Driftwood

[Suzza101]

Great chapter 

Poor Roo

Loved Kyle, Aden and Brody together, I really hope to see more of those three together just hanging out and spending time together because like I said Kyle never really did when he was on, his brothers had guys they hung out with but he always looked like he was either with family or working and Brody looks the same as well. Glad that there are scenes with them actually cheerful and with banter. 

I hope Brody's blind restaurant is going to go okay 

please update soon 

[Guest]

Great chapter

Maddy gushing over Jett and Kevin oh dear she really thinks they are gay.

Liked Aden and Kyle together.

Poor Roo.

Update again soon

[Ludub]

10 hours ago, KittCatt said:

I liked that Alf eventually calmed down and tried to talk as rationally as he could to Roo and Matt about the new baby. This is a lot to get your head around, but as usual he shows how opinionated he can be. And not in a good way..

Thanks KittCatt, glad you're enjoying it!   I think all the stress is really getting to Roo, and Alf barging in shouting the odds certainly isn't helping! I can imagine Alf being really embarrassed by Roo's relationship with Matt, and feeling like he doesn't want people to know. After all, Alf Stewart is a pillar of the community, and having a middle aged daughter shacking up with a man half her age and making babies probably isn't the image that he's going for. I think he'd get over it in the end though. He does have a soft spot for kids. 

10 hours ago, Suzza101 said:

Loved Kyle, Aden and Brody together, I really hope to see more of those three together just hanging out and spending time together because like I said Kyle never really did when he was on, his brothers had guys they hung out with but he always looked like he was either with family or working and Brody looks the same as well. Glad that there are scenes with them actually cheerful and with banter. 

I hope Brody's blind restaurant is going to go okay  

Really glad you liked this Suzza!  What's not to like, eh?! Kyle, Brody and Aden, in one place?!  Just imagining a scene like this with three of my favourite boys in it made me smile. As you say, Kyle never seemed to have any friends in the show so I wanted to give him a mate or two. Think he and Brody could work well together as mates and it's something I would have loved to see... we'll see how the blind event goes, eh?! Hopefully in the next chapter... x

10 hours ago, Kristen said:

Maddy gushing over Jett and Kevin oh dear she really thinks they are gay

Thanks Kristen! Thought I'd continue this for a bit longer! They're both as clueless as the other and I thought it'd be funny if Kevin just spent the whole time trying to dig a deeper hole for them. Jett and Kev make a cute couple though, don't they?! haha! 

 

Thanks to you all for taking the time to comment. Really appreciate it! x

[Inactive User]

Great chapter

Felt sorry for Roo  Hope she doesn't lose the baby

Gonna loved how Maddy is gushing over Jett and Kevin, lol!  

Update soon please xx

[Ludub]

41 minutes ago, ~JarlieFanEver~ said:

Felt sorry for Roo  Hope she doesn't lose the baby

Thanks Jarlie! Glad you're enjoying the story so far. I feel sorry for Roo too, and for Matt (even though I'm the one writing it! ). They really are having a very hard time  

[pembie]

Loved all the Jett and Kevin stuff...Jett now wondering if Kevin's abit gay with him seemly too open up around Maddy. Jett's being abit dim here. Aden's going to ask Maddy out isn't he? Then they will both have a blind date in Brody's blind restaurant.  I'm so looking forward to that part Should be a great laugh.

Loved Roo's spooky nightmares and yay for the return of the creepy white dead cat that I thought she might have eaten back on the Island

Clever the way you have written Roo and Matt. Their roles have changed I think Roo seems much worse now than Matt.

[Ludub]

10 hours ago, pembie said:

Clever the way you have written Roo and Matt. Their roles have changed I think Roo seems much worse now than Matt.

Thanks Pembie! So glad you're enjoying it! Yeah, Roo kind of kept it together for a good while, surrounding herself with people and pretending that she was okay, but it's often the 'life and soul of the party' people who are really struggling. I think Matt is still falling apart on the inside though, but having to look after his wreck of a girlfriend is overshadowing his issues, so we'll see how things unfold for them now...

10 hours ago, pembie said:

Loved Roo's spooky nightmares and yay for the return of the creepy white dead cat that I thought she might have eaten back on the Island

Glad you liked this scene too. Roo does have some pretty vivid dreams! I couldn't resist revisiting the alien scene from the last one (maybe that should be my next fan fic, haha!) The cat is pretty creepy alright. And as for eating it, I'm not sure how appetising a rotten cat would be!  especially one dressed in a baby grow!

Glad you enjoyed Kevin and Jett too. I think you'll like the next chapter, depending on how much I manage to fit in. I'm never quite sure how things will develop until I start writing though. 

Thanks as always for the feedback.

[Ludub]

Thanks everyone for the very kind comments. As always, very much appreciated. Hope you like this chapter!  

 

Chapter 20

 

“You okay, Alf?” asked Nate, as he paused for a moment in the hospital corridor. He was on his way down to surgery, and he was running late, but he’d been surprised to see Alf sitting on one of the chairs in the hallway with his head in his hands. “Are you waiting to be seen?” he asked.

Alf slowly lifted his head and looked up at Nate with worry etched all across his face. “Roo was brought in” he said, looking dazed and shaken up, “She started bleeding… the baby… I don’t know what’s happening… Matt’s gone in with her.”

Nate looked at his watch, wishing that he didn’t have to rush off, and gave Alf a sympathetic little nod. “She’s in good hands, Alf” he said, sitting down with him for a moment, “Bleeding in early pregnancy isn’t always a cause for alarm… It might not mean…”

“Thanks, Nate” said Alf, interrupting him and feeling his face flush a little red with guilt, “But why don’t you get off, mate? I can see you’re in a rush to be somewhere?” He was feeling ashamed of himself and he didn’t want people sitting with him now extending love and sympathy. He didn’t deserve it! Matt had carried Roo downstairs, and he’d been shocked to see that she was bleeding badly, but all he could think was that maybe this was for the best. Maybe it would be better if she miscarried now and put this whole silly idea behind her? Pregnant at 48 years old?! What would they tell people?! They’d be an absolute laughing stock! Again! All the way here in the car he’d been silently hoping that the baby wouldn’t make it. But now as he sat in this hospital corridor, and people passed by giving him sympathetic little head tilts, he couldn’t help feeling disgusted with himself. How could he sit here now playing the part of the concerned grandfather when he’d been thinking such terrible thoughts?! How could he have had those thoughts in the first place?! What kind of man would wish his own grandchild dead?! Or wish something so terrible on his own daughter?! Especially when she’d been through so much already?! What kind of person did that make him?!

“I have surgery now” said Nate, giving him a little pat on the shoulder and getting to his feet. “I really am sorry that I can’t stay” he said, with an apologetic little smile, “But I’ll check in on her as soon as I’m out, okay?”

Alf nodded at him in a dazed sort of way and then stared back down at the floor. “I appreciate that” he muttered, putting his head in hands again with a heavy sigh, “That’s kind of you, mate.”

Nate nodded and set off down the hallway at a sprint. He was very late now and he knew that he was going to get an earful from the anaesthetist as soon as he got there. Alf glanced sideways for a moment and watched him disappear through the swinging doors at the end of the corridor. He blew out a big puff of air and leaned forward with his head in his hands again.

‘You need to pull your horns in, Alf Stewart’ he said to himself, ‘It’s a wonder that daughter of yours is still speaking to you! You’re gonna end up a lonely old coot and it’ll be no-one’s fault but your own!’

He turned to look back towards the waiting area at the other end of the corridor and glanced at the television screen that was up on one of the walls. The sound was turned off but it was tuned to one of those continuous news channels and he could see that there was a pretty bad storm battering part of Western Australia. People were being airlifted off rooftops and there was a particularly miserable looking couple with a small child being interviewed. They were wrapped in those silver insulation blankets and something about the fear in their faces made him think back to when Matt and Roo had been found. Just over four months had passed since they’d been home but it seemed like only yesterday that their faces had been splashed across every news channel in the country. All three of them had looked so shell-shocked when they’d been brought ashore, so petrified! They’d been draped in those same blankets, looking so scared and confused, and they’d been confronted with huge crowds of jostling TV crews and journalists all sticking their microphones in their faces and shouting questions at them. The look of pure terror on Matt’s face had been especially heart-breaking. He remembered being flown in to meet them at the hospital in Cairns and sitting on a chair just like this, in a waiting area not much different to this one…

Alf sat on a plastic fold down chair in a hospital corridor. He couldn’t stop his leg jittering up and down with nerves and his heart felt like it could burst through his chest at any moment. He leaned back and took a few deep breaths to try to calm himself down. Now was not the time for his heart to be playing silly beggars! He jumped every time someone walked towards him down the corridor, hoping that this was the person who would take him to his daughter. They’d told him to sit here and wait, but it had been well over an hour now, and he couldn’t understand what was taking so long. Roo and Matt weren’t sick, were they?! He wanted the hospital people to hurry up and come and get him! He wanted to see his daughter more than anything in the world but he was scared too. It was as though she’d come back from the dead. Just as strange as suddenly being asked to come and collect Ailsa from the hospital. Part of him wondered if he was crazy… He’d let her go. He’d grieved for her and he’d gradually let her go… What was she doing back?!

He was scared, and excited, and confused, and angry, all at the same time… Roo had been found! She was alive after all this time and not only that, but she had a little baby! She and Matt had had a baby! She and Matt were an item! It was a lot to get his head around. Part of him was furious for reasons beyond his own comprehension. He was angry with Matt and Roo for forming such an unlikely union. He was angry that they’d had a baby and made it so they’d never be able to move on from each other. He was angry that they’d put him through so much pain and turmoil over the last four years when all that time they’d been galivanting about an island together and making babies! He was angry that he was angry! The other more rational part of him just wanted to put his arms around his daughter and never let her go again. But he was swinging back and forth between the two, from one moment to the next, and he really didn’t know what to feel!

“Mr Stewart?” called a young woman’s voice from the end of the corridor, “Mr Alf Stewart?”

“That’s me” said Alf, climbing to his feet and moving down the hall towards her, “I’m Alf Stewart”

“Right…” said the doctor, giving him a sympathetic little smile, “If you’ll just follow me…” She nodded for him to follow her down another long corridor towards an area signposted as the ‘Infectious Diseases Unit’

“What’s wrong with them?!” asked Alf, looking a little startled and indicating the name above the doorway just ahead, “Why are they in there?!”

“Just a precaution” she answered, glancing back at him with a brief smile, “We just needed to make sure that they hadn’t come into contact with any… Well, with anything communicable… Some of those uninhabited islands…” She stopped a few feet away from the double doors that were locked by an electronic keypad, and furrowed her brow at him. “They’re quite… well… I just want to prepare you… They’re quite… for want of a better word… I’d say ‘traumatised’?”

“Traumatised?” he repeated, looking at her with concern, “But they’re okay, aren’t they?!”

She gave him a half-smile and tilted her head at him in a pleading sort of way. “Your daughter and her partner have been through a terrible ordeal, Mr Stewart…” she said, “…and the young man in particular seems quite… well… ‘withdrawn’” She waited for a moment to see if that had sunk in before continuing, “We’d ask that you try to keep your emotions in check …as best you can …I know this is quite a shock for you but… Well… Just try to keep in mind that they haven’t been around other people for a very long time and that can have an impact from a psychological point of view…”

“What is it you’re trying to say?!” he asked, glancing at the door and feeling suddenly a lot more nervous. Had they turned into raving lunatics or something?! “What is it that you’re worried about?!” 

“Just try to stay calm, keep your voice down, and try to be as patient and understanding with them as you can.” she said, patting him lightly on the arm and beckoning with her head for him to follow. “Just through here” she said, pushing the door open.

“Dad!” shouted Roo, as she bounded towards him and threw her arms around him, “Oh my God! Dad! I’ve missed you so much!”

“Roo!” he exclaimed, staggering a little as she nearly knocked him off his feet. He held her close and rocked her from side to side in a sort of bear hug. After a few moments, he pulled away from her to look at her face and saw that she was crying. “Roo?” he said softly, brushing her hair out of her face and tucking it gently behind her ear, “I can’t… I can’t believe you’re here… This doesn’t seem real.”

“Oh, Dad!” she cried again, burying her head in his chest and hugging him tight, “I thought I’d never see you again… We thought maybe you were dead!”

He glanced across the room at the young man in a white hospital gown sitting cross legged on the bed. A small child wearing only a pull-up nappy was curled in against him, hiding his face, and hugging his little arms around the man’s chest. “Matt?!” he asked, trying to make eye contact with him, “How… How are you, son?”

Matt didn’t answer. He was staring at the white bedsheets that he was sitting on and twirling the curly hair on his son’s head round in slow circular movements with his fingers. He seemed to be making a low humming noise too.

Matt?!” he repeated a little louder, wondering at the large and very visible scar on his bare leg, “Are you okay?”

Matt looked up at him very fleetingly and nodded, before staring back down at the bed. “I’m okay” he mumbled almost inaudibly, “…Thanks, Mr Stewart”

Roo pulled away from her father and gave him a very excited grin. “This, Dad” she said, pulling him towards Matt, “This is our little boy! This is our son!”  She looked up at him with a huge smile and said, “We called him Alfie, Dad! …He’s Alfie Page!”

“Well, isn’t he a good looking young fella?!” exclaimed Alf, doing his best to appear relaxed and smiling down at the little boy in Matt’s arms. He was surprised and touched that they’d chosen to give him his name. “That’s a lovely gesture, Roo” he said, putting his arm around her shoulder and giving her a little smile.

She started to lift Alfie out of Matt’s arms but he immediately began to squeal, holding onto Matt’s chest even tighter, and burying his head in Matt’s armpit. “Alfie, baby?!” she coaxed, pulling at his little arms, “C’mere baby?!”

“Don’t!” said Matt, speaking in a very quiet voice and glancing up at her in a scolding sort of way, “He’s scared, Roo!”

“But this is my Dad!” she reasoned, pulling at her son a little more insistently, “He can’t be scared of his Granddad! He has to meet his Granddad!” She tried to pry his hands away from the white material of Matt’s hospital gown but he wouldn’t let go. “Let go, Alfie!” she shouted at him, “Let go!”.

Alfie let out a loud scream and pulled in even closer to Matt. “Leave him” said Matt, glancing up at Alf for a moment in a resentful kind of way, “He doesn’t know him and he’s scared.” He gave Alf a very brief look of apology and added, “He doesn’t know anyone… He’s never had to deal with anyone but us.”

“That’s okay, Roo!” said Alf, taking a step backwards in the realisation that his presence was making both Alfie and Matt uncomfortable, “If he doesn’t want to, he doesn’t have to…”

“No, Dad!” she argued, turning around again and forcefully dragging a screaming Alfie out of Matt’s arms to hold him on her hip. Alfie wriggled and squirmed and let out the loudest cries, as his whole face turned purple. He began slapping Roo in the face and struggling frantically to get away. “Alfie!” she shouted at him, as she pulled at his hands to stop him from hitting her, “Stop it, Alfie!” 

“Give him back to me?!” pleaded Matt, holding his arms out to him as he screamed blue murder, “He’s scared Roo! You can’t blame him for that!”

With a loud tut, she handed a very distressed Alfie back to Matt and turned to shake her head in exasperation at her dad. Alfie clung onto Matt again and stuck his thumb in his mouth as he cried. “He’s not normally like this” she said, rolling her eyes, “He’s normally a very happy little boy.”

“Nothing about this is normal” mumbled Matt, as he hugged his arms around Alfie and hummed softly to him. “You’re okay, mate… You’re okay.”

Alf looked back and forth between his starry-eyed and slightly manic looking daughter, and the moody young man desperately cradling their crying child, and wondered what on earth he was going to do with them. He was a bit shocked by their appearance for a start. Matt had very long matted hair, that had almost turned into dreadlocks, and a long unkempt beard that was long enough to braid. He was also alarmingly thin, with very pronounced cheekbones and he had a chipped front tooth that gave him a little bit of a hillbilly look. Roo was equally skinny, with all of her ribs visible in her chest, and her collarbone sticking out. Her hair was a tangled mess too, but not quite as bad as Matt’s. They were quite the pair! What would people say when he got them back to Summer Bay?! They were certainly going to attract attention even without the media circus that was currently following them! They’d be the talk of the town, and not in a good way. He found himself flushing a little red just thinking about it. How would he ever get over the shame?!

“So…” he said, lifting the bag that he’d left by the door and setting it on what he took to be Roo’s bed. “…Have they said when you can come home?” he asked, wondering how long they could put it off for. He wasn’t ready for all the stares and whispers, so God knows how they would feel about it! Leah had helped him to buy them a selection of clothing, and packed a bag for them, so at least they’d have something vaguely presentable to travel home in!

Roo glanced past her father to the young doctor who was hovering with their charts and paperwork by the door. She was keeping an eye on the interaction between her patients and their visitor and making sure that things didn’t get too stressful for them. “A couple more days, right?!” she asked, nodding and smiling at her in an over-excited way, “That’s what Dr Martin said, right?!”

“Yes…” she said, glancing at Alf, and looking for his agreement, “If you have somewhere to stay… and people to help out… Then, yes… We think probably on Wednesday.”

“Wednesday!” squealed Roo, clapping her hands together, “I can’t believe we’ll be home in Summer Bay on Wednesday! We’ll have to have a big party… Oh my God! Just wait till the girls get to meet Alfie! Leah is just going to love him!” She hugged her arms around Alf’s chest again and stared up at him with big shiny eyes, “We can have a party, can’t we Dad?! With everyone?!”

He nodded at her slowly and then glanced across at Matt. He was rocking baby Alfie in his arms and had his eyes clamped shut. This was going to be a lot harder than he ever would have expected. Matt obviously wasn’t dealing well with his re-entry into the real world and Roo was throwing herself in head first like a crazy woman! There’d been a major disconnect somewhere along the way here. He looked at Matt, and thought how young and vulnerable he looked, sitting there with that little boy in his arms. Despite the beard, he looked more like a boy than a man to him. A lost and broken little boy. Roo had gone and had a baby with a boy half her age! How was he going to explain this to people?! How had they gotten themselves into such a flamin’ mess?!

“Alf?!” exclaimed Tori as she walked along the corridor, “I saw the name Ruth Stewart on one of the charts but I wasn’t sure if it was Roo or not!”

He looked round at her, looking a little startled as she broke him from his reverie, and gave her a little nod. “She’s been in there a while” he said, glancing at the door to the treatment room.

Tori sat down on the seat beside him and gave him a sympathetic little head tilt. “I’ve been asked for a consult” she said, giving him a little pat on the arm, “So, I’d better get in there… but we’ll let you know what’s happening shortly… okay?”

“Thanks” he said, staring down at a water stain on the lino covered floor, “I’ll be here.”

 

*****

 

“Is that our baby?!” asked Matt, holding Roo’s hand tightly in his and staring at the monitor. “Is that its heart beating?!” he asked, looking at Tori in concern, “Should it be beating that fast?!”

“Yes, Matt, don’t worry!” she said, taking her eyes from the screen to give him and a very teary-eyed Roo a sympathetic little smile, “Your baby’s fine! It’s got a good strong heartbeat and everything looks normal in terms of size and development… I’d say about eighteen weeks…” She began to move the ultrasound wand over her stomach and frowned a little as she focused on one particular portion of the screen. “Hmm” she said, peering closer and frowning even more, “…but there is something that worries me a little…”

Matt looked down at Roo and lifted her hand to give it a little kiss. Whatever this something was, Tori had him really worried now, and he couldn’t hide his fear. “What is it?!” he asked, “…What do you see?!”

“What’s wrong!” gasped Roo, staring back at the monitor and watching as her baby’s heart flickered on the screen. She’d been sure that she was losing the baby when she’d been brought in, and she’d been trying to tell herself that she was too old, and that sometimes these things just weren’t meant to be. That women had miscarriages all the time and that she shouldn’t feel like her whole heart was being ripped out. That she was being melodramatic and silly. That she hadn’t really wanted the baby anyway… Anything to try to convince herself that losing this baby wasn’t the end of the world. But now that she’d seen the baby on that monitor, and heard its little heartbeat, any doubts about whether she wanted to be a mum again had been completely wiped away. She wanted this baby more than life itself! “Just tell me, Tori!” she begged.

“Well…“ said Tori, pointing to the lower portion of the screen, “Do you see here where the placenta has attached to the wall of the uterus… right here?”

Matt peered at the screen, nodding his head and pretending that the grey shapeless blobs on the screen meant something to him, “Yeah?”

Tori grimaced a little and said, “It looks like a condition called placenta previa… The placenta has attached in a position that’s very close to the opening of the cervix… Ideally you’d want it to be up high over here, as far from the cervix as possible… Where it’s positioned, at the moment, could mean that the placenta will block the cervix and the baby wouldn’t be able to pass through.” She gave a little sigh and shook her head at them. “I think that’s what caused this bleed today… It’s not uncommon with this condition…”

“But the baby will be okay?!” asked Matt, stroking Roo’s hand with his thumb, “I mean… it’s something you can treat?!”

Tori nodded slowly and gave Roo a little half-smile. “It means that we’ll have to keep a very close eye on this pregnancy… It could resolve itself as the baby grows and the uterus expands…but it might not… You’re at a high risk of haemorrhage which is the main thing we’re worried about… so you’ll need to really take things easy… Lots of rest, lots of fluids, no stress…”

Matt glanced at Roo and raised his eyebrows at her. No stress?! How were they going to manage that with her sleepwalking practically every other night, and Alf flying off the handle at the drop of a hat?!  

“…and it’s likely that you’ll need a C-section when the time comes…” continued Tori, “We’ll probably schedule it for a few weeks early to make sure that you don’t go into labour.”

“A C-section?!” gasped Roo, looking even more nervous than before, “Oh God!”

“It’s really nothing to be worried about” said Tori, trying to reassure her, “It’s a very routine procedure these days... Lots of women have caesareans… Yours will be easier because it’ll be a planned one… Emergency C-sections are a little more…”

“Scary?!” asked Roo, gripping Matt’s hand a little tighter.

Tori tilted her head at her and gave a little smile. “It’s just easier if we can plan them… and get you in in a calm and collected way…”

“But you don’t think there’s going to be a problem… like for the baby?” asked Matt, staring at the grey and white still on the screen. That was their baby! They’d actually seen their little baby on the screen! Now that he’d seen it, the thought of anything happening to it made him feel physically sick. “It’s going to be okay, isn’t it?!” he asked, with a certain desperation in his voice.

“Like I said, if you take things really easy…” said Tori, “…and look after yourself”

Matt leaned down and kissed Roo on the forehead. “I’m going to wrap you in cotton wool from now on!” he whispered to her, “Seriously! Bubbled wrapped from head to toe!”

Roo rolled her eyes at him. “I think that might be a bit uncomfortable” she teased, “But I’ll let you run me bubble baths and rub my feet!”

“Deal!” he said, giving a little sigh of relief. “So… um… what now?” he asked, turning to look at Tori, “We just go home and hope for the best?”

“I’ll make you an appointment with a specialist and they can talk things through with you” she said, handing Roo a piece of tissue to wipe the ultrasound jelly off her tummy. “So… um…” said Tori, giving them a little smile, “Do you two want to know the gender?”

“I didn’t realise you could tell that at this stage?!” said Matt, sounding very surprised and staring at the grey and white shape still displaying on the screen. He turned and gave Roo a hopeful little raise of the eyebrows. “Do you?” he asked.

“Yeah, I wanna know… if you do?” said Roo, nodding at him with a big smile on her face, “Is that okay?!”

He lifted her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers, and pressed his lips to the back of her hand to give it a gentle little kiss. “Yeah, we wanna know” he said, smiling at Tori in an excited sort of way, “We definitely want to know!”

“Okay!” said Tori, pointing to the still of the ultrasound image on the screen, “Here we go then!”

 

*****

 

“Hey?” said Matt, giving Maddy a quizzical look as he led Roo back in the door to the living-room. She was sitting on the couch with Josh and Evie and it looked like they’d been having a sort of mini party. There were soft drinks and bags of chips all over the coffee table. “What’s… uh… what’s going on here?”

“Oh! Sorry!” exclaimed Maddy, jumping to her feet and blushing a little red in the face like she’d just been caught doing something she shouldn’t, “We didn’t know if you’d be back till tonight… We just…”

“That’s okay” said Roo, looking washed out and exhausted. She turned to Matt and gave him a weak little smile. “I think… I think I need to like down… but why don’t you come back down and say hello to everyone?”

“Yeah…” he said, sounding less than convinced and giving Maddy a withering look. He wasn’t much impressed with the welcoming committee that she’d organised in their absence. It seemed a little thoughtless of her and he wasn’t best pleased. Roo was in no fit state to have lots of people in the house making noise and messing up the place, and he was feeling too tired and emotional to deal with people right now. He’d asked her to look after Alfie while they were gone, but he hadn’t expected her to turn it into some teenage babysitting session where she got to invite her friends over. He glanced at Josh as they made their way past and patted him gently on the shoulder. “I’ll come back down for a few minutes and say hello” he said, guiding Roo towards the hallway. She was still a little shaky and weak, and he was worried that she might faint.

He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the top of the stairs and into the bedroom. He didn’t want to take any risks. He set her gently onto the bed and sat down beside her, taking her hand in his. “I was so scared!” he said, shaking his head at her, “I don’t know what I’d do if…”

“It’s gonna be okay!” she said, leaning back against the pillows and giving a little sigh. “You heard what Tori said… I just have to take it easy!”

“How are you gonna do that?” he asked, shaking his head at her sadly. “Roo” he sighed, “I woke up last night and you were having another one of your nightmares… We couldn’t get you to wake up! You were screaming and crying… and I couldn’t do anything to help you!” He ran his hand through his hair and bit his bottom lip in an anxious sort of way. “What am I supposed to do next time?!” he asked, “What do I do if you hurt yourself and you start to bleed again?! …I’m so scared of losing you… of losing…”

“You won’t!” she said, shaking her head at him decisively, “You won’t!”

He gave a heavy sigh and leaned in to give her a kiss. “I just love you so much” he whispered.

“I love you too” she smiled. “Now go!” she sighed, motioning with her head for him to go downstairs, “Go talk to Josh… I think you could use a chat!”

“Okay” he said, giving her an anxious little smile, “But I won’t be long!” He lifted the handcuffs off the bedside table and held them up to her with a questioning look. He really didn’t like doing this but she’d started to insist on it. The alternative was just too scary. She held her wrist beside the bedpost and he clipped one cuff around her wrist and the other around the wooden spindle. “I’ll be ten minutes…” he said, giving her a little smile, “…max!”

“It’s okay” she said, lying back and closing her eyes, “Go… but bring Alfie up when you’re coming… okay?”

He walked downstairs and smiled a little nervously at his three old friends. “Hi” he said, as he flopped down exhausted in the armchair, “How’s everyone?”

“What’s going on with Roo?!” asked Maddy, sitting forward and looking at him with concern, “You said you’d let me know what was happening …but you didn’t!”

“Sorry” he said, rubbing his face in his hands, “It’s just been a very stressful morning… and we’re both very tired.”

“Did Roo hurt herself again?!” asked Maddy, looking genuinely worried. They hadn’t explained things to her yet. Matt had simply asked her to look after Alfie and then they’d jumped in the car and rushed to the hospital. He felt a little bad for keeping her in the dark like this but Roo didn’t want anyone to know about the baby just yet. He certainly wasn’t going to tell her about it now with Josh and Evie there! “I saw the blood on the floor in the hallway…” she said, looking at him with big fearful eyes, “Did she cut herself?! Is she okay?!”

“Yeah… she cut herself” he lied, “She’s okay now though… just tired.” He went to get himself a glass from the cupboard and then poured himself a glass of Coke. Mainly he just wanted the distraction. “This stuff is insane” he said, taking a mouthful and grimacing a little at the sickly sweet taste of it, “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it again!” He tipped it down the sink and filled the glass with water from the fridge. Returning to the armchair, he plonked himself down again. “So…” he said, feeling quite anxious and a little lost for words. “Uhhh…” he said, staring down at the coffee table and telling himself to breathe.

“So… are you ready for Brody’s big event tonight?” asked Evie, giving him a sympathetic little head tilt, “I mean… maybe you should go and try to get some sleep before you have to go in…” She could see the dark circles around his eyes and she wondered when his last night of proper sleep had been. “You look really tired.” she said.

He nodded at her and grimaced a little. He really wasn’t sure that he could go through with tonight. How could he leave Roo on her own after last night?! How could he ever leave her on own again?! “Uhhh…” he said, glancing up at the ceiling in a nervous sort of way, “I’m not sure…”

“If you don’t go tonight” said Evie, looking worried, “I don’t think Brody will be able to keep you on.” She and Brody had had numerous fights about this now and the only reason that Matt still had a job was because she’d been fighting his corner. She knew that he looked exhausted, and his face was still a bit of a mess, but she really needed him to show up and do his bit this evening. She’d stuck her neck out for him on too many occasions now. Brody’s patience was wearing seriously thin! She gave Matt an apologetic look and cocked her head to one side in a pleading sort of way. “Tonight’s really important to Brody…” she said, “…and he really needs you there, Matt! You can’t let him down!”

“Can you stay with Roo?” asked Matt, turning to Maddy and giving her a pleading look, “Keep an eye on her for me?”

She blushed a little red and shook her head at him. “I’m really sorry, Matt” she said, producing a little card from her pocket and nodding at the large bouquet of flowers on the breakfast bar. He didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed them before. She flashed him a huge smile and held out the little card for him to take and read. “I have a blind date!” she squealed, “At Salt! …A blind date… at ‘Blind at Salt’!”

Matt looked at the card in his hand and gave a little smirk. He read it out loud in a mocking sort of tone. “Maddy, Some say ‘love is blind’. Why don’t we put that to the test? Meet me at Salt tonight at 7.30pm, Your secret admirer!  X  P.S. What have you got to lose?” He looked at her and shook his head at her in wonder. “You’re really gonna go meet this guy?!” he asked, giving a little snort of derision, “Are you nuts?! I mean… ‘Your secret admirer’?! Seriously?! What ridiculous romantic novels has this guy been reading?! …Looo-hoooser!”

She snatched the card back from him with a little huff and crossed her arms across her chest. “I think it’s sweet!” she said, looking at Evie for support, “It takes a lot of guts to put yourself out there like that! Doesn’t it?!”

Evie gave a knowing little smile and nodded her head. She knew exactly who the flowers and the card were from and she thought that Maddy could definitely do a lot worse. Besides, if she hated him, she’d still have gotten a free dinner out of it. How bad could it really be?! “I think it’s worth going to see who this guy is” she said, “At least he’s made an effort!”

“Except she won’t ‘see’ who he is” said Josh, snorting a little at his own joke, “Will she?!”

“Oh, haha, Josh!” said Evie in a sarcastic tone, as she elbowed him playfully in the ribs, “You know what I mean!”

“Well, she won’t know who he is until the end of the dinner, will she?” said Josh, raising his eyebrows and shrugging, “Not unless she recognises his voice.”

“Exactly. I think it’s kind of exciting…” said Maddy, trying to smile but looking a little hurt, “I mean… Who knew I had a secret admirer?”

“I’m sure you have plenty” said Josh, in a kindly way. He knew that she’d been feeling very down and he thought that she could do with a bit of a confidence boost. Maybe this blind date was just the thing?! “I’m sure there are loads of guys who are interested!” he said, smiling in her direction.

“Yeah, right!” she said, suddenly looking quite glum, “Cause ‘cancer girl’ is such a catch!”

“Don’t do that!” said Josh, shaking his head in disapproval, “Don’t put yourself down like that!” He didn’t like to hear her talking about herself like that but it certainly wasn’t uncommon among cancer patients. It really knocked people’s self-confidence and it often took a long time to build them back up again.

“What?!” she said, frowning and staring down at the ground in a teary-eyed way, “It’s true! Who wants this in their life?!”

“Maddy!” sighed Evie, putting her arm around her, “That’s not who you are! No-one sees you that way!”

“I do” she sighed, leaning her head on Evie’s shoulder. She glanced across at Matt and gave him a little shrug. “Maybe you’re right” she said, sounding quite depressed, “Maybe I shouldn’t go? …I’ll probably just make a fool of myself.”

“No, Maddy!” he said, tilting his head at her apologetically, “I didn’t mean to make you feel bad… I’m just tired and grumpy…” He couldn’t help feeling bad for knocking the wind out of her sails. She’d been so excited and he’d just gone and ruined it! “This guy sounds like he really likes you…” he said, giving her a little smile, “I think you should go!”

“Besides” said Josh, making his hands into fists in a cartoonish ‘Popeye’ kind of way, “If you don’t like him, just give me and Matt a shout and we’ll sort him out.” He got to his feet and began to shadowbox a little for comedy effect. “You’ll just have to point me in the right direction!”

Maddy rolled her eyes and began to laugh. “Okay… okay…” she said, shaking her head at him and dragging him back down onto the couch. “I’ll go!” she said to Matt, “But that doesn’t solve the problem with Roo.”

“I’ll give Leah a call” said Matt, pulling his phone out to make the phonecall. First he wanted to check on Roo, though. He went to the cot where Alfie was sleeping and gently lifted him up so he could put his arms around his neck. “I’m just gonna take him upstairs” he said, heading for the door to the hall. “Back in a minute!”

(The blind event had to wait for the next chapter, sorry guys!)

[Guest]

Great chapter

I hope Roo will be okay.

Poor Maddy wonder who her secret admirer is my guess is Jett.

Update again soon

 

[Inactive User]

Great chapter

Aw poor Roo! Hoping she will be alright

Liked how you wrote the flashbacks so well

Update soon please xx