Home & Away 1. Chapter 1

Where do we go from here?

Chapter 1

Two months. Joey had suffered through two months of pain, sorrow, heartache and loneliness. She had spent her days working harder than any of her fellow crewmates in the hope that she would be too tired every night to dream. But every night she was cursed with seeing Charlie, again and again, in Hugo's arms. The images traveling through these dreams always had her waking in a cold sweat and her cheeks wet with tears.

But something had changed this night. Hugo was no where to be seen within this dream. It was simply a darkness that held nothing but stillness. Joey stood within the middle of this place waiting for something ….anything…. to happen. Suddenly a gunshot sounded in the distance and a small light shown pierced through the blackness. When Joey began to hear the sickening sound of a fist hitting flesh, she ran. Something inside telling her that she needed to reach them….that she needed to help. The light began to go in and out with the sound of each hit, but with and a whispered word Joey was thrust from the dream and brought back to the reality that she was on a boat in the middle of the night far way from any street fight. Shaken from the dream, the only thing that kept running through her mind was the sound of that whispered word……

_Joey_

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Ruby waited with Leah and Aden at the pier for Joey to arrive. Aden had look at the pier logs to find out when the trawler was due back so that they could be there to greet her. She knew that someone needed to be there even if the person that Joey wanted to be there couldn't. Ruby had missed Joey, and as she watched the trawler tie off to the pier she felt a sudden jolt of anticipation. A woman that she considered to be a close as her own sister was coming home, and for Ruby it didn't come at a moment to soon.

Joey looked up to the boat house as he stepped from her three month floating home. Her heart jumped to see three of the closest people in her life standing waiting for her. But the one face that she longed for, the face that had haunted to first two months of her journey was not among them. If the dreams that cursed her in the beginning, making her life miserable, than the final weeks of nothing had made her life a living hell. She had thought that if she forgot about Charlie than she could move on, but when she had felt the presence of the woman she loved start slipping away she prayed to return to her and find that connection again.

Now she was home and a seconded chance was within her grasp. She had not forgotten what Charlie had done, nor had she completely forgiven her yet. There was a lot that they had to get through to even get back to where they were before. But, if nothing else, the three months way had taught Joey that she would rather go through the pain and anguish of fixing their problems, than try to live through to hell that existed when Charlie wasn't with her.

Joey rushed to the top of the pier to reach her friends waiting there. As soon as she was able she dropped her bags and pulled Ruby into a hug. "Ruby, oh God, I have missed you so much!" At first she was lost in the sensation of holding someone that she considered family after so long without the comfort of having them there, but she soon felt the shudders from the girl that she held.

"Ruby, don't cry. I'm back, its ok." When Ruby's grip only tightened around her, Joey looked up to see that the other two also had tears running down their faces. "What's going on? Why are all of you guys crying?"

Leah spoke up with the voice that only a mother could manage. "Joey some things have happened while you were away. Some things that you need to know about." Leah seemed to be struggling to find the right thing to say. Finally she simply stated, "Its Charlie."

Joey's heart immediately dropped at the sound of Charlie's name. Something was terribly wrong. She could feel it…sense it. She pulled the still sniffling girl away and searched her eyes for the answer. "Ruby, please tell me what is going on."

Between her sobs, Ruby was able to mutter a few broken sentences. "Charlie's in…. the hospital, Joey. She….. has been….. for the last month. That's why she's….. not here. She's….she's in a coma."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The drive to the hospital was a complete blur to Joey, and since the other occupants of the vehicle seemed to be in no rush to provide her with the details of what had happened, Joey was left with only her thoughts to comfort her. _What happen? Who would harm Charlie? Did Robbo find a way to take his revenge out on Charlie? Or had Brett taken his accusations a step further to actual physical harm? _There were too many questions and not enough answers.

When they reached the hospital, Joey did not wait to for the others to direct her to Charlie's room. She could feel the pull all the way through the hospital, and when she saw Watson sitting outside of room 308, she knew that she had found the right place. When Watson looked up to see Joey rushing toward her she immediately tried to cover the file that she had been working on and stood in front of the doorway.

"Let me through Watson." Joey stated with a blunt force. Watson was either going to willingly get out of her way or be pushed, but it did not matter to Joey which one, officer or not.

"Wait. Now Joey I know for a fact the Charlie would not want you to see her like this."

"Well she not awake to care now is she." Joey was amazed that Watson, knowing the relationship and she shared with Charlie would try to stop her from see her. So she simply pushed passed the annoyance only to be stopped in her tracks by the sight in front of her. There she was, the woman of Joey's dreams, literally, but she didn't look like the vibrant woman that Joey fell in love with. Her hair had lost its shine. Her skin had turned a deathly pale. She had lost so much weight that she barely looked like a bump underneath the covers. But what caught Joey's attention the most, where the splotches of purple and yellow that stood out from the pale background. _So many bruises! How could she survive such a betting?_ But there she was breathing, a shell of the woman that Joey had left behind three months before.

When she heard the others enter the room she stiffened her spine and ask aloud, without looking behind her, "Tell me exactly what happened." Ruby turned to Watson and gave her to go ahead nod.

"Joey you might want to sit down for this." But when Joey did not show any signs of moving Watson continued. "Charlie responded to a drunk and disorderly call one night about a month ago. We don't know why she did not have a partner riding in the car with her, but she was alone when she responded to the call. Upon arriving at the scene she discovered a male who was quite drunk and standing in the front yard of an apartment building where his ex-girlfriend resided and yelling for her to let him in. Charlie radioed in that she needed backup and gave the address, but she apparently decided to advance on the subject before they arrived."

Watson paused for a second to give Joey the chance to absorb all that she had heard. "She didn't realize that he had a pistol on him until he turned on her and fired. The bullet only grazed the arm, but before she could act he was upon her and hit her over the head with his bottle and then proceeded to push Charlie in the face until he had knotted her unconscious." Joey's body began to shake as she listened to the sound of that dreadful nightmare, but now she watch the images of Charlie beginning beat run through head along with them.

"Once Charlie was on the ground the suspect then continued by kicking her in the abdomen until other officers arrived on the scene and took him down." But Watson was unable to mention that she was the one who tackled the suspect because she watch and the woman in front of her quickly dropped to her knees and grabbed her chest. In the distance Joey heard Leah yell for Rachel and felt Aden put his arms around her, lifting her in to the chair beside Charlie's bed. However Joey never took her eyes off of Charlie until Rachel forced Joey to look at her to help control her breathing.

"Rachel please ….please tell me that she …..is going to wake up. Please."

With pity Rachel could only respond honestly, "Joey there is nothing more that the doctors can do for her. All of the wounds that she received from that night are healing, but she's not fighting. She has to want to live or no amount of medicine will pull her out."

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Joey did not even notice when the rest of the room left to give her some privacy with Charlie. But she gently placed her head next to Charlie's and whispered, "Charlie. Charlie, I've come back. I'm here. I know that you might be angry that I left, but I'm back. Now if you need to sleep some more that is fine with me, but I need you to just move your finger in my hand so that I know that you're still here with me. Please baby, please just move those beautiful fingers of yours and I won't bother you again until you wake up."

But Joey gently wept when she was left with nothing but the warm stillness of Charlie's hand within her own.


	3. Chapter 3

_* Please review *_

Chapter Three

Joey was back in the darkness, a familiar night that haunted her worst nightmare. However, instead of a dim light in the distance as before, only the echoes of conversations long past joined her within this midnight.

_"Do you want to be with me?"_

_"Yes, I want to be with you."_

_"You want to come over tonight?"_

_"Only if you want me to?"_

_"Yes, I do."_

_"Don't go. Three months is forever."_

_"I'll miss you."_

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Ruby had been watching the angelic scene before her for sometime now. If it was not placed within a hospital room, Ruby would have cried at the sense of home that it provoked. Joey had joined Charlie in the bed and was holding her while they both dreamed. But while Charlie's face was completely calm, as it had been for a month now, Joey seemed to be struggling within her dreams.

Ruby was interrupted in her careful analysis of the couple by a gentle knocks on the door, followed by Rachel entering in the room. "Hello Ruby."

"Hi, Rachel."

When Rachel redirected her attention to the couple in the hospital bed, a small scowl crossed her face. "Ruby has Joey not left the hospital?"

"No, she's been here for the last three days. She never leaves Charlie's side for more than five minutes at a time."

"Go call Aden and tell him to come and take her home for a bit." Ruby simple nodded at the command and left the room to go make the call. Rachel then walked over to Joey's sleeping form and began to gently nudge her awake.

"Joey… Joey wake up."

"Charlie?"

"No, Joey. It's Rachel." Joey seemed to become disappointed by this answer and only proceeded to press her face further into Charlie's neck. But Rachel was having none of it.

"Joey, when Charlie wakes up do you really want the first thing for her to see be an exhausted and messy you."

"I cannot leave her."

"Go home, Joey. Clean up and eat a descent meal. Then come back and sit with her."

Reluctantly, Joey got up from the bed and began to collect her things. "You'll take care of her while I'm gone won't you?"

Rachel smiled at the question because she knew that it was meant as more emotionally than actually medically. "Of course."

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The ride home had started quiet enough, but as the group got closer to home Ruby caved to the undeniable urge to apologize to Joey. "Joey, I'm so sorry."

Pulled from her own thoughts by the sudden sound within the car, Joey turned to its owner. "What are you sorry for Rubes?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't take better care of Charlie while you were away." The teenager began to sob with the pressure of this revelation as well as the extended strain of the past month. Joey quickly pulled the girl into a hug that she hoped would comfort the girl why Aden pulled the car into the drive.

"Oh, Ruby. It was never your responsibility to look after Charlie. It's not your fault."

"I knew that she was hurting, but she wouldn't talk to me. She stopped coming home after awhile saying that it reminded her too much of you. Then she started to take more and more questionable patrols and she rarely slept. If there wasn't a physical task at the station, then she stayed to do paperwork. I should have stopped her."

"No….no Ruby. Your sister knew exactly what she was doing." Joey looked up only to see Aden give her a sympathetic smile. "Unfortunately, she knew exactly what she was doing."

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Rachel checked Charlie's stats for the second time that day. She was alone with the sleeping woman, although Watson had been there earlier. But she wasn't the least bit uncomfortable talking to Charlie while she worked.

"Charlie, you really need to wake up. Ruby is really trying to be strong, but she is getting tired and really needs her big sister. And Watson, well you know what it is like to lose a partner, and she is suffering as well." She paused to look down at the motionless face. "And Joey, she is desperate for you. She needs to know that you were never able to let go of her, and that you're not going to let go of her now. So, I'm not saying that you have to wake up today, but soon Charlie. Soon." With that Rachel made her final notes on the medical chart and left the room.

The first thing they made Joey do when they reached the house was eat. She had not realized how hungry she was until Leah placed a plate of food in front of her. She devoured it quickly and then was sent to the bathroom for a shower and a change of cloths. The running water had a cleansing effect on her mind as well as her body. Without thinking about were she was going she entered to room that had become her own while she and Charlie were together. When she entered the room she was surrounded by the very essence of Charlie. It felt as if Charlie was still within the room.

But when her eyes wondered to the bed she found that Charlie had been sleeping with at black tank top that she had left behind. It was crumpled from use and now the smell was a mix of Charlie's scent as well. Joey sat softly on the bed and brought it within her hands, and like a trigger it sent a shock wave through her, telling her that she needed to get back to Charlie. She needed to leave now!

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Rachel was brought brutally from her reports by the angry sound of alarms going off. When she looked up to see which monitors they were, she didn't even have time to think before she started running to the room.

_Charlie._


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the delay but Anatomy is kicking my tail. I only have two more weeks of summer school and then my posts will be more often.

Please tell me what you think. It helps me to continue to write. Thanks.

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Chapter Four

A sudden bright light blinded Charlie's eyes as she tried to open them for the first time. She had to rapidly blink away the pain; she was eventually able to focus on her surroundings. A cold room filled with fluorescent light and the sterile smell of medical equipment flooded her senses. She had remained calm throughout her careful analysis of the room, but she finally realized a strange feeling within her throat. She immediately began to panic from a fear of her air supply. Consequently, this caused her heart rate to increase and set of her monitors.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Rachel rushed into the room in time to stop a panicked Charlie pulling her breathing tube out, but she still had trouble controlling some of Charlie's hectic movements until some fellow nurse came in to assist her. With the others holding the patient down, Rachel was able to focus on just verbally calming Charlie down.

"Charlie. Charlie we need you to calm down. "Charlie paused when she recognized the gentle but firm voice. "It's just a breathing tube Charlie. If you relax and simple breath in everything will be fine."

After following Rachel's simple rules, Charlie visually relaxed further and was rewarded with a cool filling blast of air. "We cannot take the tubes out until we do some test to prove that your lungs are able to function on their own. Now that you are calmer and awake we'll get started on those tests, ok."

Charlie was desperate to say something, so she used her hands to show that she wanted to write something down. Rachel quickly understood and gave her a blank chart to write over.

_Ruby_

"I'll call her right away. You just get some rest and don't pull anything out." Rachel simply smiled and left the room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Joey had rushed into the kitchen just as Leah answered the house phone. "Ruby, we really need to get back to the…"

"Yes, Rachel we'll be there as soon as possible." Leah quickly hung up the phone and turned to the group that had immediately quieted at the sound of Rachel's name. "Charlie's awake!"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The tests on Charlie's lungs were completed quickly and should that although still weak her lungs were fully capable of functioning on their own. Rachel was able to remove the tube without any complications, but because of its long term use Charlie's throat was completely dry. She immediately began to cough when the air in the room filled her lungs.

"Charlie, here drink some water. Slowly." Charlie complied and soon the cooling water soothed her troubled throat.

"Ru..Ruby?"

"Everyone is on the way. You'll have a room full before long." Charlie tried to smile but she was just too exhausted and simply laid her head down and drifted own to sleep.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------When the group arrived at the hospital they found Rachel waiting for them at the door.

"Rachel, is she …can I.."

"She's doing fine and yes you can go in."

When the entire group tried to follow Ruby into the room, Rachel was quick to add, "Alone. At least at first." She gave to command with a smile, but the group knew by the sound of her voice that it was better not to question her.

After Ruby had entered the room, Rachel quickly pulled Joey over to the side. "Joey, you need to be prepared for the fact that Charlie may not be ready to see you."

"What do you mean, Rachel?"

"Most patients that have been in a long term coma do not realize that they have been asleep for longer that a day or two, let alone a whole month. Joey, she most likely does not even know that you are back, and seeing you may cause a shock to her system."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ruby listened as the door closed behind her. Charlie was asleep, and Ruby almost felt guilty for waking her from her slumber when she reached the bed. Almost.

"Charlie?!"

Charlie immediately stirred at her sister's voice, "Hey."

"Hey. You really had me worried there."

"I know and I am really sorry Rubes. I never meant to cause you any pain."

The younger sister simply smiled and pushed a stray hair out of Charlie's face. "It's ok, as long as, you promise never to do anything like this again."

"I promise. Where is everyone else?"

"They're out in the hall. Do you want me to go get them?"

"After I tell you something. I know that I have not been the greatest sister these past months, but I promise that I will do better. I may never get over losing Joey, but I will never hurt you again."

Ruby nodded and gently hugged her sister, "I'll hold you to it."

Without think about the mention of Joey's name, Ruby went to the down and motioned for everyone o enter the room. Charlie was filled with a sense of family while she watched to others enter the room. Leah and Aden, both sent her a warm smile, but a shadow slowly darkened the door. Her breathing nearly stopped when the figure came into view.

"Joey?"


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