After just over a week since Kyle's admission to hospital, Nate was confident in his condition and was happy to see no long lasting damage to Kyle's arm. He was ready to discharge Kyle and hoped he'd be able to get the help he needed from the canine clinic, knowing the family needed a break from heartbreak.
"I can't stress enough that you need to rest your arm to ensure it can heal properly. I've made Pete aware, and he'll be waiting for you to arrive at the clinic later this morning." Nate says.
"Okay." Kyle nods. "It's not like I'm going to forget considering you're making me keep it in a sling for a couple days." He says, getting a light whack on the chest from Brax.
"Thanks Nate, he's grateful for everything you've done for him." Brax says.
"Yeah, I never said I wasn't." Kyle mutters.
"Okay, well I'll be seeing you around soon. Just let the team there help you." Nate says, Kyle nodding.
"I will, Brax will kill me else." Kyle says, walking out of the room.
"He thinks that's a joke." Brax mutters, causing Nate to laugh as Brax follows his brother towards the lift.
Driving along the driveway, Kyle stares out the side window. There was a lot of land surrounding the clinic and a few people walking in one of the fields with some dogs. He sighed, not wanting to be here but he knew he didn't have a choice, he'd been made clear of that by the mental health team that did an assessment on him at the hospital. He'd been diagnosed with clinical depression, anxiety and an eating disorder due to hardly eating anything since Lillie was taken and not eating anything the hospital provided unless forced by his brothers.
"Here we are." Brax mutters, turning the car around before pulling up on the side of the drive. "You'll be okay here, they'll look after you."
"You're going?" Kyle frowns.
"No, I'll come in with you. I need to see this place." Brax says, both of them getting out of the car.
"Hi, you must be Kyle?" A man says as he walks towards them.
"Yeah." Kyle lightly nods, shoving his hand into his pocket.
"I'm Pete, the manager of this place and will be your main counsellor during your time here." He smiles. "Why don't I show you around?" He says, them both nodding.
He starts by showing them the main house where the patients and staff stayed, which impressed Brax as you never would have thought it was a mental health clinic by looking around. He then briefly showed them the land surrounding the house, that the patients could go for walk in and do their therapy sessions if they preferred it. He ended it at the kennels, where some of the dogs were running free under the watch of two staff members.
"These are the newest dogs that have come to be with us at the clinic. We rescue a lot of them from people who are unable to look after them, and others are bred to be trained therapist dogs with our specialist training team." Pete explains. "We let all of the people who come here for help choose their own dog to help them through their recovery. Would you like to choose one?" He asks, getting a shrug in reply. "Don't worry, there's plenty of time for you to choose, or you could join our other patients who help look after all of the dogs. You can think about it."
"Kyle needs regular check ups on his arm to make sure no blood clots form in the artery. How would that work?" Brax asks, glancing at a small puppy that walks around them, sniffing at them before pouncing around them more.
"We have doctors onsite that are specially trained in that, and there is Northern Districts Hospital which isn't much of a drive." Pete replies. "Dr Cooper is going to be keeping me informed about Kyle's appointments and will be in touch with our doctors regularly."
"Okay." Brax nods, glancing at Kyle as he watches the puppy.
"He's taken a shining to you." Pete smiles. "He's not long joined us himself. We called him Bruno, so we could identify him but we let our patients choose their dogs names if they prefer something else."
"It suits him." Kyle says, crouching down to stroke him.
"He's a 9 week old Golden Retriever. I found him on the side of the road in a cardboard box." Pete says.
"Who'd do that?" Kyle frowns.
"We're not sure. The vet said he was a little underweight, but otherwise healthy. I'd say you could pick him up but with your arm-" Pete starts, stopping as Kyle happily picks him up in his left arm, not seeming fazed by the weight on his wounds.
Brax and Pete share a glance before deciding against mentioning it. Kyle seemed happier as he lifted his right hand up from the sling to stroke the small puppy. They knew Kyle was going to decide to choose Bruno to look after, that was clear now. Bruno looks up at Kyle and licks the side of his face, causing Kyle to smile lightly.
"I think you two are going to get on just fine." Pete smiles. "Why don't you head over to the box in the corner and pick out a toy for him?" He says, Kyle nodding as he walks over to it. "We've got it from here, Kyle's in good hands. You should go soon so we can start settling him in." He says, Brax looking at him.
"When are the visiting times?" Brax asks.
"There aren't any. We don't allow visits or phone calls to ensure there are no distractions from the outside world that could delay his recovery time." Pete says.
"You can't stop contact." Brax frowns. "I need to know how's he doing."
"We'll call you if anything happens. This is in Kyle's best interests." Pete says as Kyle walks back over to him with a tennis ball launcher and a rope ball. "Good choice. Why don't we head out to the back field and test the launcher out?" He suggests, Kyle nodding as they start walking.
"Are you not coming?" Kyle mutters to his brother, wondering why he wasn't walking with them him, a slight pause following.
"No mate, I'm going to head off now." Brax says, feeling a pang of guilt as Kyle stops in confusion.
"You're leaving me here?" Kyle frowns, not having thought he was being serious about him staying long.
"It's not permanent. They'll help you through this." Brax says, backing away towards his car to get Kyle's bag from the back.
"No, you can't." Kyle mutters, taking a few steps forward when Pete stops him, Brax turning around to give him his bag. "Brax, don't leave me here! Please, Brax!" He says, Brax hanging his head as he walks to his car, wanting to stop with each step.
"Let's go, Kyle." Pete says, leading Kyle towards the field as Brax drives away.
"But-" Kyle trails off, glancing back at Brax's car, that didn't stop as it went further down the drive until it was out of sight. "He can't leave me here." He mutters, putting Bruno and the dog toys down.
"Kyle, it's in your best interests that you stay here. If you do well with your recovery, you'll be able to see him very soon. This is what's best for you, you need to understand that."
"I can't do this without them." Kyle moans. "He promised!"
"I understand you're upset, but this is for your own good. If you co-operate with us, you'll be home before you know it." Pete says.
"No!" Kyle mutters, fiercely fighting back tears as he turns to look back down the drive, hoping he'd see Brax coming back for him, but he didn't.
"Why don't I show you which room would be yours." Pete suggests as he picks Kyle's bag up for him. "We have a strict no dogs in rooms rule but there are plenty of places you can go with Bruno during the day." He says as Kyle picks up Bruno and his toys again, reluctantly following him towards the house.
"He's coming with me to find my room, then I'm going to one of the fields." Kyle mutters, Pete lightly nodding, knowing there was no point in arguing him.