Ruby's POV
I storm out of Casey's place, hoping that he isn't following me. I turn back as I walk away to see him chasing after me.
"Just leave it Casey! They have to pay for what they've done" I yell as I continue to briskly walk.
"No ruby, you can't! It won't help! They have no proof" he cries, chasing after me, but I start to block out the sound of his voice. I am not going to be persuaded out of this I think to myself.
Suddenly, I hear my phone ring, I turn back expecting Casey to be the caller; that's something he would do, but to my surprise he has no phone in his hand. I take out my phone from my pocket and answer it.
I hang up the phone and Casey can tell that something is wrong.
'Who was that?' Casey asks me, as I head back towards him.
'It was the hospital...they need me to come in, urgently.'
'Well then let's go.'
'What if something's happened to Charlie?' I ask, starting to worry. 'What if – '
'We won't know until we get down there,' Casey says, 'but if your mum's anything like you, I'm sure whatever it is, she'll be strong enough to pull through.'
'If something has happened, I'm going to be even more determined to call the police,' I say, storming past him, heading back towards his house where my car is. 'I hope you know that.'
Brodie's POV
Not long after Brax left – in my car no less – Hammer came to. And he was pissed. After having threatened to kill me if I got in his way, he ran up the road towards his own car, and it doesn't take a genius to work out where he's heading in it. What was Brax thinking, beating him up like that? It just set him off! Now Brax is going to be in real trouble...I seriously underestimated the extent of Hammer's insanity – I should never have gotten him involved in any of this. For the first time in his life, I think Riley was right about something.
Really, I never should have kidnapped that stupid cop! She's the one to blame for this whole mess!
Running up the road myself, not really thinking about how exactly I'm going to get there, just knowing I have to get to the hospital to help Brax, I see a car heading my way. It slows down when it gets to me, and to my relief it is Riley in the front seat.
'Hey man, what're you – '
'Riley, for once I am actually happy to see you,' I say, running around to the passenger side of the car. 'We have to go back to the hospital. Hammer's lost it.'
'I told you we shouldn't have gotten him involved in this.'
'Yeah yeah, I'll give you a medal later. Just drive.'
Riley turns the car around, and we speed off towards the hospital. While having Brax dead would mean I wouldn't have to live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, waiting for him to kill me, I can't let him die. We're still family after all.
Brax's POV:
'Seriously man, just calm down hey,' I say, sick of finding myself within 3 metres of Hammer and a deadly weapon.
'You thought you were just going to walk away after knocking me out?' Hammer spits, jack-knife pointed in my direction. He smiles wickedly. 'Nah, that's not how this ends. And you – ' Hammer turns his attention to Charlie, panic stricken in her bed, ' – don't you even think about screaming.'
Hammer stands in front of the door to the room, which is unfortunately closed, closer to Charlie than to me. All I can think about is protecting her – if I had a dollar for the number of times I've felt this way in the past 2 days.
'You and your mate Brodie had your little touching moment before,' Hammer says. 'Now you and I are going to have ours.'
'Don't do anything stupid, alright,' I warn him.
'Stupid? Stupid was your friend getting me involved in this. Stupid was you beating me up back there. Stupid was you thinking I wasn't going to come right after you.'
'It's obvious you want revenge on me – so why don't we just take this outside – '
'No, Brax – ' Charlie starts to protest.
'I'm in agreement with your girlfriend,' Hammer says. 'Let's not take this outside.'
'It's kind of pointless isn't it? You stabbing me in a hospital? A) You'll get caught, and B) they have surgeons here. Stabbing me will achieve nothing.'
'Unless they get here too late to save you,' Hammer says, smiling again, like the thought of death excites him. Although I wouldn't be surprised if it does. In the corner of my eye I can see Charlie starting to become more and more of a wreck. 'But then again...who said I came here to stab you anyway?'
Everything seems to slow down then, as Hammer suddenly lunges towards Charlie. Charlie starts to scream, and I run forward. Before I can get to him, the door to the room has flown open, and Brodie and Riley have come charging in. Brodie is behind Riley, struggling with him, while I rush to Charlie's side. She's in tears, shaking, breathing unsteadily.
'Are you alright?' I ask her, checking for wounds. She doesn't answer me. Of course she's not alright, mentally anyway.
Just outside the doorway, I see Ruby and Casey, eyes wide, staring into the room and seeing the commotion.
'Call the police!' Ruby shouts, as she and Casey both run forward. I try to tell them to stay back, but being the persistent little buggers they are, they both come running right in. Nurses outside in the corridor are panicking, running everywhere, not quite sure what to make of the scene.
Ruby rushes immediately over to Charlie, while Casey tries to get involved in the altercation. Knowing Charlie is in capable hands, I get up and help Casey in stopping the fight. I suddenly realise that Brodie has been stabbed, and is bleeding heavily. I yell at Casey to get help. He lets go of a struggling hammer and runs to get the nurses who are standing at the nearby nurses' station.
All of the nurses go to help Brodie, except for one who is on the phone to the police, and one who is paging a surgeon. Soon enough, Brodie is being stretchered away, while Riley, Casey and I are pinning Hammer down, waiting for the police.
I turn my head to check on Charlie, and she is still in a poor emotional state. Ruby is trying her hardest to calm her down, but it doesn't seem to be working. It is obvious that Charlie is terrified. All I want to do is hold her, and tell her everything will be okay, but I know if I let go of Hammer, he will get away, and our nightmare won't ever end.
Ruby's POV:
It feels like hours until the police finally arrive and take Hammer away. Charlie is now sedated to stop her from having another panic attack. Brax, Casey and I sit at Charlie's bedside watching her sleep. I lay my head on Casey's shoulder, and begin to feel tears forming in my eyes. I begin to speak, but am cut off by Sid walking through the door, asking to speak to us. It seems serious..
"Is this why I was called to the hospital originally?" I ask.
"Yes, yes it is, Charlie has been subjected to in the last few days has caused her to develop a severe case of depression and anxiety"
"Oh my god!" I say in disbelief. How could Charlie, my mother, become depressed? It was just not possible!
"I know that this is a lot to take in, but you need to listen carefully, because I really need you to understand what I am saying." He says in an empathetic tone, "I believe your mother would be better suited in a psychiatric ward, and I need your approval to move her there. I know this is a lot to ask, but it will really help your mother because they are well equipped to handle these situations"
This is all so much to take in. I look at Brax, who is just as devastated as I am. I can tell that he is thinking the same way I am... how could we let this happen?