There's No Place Like Home

By MeLovesDavid A.K.A. Camrie


Summary: About Bradin, whose heart is broken, and he runs away back to Kansas. And of course it has the others.

A/N: Ok, if all goes well, this chapter will be longer than the last two. Lol. If you don't already know, the first three chapters have been edited and changed a little on 3/24/05.

Review Replies:

Henhen - Thanks! Yeah, I know. Lol. Thanks a lot :)

DReam Gal - Thanks munches :) I know, isn't it evil? Lol I will, and thanks a lot!

Mel – Thankies:) I will try :)

KarahBella - Thanks bunches!

Summerlander - Thank you for the suggestion. I will try that :)

Summerland Chick - Thanks :) I will!

Sprite Sweetheart - this is to your author's note in your story... I'm not going to change it actually. I was just going to change some ideas I already had...wait that makes no sense. Lol. Don't feel too bad. Our stories did have some stuff in common. Yours was there first.

I did read your story & review it, so it seems perfectly logical that u would think what I wrote came from your story, even if it wasn't. It's all good :). Anyway, thank you, I'm glad u like my story :)

Thanks for all your great reviews guys!

Chapter 3: Oceans and Accidents

Bradin opened his eyes under the water and everything was blurry. He was completely disorientated, and he struggled to get out of the salty liquid. He looked around, trying to find air and couldn't see anything. His eyes stung, and he was on the verge of running out of air. In truth, he didn't feel like fighting any harder to survive. All he wanted in life was Callie – or so he thought -, and now that she was gone... The surfer finally figured out which way was up. Bradin broke the surface of the water, as he gasped for air. He starting swimming to shore, with his broken surfboard but realized his leg hurt really bad. He clenched his teeth, and continued making his way, limping slowly, to the beach. When he made it to land, he limped up further, until his knee fell in, and he collapsed. The seventeen year old fell to the ground. He yelped in pain, fell unconscious, and people started to crowd around him.

From the pier, Nikki and Amber could see a group of people gathered around an obviously hurt person. They couldn't make out the figure with all the people surrounding him - or her - though. They decided to get down to the beach and watch the person get put in the ambulance. They thought it would be exciting. Nikki, followed by Amber, pushed her way through the crowd of people when she an all too familiar surfboard in two pieces outside the circle.

'Bradin!' Nikki thought to herself. The young teen moved into the circle of people and saw what she never wanted to: one of her family members, lying unconscious on the ground. Just then, an ambulance pulled up to the scene. Everyone moved away, but Nikki knelt by her brother.

She didn't know anything at all that had happened, except that her brother that she loved was hurt. Nikki couldn't and wouldn't let any more of her family die. Her family and she had been through so much, and she knew, along with everyone else, that that family couldn't take much more.

Bradin's head lay on the ground, his hair going every which way, sand on his face. The paramedics lifted him up on a stretcher on placed him in the Playa Linda city vehicle. Nikki watched the ambulance drive away, wanting to go with, but knowing she had to get the rest of her family. Then, she ran back to Amber.

"Come on! I have to go get Aunt Ava!" She practically screamed at her best friend.

"Alright, Alright. I'm coming," the blonde-headed Amber replied. The two grabbed their bikes and rode as fast as they possibly could to the beach house Bradin, Derrick, and Nikki Westerly now called home. Nikki opened the door, and Amber trailed closely behind.

"Aunt Ava! Johnny! Susannah! Jay!" Nikki screamed at the top of hear lungs, causing Amber to plug her ears and laugh at how much she thought her friend was overreacting. A round of loud footsteps came from different directions from all four of the worried adults. A course of "What?"s, "What is it!"s, and "What happened?"s were heard.

"Bradin," Nikki started, short of breath, "got in a surfing accident."

"Where is he?" Johnny asked.

"The hospital," Amber filled him in, making everyone notice her in the room.

"Let's go," Ava commanded. Everyone followed, and they found Derrick playing outside and took him with.

A/N: I think that is a little longer, but I don't know. I guess that is a cliffhanger too. Wow! I'm good! LOL! Anyway, I would've made it longer, but I'm going on a winter retreat tomorrow and not coming back till Sunday (YES!) and I wanted to update before then.

I hope you enjoyed! Read and Review! R&R PLZZZZZ!

Camrie