AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Sorry for the major delay in updating, hope you enjoy.

Chapter 35

Normal POV

Brax paced around the kitchen for the fourth time that morning.

"Settle down big fella, or you'll just about wear a hole in the carpet," Heath smarted as he sat at the table.

Brax closed the fridge again after yet again not retrieving anything.

"I'm just concerned about Case. It's been over a week so far and I haven't stopped thinking about how he's doing," Brax replied.

Heath sighed, "Glad to hear I'm not the only one. Wouldn't they have said if Case wasn't doing well?"

Brax shrugged, "Suppose not. Maybe I should pop over and see Nate and ask."

"Well make sure if you see him that you tell him to tell Case we're thinking of him."

Brax nodded and made his way over to the cupboard that had his keys and picked them up.

"Catch you later," Brax fare-welled and made his way towards the diner on the way to the hospital in case they had something more worth eating than in his own home.

Brax walked into the diner and was about to make an order when Nate walked in.

"One strong coffee to go please," he requested.

"Coming right up," Irene replied.

"Hi Brax; how's things?" Nate greeted.

"I was just coming over to see you; how's Casey?"

Brax noticed Nate give a sigh and look away.

"Why don't we take a seat," Nate gestured.

Irene handed Nate the coffee and Brax followed Nate to the table.

"What's happened; is he okay?" Brax said; having a sense of panic flush over him.

"Casey has been having some difficulties settling in," Nate explained.

"What does that mean?"

Nate took a sip of his coffee.

"It's just he has been refusing to co-operate with some of the staff and just the other night I was called in to give him a sedative injection because he was quite agitated and distressed."

"I thought you said this would help him?!" Brax accused; feeling a pang of guilt; after all, he had signed Casey over to this.

"Yes given time, but first Casey has to believe he can accept help," Nate explained.

"How long will that take?" Brax asked impatiently.

"That all depends. Natalie is having a double session with him today and hopes to get him to open up to how he is feeling being there. Now I'm sorry I must run."

Brax nodded in dismissal and sighed as Nate left. He wanted nothing more than to have his brother safe and back home.

Casey sat on the couch inside one of the interview rooms with Natalie sitting opposite with her leg crossed over.

"How are you feeling Casey?"

Casey shrugged, "I just wish everyone would stop asking me about how I feel."

"Why? Do you feel as though it bothers you?"

"No it's just sometimes; I don't know," Casey mumbled.

"Do you think that's because you don't want to feel, or can't describe how you feel?"

"I don't know," Casey grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What can you tell me was going on in your head the other night Casey, when you refused your medication?" Natalie asked.

"I just didn't want to take my meds and I'm sick of being told what to do by people here; they are not my family," Casey said with a grumble.

"No, but they are only telling you what to do to help you," Natalie informed, "No-one is here to try and replace your family or remove them from your memory."

Casey adjusted himself in his chair.

"It just all makes me angry," he confessed.

"What does Casey?" Natalie enquired at the teen's confession.

"Being here: everything; I want to be better for Brax and Heath but I'm not sure I can ever be the brother they want," Casey said sadly.

"What makes you say that Casey?" Natalie pressed.

"Look where I am; even with you helping me before I wasn't good enough!" Casey snapped, allowing his frustrations on himself to take hold.

"But that's what all this is for Casey to help you see you are not to blame for all the terrible things that happened to you. Now since your suicide attempt have you had any ideation of suicide or harming yourself?"

Casey shook his head.

"Not like I could anyway; not unless I started swallowing chunks of these fancy slippers and trendy uniform," Casey grumbled sarcastically.

Natalie stared at Casey's statement.

"You know if you are serious with hurting yourself again further action will need to be taken and that will jeopardise your length of stay."

Casey's head shot up and his eyes widened over the seriousness of Natalie's response.

"I was kidding. I'm just bored having nothing other than a blank ceiling to stare at. Why can't I go outside or watch TV like others?" Casey asked.

"You know why Casey; you need minimal distractions in the initial process."

Casey rolled his eyes.

"You need to start believing you deserve help Casey," Natalie said softly.

Casey shuffled his feet along the ground.

"I don't know how," he admitted.

Natalie sighed, "How about we start with an excise: I want you to look at this picture of yourself when the incident of your sexual and physical abuse first started."

Natalie handed Casey a photo that was taken just before he was taken away to live with the Barretts.

"Now I want you to tell me: does this innocent little boy deserve to be helped?"

Casey stared at the picture of himself and memories flooded his mind back when he was eight.

"This little boy in the picture didn't ask to be treated badly, bullied, or raped, or to be sitting here feeling like nothing is ever going to get better, unless suicide is the option. Now it's your chance to help him; help you accept that it wasn't your fault," Natalie said softly.

Casey was lost in a trance staring at the photo and Natalie could tell she was breaking into Casey's trigger points.

"Do you want this little boy to disappear by continuing to hate yourself or killing yourself?" Natalie pushed.

Casey shook his head.

"It hurts; it all hurts. He didn't deserve it; it wasn't fair; I didn't deserve it!" Casey shouted as tears fell from his eyes.

"That's good Casey; let it out. Tell this little boy you will help him beat the horrible trauma he experienced by accepting the help that's given to you," Natalie urged.

"I want to help him; please," Casey begged.

"Tell the man that hurt this little boy that it wasn't okay what he did; that he didn't deserve to be treated like that," Natalie continued; feeling pleased she was getting through to Casey.

"I...I can't," Casey confessed.

"You don't have to be scared anymore Casey; tell him this little boy didn't deserve to be hit, bullied or raped, and left to be angry, confused and scared for the rest of his life."

Casey stared at his photo; almost as if he would bore a hole right through it.

Casey's hands shook and he jumped up from the chair.

"It's not okay! It's not okay! I hate you; how could you do that to me?! It wasn't my fault!" Casey screamed and collapsed onto the floor in heavy sobs; dropping the photo of his childhood next to him.

Natalie gave a sigh of relief; Casey had finally broken down the barriers and admitted that it hadn't been his fault.

Natalie let Casey cry for a while before standing up and placing a gentle hand on Casey's shoulder.

"You helped him Casey; now it's your turn," she whispered.

Casey felt a weight be lifted from his shoulders after his outburst and turned to look up at Natalie.

"I want to help me," Casey said as he held his hands over his tearing eyes.

Natalie smiled, "You've made a big step here today Casey and it's time we can move on."

It was another ten minutes before Casey fully calmed himself and wiped his eyes. He stared back down at his photo on the ground and picked it up as he sat back down in his chair.

"How can I take it back?" he asked.

"It can't be taken back but the little boy has moved on because of you and now you need to work on keeping it so he stays protected. Now you have the choice of starting now or you rest and we continue tomorrow," Natalie informed.

"I want to start now," Casey replied, feeling stronger and braver than he had in years.

After his long session with Natalie, the young counselor concluded Casey to be capable of discharge after another twelve days, so come the day before his twenty day stint Casey was given another Psych evaluation.

"Can you describe how you are feeling now Casey?" the older lady questioned.

"I feel ready to move on," Casey replied, "I know I still have a long way to go but I'm ready."

He didn't feel angry anymore, no sense of remorse anymore; just relief.

"And what about your current moods: have you been feeling sad, or anxious, or any thoughts of harming yourself?"

Casey shook his head.

"Nothing; I just want to go home; back to my brothers who've done so much for me and I want to tell them that," Casey exclaimed.

"Very well; you will be discharged at ten A.M tomorrow."

Meanwhile still waiting to hear more on Casey's progress, Brax and Heath decided to go for a surf to clear their head. Running up the sand with their boards and dumping them on the sand as they dried themselves off, Alf neared them walking along the sand with Ryder.

Brax raised his brow in a greeting as he took view of Alf.

"G'day you two," Alf greeted, "How is that young-un brother of yours doing?"

Heath scrubbed his hair with his towel.

"We don't know much since he was put in a Pysch Unit," Heath explained, "Tried to top himself."

Alf cleared his throat, feeling sympathetic towards the tough Braxtons.

Ryder raised his eyebrow in shock.

"I figured he had some bad rap going on but to try checking out," Ryder said in disbelief.

Heath frowned down at Ryder.

"Who are you?" he questioned defensively.

Brax then remembered that Heath had not been at the house the day Ryder had come over to show the photos and video.

"The name's Ryder and before you say anymore, I think Casey's pretty cool and I just hope he gets better because I'd really like to hang with him," Ryder said quickly and gave a smile, leading Heath to soften his arced up body while Brax gave a nod towards the young teen.

Alf patted Ryder on the back.

"One day at a time young fella, let the kid get better first. If there is anything I can do to help out you just let me know and again I am sorry that your brother is dealing with a tough time."

Brax smiled, "Thank you. I will let Casey know you asked about him."

"Well we best be off, I got this one helping me out in the bait shop this morning," Alf said, giving Ryder a harder pat.

"Thanks for the concern," Heath replied.

Walking back towards Brax's Ute and after piling in their surfboards at the back, Heath and Brax hopped in. Before Brax had a chance to start up the engine his mobile phone rang from its place in the drink console of his Ute.

"Who is it?" Heath asked.

Brax looked at the caller ID.

"It's the hospital," he replied concerned and hit the answer button, fearing the worst.

"Hello?"

"Hi Brax, it's Doctor Nate, I have good news on Casey."

Brax's heart skipped a beat; good news?

"After Casey's excellent progress over the last week and a half it has been evaluated that he is ready to be discharged and can go home tomorrow morning at ten," Nate informed. Brax smiled, feeling elated.

"What?" Heath whispered, seeing his brother's reaction.

"That's great; we'll be there."

Brax hung up his phone and turned to Heath.

"That was for Casey; they said he's coming home."

Heath smiled and raised his fist in the air as a cheer escaped his mouth.

As soon as they got home, Brax circled it on the calendar and noted down the time; not that he'd be likely to forget something so significant but he wasn't taking any chances and would be ready to wait outside the doors when his little brother would come out.

The following morning, Heath and Brax had gotten organised early and had made their way towards the hospital.

"How do you think he'll be?" Heath asked as he stood beside Brax in front of the Psychiatric Unit.

"I hope he hasn't changed too much but has learnt to deal with his demons," Brax responded and looked down at his watch again; it was only quarter to ten and already the brother's had been waiting since nine-thirty, but the eagerness to see their little brother outweighed any amount of waiting.

Casey was escorted towards the front desk and given his clothes and belongings.

"How does it feel to be going home?" Sean asked Casey.

Casey gave a smile looking towards the exit doors.

"Great; better than I've felt in years."

Sean nodded and allowed Casey to get changed in a nearby room and after one more final goodbye the security lock on the door was punched in and Casey took a step outside and was faced with the fresh air and sunshine of a new world.

Casey gazed around and took sight of his two brothers waiting by Brax's Ute and a wide grin spread on his face.

Heath slapped Brax in the chest as soon as he caught sight of Casey.

The two older brothers ran towards Casey who jogged down the stairs and in the direction of his forth-coming brothers.

"It's great to see you Sport," Heath stated and gave Casey a hug.

Casey hugged his older brother back; squeezing tight.

After pulling out of the hug with Heath, Casey and Brax clashed into their own hug and Brax was so relieved to be holding his little brother again.

Casey sniffed and Brax push Casey away from him by his shoulders.

"What's the matter Casey?"

"I'm just so glad to be going back home," the once troubled teen replied.

Brax cupped his hands over Casey's cheeks and gazed into Casey's eyes with a proud smile.

"I'm so proud of you," Brax praised.

Casey smiled from the praise, feeling full of glee.

Brax pulled Casey into his side; swinging one arm over the teen's shoulder.

"I say we get you home."

"I second that. We missed you Sport," Heath added and swung one of his arms over Casey's other shoulder, leaving Casey sandwiched between his big brothers.

Once back home, Casey placed his belongings into his room.

"You want something to eat Case?" Brax asked as Casey returned into the living room, gazing around like he was in a completely new house.

"Yes please," Casey answered.

"I bet you're glad to be back home?" Heath implied; smiling at his little brother.

"Yeah, I guess," Casey mumbled.

"What do you mean you guess? Was the ward more accommodating?" Brax joked and bought out a sandwich for Casey.

"No, I am. It's just...it's different. I feel as though I've changed somehow, or things have changed," Casey explained.

Heath gave a shrug, not quite sure what his little brother was getting to.

"Things have changed Casey, you've grown to come to term with learning how to cope with the trauma you went through," Brax explained.

Casey gave a small smile in response and bit into his sandwich. The taste of 'real' food tasted so appealing to Casey and he found himself scoffing down every bite.

"Go for it Case; didn't you eat in that place?" Heath teased.

Casey blushed and slowed down with his eating.

"It's just the food there was horrible, so it's nice to eat real food and not smell the disinfectant," Casey explained.

Brax gave Casey's shoulder a squeeze as he stood behind the couch.

"I was thinking that I might go to the beach later," Casey announced, but second guessed his decision when Brax gave him a skeptical look.

"That is okay isn't it?" Casey quickly added; almost as if he was seeking reassurance.

"Of course Casey, just don't go by yourself; in fact Heath and I can come with you and we can go for a surf; make an afternoon of it," Brax suggested; feeling slightly protective again.

Casey looked to each of his brothers.

"I'd like that," he whispered.

Heath proudly slapped Casey on the shoulder.

"I'm certainly up for that!" he exclaimed, "I'm going to chuck some boardies on."

Once Heath jumped up from the couch and left, Casey turned to Brax.

"How can I go surfing; I don't have my board anymore you sold it remember as punishment for drinking and causing damage to property," Casey queried.

Brax smirked and went over to where the surfboards were kept and pulled out a fancy white surfboard with a green and yellow stripe.

"I thought I'd get you this as a reward for being so brave and doing so well during your stay in the Psych Unit."

Casey smiled widely in surprise.

"Thank you Brax."

"My pleasure, Casey."

Heath made his way back out into the living room in his board shorts.

"Hurry up and finish Case," Heath pressed then turned to the surfboard Brax was holding.

"So big fella's shown you your present, huh; bet you can't wait to test it out, so finish up quick," Heath added, patting Casey on the shoulder.

Casey chuckled and finished off the last of his sandwich.

"Let's go boys!" Heath announced.

All three brothers grabbed their respective boards and tossed them onto the back of Brax's Ute before climbing into the vehicle and heading down towards the beach.

Once at the beach and the three brothers had their boards and towels on the sand, Casey sat down and took a moment to absorb the scene around him; he was back in the place that he'd loved so much as a child and with his brothers too.

"What you thinking Case?" Brax asked; standing beside Casey and pulling his shirt off.

"Just everything," Casey muttered, "Can I just say something to you both before we have our surf?" he asked.

"Sure mate; ask away," Heath urged.

"I just want to say I am really sorry for the way I treated you both; especially you Brax..."

"I thought you'd finished blaming yourself Case?" Brax interrupted, with a frown.

"Yeah I have; I don't. I didn't know how to cope with my feelings and took it out on you when I shouldn't have."

"Forget it Case; we're your brothers and that's what we're there for: to take the brunt of your problems," Brax assured.

"Couldn't of said it better myself," Heath added.

"Well I'd also like to say thank you, because if either of you had ever given up on me I wouldn't be here right now."

"I'll say it again Case, but I'm really proud of you. What happened to you, should never of happened and I know that broken part of you can never be fixed, but you tried and that's all that matters and you will always have us, no matter what," Brax clarified and squeezed Casey's shoulder.

Casey smiled up at his brother's feeling for the first time in years that he belonged and it made him feel safe.

"Well are we surfing or what boys?" Heath announced as he grabbed his surfboard firmly under his right arm.

Brax nodded and picked up his surfboard from the sand.

"Casey?" he queried.

"I'll be right there," Casey said with a smile and watched his two older brothers, head towards the water.

He was going to take a stand and he was not going to let his abuse rule his life anymore, because he knew he had two strong people backing him up every step of the way if his life spiraled backwards again and for that Casey felt relieved; proud even. It was time to move on.

Casey stood up and grabbed his new surfboard and joined his brothers in the water; letting the coolness of the ocean wash away any lasting piece of his old life.

As the afternoon closed in, the three brothers came in from their surf and plopped their boards down on the sand and began drying themselves off when a young voice called out from the top of the beach.

"Hey! I see you've finally gotten out; that's cool!"

Casey turned around to see Ryder approaching.

"Would you like to get a milkshake? I've just finished helping my Granddad out in the bait shop and could use a break!" Ryder called.

Casey turned to face his brothers, feeling hesitant.

"Go on Mate; I'll take your board home," Brax informed.

"He seems pretty keen to hang with you," Heath added.

Casey smiled and put down his towel and pulled his shirt back on.

"Thanks, I won't be gone for long" he said.

"Take all the time you need," Brax replied.

Casey then and made his way towards Ryder.

"Cool," Ryder said as Casey approached, then he asked the question he was dying to know: "So what was it like?"

Casey smiled at the young teen's enthusiasm and thought momentarily.

"Oh you know: like a five-star hotel," he joked, despite having his cheeks blush from uncertainty.

Ryder smiled and the two walked towards the diner.

"What's your flavour?" Ryder asked.

"Um, I like chocolate best," Casey replied.

"Cool; that's cool. I like Caramel myself."

As the two approached the counter, Irene gave them a warm smile.

"What can I get for you Darls?"

"Can we get one chocolate and one caramel milkshake please?" Ryder asked.

Casey then realised he had forgotten his money.

"I'm sorry I can't get one; I don't have the money," Casey sheepishly admitted.

Ryder shrugged, "Hey no sweat; I got it. I don't work in my Granddad's bait shop for nothing," Ryder laughed.

"Thanks," Casey replied, "I can pay you back."

"Nah, it's cool, I figure you probably need it after what you've been through."

Casey froze and again his cheeks flushed.

"Hey: sorry we don't have to talk about that anymore. I sometimes have a tendency to speak before I think. My Granddad is always telling me off for it though."

Casey smiled, slowly warming up to Ryder's genuine kindness.

The two teens took their drinks and sat down at one of the tables and chatted: Ryder telling Casey about his trials and tribulations while listening to Casey talk of his brothers and his interests.

This was a new chapter in Casey's life. He was a fighter and he would no longer be broken no-more.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thank you to everyone who has followed, marked as a favourite, and read this story during and after completion; I have appreciated it greatly. Also a big thank you to all my reviewers:

Bonnie Sveen Fan: Thank you so much for supporting another one of my stories. Your loyalty means a lot to me as does reading your long reviews to each chapter. I am glad you enjoyed and thank you for providing some ideas.

Braxton54: Thank you for reading and leaving your wonderful reviews to this story. I am glad you have enjoyed and I thank you for your eagerness in prompting me to continue updating. I hope you enjoy what I have in store next.

Ludub: It has been such a pleasure reading each very lengthy review you have given me for this story; providing ideas for me to think outside the square in order to add scenes to following chapters. Your take on my story has been remarkable including expressing your emotions towards the powerful scenes and emotions I portrayed. I truly appreciate your positivity on my writing of this story, so thank you and hope you will tune in for my next story.

Fanfiction.79: Many thanks for reading and reviewing another story of mine. Your reviews and support is always a value to me and I always find pleasure in hearing your words for my chapters. I hope you will tune in for my next story and please continue writing your own wonderful work.

Braxtonboyzz123: Thank you for reading and reviewing and providing such insight into the chapters. I am so glad you enjoyed and thank you for your wonderful compliments on my writing of the chapters.

And, Guest

I am currently working on my next story titled 'STEP UP' which will include plenty of family drama for the whole of the Braxton brothers as well as supporting characters like Phoebe and her family and Darcy.