Chapter 11
Thank you to those of you who reviewed my last chapter, FrankElza, Thay, Guest and BluePeacocke, I really appreciate your lovely reviews and as always enjoy reading them. Thanks to those who are also following my story. I hope there isn't too much drama going on for you but I like a lot of drama as I find it keeps me interested in writing.
Onto my next chapter and I hope you enjoy reading and as always I look forward to reading your reviews. Thanks again Sandy
Casey woke up the following morning and quietly slipped outside the tent without waking up Brax. It was late by the time Brax got to sleep, he had laid on his sleeping bag for hours thinking over and over about the nightmares Casey was having. The funny thing about it was Casey seemed to get on with things during the day as everyone else would, it just seemed it was by night that the event off that day played in his mind.
Casey routed through the boxes until he found some cereal and a bowl and a spoon. He poured in some milk on top of the cereal and sat down on one of the fold out chairs as he munched into his cereal. He stood up to get a drink of juice when he thought he saw what looked like someone watching through the trees in the distance but then they vanished.
"Good morning mate" Brax said as he arrived out behind Casey putting his hand on Casey's shoulder which caused Casey to jump with fright. "Everything all right" he questioned.
"Everything is fine" smiled Casey as he looked over through the trees where he thought he saw a person standing, but shook his head when there was nothing there, thinking to himself he was just being paranoid. "So what's on the agenda today" he asked Brax as he sat back down on the chair with a carton of juice.
"I don't really mind, whatever you want to do" replied Brax as he sat down on the other chair with another carton of juice "Maybe, we could go and see that lake you found yesterday"
"Sounds good to me" smiled Casey
Phoebe woke up once again not feeling too great, she had spend a lot of the night in and out of the bathroom with diarrhea and felt extremely tired so decided to remain in bed for a while longer. She finally managed to pull herself out of bed around midday and slowly walked out to the kitchen.
"Hey! good morning" smiled Ricky as she stood up from where she was sitting in the conservatory to join Phoebe in the kitchen.
Phoebe filled herself a glass of water and sat down on a chair at the breakfast table. "I think my symptoms are progressing" Phoebe stated with a saddened look across her face.
"Maybe, its' just the tablets aren't agreeing with you" replied Ricky "We should pop into the hospital and see can they change your medication, what do you think?"
"I am scared, not for myself but for my little unborn baby" said Phoebe as a tear escaped down her cheek "Who is going to take care of it, be there when he/she is sad and lonely. What have I done Ricky?" cried out Phoebe
"You have to remain positive" demanded Ricky as she moved over to Phoebe wrapping her arms around her as Phoebe sobbed out loudly.
After a few minutes Phoebe pulled back out of Ricky's grip and looked straight into her eyes "Can you promise me my little baby will always have what he/she needs in life" Phoebe spoke softly
"She will have everything that a kid will need because you are going to the best mum, and you are going to be there for that little baby" replied Ricky as she wiped away a tear that escaped down her face "We will get through this together"
Kyle sat down after the lunch rush with a bottle of beer, he had woken up this morning with a headache and a sore throat something he wouldn't have experienced in quite some time. When Liam arrived in for his shift, Kyle left the restaurant immediately and headed home.
He sat down on the couch and pulled the laptop up onto his knees. He paused for a minute before he typed into the google search 'Symptoms of HIV Virus'
Kyle remained still as he read the symptoms over and over again trying to digest what was listed in front of him. He stood up from the couch and went straight to the fridge to take out another bottle of beer but instead opened up the press and took out a bottle of bourbon and a glass. He sat on the couch pondering in his thoughts for a while before he opened up the bottle, pouring himself a glass and started to drink it.
"Wow! This is fabulous Case" stated Brax as he stood looking out at the lake "How about we go for a swim"
"Am, I don't think that would be a great idea" said Casey
"Come on mate! That's what we came out here for was some fun and how better to get rid of a fear of something but to deal with it head on" stated Brax
"What fear, I dont have any fear" stated Casey
"I think you still have a fear of the crocodiles" chuckled Brax as he shoved Casey into the lake.
"Nice one Brax, you will pay for that when I get out of here" stated Casey.
Both Braxton brothers spent some time swimming in the lake, laughing and joking unaware that someone in the distance was observing there every move.
When they arrived back at the campsite Brax suggested that Casey should go and gather some dry twigs to start a camp fire. Casey was still a little apprehensive about what he thought he saw in the morning but didn't want to alarm Brax about what was possible nothing
"We should do it together, isn't that what we came out here for was to work as a team" smiled Casey
"OK, give me a sec" replied Brax before both of them headed off to gather some twigs.
Once Brax had started the fire, Casey took out his diabetes pack to check his sugar levels, he then injected himself into the abdomen with some insulin. Casey turned suddenly towards the trees as he felt he could feel the presence of someone watching them.
"Everything alright Case you seem a bit intense there" questioned Brax who noticed Casey had become a bit pale.
"Am, I think someone is out there" replied Casey still looking over at the trees.
"Where" replied Brax as he stood beside Casey staring ahead "I don't see anything mate, I think you may have swallowed too much of that water from the lake today" chuckled Brax as he gave a slight shove to Casey.
Phoebe and Ricky arrived into the Yabbie Creek Hospital "Could we see Dr. Walker" questioned Ricky when they got into reception.
"I am sorry but Dr. Walker is on holidays at the moment, but I can get you Dr. Nate Cooper instead" replied the receptionist.
"Yes Dr. Cooper will be fine" nodded Ricky before she sat next to Phoebe placing her hand on Phoebes hand for support.
A little later Dr. Nate Cooper appeared out and directed the ladies into the examination room. "What can I do for you he questioned?" looking at both woman.
"It's for me, I am the patient" Phoebe replied
"If you would like to take a seat outside for a few minutes I will have a chat with your friend" replied Nate. After Nate had finished examining Phoebe and scanned through the notes from the City Hospital he decided to admit Phoebe to get the diarrhea under control in case she because dehydrated with would cause more problems.
"How is she doing" questioned Ricky when she saw Nate coming back out to reception with some files in his hands
"I am going to admit your friend for a few days. Do you know if she spoke to a Councillor or someone for support, I think she may be a little depressed"
"I don't think so" replied Ricky "but she is definitely going to be OK"
"Your friend has HIV and the fact that she is pregnant, omits us from giving her any sort of stronger medication to deal with the virus more effectively. But what we can give her will help to an extent until after the baby is born" replied Nate before he headed back into Phoebe.
Heath arrived back to a strong smell of alcohol and Kyle knocked out on the couch "What the hell Kyle" questioned Heath but Kyle remained unresponsive. Heath just locked the front door, turned off the lights and headed to bed leaving Kyle asleep on the couch.
The following morning Heath arrived out from his bedroom "Oi! Get up you" he shouted at Kyle.
Kyle stirred on the couch and opened his eyes to a throbbing headache
"What the hell were you celebrating last night" questioned Heath as he grabbed the empty bottle off bourbon disposing it into the bin.
Kyle stood up with his hand to his head trying to elevate the pain.
"Hey Kyle, where are you off to now" demanded Heath as he saw Kyle head out the front door.
"No of your business" snapped Kyle.
Heath went over to the table and noticed the laptop was still powered on, he opened it up and saw "Symptoms of HIV Virus" "No Kyle, no mate you cant have it" stated Heath as she shook his head.
Brax experienced another night of Casey's nightmare which lasted about the same length as the one the night before. He wanted to question Casey about it but wasn't sure if Casey would even remember any of it. He picked up his phone and saw a message from Heath
"You need to get back here, Kyle thinks he has HIV and is gone off the rails. I cannot handle this Brax so get back here ASAP"
When Casey woke up Brax informed him of the bad news that they had to head home earlier than planned but he didn't reveal what the problem was of course. Casey who was still a bit jittery was almost happy to head off.
Once they had loaded everything into the UTE, both Braxtons sat in and left the campsite unknown to either of them a Man that was watching them was sitting inside a red van pulled in a by road.
Heath was sitting at the kitchen table doing up the books for the Gym when Kyle came wobbling in.
"I don't believe it, you have gone and got wasted this early in the day" stated Heath as he stood up from the table "What is Brax going to say when he gets back"
"Who cares what anyone has to say" mumbled Kyle "You are not the one who has to deal with having HIV it is me or Casey" shouted out a drunken Kyle
Heath stood with his mouth opened as did Brax and Casey who remained standing at the front door.
"What's he saying Brax" questioned Casey who had tears forming "What does it mean that him or me will have to deal with HIV"
"He is drunk Casey, he doesn't have a clue what he is saying" replied Brax in a stern look on his face
"Get real Brax" blurted out Kyle as he waddled from the table over to the back of the couch "He needs to know the truth" chuckled Kyle as he turned to face Casey. "You have been awarded with the possibility of having HIV from your one night stand with my ex-Phoebe" appalled Kyle before he fell onto the couch.
Casey stared at Brax and Heath who were both standing there saying nothing.
"I got it now" stated Casey "Those bloods, they weren't for diabetes were they" he demanded "And Sasha taking off like that, Sid knew the truth didn't he"
When Brax didn't respond Casey shoved him up to the jam of the door with both his hands gripping on Brax's shirt "Tell me Brax, tell me the truth?" he demanded as the tears streamed down his face.
Brax just shook his head and said "I am sorry mate, I was just trying to protect you"
Casey let go of Brax's shirt and shook his head before he rushed out the door, and walked swiftly along the footpath.
"Why the hell did you let him get this wasted" shouted an angry Brax at Heath
"I am sorry mate, he just got up this morning and headed off. It wasn't until afterwards that I found out he was looking up the symptoms of HIV.
"I need to find Case" replied Brax as he went to head out the door
"Maybe, you should give him some space, he will need to get his head around it" replied Heath
"This is not good" snapped Brax as he put both of his hands up to his head taking deep breaths.
Casey walked along by the bench at the bus stop, tears streaming down his face. He fell to the ground, his mobile phone fell out of his hand onto the grass. A few seconds later he slightly came around when he felt someone grab him from behind putting there hands under his arms dragging his feet along the ground.
He knew he was being shoved into something but his head hurt so much from what ever they had used to knock him out. He felt dreary again and everything went all black as the door of the van closed.
"I can't hang around here anymore I am going out to search for him" stated Brax and you stay here with him as he pointed to Kyle who was totally out of it on the couch. Brax tried to dial Casey's mobile number again, it lay there on the grass under the bench at the bus stop ringing.
"Casey it's me mate, please come back so we can talk" spoke Brax softly into the voice messaging service.
Casey finally woke up but found his hands were restrained behind his back. He found himself in what looked like a run down old shed. He felt scared and his head hurt so badly as fear ran through his body.
"Hello Casey, its been a long time" spoke a person that stood in the corner of the shed.
Casey turned his head and looked in the direction of the voice, his legs began to shake as the tears streamed down the teenager's face.