WOW! You are amazing, thank-you.
Truthfully, I've been a little worried lately that the interest in CHAX was disappearing, clearly not!
Thanks for the reviews and encouragement for Chapter 1. It is safe to say that I am very motivated to continue this story.
Here is Chapter 2.
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"You were in trouble, Charlie, I had no other choice," Sid explained gently.
Charlie gave the slightest nod to acknowledge that she understood and a tear finally fell down her cheek as she closed her eyes.
For a harrowing moment, Brax realised that there was a big possibility that Charlie may not have wanted anyone to know she was in the hospital.
Brax heard the quietest sigh emerge from Charlie's bed and he understood completely that it was a sigh of relief.
Charlie was home!
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"Is that why you left?" Brax asked Sid no more than an hour later, he pointed in the direction of Charlie's room.
He'd left Ruby with Charlie, who was still waking up.
He entered Sid's office without knocking and stood dauntingly in front of the former Summer Bay doctor.
"Is that why you left, Summer Bay?" Brax repeated.
"It wasn't the sole reason why, but it did contribute to the decision, yes. Would you like a seat?" Sid asked.
"No," Brax answered brutally.
Standing gave Brax the control and dominance he needed after the unbelievable turn of events his day had taken.
He still couldn't believe Charlie was alive.
"There was no way I could have told you about any of this, Brax," Sid began to explain knowing what Brax's question was before he had a chance to ask it.
"You're right; you must have had big things to worry about, your job and all."
"Definitely, I consider Charlie's safety an extremely big thing to worry about as do you."
"Fine, if it wasn't because of your job you must have left because you had a guilty conscious?" Brax asked taking a different approach.
Sid had the gall to laugh and what Brax believed to be a fitting question.
"No, I left because although Charlie's safety was at risk, I did not agree with how they treated her or how they convinced her leave her life behind."
Sid noticed Brax's stance tense up at the mention of Charlie's safety.
"What do you mean?"
"Charlie didn't want to go, Brax, flat out refused. For her, leaving her life, her daughter, you, that was never an option!"
"So why'd she leave."
"As far as I was aware, there were never any threats against Ruby, only Charlie and you, and Charlie was convinced that the both of you would have been able to get through it together."
"Bet they didn't like that," Brax guessed.
"Not at all."
"They used Ruby to get Charlie to leave?" Brax guessed again.
"From my perspective, yes and they knew the only way to get Charlie to do what they wanted was to use Ruby's safety as a bargaining chip. She wasn't given an option that had the three of you alive and happy. She did what she had to do."
Sid watched the harrowed look of the man who stood before him.
Brax had always been a force to be reckoned with. He was extremely protective of his family, both family of blood and family of choice. He had been extremely protective of Charlie.
"Because I knew all of this, knew that Charlie was alive. I couldn't stay here and pretend that she was dead, not when there were so many people here who loved her."
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On his way back to Charlie's room Brax found himself being followed down the hall.
"Mr Braxton?"
"Who are you?" Brax said stopping.
"Are you Mr. Braxton?"
"Brax. Who are you?"
"My name is Al Hunter, I am a police liaison officer in the Witness Protection program."
"So you're the reason she left."
"Not at all. I was hoping to have a word with you and Miss Buckton if that were at all possible."
"Right, about what? Isn't your job done?"
"Yes it is, however now that you are both aware that Charlie Buckton is alive, we need to discuss what has happened during the past 6 years."
Before Brax could digest what Hunter had said, he continued.
"If you and Miss Buckton could meet with me in my room, we can get this over and done with, quite quickly."
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It didn't take Brax long to get Ruby.
Luckily Charlie was asleep so Ruby agreed as long as the meeting would not take too long.
"Thank-you for meeting with me. I just wanted to clear up a few things that were omitted in our discussion earlier," Hunter started before Ruby and Brax had a chance to sit down.
"What?" Brax asked.
He waited for either Ruby or Brax to comment and when they didn't he continued.
"Look, I'm going to be straight with you, Charlie left the Witness Protection program 4 years ago." Hunter said.
"What?" Brax asked.
"No, that can't be possible. She would have come home," Ruby said.
"Charlie Buckton left Witness Protection when it was discovered that Jake Perovic had been killed in jail. Without him, she argued that there was no reason for her to be involved in the program so she opted out."
"Then, why didn't she come home?" Ruby asked.
"That is not a question for me to answer Miss Buckton, that would be a question for your mother."
"So you're telling us that Charlie left Summer Bay to go into Witness Protection but left after 2 years?"
"That's correct," Hunter answered.
"Then what the hell has she been doing the past 4 years?" Brax demanded.
"Again, not a question that I have the answers to."
"So what are you doing here then?" Brax asked.
The situation was confusing, if Charlie wasn't in the Witness Protection program like Hunter was saying, then why was the police liaison still hanging around.
"I am here to assist Ms Buckton in her transition back into her old life so to speak, assuming that's what she wants."
"Assuming? What's that supposed to mean?" Brax demanded.
"Well, umm Brax, if Charlie didn't want to return to Summer Bay four years ago, I have to seriously wonder if and why she would want to return now?"
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"Did you have a chance to come back?" Brax asked through clenched teeth when he and Charlie were finally alone. Clenching his teeth was a last-ditch effort to remain in control.
"Did you?" Brax asked again when Charlie didn't respond the first time.
"Yes."
"When?"
"Four years ago," Charlie replied honestly.
"Right, and what, you were too busy, had other things going on. Was it not a good time for you?"
"Don't talk to me like that," Charlie said, the words came out as a soft plead but Brax recognised the warning tone in her voice yet he wasn't able to stop himself.
"Why Charlie, I mean, I'm just trying to work out why the timing didn't suit for you to come back to your family, to come back to me."
"Timing for me? Try for you," Charlie bit back suddenly with a fire Brax hadn't seen in a long time.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly how it sounds, Brax."
"Don't speak to me in riddles, Charlie, spit it out."
"Four years ago wasn't a good time for you. You're the reason I didn't come back."
"Oh yeah, how do you figure that?" He demanded, her words cut him deeply.
"Where's your girlfriend?" Charlie asked suddenly and instantly everything came back to him and Brax knew exactly why she was asking.
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Ha, sorry to leave it there (not lol), I told you there was more coming. How was that?
I think this story is my personal favourite so far :)
I would love you to hear what you think so please leave a review :)
The faster the reviews come in the faster Chapter 3 gets updated.
Thanks for reading.
xoxox