Hi everyone. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Just as an aside, Angelo's views are not representative of my own! Love, IJKS xxx
Chapter Six Hundred and Six
Brax gazed at Charlie, worried that she was badly hurt. She stared back at him for a moment, her head still spinning and a headache beginning to form.
"I'm okay," she said, attempting to get up again.
He reached out a hand and helped her get to her feet.
"Maybe you should sit this one out," he suggested again.
"Look at this mess," she said. "I'm the Sergeant on duty. I can't. But thank you for your help. And if there's anything you can do you get your boys to stand down…"
He nodded and immediately disappeared. Taking a deep breath, Charlie looked around, wondering what her next move should be. Her breath caught when she saw Joey and Sandy cuddled close together, looking exceptionally intimate at the Buckton's stall Clenching her jaw, she shook the image and all that it offered away. She couldn't deal with that now. She had a war going on all around her.
Eventually, the fights began to calm down. Brax was ordering his gang to calm down, those that had not been arrested and thrown into police vans, anyway. The police had even had to arrest a few people from Summer Bay, although thankfully none of their own friends. Tensions were running exceptionally high. Even Romeo and Xavier had had to be pulled apart.
"Are you happy?" Brax demanded.
John looked down at him from the stage, where he had remained protected from the crowds.
"I don't know what you're talking about," John lied.
"You kicked this whole thing off, firing everyone up and now look what's happened," Brax accused. "The both of you!"
He looked between John and Gary who both looked guilty.
"You need to put a stop to it," he said. "People are getting hurt."
Charlie was hesitant over approaching Joey at the stall, once everything was all over. She was anxious over what she should say and what Joey might say to her. It had been a long, difficult couple of hours, sorting out the chaos of the carnival and she was absolutely exhausted, not to mention in pain. All she really wanted to do was go home and go to sleep.
Taking a deep breath, she headed over to the stall, which looked quiet. She found Joey and Sandy sat on the floor, side by side, the best of friends.
"Charlie!" Joey said, pleased to see her.
She spotted the gash on her head and immediately jumped up, worried.
"What happened to you?" she asked, rushing to her. "Are you okay?"
"I got hit with a beer bottle," Charlie explained. "It looks worse than it is."
"Really? It looks pretty bad. You're bleeding. Have you seen a medic? Charlie, I think we should go to the hospital."
"Honestly, I'm fine," Charlie said.
"Charlie, I'm so sorry," Joey said, looking suddenly terribly guilty.
Charlie studied her face intently.
"You were out there, injured and I was in here…"
Charlie waited for her to finish.
"… having a panic attack."
Joey hung her head. Charlie crumbled. She immediately felt guilty for silently accusing her of getting close to Sandy and feeling jealous of their friendship. Their history was ancient and insignificant. Joey had assured her of that. She needed to listen.
"You had a panic attack?" she asked, drawing her closer. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Joey said. "Sandy was here. She helped."
They both looked at Sandy, still sat on the floor. She waved and resumed perusing her phone.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Charlie asked. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you."
"You kind of had other things to deal with, Charlie," Joey pointed out.
"You're more important," Charlie replied, kissing her.
"Well, thank you," Joey replied, returning her kiss. "But I would say these are exceptional circumstances."
"And it was those circumstances that made you panic?" the police officer asked.
"I just saw everything kicking off around me… no escape… and I couldn't cope," Joey explained.
She sighed heavily. Charlie glanced at Sandy.
"I'm glad you weren't alone," she said, holding her tight and kissing the top of her head.
"Me too," she said. "Now, please can we get you to the hospital? I'm not going to sleep tonight unless I know you've been checked out. That cut looks really bad."
Angelo stood on the beach, surveying the utter mess that had been left behind. It was going to take a huge effort to clean the place up. He turned when a figure moved to stand beside him.
"Makes you think, doesn't it?" Brax said.
Angelo furrowed his brow, squinting in the sunlight.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
"All these petty fights and rows," Brax said. "Look, I haven't replaced you at work yet. You can have your job back if you want it."
He turned and walked away, leaving Angelo to keep staring at the mess.
Charlie was sat on a bed at the hospital. She had been given pain relief, which she was exceptionally grateful for and was waiting for Sid to come round and check her over more thoroughly. Joey was sat in a chair beside her, holding her hand.
"I cannot wait to get home," Charlie said. "I want a nice hot shower and I want my bed."
"Am I invited?" Joey asked, a wicked grin on her face.
"You are always invited," Charlie confirmed.
Joey stood up and kissed her.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you today," Charlie whispered.
"You don't need to be sorry, sweetheart," Joey whispered back. "You were being assaulted!"
"I just… I feel like I threw myself into the situation and I didn't even think about what you were going through," Charlie said.
Joey kissed her and reiterated that there was no apology necessary.
"Do you have any idea who attacked you?" she asked.
Charlie shook her head.
"I didn't see anything," she said. "There was just too much going on."
Angelo, Leah, Miles, Elijah, Roo, John, Gina, Romeo and several other locals had banded together to clean up the mess on the beach. The quicker they got to work, the better.
"You look like you have a lot on your mind," Leah remarked.
Angelo sighed.
"Brax offered me my job back," he explained.
"Isn't that a good thing?" she asked.
"Well, kind of," he said. "I need the money. But I just… I don't want to work for him. Taking that job was a huge mistake. I should have swallowed my pride and gone back to Bucktons'. He's not a good person to be around."
"Well, actually, we've got a vacancy at the moment," Leah ventured. "It's only temporary – maternity cover. But it's full time. If you'd be interested?"
"Really?" he said. "Yes please! I'd love to work for you. Thank you!"
"Great. See you at the Diner tomorrow morning?"
He agreed, sounding far more enthusiastic than he felt. The truth was, hospitality was always going to be huge step down for him compared to being a police officer. And he would always feel like he had failed by losing his job on the force. But at least being a barman sounded like a cool job. Working in a Diner, being a waiter, felt like even more of a step down than that. He was grateful but he was disappointed all at the same time.
"Ready to go home?" Joey asked.
Charlie had avoided stitches but had to have her head wound glued. Joey had promised lots of TLC when they got home.
"Yes please!" Charlie breathed. "I am so damn tired!"
"You'd better be calling in sick tomorrow," Joey warned.
"Jo, I can't," Charlie protested. "Not after what happened today. There's going to be so much crap to sort out. The station must be overflowing with…"
Joey stopped abruptly in the corridor, turning to looking somewhat sternly at her fiancée.
"Those things can be sorted without you," she said. "You're an amazing police officer, Charlie but you're not the only one. You got hurt today and you need to take the time to recover. Okay?"
"Maybe," Charlie conceded.
Joey frowned. Charlie kissed her head and they continued walking towards the hospital exit.
That night, Charlie and Joey lay in bed, utterly exhausted. It had been quite the day. Charlie still felt guilty for jumping to the wrong conclusion about Joey and Sandy, although she wasn't prepared to admit that to her fiancée anytime soon. Joey still felt guilty for having a panic attack and hiding away when Charlie was out in the affray, getting injured. She was willing to admit it and felt desperate for forgiveness.
"Please don't apologise, darling," Charlie said. "You did the right thing. I'm just sorry I wasn't there for you."
"You were out doing your job," Joey said.
"Well, let's just draw a line under it all, shall we?" Charlie suggested.
"Okay," Joey agreed.
She kissed the tip of Charlie's nose and told her she loved her.
"I love you too," Charlie said, wrapping her arms around her, never wanting to let her go.
Next time… Charlie takes a reluctant sick day, Ruby makes trouble for Watson and Angelo starts his new job…
