A/N: So here is the next chapter... not a massive amount in this chapter but it moves the story on a little bit.

Chapter 4.

It had been four hours; a long four hours for Lauren. She sat in the waiting room, her leg twitching as she sat impatiently waiting for there to be some news. Her mother had joined them a couple of hours ago and she'd brought Alice with her.

"I can't get hold of dad," Alice sobbed, "He should be here."

"I didn't think they got on with each other," Lauren said to her softly.

"He's his dad."

"Do you think Joey would want him here?" She asked.

Alice paused at her question and Lauren knew her answer even before she said it, "Probably not."

Max walked over and handed them both a cup of tea. "Drink this." He told them gently. Lauren held the cup in both her hands, her eyes fixed on the cup but she couldn't drink any of it. The thought of it turned her stomach. Max brushed his hand over her head and crouched down in front of her. "He's going to be okay, Lauren. A nurse spoke to me and your mum while I was getting the teas and they've nearly finished with him now. The doctor will be out in a few minutes to let us know how he is."

"I had a row with him last night..." she whispered to him, looking up at his face with a haunted expression on her own.

"This is not your fault, Lauren. You didn't do this to him." He told her earnestly.

"I was really cruel to him. He didn't deserve it."

"I'm fairly sure he didn't deserve quite a lot of things that happened to him last night. Don't worry, honey. You'll get a chance to apologise for whatever it was you said."

The door to the waiting room slammed open and Derek appeared. "What happened?" He shouted angrily. "What happened to my boy?"

"He's being operated on, Del." Max said as he stepped forward and gripped Derek's arms. "He was badly beaten and they think he may have internal bleeding. The police are going to want to question him once he's fit to speak to them."

"Did he say what happened?"

"He said he couldn't remember." Max told him, "I'm not sure I believe him." He added.

"Who found him?" Derek asked.

"Lauren. She brought him to our house and I brought him here." Max said. "He took a turn for the worse once we got here."

"Why didn't she bring him to my house? I'm his father."

"She brought him home because it was closer and apart from anything else you weren't there, Derek. Alice has been calling you for a couple of hours. This isn't Lauren's fault; this is down to the bastards that did this to him. Don't take your frustrations out on her."

"Dad..." Lauren's voice shook as she spoke.

"Lauren?" Max said, turning to her.

"The doctor's here..." she whispered, her face paling as she looked at the newcomer in the room.

Max stepped forward, grabbing Lauren's hand and pulling her with him, "Doctor? How is he?"

"Mr. Branning..." He paused as he looked at the other members of the family assembled.

"Oh, sorry. This is my wife, Tanya. And this is my brother, Derek and his daughter, Alice. They're Joey's father and sister."

"Mr Branning, I'm not sure if your brother has updated you on your son's condition?" Derek nodded once and the doctor continued, "We opened up Joey and I found an artery was pierced by one of his ribs when it broke. There was a lot of internal bleeding and his situation is still very severe. He's now in intensive care and we'll be monitoring him for the next couple of days to ensure there are no other complications." He looked at the rest of the room and took in their sombre expressions, "I feel I should say your son was actually very lucky. If he hadn't been found by his cousin and brought here by your brother, I may have been telling you a completely different story."

Lauren sagged against her father as she took in the words the doctor said. "Can we see him? Is he awake?" she asked tentatively.

"They're just settling him into intensive care right now but he should be up to visitors soon. He's not awake yet but again it shouldn't be too long till he wakes up from the anaesthetic."

"Thank you doctor, thank you." Derek said, over-enthusiastically reaching for the doctor's hand and shaking it profusely.

"You're welcome, Mr Branning. I'll get a nurse to come and find you all when you can see him. There's a limit of two people at a time, I'm afraid."

*JL*JL*

The nurse had arrived in the room about forty minutes later and Derek and Alice had followed after her. Lauren sat, waiting for the time she could see Joey. Something occurred to her while she waited, "Mum, Dad, I've just thought of something..." she whispered.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Tanya asked her eldest daughter.

"He didn't try and fight back." She said, her voice so quiet they could barely hear her.

"What do you mean?"

"His hands weren't scraped up or bruised. Whoever did this to him, he didn't fight back. He didn't try and defend himself."

"How can you be so certain?" Tanya asked her.

"Mum, Joey boxes at Uncle Jack's gym. He'd defend himself if he could. He'd fight back. He didn't do that last night."

"You think he let this happen to him?" Max asked her.

"I don't know." She paused and thought about what her dad had asked her. She shook her head, "No, he'd put up a fight. Whoever did this either got in a lucky punch and knocked him out really quickly or he wasn't expecting it."

"Do you think he knew his attacker?"

"I think so. He was going to tell me something earlier, in the kitchen. He stopped when you came back in."

"We're just going to have to be there for him, Lauren." Tanya said, putting her arm around her. "We're family and we'll be there for him."

Lauren leant into her mother's hug and for the first time since Joey had been taken for the operation she was able to relax. Max hugged her from her other side and Lauren felt truly safe. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt that way.

They all looked up about ten minutes later when the door opened again. It was Alice. "He's awake..." she cried. "He's asking to see you, Lauren."

Lauren got to her feet, swaying slightly and feeling light headed. "Are you okay, Lauren?"

"Yeah, I just realised I haven't eaten anything since last night..."

"And you have a hangover?" Tanya accused.

"I don't. Honest. Yes I went out for a few drinks but, really it wasn't a very late night. After I left R&R I didn't have anything else to drink." She looked down at the floor, "I felt guilty about what I said to Joey." She whispered.

"Go, speak to him and apologise. You'll feel better once you've done so, okay? Your mum and I will get you something to eat while you're with him."

Lauren hugged her dad tightly, "Thanks dad," she whispered to him. She walked on unsteady feet to the door, hugging Alice briefly before leaving the room. Her steps got slower as she walked to the ward Joey was in. She stopped outside the room and took a couple of deep breaths. The door opened suddenly, taking her by surprise and Derek strode out, not seeing her as he walked away from the room. Lauren could tell he was angry; in fact furious was a better description of his demeanour.

TBC

A/N2: So there you go. Derek is being his usual loving self... What do you think? Let me know in a review. Next chapter soon.