Chapter 40: Nadine’s POV
I walked up the path towards Kimberley’s front door, I needed to find her, I knew that she was hurting at the moment; I knew that she was struggling to take it all in. Ever since last night when we all found out the extent of how ill Cheryl really was but her daughters needed her, we needed her, Cheryl needed her. I banged my thist hard on her door, no answer, I knocked again, ‘Come on Kimberley, I know you are in there, I want to talk to you, sometimes talking helps you know’ I yelled through the closed door. I waited and I waited, ‘Kimba’ I screamed, ‘If you don’t open this god damn door right this minute, im gonna break in and then you will have to pay to get the *Ducking* door fixed’.
Finally the door opened to reveal Kimberley, tearstained mascara ridden cheeks, red puffy swollen eyes and looking extremely pail. I stepped through the door and headed towards the kitchen, I stopped in my tracks, alcohol bottles covered the kitchen table, an obvious red wine stain ran up the wall and the place stunk of smoke. I turned to see Kimba slouched against the wall. ‘You need to snap out of this Kimba, you are seriously damaging yourself, your gonna end up doing something stupid and im not gunna sit back and let that happen’ I snapped. She looked up at me through glazed eyes. ‘Whats the point anymore Nadine? Whats the point in me living if she can’t. She is my whole world. Im nothing without her, she was even my whole world when we had split up. My whole world revolves around her and if shes not here, im nothing’ she screamed.
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, ‘I need you Kimba, your daughters need you, Sarah and Nic need you but above all Cheryl needs you and she is going to need you throughout this ordeal, you need to be there for her’ I cried before brushing the tears away with the back of my hand. ‘Shes got cancer Nadine, I can’t just watch her die’ Kim cried before burying her face in her hands. ‘Shes not dead yet’ I screamed, shocking even myself and by the looks of it Kimberley aswell. ‘You are acting as if she is already gone but the truth is she is very much alive and she is going to need you more than ever now to help her through the surgery and the treatment. Its Cheryl for *Duck* sake, she is a fighter, she is going to get through this Kim, and you need to start thinking possitivly and STOP dissolving yourself in alcohol the minute that something gets hard’ I shouted. I took a deep breath, ‘I left her when she was being told by the doctor about her illness and the surgery, she would have really needed you to be there for her then Kim but you werent so lets go make it up to her now, yeah?’ I said softly having calmed down a little.
Kim’s POV
I crept down the hospital corridors, the only thing keeping me sane being Nadine’s tight grip of my hand as she dragged me along behind her.I followed her into Cheryl’s room to find Cheryl sitting up in bed talking to Sarah and Nadine who were sat beside her. Both of them gave me a sympathetic smile. I wanted to scream and shout, I wanted to lash out, to punch something but I just about stopped myself. I walked over to bed slowly, taking deep breaths as I went, I sat myself on the edge and rested my hand on her cheek. ‘Its ok to cry Kimba’ Cheryl whispered as she wrapped her arms around my neck pulling me down so I was resting my head on her chest listening to her steady heartbeat. ‘I have, I cried all morning, im not gunna think any less of you, just let it out babe, its not good to hold in your emotions’ she continued in a faint whisper. ‘I have to be strong for you’ I mumbled, She shook her head, ‘no you don’t Kim, you have to let it out sometime and id prefer it to be here with me rather than with drink’ she smiled slightly. ‘Im so sorry Chez, I couldn’t be strong anymore’ I cried into her neck as she stroked soothing patterns on my back.
‘We are going to beat this together Kimba because together we can beat anything. When I get out of here we are going to free you of alcohol because you do have a problem even if you are not a fully fledged alcoholic babe. I don’t want you relying on alcohol when that’s the reason im ill in the first place. But first and foremost we are going to get married and you are gouing to make me the happiest girl alive, that’s if you still want too?’ She smiled at me, I nodded and flung my arms around her neck, ‘I want nothing more than to marry you Chez’ I whispered before kissing her neck, then her jaw and finally her lips. ‘I love you so much Cheryl, im so scared’ I mumbled against her lips. She pulled away resting our foreheads together, ‘Its ok babe, you are allowed to be scared, I am terrified but we will fight this, everythings going to be ok’ she whispered before kissing me again, ‘oh and I love you too so much Kimba, you and the kids are my world’.
