I expanded my theme a bit and included the rest of Bravo.

Hope you like.

Rest & Recuperation

Blackburn sweeps into the team room with a waft of papers in his hand, twirling a bunch of keys.

"Here you go Jason. The keys to the Blackburn cabin" he says as he hands them over.

"Now I'm only going to say this once so everyone listen up" He fixes his gaze on each member of Bravo in turn before he carries on.

"One - Damages. Anything damaged will be paid for or mended to an appropriate standard. Two - you will not piss the neighbours off and finally three - you will not terrorise the town by starting a drunken bar room brawl"

Blackburn raises his eyebrows at Sonny with the last statement.

"Not sure what you are implying their boss man, but I am a model citizen" says Sonny swinging on his chair and shrugging his shoulders at his fellow teammates.

Clay sniggers out loud and Brock snorts his coffee and immediately starts to choke.

Trent moves in closer to Brock and gives him a gentle rub on the back, trying to avoid jostling the younger man's ribs "Come on Sonny. You almost killed Brock there with your lies" grins Trent.

Brock who is looking extremely red in the face and struggling for breath mutters in agreement. The rest of Bravo laugh.

Blackburn carries on. "I also have your medical release form Brock", Blackburn hands a couple of pieces of paper to Brock who holds them for half a second before they are snatched from him by Trent, "and also yours Clay" Blackburn relinquishes Clay's form straight to Trent's grabby hands, bypassing Clay entirely.

Blackburn points at Brock and Clay "Now you two are under strict medical instructions to rest and not overexert yourselves. Doc has prepared your meds. You need to pick them up before you leave, and I have convinced him that this is a good idea. So, you all better make sure it is!"

Jason stands and says "We will. Thanks for letting us use your cabin. And we will ALL behave. Ray will make sure of that!" he ends with a grin.

"Yes, with Mum and Dad along what could possibly happen" pipes up Clay, and then he ducks quickly as a pen flies directly at his head. Ray stares at Clay and says "Be careful what you wish for"


Sonny jumps into the front passenger seat of Jason's truck quickly shouting "Shotgun" and instantly reaching for the radio controls. "Going to put some fancy tunes on, and get the volume cranked up. We are on holiday guys" he grins at Ray.

Ray sighs resignedly and climbs into the back. "Why did we have to bring Sonny with us? Surely one of the others could have taken him?"

Sonny turns and stares at Ray "What are you trying to say Raymondo? Don't you like my Texas tunes?"

Ray turns his pleading look at Jason.

Jason ignores Ray and jumps in behind the wheel. Then looks at Ray in the rear-view mirror, "Sorry, you will just have to put up with him for now. Trent is sorting out the trouble twins' meds and Brock is springing Cerberus from the kennels. We can't all fit in one car anyway, so I volunteered us to go ahead, get the cabin opened and get some supplies sorted"

Sonny splutters "I am sat right here you know!"

"Worse luck" mutters Ray as Jason starts the engine, and they pull out of the car park.


Brock's ribs twinge slightly, and he lets out a small, gasp as he sits down on one of the hard plastic chairs in the kennels tiny waiting area. How much longer is this going to take he thinks to himself.

Cerberus is receiving a final check over from the base veterinarian before Brock is allowed to take him away.

So far, he'd been waiting a good 15 minutes. Brock hated these places. They were as bad as hospitals.

A shiver ran though him at the thought of needles; however, as long as Cerberus is getting the best possible treatment, he'd stay calm and try not to let his frustrations show at having to wait.

Brock prided himself on been a calm and level-headed person, however when it came to his fluffy friend, he was more than happy to fight his corner.

Finally, the door opens, and Cerberus comes bounding out, attached to a large man on a short lead. Catching sight of Brock, Cerberus lets out a loud "woof" and his tail starts wagging vigorously.

Brock jumps to his feet, ignoring the pull on his ribs and thigh. Cerberus pulls towards him and Brock reaches down and cups his pups head in his hands, giving him a big welcome back cuddle.

"Hey Brock, someone's happy to see you" says the large man, who is called Frank, the senior Vet nurse on base, as he hands over the lead of the very excited Belgian Malinois.

"Hey Frank. I'm happy to see him too. Has he been a good boy?" Brock looks up at Frank.

"Of course, he has. He's always the best boy" says Frank with a smile. "Now here are his meds and discharge instructions. Make sure you hand these to Trent so he knows what you should be doing, and any problems just give us a call"

Brock snorts and reaches for the meds and discharge instructions "I'm sure I can be responsible for his meds Frank. Trent has enough to deal with without looking after Cerberus as well"

Frank keeps hold of the meds, and for a moment both he and Brock have a little tug of war over them.

"Come on Brock, now just agree with me and promise you will do as I ask. It's easier on us all in the long run"

Brock looks Frank in the eye and then ducks his head down in disgust "Fine! Ok I will pass them on to Trent. Can't even be trusted to look after my own dog now!" Brock mutters in a final show of protest.

Frank smirks and let's go of the meds "Super. Now have a nice trip and make sure you both get some rest" Frank gives Cerberus a final pat and waves them both goodbye.


Trent looks up as Brock enters the cage room. He notices Brock is moving slowly and his limp seems more pronounced than earlier. Trent looks more closely at his friend. He notices how pale Brock looks and spots the tell-tale pinch marks around his eyes clearly indicating his friend is in pain.

"Everything ok with Cerberus?" he asks nonchalantly.

Brock looks at Trent and nods as he continues to head over to his cage "Yes, all fine. Give me a couple of minutes to grab Cerb's bag and then we can head out if you two are ready?"

"Just waiting for you Brock" Clay says from the depths of the comfy armchair that both he and Brock love to lounge in. "Do you need any help, or shall we just watch?"

"No, I'm good thanks. Just need to stash Cerb's meds and then we are ready to go" Brock replies, quickly opening a bag and stashing the drugs inside.

Trent moves over to Brock and puts his hand out. "Pass me his discharge notes and I will put them with yours and Clays, and once we get to the cabin, I want those meds too thank you very much"

Brock pauses and looks up at Trent, then looks down again as if he was about to say something, but then just says "Ok, no worries." and hands Trent the notes.

Trent briefly looks through the notes as he moves back to the seating area near Clay. Trent Reaches into a bag, grabs a couple of pills and a bottle of water. "Here. Swallow these" he indicates to Brock. "You look like you are in pain and your next meds are just about due. Might as well have them now"

Brock gratefully swallows the pills, finishes packing everything and then they leave for the parking lot.

Brock puts Cerb in his cage in the back of the pickup and gets into the front passenger seat.

Clay has bagged the back seat and is laid fully across it with his leg up looking like he's about to fall asleep. Brock looks at him jealously, wishing he'd thought to bag the back seat first. Oh well, he can fall asleep against the window. It's not as if he has trouble falling asleep in strange places and it will probably be better for his ribs anyway.

Trent jumps in the driving seat fiddles with the radio and starts the engine. He checks his passengers before putting the truck into gear and pulling out of the carpark. "It's going to be a long drive" he thinks to himself. Clay seems to be asleep in the back and Brock is staring out of the passenger side window. His naturally quiet friend appears to be even quieter at the moment.

Oh well at least the music is good he thinks and concentrates on the road ahead as he sets off.


A couple of hours into the drive and Trent is starting to get bored of his own company. Trent can hear Clay softly snoring from the back. He looks in the rear mirror and scans the youngest member of the team. Clay looks comfy and relaxed. Trent's pleased. Clay needs to rest and catch up on his sleep. Hopefully he will be able to rest a lot more when they get to the cabin.

Brock on the other hand is still leaning against the window. Trent initially thought Brock was asleep, however 30 minutes into the drive he'd caught a glimpse of Brock staring out at the passing scenery, deep in thought.

Trent had tried to interact with Brock, but he soon got the impression he was interrupting one of Brocks sulks, so Trent had just ramped up the volume on the radio and made a mental note to speak to his friend later.

It was never good to let Brock fester and mull things over for too long.

Trent could only think it was about the last mission.

For the life of him, Trent couldn't work out what it could be about though. Brock was on top form and made an amazing shot, to save Sonny's life. A shot that Brock hadn't even thought twice about taking. Brock had then covered Sonny's back whilst Sonny and Ray had carried Clay to safety, after Clay had taken a hit.

It would have been better if Brock hadn't of then been caught unawares by a stray tango emerging from God knows where, who had stabbed Brock in the thigh and cracked a couple of Brocks ribs in the subsequent tussle, before Cerberus and Jason could get to him, resulting in Brock nearly bleeding out on the way to exfil, but overall, the mission was a success and everybody got out alive. Just.

Trent Shuddered at the memory of Brock bleeding out in the chopper on the way back to base. It was not a memory he needed to keep in his mind. Trent realised at this point that he also felt extremely tired and was even more pleased they all had a week of rest ahead of them. Well once he had driven them there anyway.

Brock was fully aware of Trent staring at him, but he couldn't bring himself to look at his friend, never mind speak to him. His mind kept running over the mission in his head and theorising what would have happened if he was a cm out on the kill shot, he took to help Sonny. That it was too close for comfort, and then cursing himself for getting taken down so easily and been a burden to the team, worrying everyone along the way.

He absolutely hated all the attention he got because of his injuries and was really upset that Cerberus had been injured whilst rescuing him from the tango. Sometimes Brock felt like a complete failure and wondered why the team kept him around. Maybe one day they would realise and then he would lose his only family, Brock dwelled.

Brock shot forward suddenly as Trent slammed on the brakes, the forward momentum flinging him uncomfortably against the seat belt and jarring his ribs and making him gasp in pain. At the same time he heard a loud "oof" as Clay hit the back of the front seats, landed in the foot well of the car and made a strangled cry.

Gathering his senses together, Brock looked up. In the middle of the road was an oil tanker lying on its side. To the far right, tottering over the embankment on the edge of the road was a bright yellow school bus. Large skid marks leading to the oil tanker showed the path it had taken as it had skidded across the road and made impact with the bus coming the opposite way.

Quickly taking in the situation, Trent had pulled up fast and had jumped out of the truck. He was now heading towards the stricken vehicles. Brock shook himself, reached for the door handle and ignoring the ache from his ribs, quickly followed, shouting as he ran

"Clay, call 911. Call it in. We need lots of help fast"

Clay, looking dishevelled, emerged from the footwell of the truck and started rummaging around for his cell phone. Finding it he quickly dialled the emergency services. Nothing happened. Clay looked at his phone and realised he didn't have any cell coverage. "Dam it" he shouted and flung the phone back down.

Opening the door he excited as fast as he could, hampered by his injured ankle and headed off to find Trent and Brock.


Trent arrived at the front of the oil tanker and took in the scene. The tanker driver was sat near the side of the road. He looked up as Trent arrived and started to rise to his feet shouting for help.

"Help me. Please help me help them. I tried to avoid the bus, but lost control. The controls just went mad. Please help me get them out" he gestures towards the school bus and starts to stagger towards the embankment.

Trent quickly reaches for the man. Grabbing him by the arm Trent lowers him to the ground and speaks softly to him, to try and calm him down.

"Easy now. Sit down and stay still. You don't look too good. I will help them as soon as I have moved you to a safe area. Now sit here and help is on its way"

Trent having manoeuvred the man to a soft spot looked up as Brock arrived at his side.

"We need to get to the bus and assess what's going on over there. He should be ok here for now. We need to see how many people we are dealing with. Is Clay ok. Has he called it in?"

"Yes, Clay's fine. He should have rung it in. I shouted to him as I left the truck"

"Good, once he's done that he can sit with this guy and make sure he keeps him talking and evaluate him for injuries. I don't want any more surprises" says Trent

Happy that the oil tanker driver is staying put, Trent and Brock head to the bus. As they get closer, they can hear shouting and cries for help.

Arriving at the top of the embankment they can see that the bus skidded off the road and is now sat halfway down the embankment. At the bottom of the embankment is a drainage ditch full of brown murky water.

"I'll head back and grab some ropes and anything else I can see to help" says Brock as he turns back and runs towards Trent's pickup truck.

"Grab my first aid kit too and make sure Clay's ok. Tell him he needs to sit with the driver and keep an eye on him" Trent shouts at Brocks retreating back.

Trent turns his attention back to the stranded bus. Sliding down the embankment, Trent grabs the back of the bus as he reaches it. He grabs the emergency door, right at the back of the bus as he reaches it. The door is stiff. Trent pulls with all his strength and finally manages to prise it open.

Trent peers inside and counts at least 7 kids all in various states of distress – some trying to help others, some panic stricken and some unmoving.


Clay spots Brock heading towards him at a rush and shouts, "I don't have any cell service. Does your phone have any?"

Brock carries on running towards Clay but starts to feel around in his pockets. Finding his phone, he pulls it out and tosses it to his friend.

"I need to get the ropes and the med kit. The bus is gradually creeping down the embankment, and I need to try and stabilise it. Trent says can you sit with the tanker driver and assess his injuries? He's not sure how bad he is and with your bum ankle it makes sense" pants Brock in one breath.

Clay catches the phone in a swift movement "Ok, but then I will help you guys once I've checked him over. I'm not an invalid!"

"Never said you were Clay. Just Trent wants the driver checking first" says Brock as he lifts the ropes and med kit out of the truck. "Can you keep an eye on Cerberus too. He's getting a bit anxious with everything that's going on."

Loaded down with as much equipment as he can carry Brock turns and heads back to join Trent.

Looking down at the cell phone, Clay nods his head and dials the emergency services. Fortunately, Brock's phone has decent cell reception, and Clay manages to make the call. He explains the details of the crash to the call handler and admits he doesn't know where he is – the call handler traces the call to the nearest cell tower and advises him of the location.

Armed with this knowledge Clay rings Davies to explain what's going on.

"Hey Brock. What did you forget? Is Sonny annoying you already? says Lisa as she answers her phone. "Oh, hey Clay what's up? OMG are you guys, ok? Yes, I'll ring Jason now and let them know. Just tell me exactly where you are"

Having made all his calls, Clay grabs a blanket from the back seat of the truck and makes his way over to the tanker driver.

The driver has been sat quietly on the side of the road for a while now. As Clay approaches, the driver looks up with tears in his eyes. He's shaking and clearly in shock. Clay wraps the blanket around his shoulders and assesses his condition.

Lisa takes a few deep breaths after the phone call with Clay and decides who to contact first. Clay already contacted 911 so at least emergency services are on their way.

Lisa decides on Jason first as he is close by and may be able to assist and provide backup depending how far away, he is.

Jason answers his phone after 3 rings – "Davies. Missing us already?"

"Of course, I am but that's not why I'm ringing. The guys have run into trouble on the way there" starts Lisa "They came across an RTA and are assisting until the emergency services arrive. From what Clay says a school bus has gone off the road and there are multiple casualties"

Jason wastes no time in asking for the location, and after quickly alerting Ray and Sonny to the incident, they grab as many towels, blankets and first aid supplies as they can find and then head out to the scene.

Lisa puts the phone down, sighs and then calls Blackburn.


Trent is startled by a shout from above him. He looks up and spots Brock at the top of the embankment loaded down with climbing ropes and Trent's trusty first aid kit.

Brock shouts again "I'm going to secure this rope to a big tree at the other side of the road. I'll throw this end down to you. Can you attach it to the tow bar at the back? This should stop the bus from creeping further down the embankment"

Trent lifts his thumb up in agreement and waits for Brock to secure the rope and throw it down.

Trent catches the rope and secures it to the back of the bus, wrapping it multiple times around the tow bar. The bus had been creeping slowly downwards towards the murky water so it was comforting to know that they could now focus on the rescue and not have to worry about a murky dunking as well.

Brock as always keeping a cool head in a crisis and knowing exactly what to do. Trent isn't sure why Brock has so many doubts over his abilities. Trent also knows he will be having a good talk to Brock once all this was over about believing in himself.

Speaking of Brock, he was now slowly climbing down towards Trent. Trent watched as Brock carefully climbed towards him, knowing it had to be hurting his already damaged ribs. Brock didn't show any sign of pain though.

As Brock made it to the back of the bus, he eased himself next to Trent.

"What's the situation?" he asks, "How many are we looking at?"

"I've counted 7" says Trent, "but not sure if there are any hidden from view. When the bus went over the edge, it looks like everyone has tipped forward out of their seats. I could do with getting right to the front of the bus to assess those down there as they are likely to be the worst injured"

Brock nods and starts to secure another rope to the tow bar at the back. "Use this rope to make your way down to the front. I'll follow and assist as many as possible back up the rope to the top"

Trent nods, takes hold of the rope and starts to climb down inside. As Trent suspected most of the occupants have been thrown out of their seats onto the one in front of them. The bus is full of young teenagers dressed in some sort of sports uniform.

Most of the teenagers, to Trent's relief appear to be lightly injured and mobile. Trent performs a quick assessment on each of them as he passes by and gets them to make their way to the back of the bus towards Brock, and safety.

As they reach Brock he leans down and hoists them up out of the bus to sit next to him. He then directs them to pull themselves to the top of the embankment, where they will find Clay.

One of the teenagers' clambers up to Brock and settles next to him. "I want to help you" he says to Brock. "School taught us basic first aid last term, so I know what I'm doing"

Brock looks at the teenager and smiles. "That would be very helpful young man. I'm Brock and Trent's down there. There is another one of us called Clay. He's up at the top, helping up there", The teenager has a nasty cut on his face, but otherwise appears to be ok.

"Can you make your way up to the top and start checking over your friends?" Brock asks. "I also need you to help Clay keep everyone together so that no one wonders off?"

"I can do that" says the boy and reaches over for the rope. He quickly shimmies up the rope and gives Brock a thumbs up as he reaches the top.

Brock gives him a thumbs up back in return.

Brock helps two more of the walking wounded out of the bus, before he gets a chance to check up on Trent. Trent has worked his way to the front of the bus. Brock can't be certain, but he thinks the angle of the bus has gotten steeper since Trent climbed down. "Fingers crossed the rope is holding" he mutters to himself, before starts to make his way down to Trent.

Brock uses the rope to climb slowly down. His ribs are hurting, and his thigh is starting to protest at the strenuous activity. Brock can feel the pull of his stitches. Trent is going to be mad with him once this is all over if he has busted any.

As he reaches Trent, he can smell something strong and familiar. "Gasoline" he gasps. Trent looks up at Brock. "I can smell gasoline Trent. We need to get everyone out of here quick. This thing could blow at any time"

Trent looks at Brock "I know, but I can't move this kid yet. I need a back board or something. I think he has an internal bleed somewhere. His abdomen is getting harder. He also has a back injury. I need you to find me something I can use to secure him before we move him".

"I'll climb back up and find something" says Brock as he turns back the way he came. "The emergency services have to be here soon" he prays. "I'll check in with Clay too"

Trent nods and watches as Brock struggles with the rope to climb back up and out of the bus.

Just as Brock reaches the top of the bus, Trent thinks he can hear a siren.

Brock confirms this when he shouts down "I can hear them, Trent. The emergency services. They are here, Thank God"

"At last" shouts Trent to no one in particular as he sits with the badly injured teenager.


Clay can hear emergency sirens in the distance.

"At last," he thinks to himself. The responsibility of looking after so many wounded people on his own, weighing deeply on his shoulders.

Brock had sent a kid to help Clay a few minutes ago and that had helped, especially as the youngster seemed to have some basic first aid training and was making sure that nobody wondered off.

Clay wasn't exactly mobile himself and with most of the injured having head wounds he was having a hard time getting through to them that they needed to sit and stay!

Clay heard a shout from the bus and looked over in time to see Brock emerging. Brock was struggling to pull himself up and out of the bus. It looked like the angle had changed making it harder for Brock to push himself up. Clay quickly ran his eyes over the rope holding the bus in place. It all looked ok.

Brock finally pushes himself up and jumps down, lurching to the side as his leg gives out on landing. "Ouch, that bloody hurt" he curses though gritted teeth, grimacing as he scrambles back to his feet.

Limping over to where Clay is gathered with all the wounded, he pauses for a second to calm himself down and get his breath back.

"Are you Ok. Where's Trent?" Clay fires questions at Brock.

Brock pants and says "He's with the last kid. The kids hurt bad. Was flung right to the front of the bus, knocked himself out. Trent thinks he has internal bleeding. I need to find a back board or similar and take it back" Brock looks around "Any ideas what to use?"

Clay shakes his head. "Not a clue. Have a look in the flat bed of the truck. Maybe there is something in there. Maybe Trent has his buddy board with him. You could use that?"

"Good thinking" says Brock and he limps over to the truck.

Spotting the buddy board next to Cerberus's cage Brock reaches in and grabs it.

Cerberus barks loudly and wags his tail at Brock.

"Hey buddy. Are you, ok? I can't let you out right now. It's madness here. You are better out the way, nice and safe. Sorry boy" Brock explains quickly to the pup before turning and limping back to the stranded bus.

The first ambulance pulls in just as he reaches it.

Brock carries on and hoists himself back up and then shouts down to Trent.

"I've found your buddy board. Will that do?"

"Yes. Perfect, get it down here quick" Replies Trent

Brock sighs and manoeuvres himself back inside, then gingerly climbs back down the rope to Trent. Arriving next to Trent, he tugs the buddy board round and passes it to Trent's outstretched hands.

"Here you go. The emergency services have just arrived as well" he says as he watches his friend place the board where he wants it.

Trent wearily looks at Brock and lets out a huff "Good. That's good news. Now we need to get this kid out of here and we are done!" Trent half stands and stretches his back out, then leans over and moves the board so it's facing towards the exit.

Trent puts a hand on Brock's shoulder and says "I'll climb to the top and pull him up. Can you guide the board as I go so it doesn't swing around?"

"I can pull him up if you want to stay with him" says a tired Brock. It's the last thing Brock wants to do as his ribs are hurting a lot, but he knows it's better if Trent stays with the boy.

"No, you've done enough running around and climbing about. It won't be do your ribs any good to pull a dead weight and I can tell your legs giving you trouble as well" says Trent with concern.

"Once we are both back up there, I am giving you a proper check over. Lord knows what you will have done to those stitches!"

Brock rolls his eyes at Trent, then watches as his friend climbs up the rope to the exit, pulls himself through and disappears from sight.


As Trent makes it out of the bus, he takes in all the activity going on around him.

There are two ambulances and a fire truck on the scene. They look like they have just arrived as the emergency workers are still exiting the vehicles and sorting out equipment.

A fireman spots Trent and heads towards him.

"Hi, I'm Matt Broad, Fire Chief at Crossley station. What's the situation here?"

Trent walks the chief over to the back of the bus "Hi, Matt., Good to see you. We have a critically wounded teen still in this bus. The bus is suspended in a ditch, held up by that rope over there. I would advise you don't touch that rope as it's the only thing stopping the bus from submerging in a ditch full of water."

"Noted" says the chief surveying the rope and tree the rope is anchored to.

Trent carries on "My friend, Brock is still in the bus with the boy. I have secured the boy to a board, and Brock is going to guide him out as I pull him up. Oh, and there is a strong smell of gasoline down there so we could do with clearing the immediate area as it could blow at any time.

Nodding along with everything Trent is saying the Fire Chief comes to life and starts to shout instructions to his team.

Soon a pulley system has been set up and a harness lowered to Brock, to attach to the boy.

Two of the Chiefs men take over from Trent and start to pull the boy up to safety, guided along by Brock from inside the bus.

Trent satisfied that the Chief has everything under control makes his way over to Clay.

Clay and the rest of the wounded are being assessed by several paramedics. Everything looks to be under control he thinks to himself, and he allows himself to slightly relax. He won't be totally relaxed until Brock is back with him.

Turning round to watch the chiefs' men at work, Trent can see they are nearly there. He watches with satisfaction as the boy is extracted and the paramedics spring into action whisking the boy away.

Trent spots Brock's head bob up out of the depths of the bus. He watches as Brock pushes himself up and clambers clumsily out of the bus. Brock looks worn out as he lowers himself to the ground, and then he stumbles to his knees as his feet meet the ground.

Trent rushes forwards to Brock's side and helps him regain his footing. "Come on Brock. Let's get you checked over" he throws Brock's arm over his shoulder and starts to walk him back to the paramedics.

Suddenly one of the firemen starts waving and shouting at Trent. Trent stares at the man, trying to work out what he's saying.

Then he realises the man is shouting "Fire" and pointing behind Trent and Brock.

Trent turns and looks behind him. His eyes widening in shock, he shouts to Brock "Shit, the bus is on fire. Come on we need to move right now!"

Trent pushes Brock forwards, but it's too late. The bus explodes and they are both catapulted off their feet and sent flying through the air as the bus explodes.

They land unceremoniously in a tangled heap as debris rains all around and on top of them.


Trent rolls over and groans, takes a breath, and starts coughing. He forces himself to sit up and slowly forces his eyes open. Memories come flooding back as he remembers the explosion and the feeling of weightlessness as he was thrown through the air. He also remembers that he was not alone and quickly looks around him for Brock.

Brock is lying silently next to him, face down in the dirt. Trent scrambles to his knees and moves to his brother's side, not liking how silent and still Brock is. He runs a practiced hand over him, checking for any obvious injuries, before easing Brock on to his side to clear his airways. Blood runs down Brock's face and pools on the ground where he lays. Trent keeps calm and reminds himself that head wounds often look worse than they are, however, he is concerned with how quiet Brock is.

Trent looks around him to see where the Paramedics are. Why has no one joined him yet. Can't they see I needs help? Looks like he's going to have to do it himself.

He palpates Brock's abdomen and finds it hard to the touch. "Shit, shit, shit" he murmurs and then finally the paramedics arrive.

The paramedics sweep in moving Trent aside. One of the medics starts to assess Trent, whilst the others start working over Brock. Trent hears the medics talking to each other but can't quite take in what they are saying.

"Hey, look at me" says the medic trying to work on Trent. "Trent! I need you to focus on me. My team are helping your friend. He's in good hands" The medic takes Trent's head into his hands and gently moves it around so he's more in line with him. Trent's not making it easy.

Trent feels fuzzy and dizzy, like he's watching everything through a fog. He blinks his eyes to try and clear the fog and watches as Brock is moved onto a stretcher.

Trent fights to stand up, to follow Brock, but the paramedic next to him holds him back. Clay appears at Trent's side and starts talking softly to him. His head feels funny, and his vision starts to go grey at the sides. Trent closes his eyes and decides to have a quick nap. Then it all goes black as he topples to the floor and into Clays arms.

Clay lunges for Trent and manages to catch him, lowering him safely to the ground. He looks at the paramedic "What's happening? Is he ok?"

The Paramedic quicky takes Trent's pulse and finding it nice and strong looks at Clay "He's fine. Just passed out. His blood pressure is a bit low. Adrenaline crash must have kicked in" The medic calls to one of his colleagues and they transfer Trent to an ambulance. "I'm taking him to County hospital to get checked out" the medic tells Clay.

Clay nods "Is that where Brock has gone too?"

"Yes. All the casualties from the incident have been taken there. The Police will give you directions" and the Paramedic slams the ambulance doors shut and sets off.


Brock feels a cool draft on his face as consciousness creeps back slowly upon him. He feels tired and his eyes don't want to open. It's quiet. Too quiet. He feels drugged. Not the crappy drugs, but the good drugs too. Thanks Trent he thinks to himself with satisfaction as tiredness once again takes over and pulls him back into a deep sleep.

When Brock next felt consciousness creep up on him, he wasn't as tired. Hearing is always the first sense to come back and this time he could hear the beep, beep noise of a machine that he had heard before. Immediately he knew exactly where he was just from the sounds.

It was a place he hated the most. He waited for the pain to kick in and make itself evident, but none came. Again, he thanked Trent for the good drugs. He attempted to stretch a leg to see what the damage was. Well, I can move my feet anyway he thought to himself.

Brock realised he hadn't attempted to open his eyes. He successfully cranked one open and his fuzzy vision was greeted by the generic grey ceiling tiles of a hospital ward. He attempted to open his other eye and finally was able to take in the entire view from where he lay.

He was definitely in a hospital. Looked like he was in a side room from what he could see. The room was dark with the only light coming in from the corridor, under the curtain that was drawn across the entrance to his room.

He suddenly realised someone else was in his room. He could hear breathing next to him. Taking a moment, he thought how out of it he still must be, to have just realised someone else was in the room, he turned his head to see who it was.

Trent was snoozing in a comfy looking armchair next to Brock's bed. It looked like Trent had been reading a book of some sort, but tiredness had clearly claimed him at some point and the book had fallen to the side hanging on for dear life next to one of the chairs arms.

Brock opened his mouth to say Hi, but no noise was forthcoming. Brock tried to clear his throat and realised that he had an oxygen mask strapped to his face. Cross with himself for not realising, this fact earlier, Brock stretched his arm up to remove the offending mask.

Startled awake by the sudden movement, Trent jerked upwards, and the book crashed to the floor with a loud noise.

Trent cringed at the noise, his head ringing.

He suddenly realised that Brock was staring at him and jumped out of his seat.

"Hey Brock. Good to see you awake" then realising what Brock was about to do Trent leant forward and stopped Brock's arm in mid-air. "No don't do that. You need that mask on"

Brock surrendered his arm back against his side and lay still with exhaustion. The act of simply moving his arm has been too much for him in his current state. Brocks' eyes slowly slid shut and all was quiet once again. Trent sighed and checked the machines, before leaving the room to find the rest of Bravo and let them know the good news. Hopefully Brock would stay awake for longer next time.


It took another four days before Brock was finally awake and sitting up comfortably in his hospital bed.

Trent and Clay had sat with him during the first few days and explained everything that had happened. Brock had also started to remember most of the incident himself and was hoping that this and the fact his brothers were with him would convince the Doctor to release him into their care.

He was feeling well rested and ready to leave, but the Doctor wasn't convinced. Something about Brock needing to be conscious for more than 24 hours before he would even start to consider it. Well, it was a lot longer than 24 hours now, but the Doctor was still non-committal.

Jason, Ray, and Sonny had arrived at the scene of the accident just after everyone who needed to be taken to hospital had left the scene. The oil tanker was in the process of been recovered and their help was not needed.

Having nothing else to do, Ray and Clay (with Cerberus) had jumped into Trent's pickup and following the directions from the Police had headed straight to the hospital to check up on Trent and Brock. Jason and Sonny had followed close behind.

Once at the hospital, and after finding out that Trent and Brock would be ok, Clay and Ray had headed to the cabin to rest up, leaving Jason and Sonny on babysitting duty.

They had quickly drawn up a rota over the four days, taking it in turns to keep Trent and Brock company in hospital.

Once Trent was released Brock didn't expect the team to keep him company for much longer. He especially didn't want to ruin everyone else's week off, but they still insisted on staying with him and turned up relentlessly, even when he pretended to be asleep.

Brock sighed in boredom. He'd never been a fan of hospitals and if the Doctor didn't release him today, he would just release himself. Decision made Brock focused on which of his brothers would be most likely to help him. It was obvious really and the next time Clay (or maybe Sonny for that matter) came in he would put his plan into action. Brock snuggled down for a quick nap whilst he waited.


Sonny and Clay made their way to the third floor where Brock's room was. They had both noticed that in the last 24 hours Brock had become increasingly anxious to leave hospital and they hated to see their brother in distress. Everyone on the team knew how much Brock hated any sort of medical facility and to not even have a release date must be stressing him big time.

When Clay had suggested helping Brock to escape, Sonny had laughed, however as Clay had explained the logic behind his suggestion, Sonny had soon agreed to help.

Sonny was actually disappointed that he hadn't thought of the idea first. Maybe later he could claim the idea was his.

The lift stopped at the third floor, and Sonny eased the wheelchair they had borrowed out of the lift and straight to Brock's room.

Accidentally catching the door with the wheelchair as they entered, Clay turns and puts his finger on his lips and making a loud "Shhh" noise to Sonny "Be quiet" he whispers to him.

"Sorry" says Sonny guiltily.

Clay nods and looks over to Brock's bed and stops dead. The bed is empty. Brock has gone.

"What the heck" says Clay and then they hear a toilet flushing. Seconds later Brock emerges from the ensuite toilet in his room and stops when he sees Clay and Sonny stood staring at him.

"Hey guys, what you are doing?"

Sonny steps quickly forward and says "We are springing you from hospital my little floret, now grab some pants and let's get moving before anyone comes in and ruins our plan"

Brock grins ridiculously, grabs the sweatpants that have been left out for him and sits on the bed to ease them on. His balance and flexibility still not great so rather this than falling over onto his butt.

Clay assists him and helps him into the wheelchair. Brock doesn't even protest about his mode of transport, just sits back, and relaxes.

"I'll go ahead and make sure the coast is clear" says Sonny. He opens the door and walks out. Clay nods in agreement.

A minute later Clay and Brock leave the room and head towards the lift.

Sonny has called the lift and as Brock and Clay arrive the lift doors open and out steps the Doctor in charge.

Brock's face falls as he spots the Doctor.

Faced with three very guilty looking navy seals the Doctor immediately stops and stares at them.

Then looking directly at Brock, he says "You, young man are not fit to leave."

"Aww come on Doc" says Sonny waving his hands around. "He's going mad in here. Can't you at least release him into our care? Trent is a qualified medic and is used to looking after us all, and that's not a mean feat. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Well, I'm glad you ask" starts the Doctor "He could rip all his stiches out, again" the Doctor makes a point of stressing the word "Again".

"His lungs are not strong enough. Any sort of stress on them could lead to breathing difficulties or a haemorrhage. He's also supposed to be on oxygen, which you all clearly seem to have forgotten and half the time he can't even remember his name" the Doctor is clearly exasperated as he lists the points off on his hand.

Clay nods along with the Doctor

"When you put it like that it sounds bad Doc, however we are just taking him somewhere he can relax. He's not relaxing here which isn't helping his recovery. We will make sure he does not get up to anything, and Trent will be hanging round like the Smother hen he is. Look, we can take oxygen with us and make sure he keeps it on if that helps".

The Doctor sighs knowing he's not going to win this one and they will probably just sign him out AMA if he doesn't agree. At least this way he will have some control over Brock's release.

"Ok. You can take him; however, I want to speak to Trent first and there are strict instructions" agrees the Doctor. "Now get him back to his room and I will come and see you shortly"

Sonny giggles with excitement and swings the wheelchair back around. "Come on Broccoli. Back we go. Not long now and you can be sat on the veranda watching the sun go down over the lake with a beer"

"No alcohol" says the Doctor quickly on re-entering the room.

"Ok you can sit and watch the sunset with a blanket wrapped round you and your oxygen mask firmly in place" says Sonny quickly, looking at the Doc for approval.

Brock and Clay both snort at Sonny's quick turnaround.

True to his word, and after lengthy discussions with Trent on the phone, the Doc allows Clay and Sonny to spring Brock from hospital, and they finally arrive at the lodge just as it's getting dark.

Trent and Ray are sat on the veranda eagerly awaiting their arrival. They watch as Sonny and Clay help Brock from the car and install him in his wheelchair that the Doc insisted, they bring with them.

Jason and Blackburn, who arrived an hour ago, have the grill going and are making dinner for everyone. The beers are out and chilling in the cool box.

Trent moves to help Sonny and Clay settle Brock into a comfier chair. They have relocated one of the big chairs from inside, after checking with Eric of course.

Brock settles himself and can feel himself instantly relax.

Blackburn walks over from the grill and gives Brock a big smile. "Good to see you out and about Brock. That was quite a rescue. Seems a shame you missed nearly the whole week of your break.

But I have some good news for you all. I managed to persuade the higher ups to give you all another week off, so at least Brock will have a chance to rest and recuperate.

The team cheer and Cerberus barks in agreement, before clambering up beside Brock and snuggling gently into him.

"Hey boy" says Brock softly to him. "Have you missed me?"

Cerberus snuffles and lets out a small whine.

"I've missed you too" says Brock as he looks out at the amazing sunset and reaching his hand out for the beer that Sonny hands him with a grin.