WARNING - MENTIONS OF SELF HARM AND SUICIDE

"What've we got?" Nate asks the paramedics as he walks over.

"This is Kyle Braxton, 23 years old. Found unconscious by his two brothers approximately 15 minutes ago with deep lacerations to his arms. Suspected artery torn in his right forearm, pressure applied by his brothers which seemed to stem the bleed in his left arm." The paramedic explains as they wheel Kyle into the resus room, Brax being pushed out by a nurse as the paramedic continues telling Nate about Kyle's condition.

"Is he going to be okay?" Brax asks.

"He's in the best hands." The nurse says, shutting the door as she goes to help.

Brax's POV

How could I have let this happen? If I hadn't have been so stupid in the first place he never would have taken me the wrong way. I never meant for him to think that I thought he'd take Emilia, I know he couldn't. He was a great dad to Lillie, and I hope that he could be a great uncle to Emilia. I just wanted to know if that was ever going to be possible, not that he'd take her. I shouldn't have said anything.

There was so much blood. He did that to himself because I wasn't there for him enough. If I had just… Just what? What could I have possibly done different when Kyle was pushing us all away because he couldn't cope with it anymore? This was deliberate, he wanted to do this.

He looks so pale. I catch a glimpse of him every now and then as the doctors quickly work on stabilising his condition, but what if it's too late? If this was deliberate, and he wanted to end his life, he wasn't going to fight to stay alive. I can't live with myself knowing I'm the reason this happened, he needs to be okay.

"Brax?"

Turning around, I see Heath walking out of the lift with Casey, who was unusually pale and looked scared. He'd grown so close to Kyle after he was shot, they were practically best mates. They didn't care that they weren't blood brothers, they were brothers by choice, and we all respected their decision, glad it didn't get between them again.

"Is he going to be okay?" Casey mutters.

"The doctors are in with him now." Is all I can say, I don't have the answers he wants.

"But he'll make it… The cuts…"

"They think he hit an artery which is why they couldn't stem the bleed in his right arm. The paramedic did manage to stop the bleeding in the left arm, which is good." I reply.

"Brax, you saw the amount of blood." Heath says, taking a deep breathe before carrying on. "If the doctors save him, we have to get him help. He could do it again if we don't."

"I know, okay?" I huff. I know he needs help, I just don't want to force it on him. Kyle needs us, his family, not some strangers who will poke and prod at him. "It's my fault."

"You didn't know this was going to happen." Heath says. "None of us could have seen this coming."

"I made out like he'd steal Emilia to make up for Lillie not being here. Why the fuck would I even say that?" I moan, maybe it did come out like I was meaning that. It was a stupid thing to say now I could have unintentionally killed Kyle.

It goes back to being silence. Casey was pacing the length of the waiting room chairs, whilst Heath sat in one of them, leaning his head against the wall as he stares at the ceiling. I keep watching them working on Kyle, the desperation in their steps as they dart from him to a medicine cabinet, and then back to him.

Nate had come out and said he needed permission to do an emergency procedure on Kyle's arm to repair the artery, and as he was unable to consent, I had to. There was no doubt about it, Kyle needed it, Nate said that. And after what felt like hours, they all slowed down, and Nate walked towards the door, seeing me still stood watching through the glass.

"Is he okay?" I ask once he walked through the door, attracting the attention of Heath and Casey.

"Kyle's alive." Nate quickly says before carrying on. "We had to repair the artery Kyle had hit down here as we wouldn't have gotten him to surgery in time. It was a success and we managed to stop the bleeding, but Kyle did need some blood transfusions to make up for the blood he lost."

"So he's going to be okay?" Heath asks.

"Yes, it's looking very good. Kyle's SATs are starting to improve, and his heart rate has come back up which is a good thing. You got to him in time, and it could have been a whole lot worse if you didn't apply pressure to his cuts when you did." Nate says. "But we are going to need to talk about the cuts before I can let you see Kyle."

"Why?" I frown. "We didn't know this was going to happen."

"I understand that. But once we cleared the cuts up, there are a majority of them that aren't fresh, meaning he's been doing this for what I suspect to be a few weeks. I know he hasn't been himself since Lillie was taken, and it's not getting any better. Kyle needs professional help, and I'm going to have to refer him to a mental health team for an assessment. They will put him into a mental health ward, but I can give you some leaflets to have him put into a private clinic if you would prefer. They're more expensive but Kyle would get the best care to be able to get into the right headspace again." Nate explains.

"Can we see the options for the private clinics?" I ask, wanting Kyle to get the best help available. "I don't care about the cost." He needs this help, I don't care what it takes.

"Sure. You can go in and sit with Kyle now. He'll be moved into a room as soon as one becomes available, which will be sometime this afternoon. Kyle's asleep right now but he should be awake within the next few hours. His arm is also in an elevated sling to keep the blood flow from putting any pressure on the artery. This will give it time to heal and be easier for us to monitor any blood clots from forming."

"Thanks doc." Heath says.

"I'll go and get you those leaflets." Nate says, letting us in to sit with Kyle.

"He looks so pale." Casey mutters, standing next to the bedside.

"Least he's going to be okay." Heath says, glancing over at me as I stand at the end of the bed. "You okay?"

"How has he been self harming for weeks without us knowing?" I mutter, glancing at his bandaged forearms.

"Wait… That time I saw blood on his sleeve, he said it was just a nosebleed, but it didn't look like it." Casey says, looking at me.

"He'd been cutting." I say in realisation. "I knew I should have gotten him to speak to someone sooner, so this wouldn't have happened."

"We weren't to know this was happening. He was so good at hiding it." Heath frowns. "Why did he think this was his only option left?" He sighs.

"I don't know. But the girls are going to want to know what's going on." I say.

"I'll go and do it. What do I say if they want to come here and see him?" Heath asks.

"We can't stop them." I shrug. "But I don't want Rick to leave Emilia with anyone, not since we don't know who took Lillie. I can look after her whilst the girls are here."

"Yeah, that's probably best." Heath nods, walking out just as Nate comes back in with the leaflets.

"I've picked up all of the ones with spaces for Kyle, it's your choice which one you would like to place Kyle in. If you would like more information, just come and ask me. I'll be in my office." Nate lightly smiles, handing them over to me.

"Thanks Nate." I nod, taking them from him, surprised at how many there were to choose from.