Chapter 25.

Max walked back into the house several hours later, having received an ear bashing from Phil when he got back to the car lot. He hated working for the man but he was good at his job... which he was sure was the only reason he still had his job at the moment. Tanya was in the kitchen, finishing their tea as he kissed her on the cheek. "You're late tonight, sweetheart..." she said softly.

"Had to make up the time for this morning..." he explained. "Where's Joey?"

"In the lounge, playing with his fire-engine with Bear." She said, "Can you get him ready for dinner? Tea's nearly done."

"Yeah, I'll get changed as well..." he said. He walked into the lounge and found Joey playing with his cars and fire truck, Bear sitting beside him. "Time to tidy those away now, Joey. It's nearly dinner time."

"Okay, daddy Maxy..." he said, getting to his feet and putting the cars away in the toybox.

"Good boy..." Max said, he held his arms out towards him and Joey toddled over, "Let's go and wash your hands for dinner, eh?" he said as he picked his nephew up. They walked upstairs and into the bedroom, Max removing his shirt and tie and putting on a T-shirt and jumper instead. Joey sat quietly on the bed, waiting for him to be ready. "Did you have a nice afternoon with mummy?" Max asked. Joey nodded, not venturing to say anything. Once Max was dressed he lifted Joey off the bed again and they went into the bathroom, Joey standing on a little stool so he could wash his hands for dinner. Max washed his hands too and then dried both their hands on a towel.

He carried Joey back down the stairs and into the dining room. He lowered Joey into the high chair and strapped him in, putting the tray in front of him and Bear in the seat next to him. Max sat at the table and poured a glass of wine for him and Tanya, although hers was only small. She walked into the room and put a large plate and Joey's plate in front of her husband. "Can you cut that up for Joey?" she asked before turning back to the kitchen for her own food.

Joey started to stab at the food on his plate once Max put it in front of him but after a couple of minutes he put down the spoon and used his hand instead. "Use your spoon, Joey... not your hand..." Max said.

"No..." Joey said, picking up a piece of chicken in his fist and stuffing it into his mouth.

"Joey..." Max said firmly.

"Max..." Tanya whispered, her hand resting on his, to try and calm him down.

He glanced at her, "No, Tan... he needs to learn when he has to do as we tell him to." Max said firmly but being careful not to raise his voice. He turned back to Joey, "Joey, use your spoon..." he repeated. Joey stared at Max and then dropped his fork onto the tray and started to use that hand too. He looked at Max quickly and smiled at him. Max reached over and took the plate off his tray, "Are you going to eat properly, like a good boy?" he asked, keeping the plate out of reach of the small boys outstretched hands. Joey looked at Tanya for support but she was just watching the pair and wondering how far Max was going to take this. Max put the plate on the dining room table and turned back to his meal. "Eat, Tan..." he said softly.

"But..."

He looked at her and Tanya could see the pain on his face, "Eat..." he almost whispered. The faint sound of sobbing soon began from the high chair but Max ignored it.

"Max..." Tanya whispered, her heart breaking at the noise Joey was making. Her hormones and the pitiful noise Joey was making bringing tears to her own eyes.

"Eat..." he repeated. She did as he said but it was difficult going. Joey was crying really hard now and he kept looking at Max, hoping to find him watching him.

"I's sorry, daddy Maxy..." he eventually sobbed as Max nearly finished his food.

Max put down his cutlery and looked at Joey. "Are you going to eat properly if I give you your plate back?" he asked.

"Can daddy Maxy help me?" he asked in a whisper.

Max dragged the high chair closer to his chair. "Can you pass me a wipe, babe?" he asked Tanya. She reached for the pack of wet wipes on the side and he cleaned Joey's hands and face. "And a tissue?" he said gently. Again she gave one to him and he wiped Joey's cheeks and made him blow his nose, until he resembled the boy who'd sat down to eat his tea earlier. "How about a compromise, Joey?"

"What's a conpomise?"

"If two people fight with each other, sometimes they reach a decision that's in the middle of what they were fighting about. Now I want you to eat your dinner and you want me to help you... so if I was to say to you, you feed yourself one forkful of food... and then I'll do a spoonful..." He looked at Joey, "Does that make sense?" he asked. Joey nodded, picking up his fork. Max put the plate back on the tray of the high chair and picked up the spoon, "You go first, Joey..." he said softly. Joey carefully stabbed the fork into a piece of potato and lifted it to his mouth. He chewed it and then swallowed it. Max took the spoon and scooped up some peas, moving it to just in front of his mouth. Joey opened his mouth and Max popped it inside, "Good boy..." he whispered. They continued in the same pattern for a few minutes, Joey's food gradually disappearing off the plate. Max noticed he was holding the fork awkwardly and when he stabbed the fork into a piece of chicken, he saw the wince on his face appear and quickly disappear again. "What's wrong?"

"Hurts..." he whispered, biting his lip.

"Your hand?" Max asked, guilt hurtling through his body as Joey nodded.

"And my arm..." he admitted, putting his fork back on the tray.

"Let me see..." Max said. Joey held out his arm and it was hard for either of them to miss the wince from him as Max looked at his hand and arm. "How long has this been hurting?" Max asked him softly.

"Since paygoup..." Joey whispered, not looking at either of them.

"I think we need to go to the hospital, Joey." Max said. "I think you might have broken your arm." He said. "Why didn't you tell us it hurt?"

"Din't want you to be koss with me..." he whispered.

Max was lost for words at what Joey had just said and he removed the tray on the high chair, unstrapping him and then lifting him from where he sat and pulling him over to his lap. He hugged him tightly, trying to make sure he didn't cause Joey any further pain, "Let's go and get your arm sorted, okay?" Max said softly. He turned to Tanya, "Are you okay to drive or shall we call Jack?"

"I think we should get Jack..." Tanya said. Even though she hadn't had more than a sip of her wine she didn't enjoy driving very much now she was more heavily pregnant and found it quite uncomfortable. She went to grab the phone and made a quick call while Max got Joey's coat and slipped it on his right arm and around his shoulders. He then put Joey's trainers on his feet before hugging him again.

"I'm sorry for making you cry, little man..." he told the small boy softly, the guilt he felt had been climbing for a long time. "I had a bad day at work today. I wanted to punch my boss like you did those bullies at playgroup today but grownups can't do things like that so I was in a bad mood. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I'm very sorry..."

"I's sorry too, daddy Maxy... I should eat my food proply... daddy used to tell me off for paying wif it too..." He looked up at Max, his eyes wide. "I's still a bit hungwy..." he whispered.

"Let's finish your food while we wait for Uncle Jack, okay?" Max said. Joey nodded and Max went back to the dining room table, sitting Joey on his lap for speed. He fed him the remaining mouthfuls of peas, chicken and potatoes. All that was left on the plate were the carrots – which Max knew Joey didn't particularly like, so he was prepared for a battle to get them eaten. "Can you eat the carrots, Joey?" he asked as he scooped up one and held it in front of his mouth.

"Cawwots are nasty..." Joey whispered, shaking his head.

"How about you eat one and then I'll eat one?" Max cajoled.

Joey thought about it, "Can I feed you?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

"Only if you promise to eat all the carrots..." Max said, smirking at him as Joey nodded his head. Striking while the iron was hot he placed the spoon back in front of his mouth and Joey opened his mouth and accepted the spoonful. Max then scooped up the next carrot and passed the spoon to Joey, who tried to take it with his bad hand, "Use your right hand, Joey." Max advised and when Joey looked at him with a frown on his face, "Use your other hand..." he amended, realising Joey didn't know his right from his left. Joey held the spoon up towards Max and Max dipped his head and took the carrot. Joey giggled as Max chewed it and then swallowed it. The whole process started again from there on. On the third round of carrots Jack and Tanya walked into the lounge, both of them smiling as they heard the giggling from Joey as he fed another carrot to his daddy Maxy. "Just one more carrot, Joey," Max said as he chased it around the plate. Once he'd caught it Joey obediently ate it and they were done. "When we get home, assuming it's not too late, maybe we can have some pudding..." he said softly and was rewarded with a big grin from Joey.

The family made their way out of the house, Max pausing briefly to pick up Bear from the high chair and then he fastened Joey into his car seat and got in the back of the car with him, talking to Joey softly as the car wove through the streets. Max and Tanya both got out of the car and went into the A&E department while Jack went to park in the car park. Tanya registered Joey at the reception and they went to sit down. Jack joined them a few minutes later.

The casualty department was fortunately quite quiet and it only took about forty minutes before a nurse came through and called out for Joey. Joey was, by this stage dozing against Max's shoulder as it was past his bedtime and it had been a tiring day. Max woke him up as they followed the nurse through to the triage area.

"What seems to be the problem with Joseph then?" the nurse asked with a smile.

"Joey got into a fight with some bigger boys at his playgroup this morning and it was only an hour or so ago that he told us he was in pain so we brought him down here," Max explained. Tanya stepped forward and helped Joey take his coat off.

The nurse examined Joey's arm and hand, paying particular attention to his wrist. "How bad is the pain, Joey?" she asked him softly.

"Is very bad..." he whispered, wincing as she moved his hand.

"Why didn't you say anything to your mummy and daddy when you first hurt it?" she asked.

"Daddy gets koss when I say I hurt..." Joey said innocently.

Max groaned, seeing the nurse look at him sharply, a frown and anger both clear on her face. "It's not how it sounds, Joey's daddy is my brother... he's a bad man who we've recently found out hurt Joey and Joey's mummy and is currently in prison awaiting his case to be heard in Court." Max explained. "Joey has been living with me and my wife since Christmas Eve and he's still adjusting to normal family life and learning how we'll react to things he does and says."

"And his mummy?" she asked tentatively.

"Mummy's dead..." Joey said, "We put her in the gound last week... but I got too sad at the church so Unca Gant looked afer me while mummy Tan and daddy Maxy were at the funral."

The nurse smiled at him, sympathy on her face but she had at least relaxed slightly since Max had explained the situation. "Well, Joey... we're going to have to get an X-ray done but I think you've broken your wrist." She told him. "You're a very brave boy because I know that must be pretty painful."

Joey shrugged, wincing again as the movement jostled his wrist, "I's had worse..." he said and the nurse looked again at Max and Tanya, shock on her face which softened slightly as she saw the obvious anxiety on theirs.

"Okay, well maybe... daddy..." she glanced at Max and he nodded in confirmation that was correct, "can carry you down to the X-ray department and we can take a special picture of your arm to make sure that I'm correct," she said, "then when you come back here I'll put a bandage on it."

"Why's it peshal?" Joey asked.

"Well, you see the camera takes a picture but when we see it on the screen afterwards, it'll show me the insides of your arm... I'll get to see your bones. That's pretty cool, right?" she asked Joey.

Joey nodded, "Can I see it too?" he asked.

"I'm sure that will be okay." She agreed.

"Will it hurt?"

"What? The X-ray?" she asked and he nodded his head. "No it won't, Joey... but you will have to stay very still while we take it. And mummy won't be able to come with us because X-rays aren't very good for the baby."

"Mummy better stay wif Unca Jack..." Joey said. Max smiled at him and picked him up. Joey leant forward and kissed Tanya on the cheek, "See you soon... look afer baby, mummy Tan... don't want baby to be poorly, not never."

"Let's get you better and we'll worry about baby when he or she is here, okay?" Tanya said softly.

The nurse led the two of them to the X-ray department and she made a game of putting an apron on him so he didn't get a dose of radiation anywhere other than his arm. Max was also given protection to wear as Joey wouldn't let him leave the room. The X-rays only took a few minutes to do and then Max and Joey walked back to the waiting room. Joey held Max's hand as they walked down the corridor, his head turning every now and again to look at everything around them.

The four Branning's sat for about twenty minutes before the nurse reappeared. She took Max and Joey back through to the triage area. "Well I was right, Joey... you have officially broken your wrist. So I need to put a cast on your hand and arm which will protect it and keep it in place while it's healing."

"Can I see my picture?" Joey asked.

"Of course you can." She stepped towards him and lifted him off the bed, lowering him to the floor and then taking his right hand and walking with him towards a nearby computer screen. Max followed behind them. She typed in a few things on the keyboard and an x-ray image appeared on the screen. "Here's the picture of your hand and arm..." she said, pointing towards the image. "Can you see that dark line across your wrist?" she asked him softly. Joey nodded his head. "That is the break in your bone."

"Will it always be boken?" he asked her. "Am I boken now?"

"No, Joey. Bones are very clever things... you see, what will happen when I put the cast on is it will keep the bones in your arm really really still. And over a few weeks the bones will mend themselves. Isn't that clever?" she asked him.

"Can I ask you somefing?" he said, tilting his head back and looking up at the nurse.

"Of course, Joey. I'll answer any question you have."

"Why didn't my real mummy get better then? She laid still for a weally long time and she was still boken..." he said. "Why is my bone betterer than hers?" he asked.

The nurse looked at Max, somewhat in shock at the question from a smart little three year old boy. Max smiled at her sadly and crouched down beside Joey, putting his arm around his waist. "Sometimes, Joey, the breaks in bones are just too bad for them to fix themselves. And your mummy didn't get seen by a doctor after daddy hurt her, so they couldn't put casts on her broken bones."

"But she was weally still... for a long time," he whispered, tears appearing in his eyes.

"I know, Joey... but she didn't just have broken bones, did she?" he said softly. Joey shook his head, a few tears falling down his face. "She was bleeding too, wasn't she? And the baby wasn't well either which would've affected mummy... It was just too much for them both to deal with..."

"So I couldn't safe her then?" he asked, his words stilted as his worry peaked at the thought he might have been able to save her.

"No, Joey. You said she wouldn't wake up when you found her, didn't you?" he asked him. Another nod of his tiny head, more tears joining the first few. "She was already dead, Joey. There was nothing you or anyone else could've done to make her better." He told him. He glanced at the nurse and saw her wipe away some tears from her eyes. It was very hard not to fall in love with Joseph Branning... he seemed to bring out that side in everyone he met. "Now, why don't we let this nice nurse put the cast on your wrist so that it will start to heal and when we get home, I think it might be ice-cream time."

"With choklate sauce?" Joey asked.

"Yes... and if you're lucky, mummy Tan might let me put some marshmallows on there too..."

"You fink so?" Joey asked eagerly.

"I'm almost sure of it."

They walked back over to the bed and the nurse went to get a couple of supplies. When she returned she looked at Joey pensively. "What's wong?" he asked, worry colouring his face again.

"I was just wondering if you were a blue, a green or a red person..." she asked with a soft smile.

"My favrit colour is wed... because it makes me fink of fire engines..." he said. "I's gonna be a fireman when I's gown up..."

"Well then, would you like a red cast on your arm?" she asked.

"Yes pease!" he said quickly. The nurse started to put the cast on his hand and Max distracted him from moving by letting him play with Bear. Joey turned to the nurse, "Bear says his arm hurts too..." he told her.

"Does it now..." she said with a smile. "Would Bear like a bandage on his arm as well?" she asked.

"Could he?" Joey gasped, he looked at Bear and then nodded his head, "I fink he should, he says it weally hurts."

"I think we have a small bear-sized bandage we can use... he won't be able to have a pretty cast like you though because the material we use to make the casts won't react very well with Bear's fur." She explained as she finished the cast on Joey's arm. Joey held Bear out towards her and she took him from him. "Is it his left arm too?" she checked. Joey nodded. "Well, let me go and get Bear sorted out and I'll be back in a few minutes. Is it okay if I take Bear with me?" she asked him.

"Okay... but he might ky cos he don't like being with stangers... and he'll get lonely." Joey said, biting his lip as he stared at his furry friend.

"I will be just moments." She said. "And when I come back I'll make your cast red."

*JL*JL*

Fifteen minutes later Joey and Max were walking back out to the waiting room. Joey saw Tanya and he ran over to her, "Look mummy, I've got a red cast on my arm... it's boken..." he cried out. Tanya hugged him tightly, kissing the top of his head as her emotions climbed at the sight of his little arm in a cast. "Bear boke his wist too so the nurse put a bandage on him." Joey held Bear out towards her and she smiled when she saw the little white bandage on his left arm.

"Let's get you home then, Joey." Tanya said softly.

"Daddy Maxy said I could have ice-ceam when I got home... with choklate sauce and marshmallows," Joey told her.

"Did he now?" Tanya said, looking at her husband's face and seeing the guilty expression he was wearing. "Well just this once I think we'll allow it but you have to clean your teeth for twice as long tonight so you don't have to have any fillings."

"Okay, mummy..." Joey said.

A/N: So Max tries to set some boundaries for Joey but it doesn't go quite to plan and I'm pretty sure he ends up feeling really bad. Joey managed to hurt his wrist (as did Bear) and manages once more to wrap pretty much everyone around his little finger with his cuteness. Apologies for flagrant waste of NHS resources in this chapter but it was too cute not to have Bear get a bandage too. Send me a review. Back tomorrow...