Sorry for the delay with the new chapter, I've had a very busy couple of weeks. Hope it is worth the wait and thank you again for the kind reviews.

Chapter Seven: The Desert

Brax and Heath passed the morning talking about footy. Reliving the tries they had both managed to score this season along with the victories their teams had claimed. It was a welcome distraction from their current surroundings. Brax did not know how he was going to survive a whole week in hospital because after only a few hours he was going crazy.

"My boys!" both boys looked up at the sound of their mother's shrill voice. Cheryl Braxton walked into the room carrying a baby capsule and flung her free arm around Heath. Following closely behind her was a subdued looking Danny. Cheryl handed the capsule to Danny and walked over to her eldest son. "Darryl, you look terrible. Awh…. give ya mum a hug!" Cheryl wrapped her arms around Brax and he winced in pain. "Who did this to you?" she barked.

"No one, just drop it mum." Brax gave his mother a telling look that needed no deciphering and left her in no doubt as to what had happened.

"My brave boy!" Cheryl planted a kiss on Brax's forehead. She turned to Heath, "Have you been looking after your big brother for me Heath?"

"Yes mum!" Heath replied.

"You're a good boy," Cheryl stated as she kissed her middle son on the cheek. Heath grimaced.

"Leave em' alone will ya woman!" Danny snapped gruffly.

"Well you're in quite a mood aren't ya?" Cheryl snapped back at her husband.

"I hate this place! Too many busybodies pokin' their noses in our business! C'mon Darryl, you've done enough lyin' around now, I want to get outta this joint." Danny stated.

"They wont let me go Dad." Brax informed his father.

"What are you, a pansy or somethin'? I don't give a stuff what some doctor says. You're fine and we're all leavin'!" Danny shouted.

The raised voices caught the attention of Dr Sidney Jones and he walked into Brax's room just in time to see him trying to remove his chest tube. "Darryl! What do you think you are doing?" he rushed over and made sure the tube was still in place and no damage had been done.

"We're leavin' and Darryl is comin' with us!" Danny snarled at the doctor.

"No, I'm afraid that is not possible. He is not well enough to go home yet Mr Braxton. He needs to stay in hospital to be medicated and monitored."

"We'll monitor him at home." Danny yelled.

"Oh for gawd sake Danny just listen to em will ya. Darryl's stayin'." Cheryl finally interrupted. She had come to rely on her eldest son far too much and the guilt she felt seeing him like this was immense. It would be some relief to know he could have a few days break regardless of how much she needed him.

"Alright alright calm down woman!" Danny grumbled. He turned to Brax "Stay here boy and we'll get ya later." Danny conceded that this was a fight he was not going to win.

"Can I stay too Dad?" Heath asked.

"NO!" the force in which Danny replied made Heath jump slightly.

"Darryl will need to stay in hospital for about a week Mr and Mrs Braxton. You will need to contact his school and let them know that he may not be well enough to go back for at least a couple of weeks. We will look after your son and you can visit as often as you like." Dr Jones explained.

The doctor left the room and the silence was broken by the cry of the newest addition to the family. "How is he going mum?" Brax asked as he looked down at the capsule, which Danny had placed on a chair. He tried desperately to get a glimpse of his new little brother but he was wrapped up in a blanket and too hard to see.

"He is a fightin' fit Braxton, just like his older brothers!" Cheryl exclaimed proudly.

"Have you given him a name yet?" Brax asked. He still remembered when Heath was born and he was nameless for about a week. His father didn't care enough and his mother had quickly slipped into a deep depression upon the arrival of her second son. Brax had started calling him Heath because that was the name of the fastest runner in their street who he idolised and Cheryl was in such a haze at that time that she did not question it.

"No, not yet!" Cheryl replied.

"Enough of all this yappin', let's get outta here!" Danny was growing impatient and he snatched the baby capsule, gave Heath a shove and started heading for the door.

"OK, OK!" Cheryl snapped at her husband before turning to her eldest son and resting her hand on his arm. "Bye Darryl! Be good!" Brax watched as his family left the room. Heath looked back at him and Brax could see the worry in his eyes before Cheryl ushered him out of the room. He hated being stuck in this hospital bed. So helpless and with double the worry now that he had another brother to shield from Danny's wrath and Cheryl's neglect.

Danny stormed down the corridor with his wife and sons in toe. He immediately stopped as he was confronted with a disturbing sight. Two police officers were deep in conversation with some of the hospital staff. He let out a sigh. After spending most of the previous evening at the cop shop he thought that he was in the clear. He should have known that they would not give up a chance to nail him that easily. His oldest son knew the code well, but it did not stop Danny from feeling uneasy. Darryl would be here alone all week, pumped full of painkillers and therefore vulnerable to crack. Violence against children was not something that the courts let off lightly. Even if the child in question had it coming! Danny turned to Cheryl, "Somethin' I forgot to do, go wait in the car!" He shoved the capsule at his wife and headed back towards his son's room.

Brax closed his eyes. It was wishful thinking that he would be able to get any sleep while he was helplessly stuck in this place but he needed to try, if only to get some relief from the pain. He heard footsteps enter his room and he opened his eyes to see his father closing the door behind him. Danny approached his son and took a seat at the base of the bed. Brax stared at his father and noted his changed expression from only a few minutes earlier. He knew what was coming!

"What do you want dad?"

"Don't be like that Darryl. I just want to talk to me first born." Danny replied in his softest tone. Brax continued to look his father in the eyes and slightly nodded. Danny continued, "Right, well….I…um, I'm sorry things got a bit outta hand the other night." Brax remained silent. There was no point in pretending to alleviate the non-existent guilt his father was feeling. "The coppers are askin' questions and I need ya to keep ya mouth shut." Danny whispered. Brax stayed silent. "Did ya hear me boy?" Danny's calm was starting to break.

"Yes!" Brax mumbled.

"I've been thinkin'…..now that your brother has been born, we should take that trip I have been promisin' ya. A boys trip. Just you, me and Heath." Danny began. "I was about your age when me old man used to tell me stories about his trip to the desert."

"Nanburrula." Brax quietly interrupted.

"Yes, Nanburrula! I've never forgotten his tales of that place. Space as far as the eye can see. You can drive for miles and not see another living soul. And the colours…..they are so…." Danny trailed off. He was in his own world. The desert clearly held a special meaning for him. The only time that Danny sounded like he cared about anything was when he was talking about this place in the desert.

"Anyway…..we can camp out under the stars, next to Dead Man's Tree." Danny reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded, worn bit of paper from an old calendar. On the crumpled bit of paper was a picture that Brax knew well. A solitary tree, surrounded by miles of red earth, with not a single leaf. "This tree is famous because it's the only tree that survived when the river changed its course. It survives year after year with no water and exposed to all the elements the desert throws at it. Nothin' can kill it, it just hangs in there….." Danny said while wistfully staring at the picture. "What do ya say to a Braxton desert adventure?"

What could Brax say? He had listened to his father's empty promises for his entire life. When he was eight, he packed a bag for their desert adventure and had waited on their front porch with his backpack ready everyday after school for three weeks straight. He would sit there in anticipation, everyday thinking that today would be the day- the day that his father would come home and whisk him away to the desert. Just the two of them, camping under the stars. And everyday his father would come home with a different excuse or sometimes he wouldn't bother to give any excuse at all. Danny eventually got tired of the charade and during one of his rowdy house parties in their backyard, him and his mates had poured alcohol on Brax's backpack and lit it on fire. Tears poured down Brax's face as Danny and his mates roared with laughter at the shattering of his dream. That was the day that Brax stopped believing in pretty much everything. Everything except his little brother's innocence. With flames flashing before his eyes and cruel laughter ringing in his ears, Brax vowed to himself that Heath would never have to feel the way Brax himself did that night.

"Well….what do you say boy? As soon as you get outta here, we hit the road to Nanburrula!"

"Yep," Brax finally replied. It was easier to just play along with Danny's mind games.

"Good! Now ya just gotta keep ya mouth shut and I'll start plannin' our trip, so that we're ready to go when ya get home." Danny slapped his son on the shoulder and started walking back over to the door. Before opening the door, he turned back around towards his son. "And Darryl, you do also know what happens if you don't keep your mouth shut right?"

Brax nodded. That was unfortunately something he knew all too well!