Chapter Five Hundred and Fifteen

Charlie woke up in Joey's embrace. She'd been tossing and turning for most of the night, dreaming bad dreams about losing her father. It had been late when they, along with Ruby and a very reluctant Morag had finally left the hospital. Nobody had wanted to abandon him there all alone. But they were at least comforted that he was recovering well and although it had been a close call, he would be home in a day or two, back where he felt happy and safe.


Back in Summer Bay, Marilyn awoke with the same pang of anxiety that she always woke up with nowadays. Now that she knew the truth about her end date, she couldn't shake the sense of impending death and sorrow from her mind. It plagued her wherever she went and she didn't know what to do to relieve the stress and pain from her soul.


At the Beach House, things were equally as tense. April was not speaking to Bianca because she had chosen Vittorio over Liam. Joanna was being desperately insensitive over the whole thing. And Will was being his usual moody self. Irene was worried about everyone.

"Hey, Lily?" Bianca said, sitting down at the table next to the little girl who was doing some calligraphy from a set that Irene had picked her up from town the previous day.

Lily put her special pen down and offered Bianca her full attention.

"I wondered if you would do a special job for me at my wedding?"

April glanced up at her from the couch, interested but pretending she wasn't. Lily looked excited.

"Would you be my flower girl?" Bianca asked.

"Oh, I would love to!" Lily said. "Thank you!"

Bianca beamed at her.

"Thank you for accepting!" she said warmly. "We'll have to get you a pretty dress."

Lily looked even more excited. She loved the idea of that!


Charlie, Joey, Ruby and Morag were dressed quickly and hurried to the hospital to see Ross. They were relieved to see him sitting up in bed and managing to eat some breakfast. He smiled weakly at them.

"Good morning," Morag said warmly, leaning forward and kissing his forehead.

"Morning, um… morning…" he said.

"Morag," Morag whispered gently.

"Morag," Ross said, remembering.

"And Charlie and uh…"

"Joey," Charlie informed him.

"And…"

He stared for a moment at Ruby.

"Why are you here?" he asked. "You're not supposed to be here!"

He looked desperately upset, almost angry. Ruby turned white and clutched Charlie.

"Ross, this is Ruby," Morag said. "You know Ruby. You love Ruby."

She stroked his hand, reassuring him. His anger became a look of bewilderment as he tried to recall who Ruby was. Then he looked tearful and quickly apologised.

"It's okay, Dad," Ruby said softly.

But Charlie clutched her tighter. She knew it wasn't okay. And she knew it wouldn't be the last time something like this happened.

"How are you feeling this morning, Ross?" Joey asked brightly, skimming past the awkwardness.

"Better," Ross said. "Better."

"That's good," Joey said.

"They said I might be able to go home tomorrow," Ross said. "Can I go home tomorrow?"

He directed his question to Morag.

"Well, I don't see why not if the Doctor says so," Morag said.

"And maybe we could stay for a couple of days and spend some time with you," Charlie suggested.

Ross smiled.

"That would be nice," he said.

He reached his hand out to Ruby who came to sit by him, still shaky and tender. Charlie and Joey exchanged concerned looks but sat down also.


Marilyn was subdued. Her death date was looming but Sid was preoccupied so she didn't have anyone to talk to. He was too consumed with worrying about the children, which of course she completely understood. She was worried about them too.

Indi's stress levels didn't seem to have reduced since she had finished her exams. If anything, they had increased during this wait for the results. She had allowed herself one fun night at the Informal but otherwise, all she seemed to do was panic herself over the idea that she would fail and have to redo her last year at school and not get into University. It was getting the point that it was making her unwell.

And as for Dex, he had taken very well to his grounding. He had quite happily resigned himself to the house, to the point that Sid was considering cutting the grounding short and throwing him out into the sunshine. He was becoming a hermit. Sid was beside himself with worry at the idea of his lovely son becoming so socially awkward that he would waste his talents and not be able to function sufficiently in society. He was desperate for him to fit in achieve everything he was capable of.


"So, are we all set for your bridal shower tonight?" Irene asked.

April had gone out with Xavier. She hadn't so much as spoken a word to Bianca all morning. Joanna had popped out for a few last minute things and upon Irene's urging, Will had taken Lily out to the cinema.

"I think so," Bianca said.

"It was sweet that you asked Lily to be your flower girl," the older woman said. "I think it meant a lot to her."

"She's a sweetheart," Bianca said. "Shame I can't get a refund on April's bridesmaid's dress."

"Oh," Irene said. "I thought things seemed pretty tense between you and April."

Bianca nodded, looking sad.

"I know she doesn't support the wedding but I thought she'd still support me."

"You never know," Irene said. "She might come round at the last minute."

"I do know," Bianca said. "She's the only person more stubborn than I am."

Irene sighed. She knew Bianca was right.

"Well, at least you have two other bridesmaids," she said, trying to be positive.

Bianca had asked Charlie, Joey and April to be her girls on the big day. So now she was down to two. Joey had made it clear that she must love her a hell of a lot if she was going to be seen in public in a dress for her.

"Yeah," Bianca sighed. "Although they can't even make the shower tonight because they're in the city with Ross."

"Is there any news on his condition?" Irene asked.

"He's improving," Bianca said. "He should be out of hospital in a day or two."

"Oh, that's such a relief!" Irene said.


Desperate to take his girlfriend's mind of their impending exam results, Romeo took Indi out to lunch at the restaurant. He had to borrow some cash from Marilyn to do so but he managed and Alf even gave them what he knew was Joey's best table by the window.

"I'm just so scared that you and Nicole are going to pass your exams and head on off to Uni and leave me behind," Indi said as they waited for their starters to arrive.

It was the same conversation they had had many times now.

"I'm so scared that I've screwed everything up and I'm just going to be stuck here in this never ending cycle of having to repeat my final year over and over again."

"But why?" Romeo asked. "Why would you have failed?"

"Because I'm not clever enough," Indi said.

"Of course you are," he insisted.

"But I know I got so many questions wrong in all those exams," she complained. "I know I fucked it all up!"

She pressed her palms to her face in worry.

"Look," Romeo said. "Let's just enjoy this nice meal and not even talk about exams."

"Why? Am I boring you?" she accused.

"No," he lied. "I just think you need to relax and stop getting so worked up."

"It's easy for you to say," she said. "You're not worried, are you? You know you did well. You and Nicole are going to move on with your lives and leave me behind."

"I failed," Romeo blurted out.

"What?"

She stared at him.

"I failed," he repeated.

"You don't have to say that to make me feel better, Romeo…"

"No, I failed," he said. "On purpose."

Her mouth fell open.

"What do you mean, you failed on purpose?"

"Just… you said how badly you were doing and that you were going to fail and have to repeat the year so… so I failed so I could repeat the year with… you…"

He looked extremely worried. It had all seemed like a good idea at the time. But now, looking at her face, it seemed like a huge mistake.

"You failed your exams on purpose?" she demanded, her words getting louder and louder as she said each one.

"Um…"

"Did you have that little faith in me that you actually threw your exams so that we could repeat the year together? You were that convinced that I'd fuck my exams up?"

People were starting to look.

"No!" he protested. "You said you were going to fail! You said it!"

"I was doubting myself! I needed you to support me and tell me I was going to be okay! Not throw away your whole education!" she yelled, rising from her chair.

He suddenly felt very small and very stupid.

"I was trying to support you but you wouldn't listen!" he tried. "So I…"

"So you fucked everything up!" she snapped. "As usual! So now if I do pass my exams, I can't even celebrate because I'll just feel guilty that you threw away your future for me in some misguided attempt to be supportive! You're such an idiot sometimes, Romeo!"

She stormed out just as Claire brought over their starters.

"Um…"

Romeo merely sighed and sank into his chair. Well, that was a waste of money and effort, he thought to himself. Claire put the plates down awkwardly.

"Are… are you okay?" she asked.

He just looked at her.

"Sorry," she said. "Stupid question. Is there anything I can do?"

"Stop me from being an absolutely moron?" he said.

"I'm sure you're not a moron," she tried.

"No, really," he said. "I am. I get everything wrong, even when I'm trying my hardest."


Charlie took Ruby to the canteen to get a snack.

"Are you doing okay, Rubes?" the police officer asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Ruby replied.

She didn't sound very convincing.

"You can talk to me, you know," her mother said.

Ruby sighed heavily as they walked.

"It was hard," she admitted. "When he didn't know me."

"I understand," Charlie said. "There's going to be times when he doesn't know us or doesn't understand things."

Ruby nodded.

"I know that in theory," she said. "But…"

"But in practice, it's painful," Charlie finished. "But you just always have to remember that it's not Dad. It's the illness. The Dad that we know and love is in there somewhere and he knows us and loves us and that's what matters."

Ruby nodded. She caught hold of Charlie's hand as they walked. It comforted them both.


Indi arrived back home and stormed straight back into her room, slamming the door behind her. Dex hadn't emerged from his room all day. Sid was worried.

"I just don't know what to do with the pair of them," he said to Marilyn.

She didn't respond.

"Marilyn?" he said, waving a hand in front of her face.

She snapped to attention and apologised.

"Where were you?" he asked.

"Sorry, I just… have stuff on my mind. What were you saying about the children?"

"Just… did you see Indi storm in here?" Sid asked.

Marilyn looked confused. She really had been in a world of her own. Suddenly everything fell into place. He realised just how close her death date was. Immediately he apologised.

"I've been so consumed with the kids," he said. "I haven't been paying any attention to you at all."

"It's fine," Marilyn said. "Your children are supposed to be the most important things to you."

"You're my priority too," he assured her. "Please don't ever think that you're not."

She smiled. He kissed her.

"Let me take you out tonight," he suggested. "Just me and you."

She kissed him again.

"That sounds wonderful," she said.


It hadn't been an easy day. It had been a good few weeks since Charlie, Joey and Ruby had seen Morag and Ross and in that time, his memory had deteriorated a lot. Morag told them that the infection had not helped. His memory had struggled all day, as had his mood. Morag seemed to just take it in her stride. She was used to him. But for Charlie and Ruby in particular, it was a shock and it broke their hearts. Joey did her best to keep things cheerful, especially for her two girls. But it wasn't easy. It was a long and tiring day for everybody.


That evening, Irene, Joanna, Leah, Nicole, Indi, Claire, Watson, Kerri, Gina and Colleen were gathered together at the Beach House for Bianca's bridal shower. Bianca was sad that April, Charlie and Joey were absent but grateful that the others had made the effort. She knew that Charlie, Joey and Ruby were genuinely unable to attend but she thought that April was being selfish.

Irene had gone to a lot of effort. With Leah and Colleen's help, they had made a load of party food and decorate the house to make things cheerful and special, although her mother had taken over the whole thing and tried to take credit for everything. Privately, Bianca had made it clear to her friends that she knew who had done the actual hard work.

Nicole and Indi had teamed up with Claire, which was nice, as she knew that Claire was still very shy in a group but she had wanted to invite her and include her. She was a nice girl and Bianca liked her a lot.

"Hey, everyone!" April hollered, bursting through the door.

Bianca was momentarily pleased to see her. Her smile turned into a grimace when she saw what she was wearing – a Liam Murphy t-shirt. She hadn't come to celebrate. She had come to make a point.


Back at Morag's, Ruby went to bed straight away, leaving Morag, Charlie and Joey awake in the lounge with an open bottle of wine. They felt like they needed it.

"It was hard on you all today," Morag said.

"It made me realise that we haven't visited for a while," Charlie admitted. "He's deteriorated."

"He has," Morag agreed. "Every day he gets a little worse. Forgets more things. Or can retain things for less time."

Charlie took a long sip of her wine. Joey sat close by her.

"What can we do to support you more?" Charlie asked.

"There's nothing really that can be done for him," Morag said sadly. "Just… get in as much time as you can. Be here as much as you can. Not even for me or for him. For yourselves. I think… time is running out."

She swallowed the aching lump in her throat and sipped her wine. Charlie wiped her eyes.


"So, Romeo failed all his exams on purpose?" Nicole asked incredulously. "Why?"

"I still don't know," Indi said, having confided her lunch date to Nicole and Claire.

"I think… I think he was trying to be supportive," Claire said carefully.

Indi looked at her sharply. Claire shrank back.

"Did you know?" she demanded.

"No!" Claire said quickly.

Nicole tensed, feeling protective of Claire.

"I was at the restaurant today," she explained. "After you left."

"What did he say?" Indi wanted to know.

"Just that you said you couldn't do your exams and you were going to fail and repeat the year," Claire said. "He was worried about you being separated so he failed his exams too so you could be together."

"I was just panicking," Indi said more softly. "I mean, we were all scared we'd fail."

"I guess he just took you at face value," Nicole said. "I mean, you were losing your mind over it all. You must have said it all to him in a way that made him believe you."

"Or he thought I was really dumb and I'd actually fail," Indi remarked.

"People that fail aren't stupid," Nicole told her.

Indi shrugged.

"Well, he shouldn't have failed," she said. "He worked so hard this year. And it was already his second attempt. It isn't right that he threw it all away…"

"He did it because he loves you," Nicole said.

"I guess… it's kind of sweet… I mean, stupid. But sweet," Indi admitted.

"You might want to tell him that," Claire suggested. "You really yelled at him at lunch. He was really upset."

Indi looked guilty. She stood up and apologised to Bianca, explaining that she needed to leave. Just as she got to the door, someone knocked. She opened up and everyone was surprised to see Vittorio standing there.

"Vittorio!" Bianca exclaimed, standing there. "You're not supposed to be at my bridal shower."

"I just… missed you," he said.

Most of the women cooed that he was sweet. Internally, Bianca cringed. She didn't think it was sweet. She thought it was controlling. However, she went to the door to see him.

"I missed you too," she lied.

She didn't dare look at April. However, Vittorio did look at April.

"Interesting t-shirt, April," he commented.

Bianca wanted to kill her.

"Well, there are plenty of people here that like Liam Murphy," the teenager remarked.

Bianca wanted to kill her even more.

"Listen, you really can't be here," she said hurriedly to Vittorio. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

She kissed him and sent him on his way. Indi ducked out at the same time, determined to go and make up with Romeo.


Charlie and Joey curled up in bed but neither of them could sleep. Neither of them could stop thinking about Ross. Or Morag.

"We need to start visiting more," Charlie said.

"Yep," Joey agreed.

"We've let things slide recently," Charlie added. "What with this Penn investigation and Ruby acting out and all that stuff. Once a week has become once every few weeks and it's not good enough."

"You're right," Joey said. "But there's no point feeling bad about what has been. We just need to focus on what's to come, what we do now. Okay?"

Charlie nodded and cuddled up close.

"Okay," she said.


Indi found Romeo at home. He was slumped on the sofa in front of the TV but not really watching it. She knocked and entered, coming to sit beside him on the couch.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I completely overreacted and I'm sorry."

He switched the TV off and sat up.

"It was my fault," he said. "I'm a complete moron."

"No," she said. "Well, yes. You are. But you're also kind and loving and self sacrificing and I love you."

They smiled at each other.

"I love you too," he said.

"I know," she said. "Nobody other than you would throw their exams because they believed their girlfriend was going to fail."

"I didn't think you were going to but you convinced me you would," he explained. "I got so worried."

"I know," she said. "And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I messed your exams up for you."

"It was my fault," he said. "My decision. I just… I wanted to help but I did the wrong thing. I'm sorry."

She leant against him and kissed his cheek.

"Whatever happens though," she said. "We'll get through it, okay? Together."

He managed a smile but he was worried. He was sure that Indi would pass and go off to University with Nicole. And he would fail and have to repeat the school year, if he even bothered going back. And that's when relationships break down, he thought to himself. When people go off in different directions. He was certain that next year, Indi would leave him behind.


Leah was a little tipsy by the end of the bridal shower, as were most of the people who had attended. It probably hadn't been the best night of her life but it had been fun and they had all had a laugh. Indi had left early. Apparently there had been some sort of drama with Romeo she had needed to sort out. April had showed up sullen and stroppy in an inappropriate t-shirt. There was certainly some tension between the sisters. Bianca had confided in her that April had pulled out of being a bridesmaid. It had really hurt her.

Almost home, Leah was looking forward to getting out of her clothes, into her pyjamas and into bed at last. She tensed when a car pulled up beside her. The driver wound down the window.

"It's a bit late to be walking around alone, isn't it?"

The cheerful, singsong voice belonged to Robert Robertson. She stopped and smiled.

"I'll be fine so long as I don't talk to any strange men," she told him.

"Hop in and I'll give you a lift," he offered.

"I'm practically on my doorstep," she pointed out.

Two more minutes' walk and she would be back.

"Come on," he coaxed. "Let me get you back safely."

Knowing that he wasn't one to give up, she relented and climbed into the car.

"Been anywhere nice?" he asked, pleased that she had joined him.

"Bianca's bridal shower," she told him.

"Oh, I love a good wedding," he said.

"Me too," Leah said. "Although I'm not entirely sure how good this one will be."

She paused, not entirely sure how much she ought to say. She didn't want to be indiscreet about her friend.

"Really?"

"I think she still likes Liam Murphy."

"Oh!" Robertson said, enjoying the gossip.

"But keep that under your hat," she added.

"Promise," he said.

"Hey, we're not driving anywhere," she realised.

"I just wanted to spend as much time with you as possible," he admitted.

She studied his face for a moment. Then she kissed him.


The next morning, Charlie, Joey, Ruby and Morag were thrilled to hear from the hospital first thing. They were pleased with Ross's progress and were happy to allow him home that day. He had given them a real scare with the infection but for now at least, he was doing well. Charlie, Joey and Ruby in particular were relieved to have been given another chance to renew their visits. Ross was glad to be going home.


Next time… Ruby's friends and family become concerned about her mental health, Ruby gives Bianca a piece of her mind and Marilyn finds herself in danger…