually likes you better!" she remarked playfully.

"No way!" Joey giggled. "Nobody could ever prefer me over you. Not possible."

"I prefer you," Charlie said.

"That doesn't count," Joey informed her, stealing a quick kiss. "Although it does make me happy."

Charlie smiled and kissed her again.

"Hey," Joey said when they drew away. "You're wearing your necklace."

She smiled. Charlie touched the diamond heart around her neck a little shyly.

"I hope that's okay," she said. "I know it's not really a special occasion but I really wanted to show Dad and Morag."

Joey reached out and tenderly stroked Charlie's face, assuring her that she could wear the necklace whenever she wanted to.

"That's why I gave it to you," she added.

"I know but... well, I guess I don't quite know the protocol of such things yet," Charlie laughed self consciously. "Nobody has ever given something so special to me before. I've never been loved like this before."

Joey leant in for another kiss.

"Well, I'm glad to be the one to do it," she said. "And I think the curtains are starting to twitch so maybe we should get inside!"

Charlie grinned, kissed Joey once more and then they climbed out of the car.


Ruby was feeling dizzy and unwell by the time she finally arrived back at school with the right coursework. She triumphantly handed it over to Miles who thanked her but was immediately worried about how pale she was.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," Ruby lied.

She headed back out in to the corridor. Then everything went black.


"What a beautiful necklace," Morag commented as she, Ross, Charlie and Joey sat down to lunch together in the garden.

Charlie beamed at her.

"It was a present from Joey," she said proudly, reaching for her girlfriend's hand.

"Oh, that's lovely, Joey," Ross said.

"It um... it belonged to my Mum," the skipper explained a little shyly. "She left it to me and I wanted Charlie to have it."

"That's even lovelier," Ross said honestly.

He turned and smiled at his daughter, remarking that she definitely had a keeper. Charlie grinned and squeezed Joey's hand.

"I know," she said. "And I can assure you I'll be keeping her for as long possible."


"Ruby?" Miles said urgently. "Ruby? Ruby, talk to me."

The teenager's eyes fluttered open. Her head hurt and she was aware of people gossiping about her already. She tried to talk but thought she might vomit.

"Is she okay?" Xavier asked worriedly.

Miles helped Ruby into a sitting position, holding her hand.

"What happened, Rubes?" he asked worriedly.

"I just... didn't feel so good," Ruby mumbled.

"No kidding!" Miles remarked.

Ruby cringed, sure that she could hear people laughing at her.

"I'm going to take you to the hospital, okay?" Miles said.

"No!" Ruby panicked. "No. I'm fine. I'm fine."

"You blacked out," Miles insisted. "We're going to the hospital. No arguments. Now, can you stand or should I send someone to sick bay to get a wheelchair?"

"I can walk," Ruby said quickly.

Her teacher helped her to her feet.


Aden arrived home from work early. He and Geoff had gone out in the morning but with Joey indulging in a day off, they had underperformed slightly and agreed that there was little more they could do between the two of them. Joey had already called to inform Irene that John might well come up with a way to cancel their berth. Irene had been unhappy about it but she was more concerned for Joey, Aden and Geoff than anything else. The trawler was their livelihood but for Irene, it was an extra on the side that she was grateful to Lou for but didn't really understand. She was just glad that Joey had taken control of everything and that she was doing such a good job.

"What's going on?" Aden demanded when he found Nicole and Liam in the house.

"Um... Liam has to move out of his place," Nicole explained. "So I've invited him to live here."

"What?" Aden screeched. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Look, I know it's not ideal..." Liam tried.

"Don't you fucking talk to me!" Aden snapped.

"Aden!" Nicole said shortly. "Like it or not, I am your landlady and I get to decide who lives here. Roman took you in when you had nowhere to go. And now Liam's homeless so..."

"Why are you homeless?" Aden asked. "Did you snort your mortgage up your nose or something?"

Liam glared at him before explaining that there was a problem with the electrics and two electricians – including Martha Holden – had deemed the building unsafe.

"I am not living with him, Nic," Aden warned.

"Live with him or live somewhere else," Nicole replied. "It's your choice."


Charlie and Joey reluctantly left Ross and Morag before rush hour hit.

"Drive safely, darling," Ross said, hugging his daughter before she got into the car.

"I will," she promised. "We'll call you when we get back."

"Thanks for coming," Morag said, hugging Joey goodbye.

"Thanks for inviting us," Joey replied. "And for lunch. It was lovely."

She offered her most charming smile. Morag smiled right back and wished them both a safe journey home.

"And give Ruby a big cuddle from both of us," Ross called just before Charlie closed the car door.

"We will!" Charlie assured him cheerfully.

Ross and Morag stood on the drive, waving and watching as Charlie and Joey headed back towards Summer Bay.


"Ruby, why didn't you tell anyone you were diabetic?" Miles asked.

They had been seen after a fairly long wait at the hospital and the Doctor had confirmed that Ruby had let her blood sugar run too low.

"I don't want people knowing," Ruby said. "It's embarrassing. I feel like a freak."

"You're not a freak," Miles insisted. "You can still have a normal life. But you do need to tell people what the situation is, okay? You have to look after yourself."

"I know," Ruby sighed. "I just got stressed about the assignment."

"Ruby, I would have understood if you needed more time," Miles told her. "I could have made allowances."

"I don't want to be treated differently," Ruby insisted. "I just..."

"Look, you've had a hell of a year," Miles said. "You've been through so much and this diagnosis is yet another difficult thing for you. Don't fret about being treated differently. Just accept whatever help you're... Shit!"

Both Ruby and Miles jolted against their seatbelts as Miles slammed on the breaks. From nowhere, a water bomb had smashed into the windscreen. Angrily, Miles leapt out of the car. He saw a kid in a hood running away. Ruby struggled to regain a normal breathing pattern as Miles tried and failed to chase the kid down.


"Okay, we'll stop," Charlie agreed, groaning dramatically.

They'd driven past a couple of McDonalds restaurants and despite a big lunch, it had made Joey crave some fries and a McFlurry. She had proceeded to beg, whinge and complain and finally Charlie had given in.

"Thank you, thank you!" Joey said, clapping her hands together like a child.

"You're lucky you're cute, you know," Charlie remarked.

"I know!" Joey said sweetly.


Miles had returned unhappily to the car and checked that Ruby was alright. He felt a little selfish for not checking on his passenger first, especially considering they were returning from the hospital. But he'd been living on his last nerve for days now. Home was hell and he missed Kirsty more than he could ever explain. He was almost relieved to not have caught up with the boy who had attacked them, as he wasn't sure how restrained he could be. In all honestly, he'd wanted to beat the shit out of him, although he doubted that would do anyone any good.

"Are you okay?" he asked, pulling up outside her house.

Ruby nodded and thanked him for the slightly alarming journey home.

"Do you need me to come in and talk to Charlie about what's happened?"

"No," Ruby said quickly. "No. I'll um... I'll explain."

She looked out of the window and acknowledged that her car wasn't there anyway.

"They're probably still visiting Dad and Morag," she said.

"Okay, well make sure you let her know what happened," Miles said. "And make sure you ask for help when you need it, okay? I can assure you that the single worst thing you can do is shut people out. It'll only hurt you and the people you care about."

Ruby nodded, thanked him again and climbed out of the car.


Next time... Charlie finds out about Ruby's hospital visit and Joey loses her temper...