HER

Chapter 35

Gina stared at her phone in her hand and almost jumped out of her skin when someone walked into the locker room.

"Mum, everything ok?" Catherine asked.

Gina hated hiding the truth from her daughter, it wasn't something she had wanted to keep for this long but now it was past the time she should have told Catherine the truth and she knew her daughter was going to get hurt no matter what. She was going the find out the truth anytime soon and she would either have to wait till then or tell her the truth herself before she finds out from someone else.

Gina smiled at Catherine.
"I am now."

"Are you sure?" Catherine was concerned for her.

"Yea honey." Gina touched Catherine's face. "Just something I had to take care of."

Catherine studied her mum before nodding.
"Ok, you'll tell me when there's something, right?"

Gina smiled and nodded.
"Let's get back to work now."

"Yea."

Gina walked ahead of her and Catherine watched her mum walk out of the locker room and she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something her mum wasn't telling her.

She sighed and as she was about to leave the locker room her phone rang and she looked at the caller ID and exhaled at the name that shown and sent his call to voicemail again.

She walked out of the locker room through the kitchen and back into to the front counter.

Lily stared out of the window down at the busy road from the eleventh floor. She had her arms around her and she didn't know when Lucas walked into the room.

"Hello Lily."

Lily looked behind her to find Doctor Lucas waiting near her bed. She smiled at him and walked towards the bed and sat at the edge.
"Hi doctor."

"You look better than yesterday."

She nodded.
"Just a little shaky here and there."

"That's cause your body is adjusting to the lack of drug in your system."

She nodded.
"I guessed as much."

He watched her as he took her vitals.
"We should be letting you out by tomorrow."

She looked at him and frowned.
"That early?"

He chuckled.
"Most people are happy when we give them the ok to leave."

"I'm happy but I was thinking of going to rehab after I left here, I just didn't know it would be soon."

"You're going to rehab?"

She sighed and nodded.
"It's about it. I need to do this; for Cheryl, for Dana. For myself."

Lucas smiled.
"I've never been prouder of my patient."

She smiled.

"You will get through this. I can see the determination in you." He said. "Goodluck Lily."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Lucas left the room and she sighed. She knew this wasn't the worst of it, things would get hard before it got better.

Dana stared in shock at her father.
"Does mum know?"

Richard nodded.

"And both of you kept it from me."

"It wasn't important that you knew."

"You've always treated me like I'm not a part of this family dad and I'm so over it." She said. "I have a sister and you never even bothered to tell me that much. You abandoned her and her mother, what kind of man does that?"

"Don't talk to me...!"

"There's no other way to talk to you dad!" She said over his raised voice. "You act like you're the perfect man, perfect husband, perfect father but you're none of those things." She said. "You've never accepted me for me, you just wanted me to be something you decided for me and I've let you have your way but no more; you can no longer hold me back."

Richard sighed.
"What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing dad, I just almost lost my best friend and she made me realize that I've been hiding." She paused. "I don't care what you say anymore or what you think of me, I just hope that you realize what you've put Gina and her daughter through and do the right thing by them. I've wanted a sister for so long but you wouldn't know that because you've never cared what I wanted."

"That's n..."

"...not true?" She asked with a chuckle. "I'm done asking for permission or seeking your approval. I'm going to do what I've always wanted to do with my life dad and I'm also going to find my sister and get to know her."

"You can't do that."

"Why?"

"The press can't find out about..."

"Oh my goodness dad, can you hear yourself?" She asked. "You're concerned about the media getting wind of this?" She shook her head. "You're far more in over your head than I thought." She waited for him to speak but he said nothing. "What's Gina's last name?"

"Dana this isn't a good idea."

She glared at him.
"Last name dad."

Richard had never seen his daughter this way before, she was always cool, calm and obedient but she was none of those things now.
"Summers." He said with a sigh.

"When you realize all the things you've done wrong dad, I hope it isn't too late then." She said before she walked away.

Dana made her way out of his office and down the stairs. She was out the front door and getting into her car when a car drove into the garage and parked. She started her engine and put the car in reverse and as she put it in drive, her mum stepped of that other car and called her name but she didn't want to talk to mum right now. She drove out of the compound and went to the hospital to Lily.

She was done with her parents and soon, she'll be done with Kevin. She needed a fresh start and she needed it years ago.