Chapter Five Hundred and Forty Nine
Charlie was just about to pull away when Irene came running back out of the house, flailing her arms in panic. Charlie cut the engine and both she and Joey jumped out of the car, not even having time to shut the doors. They ran up to meet her, hurriedly asking her what was wrong.
"The kids!" she said desperately. "They're in the house! They're passed out! I don't know what's wrong!"
Charlie and Joey hurried back into the house. Immediately, the three of them started coughing. Charlie noticed the bottles of what looked like chemicals on the side by the sink. But her focus was on Xavier unconscious on the kitchen floor and April, hanging halfway out of the backdoor. She grabbed Xavier while Joey grabbed April and together, they hauled them outside to what they hoped would be safe, clean air. Irene hurried after them, already on the phone to the ambulance service.
A short while later, Charlie, Joey and Irene were waiting anxiously at the hospital for news on Xavier and April. Irene had travelled in one ambulance with April while Joey had travelled with Xavier, not wanting him to be alone. Charlie had followed in the car.
"I need to see my son!"
Charlie jumped up at the sound of Gina's voice, desperately seeking news. She and Joey hurried over, telling her where Xavier was and that the doctors were working on him.
"Is he okay? What happened?"
"We don't know, love," Irene said tearfully. "I just came home and found them like that…"
"But something must have happened!" Gina said, John hovering worriedly behind her.
They were soon joined by Bianca who had exactly the same kinds of questions.
"I've um… sent the police round to the house," Charlie said.
Then she told them about the chemicals she spotted.
"Chemicals?" Gina asked. "Do you mean the chemicals from the school?"
"Possibly," Charlie said. "I don't know. I just helped get the kids out. I didn't investigate."
"What would Xavier and April have been doing with chemicals?" Bianca asked.
Gina had gone quiet. She could kick herself for not pushing Xavier more when she had found his research on the computer. If she had, perhaps she could have avoided this nightmare.
"I really don't know, Bianca," Charlie said. "We literally just found them and called an ambulance."
They were interrupted by a Doctor approaching, his expression grave.
"Which one of you is related to Xavier Austin?" he asked.
Charlie and Joey remained at the hospital. April was doing well but Xavier was in critical condition. Gina and John hadn't left his side while Irene and Bianca watched over April. Charlie and Joey busied themselves with providing drinks and support, not wanting to go home until they knew the kids were safe and their friends felt more stable.
Charlie stepped into Xavier's room with coffee for Gina and John.
"How's he doing?" she asked quietly.
"They say he's got fluid on his lung from breathing all those toxins in," Gina told her. "They don't know if he's going to pull through."
"I'm sorry, Gina," Charlie said.
"I'm just so grateful you were there," Gina said. "He would have had no chance if you hadn't dragged him out like that. You saved his life, Charlie."
"I just did what anyone would do," Charlie told her.
"No," Gina said, looking her in the eye. "You saved his life and we'll be indebted to you forever. Thank you."
Charlie offered a shy smile and slipped out of the room, back to Joey who had been having a similar conversation with Bianca.
It was late when Charlie and Joey did eventually get home. Charlie hugged Ruby within an inch of her life and it was not appreciated.
"What on earth happened to you?" the teenager asked.
"April and Xavier are in hospital," Joey informed her.
Ruby looked immediately worried. She wouldn't say they were her best friends in the world, especially not Xavier since their breakup but she liked them. They were her friends. She wanted them to be okay.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Do you know anything about the chemicals that went missing from the school?" Charlie asked.
It wasn't an accusation, just a question. Ruby shook her head, no.
"It looks like one of them must have taken them," Charlie told her. "Or both of them."
"Why would they do that?" Ruby wondered.
"I have no idea," Charlie said. "But whatever they were doing, backfired. April isn't too bad but Xavier is in danger. Gina is refusing to leave his bedside."
Bianca was exhausted when she finally got home. April had to stay in hospital overnight but her sister and Irene were at least satisfied that she was stable and would recover.
"Hey," Liam said when she walked up to the tent they called home.
He put down his guitar and stood up to greet her, pulling her into a hug.
"How's April?"
She hugged him tight and updated him on her sister's status. He sat back down and picked up his guitar again. Bianca felt a little disappointed. She had been disappointed that he hadn't come to the hospital with her. He'd figured she had Irene so she didn't need him. But she had needed him.
The truth of it was that over the past couple of days, since Angelo had asked him to perform at the Singles Night, all Liam had done was practice. Bianca understood that he was nervous about performing in public for the first time in so long but he had barely slept, which in their domestic situation meant that she had also barely slept. He had barely spoken to her because he was rehearsing so much. All he cared about was this gig. Even when her sister had been rushed to hospital.
"But she'll be okay?" he asked, strumming a familiar tune.
"They think so," Bianca told him. "She's hurt. And pretty shaken."
"What about Xavier?"
"Critical," Bianca said. "Gina and John were still there when I left."
Liam sighed and shook his head, still strumming away. Bianca began to change into her nightclothes. She yawned, informing Liam that she was exhausted and could do with curling up and going to sleep.
"I'll carry on outside then," he offered, standing up. "You sleep."
Sighing heavily, Bianca watched him leave.
April had barely slept. All night, she had been disturbed by staff coming to check on her, not to mention the pain and discomfort she was in. She just wished she could turn back the clock. All she could think about was Xavier and the danger she had put him in. She was desperate for him to be okay.
Charlie was up and out to work early that morning, keen to find out exactly what had happened when her colleagues had gone over to Irene's. She was concerned about the kids and how they had got hold of such dangerous chemicals, not to mention what they had been intending to do with them.
"See you later," Joey said, kissing her goodbye. "I hope it's not too long a day for you."
"I'll pop in at lunch if I can," Charlie said, stealing one more kiss before she dashed off.
The school was abuzz with gossip, scandal and concern about Xavier and April when Ruby arrived. She approached Dex and Romeo in the corridor.
"What do you know?" Dex asked eagerly. "Are they okay?"
Ruby was surprised by how genuinely worried he looked.
"Charlie and Joey found them, didn't they?" Romeo added.
"They did," Ruby confirmed. "And from what I know, April is doing okay but Xavier is critical."
Dex felt a little relieved. Then he felt guilty. It was just that while he did like Xavier and he did get on with him, April was one of his closest friends. She took the time to really understand him. He cared about her and he was desperately worried about her.
"What the hell were they doing?" Romeo wondered.
"Nobody knows," Ruby said. "Charlie left for work before I was even awake this morning, trying to find out."
"Well, if anyone's going to get the bottom of it…" Romeo said.
It was mid-morning and the restaurant was quiet. Joey was on shift with Angelo and Claire. Joey kept looking at her watch, aware that today was the day that Alf was leaving Summer Bay for six whole months. She couldn't believe that he was really going.
"Hey, Jo," Nicole greeted, breaking her out of her thoughts. "What's up?"
"Oh, nothing," Joey lied.
A lot felt 'up' right now. She was trying to prepare herself for missing Alf. She was worried about Xavier. She didn't know him all that well, especially not since he and Ruby had broken up but he was a good kid and it had been tough to ride in the ambulance with him, so damaged.
"How are you?"
"Not the best," Nicole admitted.
She had come to see her for selfish reasons and she thought she would just be up front about it.
"What's wrong?"
"I've just had a meeting with Morag, Marilyn and Sid," she explained. "This whole adoption thing is so damn complicated. You know they can't even help me with any medical expenses or it'll be as if they're trying to buy the baby?"
"Wow," Joey said. "That's… complex."
"Yeah," Nicole sighed. "I just don't know what to do, Joey. I want to give them the baby. I want the baby to be happy and for them to be a family. But I don't know how to navigate this so everyone is protected."
"How do you want it to work?"
"Well, to be honest, I just want them to trust me! I don't think we even need to do anything legally!"
"Well, I guess they're worried you're going to change your mind when you actually have the baby," Joey pointed out.
"I won't," Nicole insisted. "I just want this baby out of me so I can move on with my life."
Joey looked at her for a moment. She just wasn't sure if it was true.
"Why?" she asked.
Nicole was stunned for a moment. Nobody had asked her that.
"Because it's Penn's baby," she said eventually. "Because I'm eighteen and just starting Uni. Because I want to be a fashion designer, not a stay at home Mum."
"I get the Penn thing," Joey said. "But you could juggle Uni and fashion and a baby. If you wanted to. Do you want to?"
Nicole hesitated. Joey noticed.
"I do," Nicole said. "I mean, I don't. I don't. I want Marilyn and Sid to have the baby."
"Okay," Joey said.
"I want them to have the baby, Joey."
She stood up quickly.
"I came here for you to help me!" she snapped. "You haven't helped me!"
She turned and left. Joey sighed and watched her leave. Angelo stepped up beside his boss.
"I think you helped her without her realising it yet," he said.
Charlie and Watson headed down to the hospital to speak to April. Xavier was still unconscious. From the investigations that had been completed last night, it seemed like Xavier had stolen the chemicals, although his motive was unclear. His fingerprints were all over the bottles, he had been found closer to them and they were also in his internet search history. It was going to be a tough conversation with Gina, especially with her son so critically ill. But first, they needed some actual information from April.
"How are you feeling?" Charlie asked kindly.
Gina and Bianca were both in the room with them.
"Not great," April said.
"Would you be able to tell me what happened last night?" Charlie asked. "Can you remember?"
"We were… getting rid of the chemicals," April explained. "Xavier was tipping them away."
Charlie nodded.
"It looks like they reacted to each other," she explained.
April closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the bed. She should have realised. She should have known it wasn't safe.
"Why did you have the chemicals in the first place, April?" Watson asked.
The teenager didn't reply.
"Who took them from the school?" Watson tried.
Again, April didn't know what to say.
"It's just that it looks like it was Xavier," Charlie ventured.
April looked stricken. She didn't know what to do.
"He searched for them on the internet," the police officer explained.
"He was trying to learn about how to get rid of them," she said.
"Well, he did a bang up job of that!" Bianca said bitterly.
Gina glared at her. She was frustrated at how long April was taking to talk. She wanted to get back to her son.
"So, did he take them?" Charlie asked.
"No," April admitted. "I did. Xavier was trying to correct what I'd done."
It was early evening and Charlie was almost late meeting Joey and the others at Summer Bay House but she was relieved to have made it. She would have hated to have missed waving Alf off on his travels. She rushed up to Joey and hugged her tight, aware from the expression on her face that she was close to tears. She knew she didn't want him to go.
She watched as Alf did the rounds, saying fond farewells to Ruby, Romeo, Nicole, Leah, Angelo and Marilyn. She smiled as Irene hurried in, having been at the hospital with April but having not wanted to miss saying goodbye to her friend, especially after everything that had happened between them over recent months. They said goodbye to each other, Irene wishing Alf the best of luck on his travels.
"Good luck with everything, Alf," Charlie said. "And make sure you keep in touch."
"I will," he said. "Look after yourself. And that one there."
He nodded towards Joey who hugged him tight. Charlie smiled as Alf kissed her on top of her head.
"I'll miss you," he said.
"I'll miss you too," Joey said, refusing to let go of him.
"Be good while I'm gone," he said.
"Look after yourself and please keep in touch," she replied, finally releasing him.
Alf said one final goodbye to Morag and then got into his car, ready to head off around Australia. He waved before driving off. Joey leant against Charlie, watching him go. She glanced at Morag who looked like she was trying to keep her feelings in. It was unusual.
"You still have us," she said quietly.
Morag reached out and squeezed her hand. It was all she needed to say.
It had been a long day and Charlie and Joey were glad to be tucked up in bed. Not only had Alf abandoned them for half a year, Nicole had also decided to go and stay with her mother for a few days, needing to clear her head. Marilyn had been distraught, not to mention frightened that it meant that she had changed her mind about the adoption.
"I just feel so guilty," Joey said, cuddled up to Charlie. "What if it's because of what I said?"
"It might be," Charlie said honestly. "But if Nicole is having second thoughts, isn't it better that she has them now?"
Joey sighed.
"I guess so," she said. "I just…"
"Feel guilty," Charlie finished. "It's not your responsibility, Joey. You can't fix everybody's problems."
"Says you!" Joey remarked.
Charlie laughed and kissed her.
"So, what happened at the hospital?" Joey asked.
"Well, April took full responsibility for taking the chemicals," Charlie told her. "She says that Xavier was trying to get rid of them and retract the mistake she'd made. Gina's hit the roof and banned her from seeing him."
"I guess that's understandable," Joey said.
"If it's true," Charlie said.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, of the two of them, who's the most likely to misbehave?" Charlie asked.
Joey nodded, getting her point.
"But I have to take her at face value," Charlie said. "And she does have a plausible story. She's been involved in some campaigns with a guy from her father's company. Apparently, he's some eco warrior. We're looking into him."
"How is Xavier doing now?" Joey asked.
"It's touch and go," Charlie said with a heavy sigh.
She pulled Joey closer and kissed her.
"How are you doing?" she asked. "I know you're feeling really sad."
"Yeah," Joey sighed. "I'm just going to miss Alf so much. We only just got him back and now he's just… gone."
"But at least he's gone off to explore the world and be happy instead of what could have happened," Charlie said brightly. "And he'll keep in touch with us. Romeo showed him how to use his phone properly."
Joey nodded and snuggled in closer.
"I could really do with a distraction from all this, you know…" she ventured.
Charlie smiled.
"I think I could do with one as well," she replied.
They kissed. Suddenly neither of them were tired anymore.
Next time… Miles returns, Liam performs his first gig in a long time and Angelo's Valentine's Night Event doesn't quite go to plan…
