Hey everyone, chapter 2 is up. Thanks so much for all the kind reviews, I really appreciate it. I am currently on my Uni break, so I hope to get chapter 3 up within the next couple of weeks.
Enjoy :-)
It had been four days since Casey's emergency appendectomy and he was finally allowed to go home. Brax came to pick him up later that afternoon.
"Hey Case, how you feeling today?" asked Brax.
"Better now that I get to go home" Casey said with a smile on his face.
Brax helped Casey pack his things, and went to find the discharge papers for Casey to sign. Nate was standing near the reception desk talking to Hannah.
"Hey Doc, I just wanna say thanks for what you did for Casey, I really appreciate it" said Brax.
"It's never a problem, you have my number, and if you need anything you know where to find me" replied Nate.
Hannah handed Brax the discharge papers and he took them to Casey so he could fill them out. Casey thanked Nate on their way out. Brax helped Casey into the car and the headed home.
When they arrived home, Ricky and Phoebe had made a special dinner for everyone.
"You guys know I've only been gone for like 4 days right?" said Casey sarcastically.
"Yeah mate, we know but these two over here wanted to do something nice for you" answered Heath.
"Aw that's really nice, thanks Rick and Phoebe" said Casey while giving them both a hug.
"You feeling better?" asked Ricky
"I am, just a bit tender but that's normal apparently" replied Casey.
Heath turned off the TV and went outside to Brax.
"You alright?" Heath asked sounding concerned.
"Yeah Im fine, I was just really worried about him, I hate seeing him like that" Brax said.
"So are we just going to look at this or are we actually going to eat it, you know some of us have been on hospital food for 4 days" said Casey laughing.
Everyone went to the table and sat down for a great meal.
"Ok, that was amazing, I think I should be in hospital next" said Kyle jokingly.
Phoebe slapped him and said "don't think you can get used to this".
Everyone helped clean up, and they went to bed.
The next morning Casey was up first. He got dressed in his work clothes, had some breakfast and was out the door. On his way to work he ran into Nate who reminded him that he can't do any boot camps or heavy lifting for about two weeks. Only light duties. Casey wasn't happy about it, but he listened. He was close to the gym when he looked down at the beach. He stopped and stared at someone as if he knew them. He walked a bit closer, and this person slowly turned around. Casey was startled and fell back. Brax caught him, and asked if he was alright.
"Yeah, I just thought I saw someone, uh, don't worry about it" replied Casey
"You let me know if you need anything" said Brax while walking up to the restaurant.
Casey turned back to the beach and the beach was empty. Did he see who he thought?
He shook his head and disbelief and carried walking to the gym. When he got there Andy had already opened up and everything was running smoothly.
"Wow, what brought this on?" Casey asked Andy.
"I heard you were in hospital and just wanted to do something nice, don't get used to it" Andy replied with a smirk.
"Thanks Andy, I really appreciate it" said Casey.
Andy ran the morning boot camps, while Casey worked out rosters and did light duties. Casey was really impressed with Andy's new attitude. That afternoon Heath came in for his shift and to watch Casey on Brax's orders.
"Hey Casey, you can go if you want mate, Heath and I have this covered" said Andy.
"You sure?" asked Casey.
"Yeah, there's only one boot camp left and then cleaning up, besides you look a bit tired" replied Andy.
"I might just take you up on that offer, thanks heaps" answered Casey.
Casey got his bag and went up to Angelo's to tell Brax he was leaving. As he walked up the stairs, he looked out by the door and that same person caught his eye. It can't be, he thought. "Casey pull yourself together, you're losing it. It must be those pain killers" he thought to himself. He went upstairs, and told Brax he was heading home.
Casey walked into the house and Ricky asked "hey how come you're home so early?" "Oh Heath and Andy had it covered" replied Casey. Later that afternoon Heath arrived home and assured Casey that the gym was still in one piece. Brax and Kyle came home a bit later and brought some dinner from Angelo's. Once they finished dinner, Phoebe and Kyle went to their room, Brax and Ricky went to their flat and Heath went to his room. Casey sat on the couch and watched some TV before he went to bed. After about an hour of TV, Casey went to bed.
It was just after 4am when there was a loud banging on the door. Casey and Kyle jumped up and both ran to the door, when they opened it they saw a box outside. Just as Kyle went to pick it up, Brax opened their door and told him to be careful. Kyle brought the box into the house and opened it. Inside were a dozen red roses chopped up, and an envelope with Brax's name on it. He looked at Casey, as he handed it to him. He held it up to the light but couldn't make out what was in it. He opened it slowly, inside was a picture of Charlie. Written on the back was: 'do you miss her as much as I miss my brother?' Brax completely flipped out. He punched a hole in the wall and broke two chairs. Phoebe and Ricky came running when they heard the commotion.
"What is going on here?" asked Phoebe with fear in her eyes.
"Brax got a picture of his ex-girlfriend who was shot by this guy" said Kyle quietly.
Casey thought now was the time to speak up. "Uh, Brax, this morning when I told you I thought I saw someone...it was him. I saw him again outside the Surf Club. First I thought I was going crazy, but it must be him" said Casey worriedly.
"How did he find us? How did he get out of prison? It was a life sentence" shouted Brax.
"Maybe it was just a prank or something" said Ricky, hoping to calm Brax down.
"You know what, let's just go to sleep and we'll figure all this out in the morning" said Kyle as he turned his back and went back to bed.
The Braxton house was quiet again as everyone went back to their rooms. The following morning Casey hurried off to work, when he arrived there was a note on his desk. He turned it over and it said 'you scared yet Braxton?' Casey rang Brax and told him what he found. Brax was there within minutes, he went up to Angelo's and the place was trashed. He found the same message tagged on the wall.
"Maybe we should call the cops" said Casey.
"And let them do what? They can't do anything, I will end this myself" yelled Brax.
Casey rang Ricky and told her about Brax. She and Kyle went over to see the damages.
"This place is wrecked" said Kyle.
"What I want to know is how did he find us? How did he know that we work here? How did he know that Casey worked at the gym? How did he know?" said Brax angrily.
They put a closed sign up at Angelo's and Casey got Andy to run the gym for the day. When they got home, Heath, Casey and Brax packed a bag and went to the city for a few days. They received threats in the city as well. They thought it was impossible; surely he couldn't have spies in the city. They never saw anyone following them.
A few days later they returned home. Between Kyle, Phoebe, Ricky and the rest of Summer Bay residents they pulled together and restored Angelo's. Brax couldn't thank them enough, he was eternally grateful for what they had done.
After Angelo's they dropped their bags off at home and decided to head down to the beach for a surf. Once they got back home, Casey went to have a shower. He was in the bathroom for about five minutes when he came running out looking for Brax.
"Where's Brax?" said Casey concerned.
"Uh, he should be in the flat with Ricky...everything ok?" asked Kyle.
"Yeah, I just need him now" said Casey sternly.
"BRAX!" yelled Kyle.
"Oi, where's the fire?" said Brax running into the house.
"Casey needs you" said Kyle while pointing to Casey's room.
Brax knocked on the door.
"Case, you ok?" asked Brax.
"I don't know, come in" answered Casey.
When Brax walked in Casey was sitting on his bed with his back to the door holding his side.
"Does it hurt? Do you want more meds?" asked Brax.
"Brax... there's something inside me" said Casey, his eyes filling up with tears.
"What do you mean?" asked Brax confused.
Casey stood up, turned around and moved his hand off his side. Brax knelt down in front of Casey and moved him into the light. Clear as day, an outline of something next to his scar.
"What is it?" asked Casey worriedly.
"Mate, I don't know what to tell you, it looks like a bullet shape" said Brax.
"What do we do?" asked Casey.
"I'm taking you to the hospital" said Brax.
Brax and Casey walked into the lounge room where everyone was watching TV.
"I'm taking Casey to the hospital, there's something wrong, I'll keep you guys posted" was all Brax said and he left.
Phoebe, Heath, Kyle and Ricky looked at each other quite confused.
Brax and Casey arrived at the hospital and went to find Nate.
"Hey guys, everything ok?" asked Nate.
"No not really, you left something in me" said Casey.
"Wait, what? What do you mean I left something in you?" asked Nate.
Casey lifted his shirt and showed Nate the bullet shaped outline protruding from his side.
"HANNAH! Call radiology and let them know we're bringing someone in now" yelled Nate.
"We're taking you for an x-ray to see what and where it is, then into surgery again to remove it" said Nate.
Brax called home and let them know what was happening. They all arrived at the hospital a bit later, while Casey was in surgery. Half an hour later Nate came to find everyone.
"We removed it, but we don't know what it is, we're going to hand it over to the cops so they can work it out" said Nate.
"Can we see it?" asked Heath.
Nate handed him a bottle with a bullet shape object in it. Heath took it out and looked at it properly.
"It has a mini circuit board inside; hang on...what's that? Its engraved... with the initials...J.P." said Heath.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HOW THE HELL DID THAT GET INSIDE MY BROTHER? Brax yelled at the top of his lungs.
"It's a GPS tracker" said Kyle
An agency nurse went up to Nate and whispered something to him. He followed her into an empty room.
"Nate... it was me" she said.
"What was you?" asked Nate.
"A guy came up to me when that kid was brought in, he offered me $30,000 if I put it in him. You looked away for a split second during the surgery and I dropped it in" she said.
Nate rang the cops and gave them the whole story.
"So who is this J.P. guy? Asked Phoebe.
"His name is Jake Pirovic, he killed someone Brax loved and he has been seeking revenge for his brother's murder" said Kyle.
"He's been tracking you? That's how he knew you guys were in the city" said Phoebe.
"Now what?" asked Heath.
"We leave tonight" said Brax.
"Leave to go where?" asked Heath.
"To put an end to this...once and for all" replied Brax.
