Hi :)
Welcome to my new Charlie and Brax fic, Losing Control.
I hope you enjoy Chapter 1, I would really appreciate any feedback.
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The accelerator was pressed in as far as it could possible go and yet it still wasn't enough.
The hospital was at least another ten minutes away and Brax silently urged his ute to go faster, get there quicker.
Anything! He would do anything to get back to Charlie before she woke up.
She would wake up, that was for certain, there was no other option.
They'd been through too much together, too many obstacles and barriers trying their way to force them apart.
Brax was not one for love stories and up until a year earlier, he had never truly believed in love until Charlie Buckton had walked into his life.
Being with Charlie was never meant to be serious; instead it was supposed to be naughty fun, friends with benefits but without a friendship.
Secret meetings, brief encounters, quickies, dirty texts; their casual relationship soon turned to something more when Brax found himself thinking about her often. When he stopped finding other women interesting or attractive, Brax knew that he was falling in love with her, had already fallen for her.
And someone, somewhere was looking out for him because for some crazy reason, Charlie loved him back.
Yes, she would definitely wake up.
Brax looked down at his shirt and gripped the wheel tighter involuntarily as his eyes took in the blood.
Some was Charlie's that he sure of that, and knowledge made his stomach plummet, he could not possibly begin to describe walking in to Leah's and finding Charlie on the carpet, barely breathing in a slowly growing pool of her own blood.
That image would never leave him.
The rest of the blood, belonged to Jake Perovic. Jake had tried to take the one thing Brax loved in this world. Brax had no doubt in his mind or his heart that he would have killed Jake on the beach if the police hadn't showed up. He would still kill him if given the chance.
After being told that Jake was responsible for putting a bullet in Charlie's chest, Brax saw red fury unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Red like the pool of blood he found Charlie in.
With more urgency, Brax tried to push the accelerator in harder, he gripped the steering wheel tighter, he was almost there.
As he drove he repeatedly told himself that Charlie would be okay that she had to be okay.
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"Get out," Ruby ordered as soon as Brax stepped foot into Charlie's hospital room.
"What?"
"You heard me, get out. I don't want you here. Charlie doesn't want you here. This is all your fault."
Brax was stunned into silence; he tried to comprehend her demand in his head and looked towards where Charlie lay, hooked up to numerous machines, in the room.
"Get out," Ruby screeched, she stood and moved to give him a push.
Brax didn't budge.
"How is this my fault, Rubes-," Brax began but Ruby cut him off.
"Don't call me that, you don't get to call me that." There were tears in Ruby's eyes and Brax could empathise completely with what she was going through. But he wasn't going to leave Charlie, not when they were just told that she had only a 50 percent chance to make it through the night.
"Jake Perovic did this to get to you, to hurt you."
"Ruby-," Brax tried again.
"Get out! This is your fault, your involvement in her life did this to her. He went after her to get to you. This is your fault, my mother could die because of you. I don't want you here Brax."
"Ruby, Brax didn't do this, he would never hurt Charlie, you know that," Casey tried to soothe his girlfriend who had not spoken to him since they arrived at the hospital earlier that afternoon.
"What I know, is that being involved with a Braxton," Ruby practically spat, "has put my mother on life support in the hospital. That's what I know."
"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on in here?" Sid asked as he pushed his way into the room after hearing the shouting.
"Nothing, Brax and Casey were just leaving."
Everyone in the room, Ruby included, saw how the news took Sid by surprise, and as he was on duty, it would have been unprofessional for him to enquire why.
But he didn't need to.
"You can kick me out of the room, Ruby, you're hurting, I get it. But good luck trying to get me out of the hospital," Brax said fiercely before he turned and walked into the hallway and sat on one of the cold, hard, plastic chairs. Casey followed close behind.
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"Ruby, Brax has every right to be in this room, you know that." Sid began after Brax and Casey had left, and Sid had closed the door.
"He doesn't have any right. He's the reason she's in here."
"Ruby, you don't really mean that, you know your mother loves him, very much."
"Look where it got her. I don't want him in this room, Sid."
"Ruby, I won't enforce that, not when I know how much Brax cares for Charlie."
"As Charlie's next of kin, I do not want Darryl Braxton in this hospital room, Dr Walker," Ruby said firmly.
Sid Walker nodded in acknowledgement. He understood that Ruby was going through a difficult time but morally, he disagreed with her choice in keeping Charlie's partner away from her.
Sid left without another word, leaving the argument lie, for the moment.
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"Brax, this won't last long."
"Really, because I think Ruby would say differently," Brax said trying to stay in control, he refused to look at Sid.
"Brax, you said yourself, she's hurting she isn't thinking straight, it will be alright."
"Don't tell me it will be alright, no part of this is alright." Brax boomed as he stood up, glaring at Sid.
Sid tried to remain impassive but truthfully, he could not see himself coping if he were in Brax's situation, being told to stay away from a loved one.
"No you're right, it was a bad choice of words, but you're doing the right thing, giving Ruby her space but still being close to Charlie."
"Casey? Can you come here?" Ruby's voice called into the hallway.
Ruby didn't wait for an answer she walked back inside the room.
Casey looked towards Brax, silently seeking permission to go and see his girlfriend.
Brax nodded his head slightly and Casey headed toward the door.
Brax clenched his teeth as he watched him go.
"Can she keep me out of the room?" Brax asked as he watched Casey step into the room.
It wasn't Casey's fault but at that moment, Brax almost hated his youngest brother for being allowed to be close to Charlie at her time of need.
"Normally, I would say yes, Ruby is Charlie's next of kin and there are rights associated with that."
"But?"
"But, this situation is a little different, it's where being a local doctor in a small hospital plays comes in handy. I know that Charlie would want you with her right now, and, some would say that the presence of loved ones is beneficial for a patient's recovery. Just give it time, Brax. I think Ruby's in shock and she's acting out. Ruby isn't purposefully being malicious; her heart is in the right place, even if we see it differently."
With that Sid left Brax alone in the empty hallway but he wasn't alone for long, Casey emerged from the hospital room and Brax knew something was wrong instantly.
"Casey?" Brax asked as his younger brother made his way towards him.
"Nah, Charlie's fine, she's still sleeping." Casey answered knowing that where Brax's main concern was directed.
"What is it, what's wrong?"
"She broke up with me?"
"What?" For the second time that night, Brax was stunned.
"Ruby, broke up with me."
Brax's eyes widened at Casey's admission.
"She said Braxton's are bad news and that she should have listened to Charlie at the beginning and stayed away. She said it's my fault too, that I torched Jake's clubhouse, so I'm also to blame for Charlie being in hospital."
"Casey, you know that's not true." Brax implored.
"Isn't it?"
"No, Casey it isn't. None of this is your fault, I don't think this is your fault mate, this is all on Jake. It's all on him."
"Then why are we the ones being punished?" Casey asked.
Casey wiped his eyes quickly, embarrassed at becoming teary in front of his older brother, and Brax was reminded of what a sweet innocent kid his youngest brother was.
"I don't know mate, I don't know," Brax answered with a sigh, he leaned further into the chair and rested his head against the wall.
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:)
I would love to hear your thoughts, do you want more?
Please, please take the time to review Chapter 1.
There's no point in me writing if there's no one reading.
More soon :)
xoxox
