His little girl (Waterloo road)

Fourteen

Brooke was sitting in the tent. It had only been one day since she arrived at the camping trip. She wanted to avoid Simon. Especially with how she knew that Mia knew about them.

Brooke looked up as Ella came in. "Come on babes. I think we need to talk."

"About?"

"Come on. Let's take a walk."

Brooke reluctantly got out the tent. She saw Simon sitting with her dad and Max. She rolled her eyes as Sue tried to play with Mia. "Yeah. Mia doesn't like her. I think Sue is trying to practice for when she has a baby. I pity the kid."

"Yep."

Ella sighed. "Come on. Talk to me. What's wrong? And why are you acting like you'd rather be elsewhere?"

Brooke sighed. "I just don't like being around Simon Lowsley or his stupid wife," she told her.

***

As the day went on, Brooke was sitting in the tent. Mia walked in. "Can we go to lake? Daddy say me can if you takes me."

"Okay babes."

"Yay! I go tell mummy and daddy."

Brooke sighed. Despite the fact she didn't want to be on the trip, she wasn't going to upset her little cousin.

***

Brooke and Mia were paddling in the lake. Brooke looked up as Simon walked towards them. She sighed. "You shouldn't be near me," she said.

"I can't help myself. I'm hooked on you."

Brooke rolled her eyes and sighed. She looked at him. "Just stop. Stop messing with my head. It's not right. Your wife is here so go to her. And leave me alone," she said.

Simon pulled Brooke out of the lake. He placed his head on hers and sighed. "Just... let's talk. Let's be adult about this. Please Brooke. I need you,"

All of a sudden, Mia screamed. Brooke turned to look as Mia slipped under the water. Brooke ran in and tried to get her.

Simon went under the water and grabbed her. Brooke was panicking. "This is my fault," she sobbed.

"It's not. She'll be okay."

***

Everything was a blur for Brooke. The ambulance had arrived to take Mia to hospital. Tom walked over. "What the hell happened?!"

"S-She slipped. I tried to save her. But I couldn't. Daddy. Is she going to be okay?" Brooke asked.

Tom shrugged. "We don't know. Si, Max has asked if you can drive his car to the hospital. I'll take Brooke."

***

Tom took Brooke up to the hospital. Brooke blamed herself for it. She hated how she had let her own baby cousin get hurt.

Brooke saw Ella. "Is she okay?"

"They're running some tests now. They don't know if she'll be okay. Brooke. What happened?" She asked.

"One minute she was giggling. She took a step too far and went under. I tried to save her. But she kept on slipping," she sobbed.

Ella pulled her into a hug and held her tightly. "Shush. Accidents happen babes. The main thing is, she'll be okay."

But could Brooke keep what really happened a secret? Especially when the guilt was going to eat her up and she didn't know if she would cope.