The Sun and Her Moon | CHONI |

Forty Four

Toni woke up to the sound of the nurses coming to do their checks on the redhead. 'Any changes?' Toni asked hopefully. 'Unfortunately not at the moment but if there is I'll let you know okay?' The nurse said with a small smile. 'Thank you' Toni breathed moving her attention to the redhead. Nothing had changed from the night before the machines were making the exact same sound and her chest was rising and falling in the same constant pattern. When the nurses had left she pushed herself out of the chair so she could stretch her legs as she paced around the room. She slipped into the bathroom connected to the hospital room, Toni could tell Cheryl had good health insurance otherwise she'd be on a ward alongside other patients. She used the toilet and moved over to the sink to splash a little water on her face to sooth her sore eyes, she took a final look in the mirror before going back to her seat beside Cheryl.

She scrolled through her phone looking through photos of Cheryl, Tommy and herself stopping on the one she took at the aquarium of the redhead and her son on their first real date. She smiled at the cute videos of them being goofy together, a tear rolling down her cheek as she watched one when they were in bed together and Cheryl was pushing Toni's phone away because she didn't have on any make up, the redhead laughing as she climbed on top of Toni and peppering her with kisses in an attempt to get her to stop. Toni hoped she'd hear Cheryl laugh in real life again and not just through her phone. She sighed going to her text messages between the two, instantly feeling a stab of pain in her chest when she read the texts that she had ignored from Cheryl when she had begged her to talk to her, she decided to put her phone on the nightstand instead of torturing herself.

There was a small knock on the door before Archie rolled in Veronica. 'Hey' Toni tried to smile. 'Hey T, how is she?' Veronica asked as Archie pushed the chair closer to the bed before taking the seat next to Toni. 'No changes' Toni sighed 'but at least she hasn't declined'. 'Well that's something' Veronica nodded trying to look for the positives even if they were far and few between. 'Toni do you want to go home for a couple of hours to freshen up and get a few things?' Veronica asked. 'No V I can't leave her' Toni said shaking her head. 'You won't be long, Archie is going to pick up a few things for me so he can give you a ride home and back. You need to look after yourself too T, and besides I'll keep an eye on Cheryl if there's any changes I'll call you straight away' Veronica tried to convince her. Toni let out a huff but nodded her head 'okay fine but if the slightest thing changes I want you to call me immediately'. 'Of course I will T' Veronica nodded.

Toni followed Archie to his car trying to respond to him as he talked to her. As they pulled away from the hospital, travelling down the road in silence Toni saw the last person she wanted to see walking down a quiet street with a couple of other women. 'Archie stop the car!' she yelled making the redheaded man jump at the sudden sound. 'What?' Archie said confused. 'Stop. Stop the car' she rushed taking off her seat belt before opening the car door. Archie watched as she marched down the street the a random trio of women. His eyes widening as he scrabbled out of the car when he realised who it was.

'Hey!' Toni shouted as she marched furiously to the group of women who turned around at the sound of her voice. Without hesitation she approached Madison who was stood in the middle of the group and pulled her arm back landing probably the hardest punch she had ever done in her whole life. 'What the fuck you crazy bitch' one of the women yelled as she picked Madison up from the ground. Toni didn't even take notice of the other women, she had her eyes on her target and she was enraged. 'You ever come near me or Cheryl again and I will kill you' Toni spat as she attempted to lunge forward again, she felt strong arms wrap around her pulling her back. 'Toni that's enough' Archie said as calmly as he could. Toni tried to fight her way to the brunette who was currently wiping the blood from her face but the redhead didn't let up as he pulled her towards the car and told the group of women to leave and surprisingly they did.

Archie held Toni against the car as she screamed at him to let her go. She managed to get her arms free as she thumped her fists into his chest before falling to the ground in painful tears. Archie sat on the side of the road with her as she cried, her body trembling with every sob. 'Come on Toni, we need to get out of here' the redheaded man stood up holding his hand out to her, the last they needed was for the police to show up. Toni took a breath before reaching for Archie's hand and taking it in her own. 'Are you okay?' Archie asked carefully. 'I'm scared Arch' she whispered 'I can't live my life without her'. Archie reassured her that Cheryl would be alright, that she'd pull through but in the back of their minds they were all thinking the same thing, what if she didn't. Some how Toni was only just realising the sharp pains in her hand remembering that last weekend she had punched a tile in her bathroom and now she had just hit Madison full force with the same hand. She pushed it to the back of her mind though, she didn't have time to worry about herself, she needed to be there for Cheryl.

Archie dropped Toni off at her apartment and promised he'd be back within the hour, she nodded her thanks and climbed the stairs to her apartment. When she opened the door she found it empty, her son at school and her brothers at work, she noticed a bag on the kitchen counter and peered inside. Sweet Pea had packed all the things she had asked for, planning to bring it to the hospital later. She pulled out her phone sending him a text letting him know she had picked up her things and a thank you. She suddenly remembered that she had a job, she texted Pops letting him know the situation and that she wouldn't be in for the foreseeable future, if she lost her job then so be it, Cheryl was more important. She moved into the bathroom removing her clothes and ignoring the pain radiating down her arm from her hand. Stepping under the running water she took a breath, then she cried, the water mixing with her tears as it ran down her face. She needed this moment, a moment alone where she could just let everything out. She knew after what happened with Madison that she was losing control of her emotions and she couldn't afford to do it again. As much as she enjoyed giving Madison even a smidge of what she deserved she couldn't help but worry about the police finding out and her getting arrested.

After washing her hair she stepped out of the shower wrapping a towel around her and heading to her bedroom. She pulled out some clean clothes, she decided on a black tracksuit instead of jeans so she was slightly more comfortable. She thought about how confused Tommy must be, not only did he have to deal with her and Cheryl splitting up he now had to deal with her not being there at the moment. She knew her brothers would take good care of him though and as hard as this was for Tommy, it would be nothing in comparison to how he would feel if he knew the truth about what had happened to Cheryl. She quickly pulled out her hairdryer and dried her hair before throwing it up in a messy bun and getting dressed. While waiting for Archie to let her know he was outside she had a quick clean around the apartment to keep herself busy, the boys had tried of course but they never were the cleanest people in the world. She pulled out a notebook and wrote a little note for her son.

Tommy,
I hope you are being good for your uncles. Mommy has a lot of work to do so I won't be home for a while but I promise when everything is back to normal we can do whatever you want. If you want to call Mommy any time just ask Uncle Fangs or Uncle Sweet. Be a good boy baby and I love you.
Mommy x

Toni placed the note just next to where her bag was. She had a double check through everything Sweet Pea had packed to make sure there was nothing he had missed. Luckily he hadn't because her phone pinged letting her know that Archie was outside waiting for her. She grabbed her belongings leaving the apartment and locking the door behind her. She slipped into Archie's car giving him a small smile, she knew that it wasn't just her worried about Cheryl, her friends were scared too. 'All good?' he asked. 'Yeah, I have everything I think I need' she nodded. 'Okay let's go' he put the car in drive and pulled forward heading back towards the hospital. When they stopped in the hospital parking lot Toni got out and waited for Archie to get a bag, presumingly Veronicas stuff, from the trunk before locking it. They walked together to Cheryl's room to meet the brunette.