Dear "Guest": I'm sad to hear you're upset, though I truly don't understand why. I did mention you... It's right there at the beginning of last chapter. :) Please know that I'm always grateful for any and all of your feedback. And yes, I'm also glad the two younger brothers are now at the hospital and getting treatment. Thanks for still being here despite the fact that I accidentally upset you somehow.

Everyone: thanks for reading and special thanks as always for the kind reviews!

…

When the call had come, Phoebe had just fallen into a light sleep. She had been up again in seconds, relieved when it was Ricky who called to let her know Kyle had reappeared and was now at the hospital.

But Ricky had also warned her. "He's in bad shape, Pheebs," she had said, "don't be too shocked when you see him…"

The words stayed with her even now, as her dad was driving her over to the hospital. It was still early, but dawn was tingeing the world in a beautiful light and Phoebe felt both anxious and exhilarated. Kyle was alive, if badly injured.

She'd get him back, though. She'd get him back.

Resting her head against the cool side window, she watched the town fly by as the noise of her dad's phone jolted her back out of her thoughts.

"I'm sorry," he said, I'll have to take this."

She wasn't really paying attention. He was a lawyer after all, and he always had to answer calls in a timely manner. As long as he kept driving and she would get to see Kyle asap, she didn't mind or care. Until she heard him curse. Frowning over at him, she puzzled over what that could have been about and began listening a bit more closely.

"You didn't hold up your end of the deal. I won't do anything for you until you've taken care of this. I'm headed to the hospital now, and this conversation is over."

He hung up, shooting his daughter an apologetic glance. "Apologies for the language."

"Client of yours? Sounded bad…"

"Eh." He waved her off. "Nothing that should concern you. Let's get you over to your boyfriend now. I'm so glad they finally found him."

Something about his tone sounded almost insincere, but maybe she was being unfair. She knew that her dad had never become a big fan of Kyle or his brothers, but they all had grown to be civil with each other at least.

When the hospital appeared in front of them, she quickly forgot the whole thing. Sitting up straighter in her seat, she dug her fingers into her seatbelt as they drove nearer.

…

"Crap. What I feared." Dr. Monroe shook his head, scrutinizing the images from the MRI. "See this?" He pointed, and Nate nodded, making a face.

"I'm glad we found it now," he said, running a hand through his hair as he realized that he'd need to talk to the boy's brothers about this.

There, quite small yet obviously present, was a brain bleed visible on Kyle Braxton's MRI scans.

"Wanna scrub in for this one, Cooper?"

Not really, no, he didn't. Nate ran a hand over his face. If anything went wrong… But despite his thoughts he heard himself give a borderline enthusiastic "Absolutely," internally cursing himself. What the hell was he thinking? He should try to stay away from the Braxtons and their drama as much as possible.

"Alright." Monroe clapped his hands. "We better hurry. You wanna inform the family again or shall I this time? Those Braxtons sure are fiery, aren't they? One down, one to go." The man chuckled, and Nate raised his eyebrows. "I got it," he said, then quickly got read as his colleague patted his back on his way out.

A long sigh escaped him. Why did he always end up getting involved in the Braxtons' medical ailments?

…

"Heyyyy." Denny smiled down on Casey, but there was a worry hiding behind that smile that gave him a pang.

He had opened his eyes again to see her there. How long she had already been sitting in that chair, holding his hand, he had no idea. But it didn't matter, as long as she was here.

"Hey," he mumbled, trying to smile for her, too, licking his lips when the pain washed over him in another wave, making him wince involuntarily.

"Should I get the nurse?"

"Nah. I'm… I'm fine," he breathed, trying to focus. He didn't want to be drugged yet, didn't want to feel too loopy. He needed to be present for this.

And he was also still waiting for news on Kyle. So he really had to stay alert.

"Denny, I…" He moved his good arm, fumbling with the small box Brax had brought over for him earlier and that he had hidden under his pillow. His beautiful girlfriend gave him an odd look.

"What are you doing? Do you need me to fluff your pillow? Are you… are you uncomfortable? Maybe I should get the nurse-"

She pointed behind her, and he chuckled at the worry and confusion in her face. Chuckling was awfully painful, however, and he gasped, curling a hand over his chest, ready to just roll into a ball and wait this out. But he had no time to lose. If the last few days had taught him anything, it was that time was precious, and he didn't want to wait any longer for this. Grabbing the velvety box, he struggled opening it, and failed, scoffing lightly as he had to resort to just handing it to her like that.

"Denny."

Her eyes widened. "Casey, what is that? What are you doing?"

He knew that maybe he was jumping the gun a little. The moment wasn't exactly the most romantic. He was an awful mess, and they hadn't even talked about the last week yet, but… he had to do this now. He couldn't spend another day without her knowing just how much he loved her, how much he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

"Denny Miller, will you marry me?" he breathed, smiling at her, enjoying the surprised joy in her features as he tried to ignore the pain a little while longer.

"Casey. You just got back from-"

He shook his head, not wanting to let his ordeal marr this moment. "I know. Which is why I know with absolute certainty that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you so much, Denny."

Her features fell a little, tears welling in her eyes. "I thought I lost you," she choked out, looking down until he gently touched her chin, making her look at him.

"I know. Me too… I… I'm not mad if this is not what you want. You don't have to say yes, I just really needed you to know how I feel and-"

"Yes, you idiot! Yes yes yes!" she interrupted him, crying and laughing at the same time as she opened the box and took the ring out so he could put it on her finger.

He beamed back at her, his heart too full. "You sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. Casey Braxton, I will marry you and walk to the end of this earth with you!" As she leaned down to kiss him, careful not to put any weight on him, he took a deep shuddering breath.

He was the luckiest man on this planet.

A flash of dark memories abruptly flashed through his head. Brax's eyes widening as he was shot, Kyle being hit over the head so hard blood spattered everywhere, his wrists hurting as they were forcefully bound to that shelf.

Clutching Denny, he closed his eyes, forcing himself to ban those thoughts. She had said yes. She had said yes… This was a happy moment.

He was happy. He so desperately wanted to be…

…

"... a body in the back of that truck."

"You serious? Gosh, this is all so awful."

"I heard the kid went to school here, too. His brother got arrested."

Hannah was exhausted. Her shift had just ended, and while she was so ready to head home and rest, part of her wanted to stay and at least wait until Kyle was out of surgery. She hoped he'd come out on top. Poor guy had been through enough.

"His brother? Oh no… Hannah, didn't you used to date that guy or something? Were he and his brother on bad terms? - Hannah?"

"Hannah!"

"Huh?" She hadn't really been paying attention to her colleagues from the next shift, but now Renée, the head nurse, had called her name rather loudly, and she turned to look at her with a forced smile. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Don't you know the guy?"

"What guy?" She had no idea what Renée was talking about.

"The one they arrested? The big handsome one that came in with your patient earlier?"

"Andy?" She tried to process what Renée had said. Arrested? Andy had been arrested? "Andy got arrested? When was that? What for?"

"Weren't you listening? I thought you had heard. They found his brother dead in that truck."

Hannah felt like someone had punched her. Josh was dead? Oh God…

"Excuse me," she muttered, shocked, then got up and ran out of the break room and down the hallway. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Josh was dead? Andy had been arrested? Surely he couldn't have anything to do with that…

…

"A brain bleed? Wha- what does that mean? Will he be alright?" Heath shot his oldest brother an anxious look and Brax had to look away and focus on Nate Cooper instead as he felt himself panic. They had just gotten Case back and now this? Another brother needed surgery? Kyle was supposed to be the one with the lesser injuries… He was supposed to be okay…

This hadn't been supposed to be happening at all.

"It sounds scarier than it is," Nate said, his voice so calm as if he was doing this all day long. But it was still freaking brain surgery. "Thankfully we caught it in its early stages."

Standing around Kyle, who lay on his bed, still out after having been sedated and way too pale, Brax couldn't help but touch the kid's hand, run his fingers over his brother's good arm. Being so close to him now, he questioned why the hell he hadn't realized just how bad off Kyle had been. His leg was thickly bandaged, his arm covered with some loose gauze patches in the places where the burns were most severe.

Brax swallowed, looking to Nate again, needing the doc to tell him something good.

"So he should be out of surgery again quickly and be alright, yeah?"

Nate sighed. "Brax…" Then he paused, nodding toward the door at someone. When Brax turned his head, he saw a bunch of nurses coming in and he stepped to the side to let them pass. "I'm sorry," Nate said, "but we need to prep him for surgery now. With injuries like that there's no time to lose."

Brax sniffed, grimacing as he rubbed his forehead in a helpless gesture. Ricky's steady gaze and the touch of her hand on his arm grounded him at least a little bit as the world began tilting once again.

"He's strong," she muttered. "He's got that hard Braxton head…"

He rolled his eyes, wanting to believe it was true, but not trusting it.

"Doc," he called out, watching as Nate went to work, getting ready to wheel Kyle out. "Will he be alright?" he then repeated, waiting for a reply. "Will my brother be alright?"

"I can't make any promises; but the prognosis is good. That's all I can tell you right now. - One thing we'll have to keep in mind, however, is that he's had a head injury before. But let's cross that bridge when we get there. Excuse me now…"

With that, Nate and the nurses began wheeling Kyle out of the room, leaving his family behind, flustered and not at all reassured.

"What the hell does that mean?" Heath asked as he followed their brother a few meters down the hallway, but Brax came after him and stopped him, earning himself a glare.

"Let them do their job."

"I am! I just have some questions, don't you?" Heath looked at him heatedly as he shook him off.

"Yeah, but…" Brax stopped himself. There really wasn't a "but." He was worried, too, he had questions, too many in fact. And now they were forced to wait without answers and hope for the best.

…

They had been waiting a while when Phoebe came rushing down the hallway to meet them in the waiting area. Ricky watched as her friend made her way over, her father in tow, and for some reason the sight of that man gave her an uneasy feeling. Last time poor Kyle had been dealing with a head injury that man had been responsible…

Scoffing softly to herself, she shook her head. This was silly. Of course Mark Nicholson had nothing to do with any of it this time around. Giving her friend a hug and a smile, she prepared herself to take over for the boys and explain what was going on. Already she could tell that Brax didn't have the patience to deal with Phoebe or anyone right now, and Heath had been pacing for an hour straight.

"I'm gonna go see Case," Brax abruptly announced, looking at her with an expression that told her he was doing it for two reasons. Because he was still worried about his baby brother, and because he was terrified for his other little brother and had to distract himself so he wouldn't break.

It had been a lot to deal with, for all of them. But Brax felt responsible in ways no one else did. He had accused Kyle, and while Ricky was still a bit angry at him for that, she understood where he had been coming from. He had projected his own guilt because it was too much to deal with. Both his little brothers were in bad shape, and Brax felt like it was his fault. But it wasn't. It was Jake Pirovic's, and no one else's. And as clearly as she knew that it was true, she also knew that Brax would never truly forgive himself.

And so she let him go. Squeezing his hand, she gave a brief nod, then put an arm around Phoebe and began telling her what she knew…

…

"I'm here for Andy Barrett?" Hannah had just entered the police station and suddenly felt increasingly dumb. She had no idea what she was even doing here. She and Andy hadn't been a thing for a while and there was good reason for that. He had always had a knack for getting himself in trouble and now things had clearly escalated. His brother was dead…

Swallowing, she fumbled with the strap of her purse as she looked at the officer in front of her, who had a big frown on his face.

"He was taken into custody earlier, I believe?" She tried to smile at the man, but her lips began trembling, betraying her.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. If you're not family-"

"I'm his fiancée," she interrupted him, heat flushing into her cheeks as she wondered where the hell that had come from. Fiancée? Had she just lied to a police officer, point blank?

"Oh. I'm sorry, Ms.-"

"Wilson," she offered, cringing inwardly, "Hannah Wilson."

"Ms. Wilson, Mr. Barrett was already released again, on orders not to leave town."

"So he was cleared," she concluded, exhaling loudly with relief. They didn't hold him accountable for his brother's death. Despite all his stuff ups, he at least didn't have this on his conscience.

"He was, yes."

"Thank you," she breathed, then quickly turned around to rush out of the station.

It looked like it was going to be a cloudy day, and she pulled her cardigan closed as the chill of wind made her shiver. Or maybe that cold came from a different place, from inside.

She'd have to look for Andy now, but had no idea where. The Braxton house was the likeliest bet, so she'd start there.

…

But when she eventually found him, it wasn't there. She had been searching for hours, getting more and more worried, when she finally found him sitting in the dunes, hood pulled deep into his face. It had been drizzling for well over an hour by then, but he didn't seem to care. Hannah bit her lip, watching him for a moment before she made her way down there to meet him. He looked so lost…

"Hey, Andy!" she called out, more in order to announce her presence than anything else, but he didn't stir, didn't turn to look at her, not even when she let herself flop down in the sand right next to him.

He was awfully quiet.

"Andy?"

She didn't know what to do, what to say. She didn't even know what she was doing here. But she still loved him, she really did, and her heart was breaking for him. No one should be alone in a situation like this.

Josh had been Andy's life. And now he was dead. Hannah still couldn't believe it.

"I'm so sorry," she muttered, lifting her hand to gently graze his arm, hovering over it for a moment, unsure whether she was allowed to touch him. What if it sent him running away? When that didn't happen, when he didn't move at all, she asked, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Almost imperceptibly, he shook his head and continued staring out at the water.

Hannah felt so tense she was ready to explode. Andy worried her. He was the kind of guy who went over the rails, who punched something when he was hurt or angry. But he was doing neither of those things now.

"Come home with me," she eventually said, but again, he shook his head. "You're soaked. You'll catch a cold or worse out here. Please, Andy." Then, when he just kept sitting and staring, she blurted. "It's not gonna bring him back of you sit out here like this, getting sick, okay?" Her hand flew to her mouth. Shocked at her outburst, she was quick to apologize, was preparing herself for Andy getting really angry now, but then suddenly, his shoulders began moving as he started crying, then sobbing in earnest, pulling away from her at first when she tried to wrap her arms around him, but then he let it happen after all, and she found herself just holding him, holding him until the sobs slowly subsided again.

"It's my fault," he eventually muttered, "I killed him. I stuffed up and I got him killed, I got Josh killed…"

"Oh Andy, it's not your fault," she whispered, over and over again as the drizzle turned into rain, and they both just sat there, Andy clinging to her as she held him.

…

Casey had been sleeping the sleep of the exhausted, scenes from the last few days replaying in his head. When he startled awake again, gasping for air, his lung protested with a searing pain that made him take fast and shallow breaths. It was dark again, somehow night had fallen, just a bit of light coming in from the hallway. He turned his head, spotting Brax sleeping in a chair not far from him, and he had to smile.

The big fella was here almost all the time, and when he wasn't, then Heath was. Casey had told his two big brothers that he was fine, that he didn't need their constant presence, but they had waved him off and ignored his request for some "privacy" and deep down, he was glad about that. Because truth was, he was freaking scared. Almost all the damn time he was scared - that someone would beat one of his brothers to a pulp right in front of him, or that someone would come for him, for Denny, for…

He closed his eyes, digging his palms into them. When he looked again, he suddenly noticed that the bed next to his wasn't empty anymore.

"Kyle," he breathed, trying to sit up a little, but his body wasn't having any of it. Grimacing, he contented himself with turning his head a bit and trying to stretch out his arm to maybe at least touch his brother, but he was too far away. He also looked to be asleep, and Casey figured he should probably let him rest and not try to wake him up. Still, he would have liked to talk to him, if only for a little bit.

But the poor guy needed a break, needed sleep. Like him. Unfortunately, every time he closed his eyes, those images were back in his head. He tried to think of Denny, of their engagement. He tried to think of the plans they had made to elope and travel the world like they had said they wanted to.

And then his eyes would flutter closed and he'd see Jake freaking Pirovic sneering at him, he'd feel the kicks against his ribs again, would hear Kyle yell as the air filled with the smell of burning flesh, and he'd gasp and open his eyes and try to control is breathing for fear of the monitors waking Brax or Kyle.

"You alright, Case?"

Too late. He turned his head, making a face as he saw that Brax was up, stretching in his chair.

"Yeah," he muttered, trying to smile, but Brax didn't buy it, he could tell as much. "Just… dreams," he allowed, more honest than he had wanted to be and his oldest brother nodded.

"Want me to get the nurse to give you something?"

"Nah. I'm fine." Casey wiggled up a little, as much as his chest would allow, until he was almost sitting. "Enough about me. How's Kyle?" he deferred, nodding over to their brother, and Brax ran both his hands through his hair, sighing deeply before leaning back in the chair again.

"Don't know, mate. He's had surgery. Nate said he was supposed to wake up already, but…" Brax trailed off, and Casey understood. There was a lump in his throat.

"What if he doesn't wake up again?"

Brax frowned, then tried to dismiss him like he always did when he wanted to pretend all was well. "Nah, mate, he's a Braxton, he's got Danny's hard head. He'll be fine. He's just taking his sweet time to scare us a little, scare me…"

Casey shot him a puzzled glance. Something in Brax's tone had made him suspicious. "Why would he scare you in particular, huh? I think you're paranoid with your whole "head of the family" gig."

His brother shook his head, suddenly looking older and more worn. Stressed. Exhausted. "I wasn't very… when I heard about you being unconscious, I kinda snapped. I…" He sighed, not quite looking at Casey when he continued. "I may have been a bit harsh asking about what happened to you…"

Casey rolled his eyes. "You didn't say it was his fault, did you?"

The big fella didn't reply, and Casey scoffed. "See, Brax, this is what I don't understand. First, you take the guy in like him trying to kill me was nothing. And I get it now… He was messed up back then, not quite himself. But now, now that he actively tried to get me out and save me, you're accusing him of… of… being responsible for this?"

"I know."

"Brax, you have no idea what happened. You were not there! Jake was torturing us both, okay? He was trying to kill us and taking a video of it so that you would have to watch it! Kyle had nothing to do with any of-"

"I know, alright?! I know!" Brax had jumped up, half yelling over Casey now. He obviously had a very hard time listening to any of the things Case was telling him, but he needed to hear it. He…

"Everything alright in here?" Hannah was poking her head in, looking concerned and a bit judgmental. Casey almost chuckled when Brax apologized and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. We were just having a conversation."

Hannah raised an eyebrow. "You can't have a conversation this loud, not in the ICU," she reprimanded them and both boys nodded. "You need me to give you anything for the pain, Casey?"

He shook his head, giving her a grateful smile nonetheless. "Nah, I'm alright. Thanks, though."

"Can you give him something so that he can sleep?"

Casey glared over at Brax, but Hannah nodded and quickly went out. "I'll be right back…"

As soon as she had left, Casey confronted his big brother. "What the hell, Brax? I'm fine."

"You're not, Case, alright? Get some sleep and we'll talk tomorrow."

"What about Kyle?"

"What about him?"

Casey swallowed, unsure of how to say it. "You sure he's gonna wake up again?"

Brax licked his lips, inclining his head a little. He smiled a small smile at Casey, just as Hannah came back in. Then he said, "Absolutely."

…

Brax watched as Casey dozed off quickly, watched Hannah go over to Kyle and check on him, and he sighed. His brothers looked so peaceful, and yet that impression was deceiving. Nate had warned him that his youngest brother needed to take it very easy, that there was a high danger of him developing pneumonia, which would be a lot for his battered body. So they had to encourage him to use the little device he was given to ensure he was taking deep enough breaths despite the pain.

And then there was Kyle. Kyle, who had had successful brain injury and yet he wasn't waking up at the expected time, was still out, almost a day later, and Brax was growing more and more worried by the minute.

Phoebe had been there earlier, had sat with her boyfriend for a long time, crying softly, until Ricky and Heath had persuaded her to go rest at home a little.

"You should leave, too, get some sleep. I promise I'll keep an eye on them." Hannah had walked up to him, patting his shoulder lightly after she had finished her work for the moment, and Brax nodded up at her, grateful that it was her on duty and not someone the boys didn't know.

"Thanks," he muttered, "I'll stay a little longer. Heath should be here soon…"

"Okay…" Hannah smiled, then moved to leave the room, until Brax called her back, a sudden question begging to be asked.

"You think he'll wake up tomorrow?"

Hannah frowned. "Kyle?"

"Yeh…"

"I'm not sure, Brax. But he's strong. The surgery went really well, and Nate is very hopeful. Kyle's body might just need the extra rest right now…" She looked at Brax, genuine smile still in place. "Once he's up, we'll probably have a hard time keeping him in bed, so maybe it's a blessing…"

She was most likely right, and Brax had to grin at the thought. Kid was gonna give them all trouble soon enough, he already knew that.

"Thanks," he muttered, then repositioned himself in his chair.

"Um," Hannah stammered, lingering by the door frame, and Brax returned his focus to her.

"Can I ask you a question, too?"

"Sure, yeah. Shoot." He had no idea what this would be about, but he admittedly enjoyed a bit of company. Ricky was back home, hopefully getting rest. With all the stress, she had had some cramps earlier and a quick visit to the doctor had told them that she needed to get off her feet. She had already lost one baby - and he hadn't been there then - and he was not going to let that happen again if he could help it.

Hannah jolted him back, looking a little uncomfortable now.

"Uh, It's about Andy…"

His features darkened, something she seemed to be picking up on.

Shrugging, she half turned. "Never mind, maybe-"

"What is it, Hannah? You can tell me."

She sighed. "I know you're probably angry at him, and rightly so, he got himself and your family in real trouble again, but… I was wondering… You know, since Josh died, he's been…" She paused, fussing with her hands. Brax pressed his lips together. He still needed to talk about this to Casey. Poor kid didn't know about Josh yet…

"He doing alright?" he then asked, already knowing the answer despite Hannah's stuttering.

"No." She shook her head, looking sad. "I don't know how to help him. I know it's asking a lot, but I was wondering whether you could have a talk with him?"

He thought about that. She was right, he was still angry at Andy for the stuffed up mess he had landed them all in. Casey could have died, Kyle could have died. But deep down he knew that it wasn't really Andy's fault. Jake would have found his way to hurt them sooner or later, the way through Andy had just accelerated things. Now the poor bloke had lost his brother because of it, because of a feud between the Braxton and Pirovic families, and Brax had to admit that he did feel sorry for the kid.

"I'm sorry, this was a bad idea. I'll leave you to it."

"No, Hannah," Brax called her back, and she turned to look at him again. "I'll… I'll talk to him. He staying with you?"

She nodded. "For now…"

"Alright." He sniffed, rubbing the back of his nose as he thought. "Once Heath is here, I'll stop by your place, alright? I can't promise anything, though. He might not even wanna talk to me."

"I know." The smile was back. "Thank you," she breathed, then she was really gone and he was alone again with his sleeping brothers and a host of dark thoughts. Too many people had suffered, were still suffering. When would this end?