Hi everyone. I probably won't be updating over the weekend but I'll be back on Monday. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Four Hundred and Twenty Five
Charlie, Joey and Ruby arrived at the hospital in the city and anxiously found their way to the emergency department.
"Charlie?" Morag called, poking her head out from behind the curtain separating Ross's cubicle off from the ones on either side of him. "Joey? Ruby? We're in here."
The three of them hurried over to her, each hugging her in turn. They then moved to Ross's bedside. He was awake but dazed, a look that they were starting to get used to.
"What happened?" Charlie wondered fretfully.
"How are you feeling?" Joey asked, taking her father in law's hand.
Ruby stayed quiet. Hospitals always made her anxious.
"Bit of pain," Ross said weakly. "But… okay."
"But what happened?" Charlie asked, turning her attention to Morag.
"He was just at the top of the stairs and slipped," Morag explained. "He fell down them."
"Shouldn't someone have been watching him?" Charlie asked.
Her tone wasn't accusatory. It was just sad. She looked helplessly at her Dad and sank against Joey, who put her free arm around her.
"I just can't watch him every second," Morag said, moving to the other side of the bed. "He's normally fine with getting up and down the stairs."
"I just slipped," Ross said. "It wasn't Elsie's fault."
Morag closed her eyes in despair. He had called her the wrong name.
Back in Summer Bay, on the farm, Dex answered the phone to Marilyn.
"Oh, hi, Dex," came her sunny voice on the other end of the line. "How are you?"
He felt his face flushing as he answered that he was fine and returned the question.
"Oh, I'm fine, thank you. Is your Dad there?"
"He's in the shower at the moment," Dex said, rather glad about it.
"Could you pass a message on for me, please?" Marilyn asked. "I wanted to invite him for dinner tonight."
"Sure, I can pass that on," Dex said. "Microwave meal for one for me tonight then!"
"Oh, are you home alone tonight?" Marilyn asked.
He noted the concern in her tone and suppressed a smile. He didn't want it to show in his own voice.
"Yeah, Indi's out with Romeo," he told her, emphasising his glumness.
Marilyn hesitated.
"Well um… I supposed you could come along too," she said. "I'm cooking enough."
"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose…" Dex lied.
That's exactly what he wanted to do.
"You wouldn't be," Marilyn also lied.
"Well, if you're completely sure, I'd love to come," Dex accepted. "Thank you."
Joey took Ruby for a walk to get coffees for themselves, Morag and Charlie. She could tell that the teenager was struggling and needed to get away from the situation.
"It's hard to see him like that, isn't it?" she said.
"Yeah," Ruby sighed. "It scares me."
"What scares you about it, Rubes?" Joey asked, as they walked along the corridor, looking for a machine to provide them with caffeine.
"The fact that it's only going to get worse from here," Ruby said.
Joey took her head and guided her to sit down on the first vacant chairs they found.
"He's fallen down the stairs this time but this is minor compared to what's going to happen," Ruby said. "He's going to get physically worse. And mentally…"
She shook her head.
"He's calling people by the wrong names but that's minor too," she said. "Sooner or later… probably sooner… he's not going to remember us at all."
Joey put her arm around her.
"I'm not sure there's anything I can say that will make it better, Ruby," Joey said sadly. "Except that for everything that will happen and how awful it will be, you won't have to face any of it on your own. We'll face it all together. He might not know us but we'll love him just the same. We'll take care of him and we'll take care of each other. And we'll do all of that because we're a family and families stick together."
Ruby hugged her, allowing herself to cry.
Paulie was hanging around the restaurant while Angelo was trying to work.
"There's something you need to know, okay?" the younger Rosetta brother said.
Angelo rolled his eyes and leant on the bar.
"Something else?" he remarked.
"I don't exactly owe money to a conventional bank…" Paulie admitted.
Angelo winced.
"Who do you owe money to?" he asked.
"A loan shark," Paulie confessed. "And I used the business as collateral."
Bianca had gone to spend the evening with Liam. Everything still felt very new between them and they were both nervous. They had made the decision to get to know each other properly before things got physical between them again. But now, feeling shy, neither of them quite knew what to say.
Joey and Ruby had returned to Ross's cubicle with drinks. Ruby was sat between Joey and Charlie, wanting to stay close to her parents. The Doctor had come round in their absence and said that once Ross was patched up, so long as he was kept a very close eye on, he would be allowed home that night. Charlie and Joey had volunteered to stay to help and Morag had gratefully agreed.
"I can go home?" Ross asked.
"Soon," Morag said, stroking his hair. "You hurt your ankle so they're going to strap it up for you first."
Ross nodded. He felt very tired and that always affected his general symptoms. But he was glad to be with his family. It suddenly felt like a very long time since they had all been together.
Angelo felt like an even bigger weight had been landed on him. Paulie could end up dead if he didn't pay off his debts and his parents' businesses were in trouble without them even knowing it. And he was fairly sure that if he didn't help, his folks would somehow find a way for it all to be his fault. That was exactly what they were like.
Having sent Paulie home and leaving the rest of the staff busy, he headed into Joey's office and sat down. He spun from side to side on the chair a couple of times before stopping abruptly, noticing a couple of documents on the desk.
Sid emerged from his bedroom, having showered and dressed at a leisurely pace.
"Did I hear the phone ring earlier?" he asked.
"Uh… uh… yeah," Dex stumbled. "It was um… work."
The lie came tumbling out of his mouth.
"Work?" Sid asked. "And you didn't think to tell me sooner?"
"Sorry," Dex said. "I didn't think you'd spend so long preening. You need to go in tonight. Sorry."
He just couldn't resist the urge to keep Marilyn all to himself.
Morag, Charlie, Joey and Ruby brought Ross safely home, setting him up in the downstairs bedroom so that he didn't have to do stairs with his bad ankle.
"You two can take our room," Morag said to Charlie and Joey. "I'll go up and change the bedding."
"Just point me in the right direction," Joey said. "I can do all of that."
"Are you sure?" Morag asked.
Charlie realised for the first time just how tired her step-mother was.
"Of course," Joey said.
"The linen cupboard is directly ahead of the stairs," Morag told her.
"I'll help," Ruby offered, following her up.
"Okay, next question…" Liam ventured. "Are you still in love with him?"
Bianca stared at him. She couldn't believe he had asked her any more about Vittorio than he had. And she didn't want to answer any more than he wanted her to. But the question was out there now, standing between them like the big, white elephant in the room.
"Yes," she confessed. "I am."
Angelo sat at the computer, feeling sick about what he had done. He had filled in an application form online with the bank in Joey's name, with the backing of the business. If he could just get his hands on some cash then he could help Paulie out, save his life and his parents' business. Then perhaps everything would be okay. But he was committing fraud and betraying his boss and friend, a woman he had come to love. He took a deep breath, his hand hovering anxiously over the mouse. He clicked 'send'.
Exhausted from everything that had happened, Ross had gone to bed. Also exhausted, Morag had followed soon after, leaving the girls together in the living room.
"How are you feeling, Ruby?" Charlie asked, aware that her daughter had been struggling all evening.
She was just grateful that Joey had been taking care of her.
"A bit better, thank you," the teenager replied. "It's just moments like these that make me scared about what will happen in the future."
Charlie nodded.
"I understand," she said softly.
The events of the day had hit her harder than she was prepared to let on. She opened her arms and was glad when Ruby moved to snuggle up to her. She kissed the top of her head, holding her close. Joey smiled affectionately at them, hoping that when things got even tougher, she would be able to stay strong for them both.
"I don't want to be," Bianca continued quickly. "It's not something I can control. But it's not something I can just switch off, you know? You can't spend that long with someone, be about to commit your life to them and then just turn it all off."
Liam nodded. He understood that. There were always going to be residual feelings over each life a person touched. He still thought about his ex-wife from time to time. And Belle. And Nicole. But the difference was that he wasn't in love with any of them anymore. He was in love with Bianca and he wanted to be with her. But now, he was starting to think that perhaps she didn't feel the same about him.
"I do get it," he said. "But if you're thinking about him all the time, what are you doing with me?"
"I'm not thinking about him…"
"You must be if you're in love with him!" he protested.
"I…"
"What are we even doing here, Bianca?" he asked. "I mean, what's the point of any of this?"
Bianca closed her eyes, aware that they were about to lose their tempers.
"Hi, Dex!" Marilyn greeted warmly when he showed up at her house.
She paused, furrowing her brow when she realised he was alone.
"Where's your father?" she asked.
"He uh… had to work, I'm afraid," the teenager lied. "He got called in at the last minute but he sends his apologies. But um… I'm sure we can have a nice evening instead. As long as you can put up with my company."
He smiled his most charming smile. She tried not to look unnerved.
"Wait, Dex has a thing for Marilyn?" Joey exclaimed.
"Marilyn Chambers?" Charlie checked. "The woman who's going out with Sid Walker? Sid Walker, the man who's Dex's father?"
Ruby nodded glumly, although her parents' incredulity was at least making her smile just a little.
"And I have this horrible feeling that one day soon, he's actually going to make an idiot out of himself and tell her," she said, still snuggled up to Charlie. "And I speak from experience when I say that it is not a good idea."
"It's a terrible idea!" Joey agreed.
"Does Marilyn have any idea what's going on?" Charlie asked.
"I don't know."
"Does Sid?" Charlie asked, her eyes wide with amused horror.
Joey laughed.
"It's really not that funny," Ruby said. "His feelings are real, you know."
Charlie and Joey both apologised, aware that Ruby must be taking everything to heart.
"Is it a serious problem?" Charlie asked, taking her daughter's hand.
"I don't know," she said. "I mean it's Dex so… maybe not. But he does seem to be really smitten. I mean, he's not skulling vodka or anything but… He keeps rehearsing speeches to tell her how he feels. And when she doesn't feel the same, he's going to feel like a moron. And it's going to make things really awkward between him and his Dad. I mean, how awful will that be? I keep telling him to forget her and move on but I know how impossible that really is. And I just don't know how to support him. Or how to protect him. I don't know what to do."
Sid was puzzled to arrive at the hospital for his shift, only to discover that nobody had been expecting him. Marilyn's concerns about Dex echoed in his mind. Frowning, he turned around and walked back out again. He knew he had to sort out this situation once and for all.
"Can I ask you something?" Charlie asked.
She was nervous about confronting the issue. Joey was usually the one that took the lead in these situations but she knew she had to step up.
"Sure," Ruby said, still tucked up in her mother's embrace.
"If someone had tried to stop you telling Liam how you felt about him, would you have listened to them?" Charlie asked.
"No," Ruby admitted.
"Then maybe Dex just has to do whatever he has to do in order to get in out of his system," her mother suggested. ""And what you can do is advise him and hope he'll listen. But if he doesn't… just support him, be there for him. Take care of him as best you can."
Ruby nodded thoughtfully. Joey smiled gently at her partner.
"When did you get so sensible?" Ruby asked.
"Joey's been rubbing off on me," Charlie told.
"I don't want to know!" Ruby giggled.
Charlie laughed, swatting her playfully on the arm.
"Oh, hi, Watson," Kerri greeted.
Danny and VJ had begged for a sleepover at VJ's house, leaving Kerri free for an evening, although she had both kids the following Saturday in return. With Brax having blown her out, Kerri had been on her own and got bored so gone for a wander along the seafront, only to run into Watson.
"Hey," the police officer said, not breaking her stride to talk to her.
Kerri was confused. After the time she had invited her to join them for dinner, she'd thought things were good between them again. She didn't understand why she was being cold. Turning her chair around, Kerri followed her back down the street.
"Watson, is everything okay?" she asked.
"It's fine," Watson lied. "I just need to get home."
"Why are you being so abrupt?" Kerri asked.
Watson turned around. Kerri nearly ran into her. She halted abruptly and backed up. The two women stared at each other for a moment.
"What's wrong?" Kerri repeated.
"Well, I don't really want to be seen with you," Watson said. "I don't want your River Boys getting the wrong idea."
"My River Boys?" Kerri balked. "Hardly!"
"Well, you're practically one of them now, aren't you?" Watson accused. "Should I get you your own cell?"
"Why are you being so rude to me?" Kerri asked, genuinely offended.
"Because I get enough hassle from them without you making it worse!" Watson snapped.
"How on earth have I made it worse?" Kerri wanted to know. "What have I done?"
Watson sat down on the bench they'd stopped so that they were close, face to face.
"You told Brax that I had feelings for you," she accused. "Do you have fun taking the piss out of me on your nights out?"
"I have never talked about you with Brax," Kerri denied. "And I never would. How could you think that of me?"
"What am I supposed to think of you?" Watson asked, her voice softening a little.
They gazed at each other for a moment.
"I thought you thought better than that," Kerri eventually said.
Ruby had gone for an early night, carefully leaving Charlie and Joey to deal with the dinner plates.
"It was nice seeing Ruby all snuggled up to you," Joey remarked, as she watched dishes.
Charlie was in charge of drying.
"It was nice to feel so close to her," the police officer admitted, allowing herself a smile. "I know things are really great between us all now but for a while, they weren't and I still always have that phobia that we won't be mother and daughter… you know, properly."
"I honestly don't think that's something you need to worry about, Charlie," Joey said. "For all that's happened between you over the last year or so… I think you're tight now. I think you're healed."
Dex was feeling increasingly nervous as his dinner with Marilyn came to a close. He knew he was running out of time. His father would only stay at work for so long before he realised that he wasn't needed and hadn't been called in. It was now or never.
"Marilyn, there's something I need to tell you," he ventured.
"What's that, Dex?" she asked nervously.
"I'm in love with you," he told her.
"I don't know what to think of you," Watson said, conflicted between frustrated and deflated. "One minute I thought you were perfect, then I didn't, then I thought you were kind again and now I know you've just been laughing at me behind my back with your criminal boyfriend!"
"I haven't been laughing at you!" Kerri snapped, leaning forward in her chair, closer to Watson's face.
Watson didn't back away.
"Then how does Brax know that I had feelings for you?" the police officer demanded. "Past tense, by the way."
Kerri hoped her disappointment didn't show on her face.
"Maybe it's just really obvious," she suggested with a sneer.
Watson scoffed.
"Well, it won't be from now on, I assure you," she said. "I don't know what I ever saw in you in the first place."
"I don't know what I ever saw in you either!" Kerri snapped back.
Their lips crushed together without warning.
Next time... Charlie and Joey make a generous offer, guilty Angelo finds another solution to Paulie's debt problems and Kerri sees another side to Brax
