Not the only one (formally Chloe)

Chapter 25

A few weeks later Dom saw his birth mum baking outside the hospital. Something had been playing on his mind so he went up to her "hey."
"Hi Dom."
"Have you got a minute?" He asked her tentatively
"I've got about five." She answered truthfully, she was scheduled for surgery in less than half an hour. "Is everything ok with you?"
"I'm fine," he said "but it's about Chloe, she seems really off with me, since that night she came over to yours, or maybe a couple of days after."
Ange stayed silent. Chloe's behaviour had been playing on her mind too. But she let her son continue "she's not ignoring me as such, she's just not going out of her way to talk to me like she usually would, and when she does talk to me, about patients or whatever, she's really formal, calling me Mr Copeland and things, she's never done that before, ever before she knew about me I was always Dom to her. Did something happen while she was at yours?" He asked.
"I've been worried about her too." Ange confided in him "I seem to be under the same cloud in regards to Chloe at the moment. I'm always Ms. Goddard which confuses people no end because she's Miss Goddard too. I really thought We'd turned a corner when she came to stay with me a few weeks back. Something is wrong. I know it, really wrong, she's self harming again." Ange said sadly and Dom looked shocked and even more worried "it's okay." Ange said "well it's not but it's not a new thing for Chloe, she's been doing it on and off since she was fifteen. When she finds things hard to deal with, that's her coping mechanism, and it breaks my heart to see, that she feels so distressed that she feels it's the best option. I'm not sure she's eating either." It was like once she told Dom one thing all her worries about her daughter came tumbling out. "She's never struggled with her weight or had issues with food before, even as a toddler she seemed to skip the fussy eater stage, I mean she has likes and dislikes like anyone else but she's always been okay with food. You know she gets anxious right?" Ange asked. "Yeah." Dom said "she's told me about her panic attacks."
"When she gets anxious or panicked she might skip a meal here or there because she feels nauseated but it's never been like this before, but it's so hard to tell because she's hiding herself under scrubs and long sleeves." Ange shook her head and sighed. She was so worried about her girl. "Why don't we both, today try and ask her to do something with us, separately, to see if she is really being off with us or we're reading something into nothing." Dom said trying to be pragmatic. I'll ask her for lunch and maybe you can suggest a girlie night in at yours or something."
Ange looked at the time and realised that she needed to go. "Sorry Dom, I'm in theatre now, but yes I'll do that. I'm off at 6? Can we meet after work in pulses.
"Sure."

Ange's operation went well, another happy, cancer free patient. But she couldn't keep her mind off Chloe. She was sat in her office when she heard a knock on her door. "Yes" she said and smiled when she saw it was Fletch, the director of nursing, and her boyfriend. "Gosh, you're a sight for sore eyes today. I thought you were another junior doctor asking pathetic questions like I've had all day."
"How rude" Fletch quipped "are you saying I'm too old to ask you silly questions."
Ange would have usually laughed but instead she sighed.
"What's up." He asked her, suddenly a note of concern in his voice.
"Chloe." She said simply "I'm worried about her she's being really odd with both me and Dom. So we decided we'd ask her to do something with us so I invited her over for a girlie night next week but she said she was busy and I'm not sure if she really is busy or if she's ignoring me."
"Ok." Fletch thought for a minute. "What's Chloe's absolute favourite place?"
"Aberdeen." Ange said simply.
"Okay." Fletch said. "That might be a tad tricky. What does she love to do. My Evie loves the beach while Mikey loves theme parks."
" A zoo, or animal sanctuary, anywhere where there's lots of animals."
"Ok," Fletch said "why don't we tell her we're planing to take my fletchlings to the zoo and ask her if she wants to come along, that should tell us if she's avoiding you or if she really is busy, and if she says yes we'll have a great day out. Ella absolutely adores the zoo and all the kids will happily come along."
"Okay." Ange said
"You look exhausted," he said kissing the top of her head "I'll make you a cuppa."

Fletch and Ange met Dom in the coffee shop after their shifts. "How did it go." Ange asked Dom hopefully.
"Not well." He said and Ange's face dropped. "I asked her if she was free for lunch any day this week and she said she had plans." Dom started "so I asked her if she fancied a little coffee date instead and she just snapped at me saying 'ok so you're my new brother, whatever, it doesn't mean we have to be bffs.' And then walked off"
"I'm sorry she was so rude to you." Ange said then spotted Chloe.
"Hey Chloe, Fletch and I were thinking about taking his kids to the zoo next month, would you like to come along?" She asked
"You wouldn't have to spend all your time with me and the kids, you and you're mum could go off together." Fletch chipped in making sure she didn't think they just wanted her to babysit.
"Sorry, I'm busy that day." Chloe replied before running to catch up with her boyfriend Evan who was waiting at the hospital doors for her. Ange sat down heavily on one of the seats at their table in Pulses as she looked towards her daughter. "We didn't even tell her which day."