Not too happy with this chapter. Hope its okay though. Remember to leave a reviewwww :).
Soon after Casey had fallen asleep the nurse came in to see them, "how long's he been asleep for?" she asked softly as she checked his IV and other vitals. "Not long" Brax said as he watched her intently. The nurse nodded as she checked his chart. "Right, if you could let me know when he wakes up I will need to change his dressing" she explained, "I have also spoken to Dr. Walker and later on this evening we are going to have a go at a feed. We will only begin with water and see how this is tolerated and then go from there".
"Okay thanks" Brax said forcing a smile.
"Let us know if you need anything" the nurse said before leaving the three brothers.
Brax and Heath continued to sit in a comfortable silence, Heath was flicking through a magazine whilst Brax continued to watch Casey. After a while Brax looked up, "Right you have school tomorrow" he stated to Heath.
"Ah man, your not making me go are you?" Heath moaned. Brax shot him a look, "Of course I bloody am, we have too much going on at the moment last thing we need is the school and authorities on our back about your attendance!" Brax snapped.
"Fine" Heath replied, too tired to argue back.
"Good, I'm going to stay here tonight, your too go straight home and I will be back in the morning to sort you and everything out" Brax said stretching back in his chair.
"Yes sir," Heath smirked, "May go to the beach though first, the boys are down there I-"
"Nup, you are to go straight home" Brax interrupted. Heath sighed.
"Fine can they come to ours?"
"Hell no, noone is too go round ours tonight, too much going on" Brax said with a sigh, "I dont need the stress".
"But there family!" Heath stropped, "They want to know about Casey and-"
"Enough, I will let them know about Case and I know there family which is also how I know what they are like so no they are not to come round tonight!"
"Fine" Heath said standing up, "See ya tomorrow, tell Case I said bye".
"Good, but dont even try it, Mrs Palmer is right next door so I will hear about it" Brax warned.
"Yeah, yeah I know" Heath said rolling his eyes as he walked out. He knew they had a lot on but he needed to blow off some steam, he was sure Brax had some beers in the fridge or something.
Brax sighed leaning forward and putting his head in his hands, exhausted. He sat like that for at least an hour drifting in and out of a sleeping state. He only looked up again when he heard Casey stir. Brax stood up and walked to the side of the bed smiling at his baby brother. Casey stretched with a wince before slowly opening his eyes, "Brax" he said with a small smile.
"Hey mate, how you doing?" Brax asked softly as he sat on the edge of the bed.
"Fine" Casey replied quietly. Brax rolled his eyes, he knew Braxtons weren't ones for showing too much emotion or talking but at a time like this Brax felt he ought to know exactly what was going on so he could try and control the situation in anyway possible. Casey realised Brax's mild annoyance, "A bit sore" he shrugged looking away from Brax, embarrassed.
"Right, well I'm gunna get the nurse now anyway as she needs to change your dressing and she will give ya something for the pain" Brax said before walking out to find the nurse. He came straight back, "She will be in in about 5 minutes" He told Casey who just nodded. Casey bit his lip thinking, he was a bit concerned about what it would look like, let alone what would happen when they tried to feed him through it. "Brax, have you seen it?" he asked his eyes wandering to where the source of the dull pain was. Brax smiled, "Yeah looks pretty cool bud" Brax said trying to make him feel better. Casey wasn't convinced, "I am never going into the sea again you know" he stated. Brax frowned then let out a small chuckle, "I will bet any amount of money that you will Case, your a Braxton and hay I thought you wanted to learn to surf? You have to go in the sea to do that mate". Casey shrugged, "Anyway why wouldn't you go in the sea, the doctors said after a couple of weeks you will be fine to swim and bath depending on how you are feeling at the time with the rest of the treatment". Casey shrugged again, "Because its gross and the boys will laugh and what happens if it gets pulled out" he explained. Brax sighed.
"Firstly, its not gross its just something you have to do, and it might seem like that at the minute because you are scared and it is still a fresh wound but once you get used to it it will be like it was always there. Secondly, the boys wouldn't dare laugh 'cause they will have me and Heath to answer to and as for it being pulled out thats very rare and the doctors and nurses are going to tell us what to do if that does happen" Brax explained, he had spoken to so many medical professionals he was beginning to feel like he actually knew what he was on about.
Casey didn't look convinced but the nurse came in before he had the chance to disagree. "Hello" the nurse said cheerily, "How are you feeling?" she asked Casey with a smile.
"Okay" He said quietly.
Brax cut in, "He's in pain still".
"Ah okay well I will sort that out once I have changed your dressing" she smiled. She lifted up Casey's hospital gown gently. "Okay so I am just going to take this bandage off and replace it, as easy as that" she explained with a smile, "It may hurt a bit just tell me if its really bad," she explained, "Are you ready?" She asked Casey who nodded. The nurse slowly and gently pulled off the bandage, Casey grimaced slightly. Once it was off the nurse began to clean it carefully. It was slightly oozy which was normal and although it was not bleeding through it was still very fresh. Casey looked down before quickly looking away again, eyes wide open. Brax gave his little brothers hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Right, all done here" the nurse said when she finished, she gently pulled down the hospital gown before standing up. "Dr. Walker will be in in a few hours to check you over and possibly try and to feed. Let us know if you need anything before then" she smiled before walking out.
"You alright?" Brax asked moving his chair closer to Casey's bed.
Casey swallowed the lump he felt in his throat, "I… I think its going to take a bit of getting used to" he said very quietly trying to be brave, it made him feel funny inside but he knew it was just something he had to do. "Yeah, this whole thing is going to take some getting used to" Brax replied with a forced laugh. "I'm just going to give Heath a call mate, let him know whats going on" Brax said.
Sitting back in his chair Brax dialled Heaths phone number. No answer. After three attempts he gave up. He left an angry message, frustrated and worried. "No answer" he grumbled.
"Maybe he's asleep?" Casey said causing Brax to chuckle.
"Doubt it!"
Casey and Brax sat quietly talking for the next hour before Brax tried Heath again. After three more failed attempts he decided to ask Ricky to go around and check on him, he did not need Heath annoying the neighbours while he was away.
Meanwhile back at the house Heath was on his 6th beer. His head was starting to spin as he slumped against the arm of the sofa. His head felt fuzzy which at first was quite nice everything else felt so far away. Now, however, he just wanted to be sober again as the room spun slightly whilst too many emotions ran through his head. He vaguely heard a know at the door. He moaned out in reply.
"Heath, just me" Ricky said walking in, "Heath," She sighed seeing him still slumped on the sofa. Heath moved trying to stand up before slumping back down further where he was sat, "Hay just stay there, let me get you some water" Ricky said, squeezing his shoulder. She sat next to him whilst he gulped down the cold water. "So whats all this?" she asked after a while. Heath shrugged.
"Dunno… Just needed to blow off steam I guess" He slurred slighting with a shrug.
"And drinking was the best way to do that was it?" she said raising an eyebrow, "Surely a surf or a gym session would have been better". Heath shrugged again.
"Just doing what the old man taught me" Heath said with a bitter laugh.
"You are not Danny, so stop that" Ricky said angrily, "Whats this about?"
"Everything, mainly Brax and Casey, its all too much. They seem to have each other and I … Im just left, kind of" He shrugged. Ricky softened her tone.
"You know thats not true, they need you too! More then ever now, you all need each other" she smiled, "And this is not helping anyone" he said strictly. Suddenly her phone rang, "Brax" she stated answering it. "Please don't tell him" Heath mouther to her. She rolled her eyes.
"All good here… Yeah I know… He was asleep on the sofa when I got here… Yup see you later" She covered, "Right, shower and bed. Now" She said helping the middle Braxton up, "And if you need to talk to someone… you know not directly involved you've got my number… no more of this silliness!" Heath nodded.
Back at the hospital the doctor had began Casey's first bolus feed. "Okay, this will last 20 minutes, if you begin to feel sick or feel a lot of discomfort let us know straight away." Casey nodded, he was sat up straight intensely watching the formulae in the tube. Brax and the doctor were talking about aftercare for the tube and how regularly/ how to feed using the tube. After 20 minutes Casey was feeling a bit of discomfort and slightly bloated but he had made it through the 20 minutes. It was a small step, Casey successfully feeding and beginning to get the nutrients needed but Brax was going to take that as a small victory for them.