Thanks so much to Valarie, Fanfiction.79, FrankElza and all those who read my latest update. Based on request, here's a one shot of hurt Kyle and his family's reaction. This isn't linked to the previous update. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own home and away or any of the characters

Kyle was sitting in Angelo's doing the accounting and figures for Brax. He didn't understand why this was always his task. A year or two ago, Brax had asked him to step up and start managing the restaurant but he had promised he would still be there a lot to help out. Well, Kyle guessed he was lying. No one else was in the restaurant. It had officially closed half an hour ago but he still had to stay back and do everything so that the business would keep running. Once again, Kyle Braxton was left to do all the work while his girlfriend and family were at home, probably eating dinner and socialising. He could totally go for some of Casey's cooking right about now! He could almost taste it and his stomach was already grumbling.

Kyle POV

Here I was, so hungry, yet having to work at the restaurant, how ironic. I'm sure Brax wouldn't mind if I shut up early, I mean, the accounting isn't vital, we won't be too behind. I'll just come early tomorrow and finish it before the lunch shift. Brax wouldn't even notice.

As the thoughts of food continued to consume my mind, I began walking to the door ready to lock up. That's when they entered.

These two big, bulky guys came stalking into Angelo's, followed by a slightly shorter, intimidating man. If I hadn't have been heading towards the exit, I probably wouldn't have known they were there.

"Sorry guys, we've closed for tonight. We open at 10:30 tomorrow morning if you want to come back though," I explained. Something about these guys seemed off. I could tell as soon as I saw them enter the room...and begin to approach me.

"We open early tomorrow for breakfast if you'd like," I offered. I knew things were getting deeper, these guys definitely weren't here to get a late night feed, they were hungry for something else.

"You owe our boss some dough," one of the men, who was clearly their boss' right-hand man, stated.

"How much?" I replied, trying to seem as calm as possible to hide the fact that I was absolutely petrified inside.

"5K. From all those poker games you've been playing. We've been given orders. If you don't give us the 5K tonight, we've gotta take matters into our own hands and take action,"

"I don't have your boss' 5K. There's not enough money in the til, even if I wanted to pay you,"

"Well, that's bad for us but even worse for you," they stated, closing me in. Before I could register what was going on I felt the full force of a fist colliding with my jaw.

Normal POV

It was getting late and further past the time that Kyle had said that he'd be home for dinner. The dinner Casey had made for everyone was growing cold and everyone was sat around the table beginning to worry.

"You know, maybe we should just go to Angelo's and see if Kyle's alright and wants a lift home," stated Bianca.

"Yeah, he probably just got held up doing accounts and hasn't realised how late it is," added Ricky.

"I don't know, it seems weird that he's taking so long, without even calling," murmured Phoebe, she knew something must be wrong.

"He'll turn up, it's Kyle, he's just a good worker," said Brax, sounding unconvinced.

Nate POV

I had just finished workout at the gym before my overnight shift at the hospital. I found that sleeping in the afternoon and then pumping it out at the gym really helped in making sure I stayed alert for my shift at the hospital.

I looked back over the medical folders in the reception, most of the patients were asleep and my rounds were finished at the moment. So I thought I'd earned myself a little break but that was when I saw an unconscious Kyle being wheeled through to the first available room.

"What happened?"

"John Palmer found him unconscious and bloody on the floor of Angelo's restaurant. Apparently Kyle was the only one left in the building as John was just making sure everything was locked up and everyone was gone before securing the building for the night. John called us," explained a paramedic.

"Okay, push him into the first available trauma room and page Hannah to call Kyle Braxton's family and then assist me in treating him," instructed Nate before rushing to the trauma room and gathering equipment.

normal POV

The Braxtons were still sitting around the table staring at the now cold food Casey had made. No one could eat and the room was only getting more tense.

"Okay, I can't just sit here while not knowing if my boyfriend, who was meant to be home ages ago, is alright! I'm going to go find him!" Phoebe yelled, standing up from the table and beginning to storm to the door.

"Pheebs, wait-" began Ricky, that was when the phone rang and the room became almost silent for the second time in a matter of minutes.

Brax immediately picked up the phone and all anyone else could do was stand quietly and stare at Brax whilst he portrayed a mask of emotions on his face. This seemed to last forever and everyone else in the room was on the verge of nervous breakdowns. When Brax did hang up he was assaulted with worried voices.

"Was that the hospital?"

"Is Kyle at the hospital!"

"is he okay?"

"what happened?"

"can we see him?"

Brax cut them off before their words suffocated them, "yes. That was the hospital, they have Kyle currently in testing. He was assaulted pretty bad and they're still assessing the damage. We can go to the hospital and Hannah and Nate will give us more news as soon as they can before we can hopefully see him!"

The Braxtons all raced into the hospital reception and were a step from tearing the whole place apart when Hannah came up to them.

"Hannah! Is Kyle okay? Can we see him?" Phoebe asked, she was beside herself. Her boyfriend had been attacked at work! He was meant to be safe but once again what she assumed was his family's problems were getting him hurt. This was so much pain and stress for her too and she was seriously beginning to consider an option considered before, leaving Summer Bay for good. Whether Kyle wanted to come or not, she guessed that would have to be his choice.

"Kyle is stable. He suffered some quite intense internal bleeding which we were able to fix before you guys got here. He has a broken arm and some swelling around the knee which will have to be carefully monitored so we can figure out exactly how to treat it. Kyle also sustained some trauma to his head and we shall be keeping a very close eye on him when he wakes to see if this has caused any brain injuries of which we are not aware of," explained Nate.

Ricky paled from those words. Over the years, her and Kyle had gotten much closer and she thought of Kyle almost like a son, she couldn't bear to hear how severely he'd been hurt. She just had to hope with her whole being, hope that Kyle could overcome this. He was a Braxton after all, hard headed. When she turned to comfort Brax, she found that he was no longer by her side. He was screaming and throwing things around as a coping mechanism, was all she could guess. It was hard to see Brax like this, he cared so much about his brothers and his family. Blood and sand.

Heath for once was the calm one, which surprised most of them. Instead of being the one to throw the hissy fit and tantrum, he was grabbing everyone coffee and food from the Diner, constantly checking for updates on Kyle and supporting Phoebe, who was really struggling to cope. Phoebe was taking his focus as being the one to comfort and support, he'd also wanted to check on Casey, who'd been acting very weird and slightly out of character since they'd found about Kyle, but couldn't just leave Phoebe.

Casey stood in the corner whilst they all listened to Hannah. Him and Kyle had had their rough patches but ever since he'd found Kyle in the drainage area behind their house bloody and with a head injury, their relationship had changed a lot. They looked after each other when they were sick and injured and supported do one another's jobs and ideas! He couldn't contemplate the thought that Kyle had been attacked on the floor above his work probably minutes after he'd left for home. If he'd just stayed back for a little longer, a few more minutes, Kyle probably wouldn't be as bad as he was now, lying unconscious on a hospital bed. This was all his fault!

Brax watched as his entire family separated into their own little spaces as they attempted to deal with Kyle's condition and what had happened. He too felt guilty about how he hadn't been there to save his brother from the pain and possibly throw some punches at the bastards who had caused Kyle pain! But Brax had in his head a thought that was absent from the rest of the family, Kyle would be okay, and he wasn't alone. He had his family and a terrific girlfriend. He had a home, support, a stable career and an annoyingly bossy but great girlfriend. Yes, Kyle would be okay, they would all be okay.

Hey guys, thanks for reading. Just a quick note that this fanfiction may be on hiatus for awhile as I've been working on another Fanfiction which I hope to publish soon, that will take my focus in my spare time.

Sorry this took so long to update as all my school work and SACs just piled up and I've had literally no spare time to work on this Fanfiction, as well as all my added oboe practise 😊