Chapter Text
“I can’t bear it….” Lisa sobbed into Carla’s shoulder.
How was she ever going to come to terms with the fact that her daughter. Her sweet baby. Had suffered a stroke because of the reckless behaviour of her boyfriend. Deep down, she knew it wasn’t like that, that they were just naive kids experimenting but she was too angry to see any sense right now.
“Come on baby, come sit down with me,” Carla said as she led her back to the seats. Ryan right behind her, supporting her as well.
“what exactly did the doctor say?” Carla asked, stroking her hand over Lisa’s cheek to try and ground her.
“She…She said…” Lisa could barely get any words out, she was so filled with rage.
“Dylan choked her… and it caused the stroke,” she finally croaked out.
“He choked her…on purpose…like she was assaulted?” Carla exclaimed, absolutely horrified at the thought, but lisa shook her head.
“She said not…that it was consensual.. that it’s normal…that everyone does it… that they’ve done it before. Carla, this is my fault. I should have taught her about safe sex. I should have made sure she knew right from wrong. Is this because her other mum could be rough with me sometimes? Why didn’t i make sure she was more careful.” Lisa was spiralling quickly.
“Hey, Hey, Look at me,” Carla said firmly, interrupting her spiral, gently lifting her chin with her finger until they made eye contact. Carla chose to ignore the Becky comment, that was a scab they were still trying to unpick.
“This is not your fault. They are kids experimenting. Young, immature kids. You can’t go blaming yourself, do you hear me?”
Lisa reluctantly nodded, then explained everything the doctor had said.
No one knew how much time had passed, only that the three of them sat in silence with tears threatening to spill from their eyes.
“It makes you think, doesn’t it?” Ryan eventually sighed
“What does?” Carla asked.
“about all the things you’ve got up to… you know… I had no idea.”
“Me neither,” Carla agreed.
“But that’s the problem, isn't it?” Lisa was exhausted she couldn’t stop thinking about what Betsy had said. “She thought it was normal, like everyone does it. Where are they getting that idea in their heads? Where is this all coming from?”
Lisa had seen a lot in her job. A lot of injuries caused by unsafe sex, assault and violence so theoretically she knew where all this was coming from. But she just couldn’t accept it, not when it come to her own daughter.
“Look, not that i ever want to discuss sex with my aunties, but… kinks, things like this,… are becoming more popular. More people want to try it. Schools kids trying to one up each other,” Ryan tried to explain but he knew nobody was being rational right now. “They both made a mistake”
“Yeah, and Betsy is the one paying for it” Lisa snapped and, Carla stepped in, “How about we go get a drink hmmm, then go back in with betsy?”
As they walked back up to Betsy’s room, hand in hand, drinks secured. Lisa stopped abruptly. Carla turned just in time to see Lisa fling herself into her arms. Carla stroked her hair and whispered reassurances into her ear until Lisa felt ready to go back in. Betsy was already asleep when they walked in, and Lisa immediately took a seat next to her, grabbing her hand.
“I’m going to stay the night. You should go home, get some rest,” she said to Carla, taking in the exhaustion etched around her eyes.
Carla knew there was no point in arguing. That Lisa wouldn’t change her mind. She leant down and kissed Betsy then Lisa on the forehead.
“I love you both so much”
“I love you to.” Lisa replied.
Carla left with Ryan, who was waiting for her in the hallway, and they walked silently to the car. The moment the car door closed, Carla broke down. Ryan gathered her into his arms, trying to get her to breathe. “It’s gonna be okay. She’s going to be okay,” he reassured. She sobbed into Ryan’s arms until she had no tears left.
Once Carla had let it all out they drove home in silence. They walked into the house in silence. When they spotted the shattered dishes left from Betsy collapsing earlier, Ryan quietly encouraged Carla upstairs, promising he’d deal with the mess. She reluctantly did. She was so exhausted from the 36 hours in the hospital, she didn’t even remember getting changed or getting into bed, or now phoning Lisa.
Carla and Ryan had been gone about an hour when Lisa’s phone rang. She had spent the whole time just staring at Betsy, scared to move, leave, or, do anything.
Hi baby,” Carla said when she answered, “just wanted to check in, let you know i’ll be back first thing tomorrow, and if you need anything just call me. ”
Lisa couldn’t believe she’d found someone like Carla. Had married someone as kind and caring as Carla. After years of carrying everything on her own, she finally had someone to lean on..
“tell me it’s gonna be okay,” she croaked out.
“Everything is going to be okay, because that girl of ours, she is strong, stubborn and can do anything she puts her mind to, just like mum. She will recover from this. We will get through this Lise. Our little family”.