AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thank you to all those leaving wonderful reviews and supporting this story, and those reading along.

I should be updating one more chapter before Christmas, but in the meantime I wish all my supporters a wonderful festive season. Enjoy.

Chapter 7

Ricky made her way into the hospital later that afternoon after having closed Angelo's until the dinner time rush. She took note of the three brothers in the waiting room area, and walked up to them.

Brax appeared deep in thought, with his head firmly facing downwards, while Casey and Heath were both leaning up against the walls.

"How's Kyle?" Ricky asked.

"Phoebe's been in with him for the last few hours," Brax mumbled.

Ricky gave a questioning look to the younger Braxton's; curious by her partner's behaviour.

"Phoebe had a go at Brax," Casey commented.

Ricky sat beside Brax and wrapped her arm around his shoulder.

"Whatever she said, she was just upset," Ricky comforted.

"I know, but it doesn't make the situation any easier on any of us," Brax grumbled and stood up, going off for a walk to try and clear his head and get the opportunity to make some calls.

Ricky sighed and quietly stepped into Kyle's room. She saw Phoebe resting her head on the bedside beside Kyle; she looked tired and worn out from crying: her hair was a mess and her eyes puffy.

"Hey Pheebs: you doing alright?" Ricky whispered.

Phoebe glanced up at Ricky.

"How about you take a break? The boys said you've been here for three hours already," Ricky whispered.

"I'm not leaving him Ricky; not after I wasn't told about someone trying to hurt him in the first place. To find out by surprise; how do you think you would feel? What if that had happened to Brax?" Phoebe stated.

Ricky made her way towards the bed and stood beside Phoebe.

"I know it wasn't right for you not to know, but you can't keep holding on to that; being angry is not going to help Kyle when he needs as much support as ever," Ricky explained.

Phoebe sighed, "I know I shouldn't have said some of the things I did, but I love Kyle too much, Ricky."

Phoebe began to cry again and rested her head back down against Kyle.

"Come on Pheebs, let's take a walk, and grab something from the cafeteria," Ricky suggested.

Phoebe held onto Kyle's hand, reluctant to let go.

"Come on; Kyle's in good hands and his brothers are just outside," Ricky comforted.

Ricky led Phoebe out of the hospital room towards the cafeteria.

Casey and Heath took Phoebe's place back in Kyle's room and watched their brother lying helpless on the bed, monitored by machines.

Brax stood outside the hospital, calling anyone he knew that had contacts through the underground, but no-one had heard word about anyone coming after Kyle or anyone that had recently made their way into town.

Brax sighed heavily and placing his phone back into his pocket, made his way back into the hospital. He noticed his brother's back in Kyle's room and followed suit.

"Hey," Heath greeted.

"Where's Phoebe and Ricky?" Brax asked.

"Ricky took Phoebe to the cafe for a break," Casey answered.

"Did you find out anything?" Heath questioned.

Brax shook his head.

"No-one knows anything, or they're just not talking. Our only hope is Kyle wakes up soon and tells us what he was going to."

Ricky grabbed a tea for Phoebe and the two sat down in the cafeteria.

"I don't know how I could live without Kyle, Rick," Phoebe confessed, as she sipped her tea; letting the warm aromas of lemon and peach infuse her body.

"Pheebs, I'm sure Kyle will be alright: you just have to have hope," Ricky soothed.

"What kind of trouble is Kyle in?" Phoebe asked after some time.

Ricky shrugged.

"We're not too sure, but Brax is doing everything he can to try and figure out who is behind it all," Ricky explained.

The two girls watched as doctors and nurses walked in and out of the cafeteria in their scrubs and up and down the hall.

Phoebe's eyes widened when she saw an array of nurses and doctors rush down the hallway in the same direction of Kyle's room.

Phoebe quickly stood up, staring wide into the halls.

"You don't think they are going down to Kyle, do you?" she quickly asked in panic.

Ricky turned her head around to see the same image Phoebe had: of nurses and doctors hurrying down the hall.

"I'm sure they're not, but maybe we should head back and check anyway," Ricky suggested calmly.

Ricky could see that Phoebe was shaking in distress and gently patted her arm.

As they exited the cafeteria they saw the rush of doctors and nurses turn a different path than that of Kyle's room and Phoebe took a deep sigh of relief and allowed her heart to fall back into her chest.

Ricky and Phoebe opened the door to Kyle's room and entered slowly.

"Hi," Ricky greeted.

Brax raised his eyebrows in greeting and turned back to face his brother.

"Has there been any change?" Ricky asked the three.

"Nah, still as motionless as before," Heath commented.

Phoebe stood leaning at the end of Kyle's bed.

"Brax, I want to say I'm sorry for the things I said earlier. Just because I'm mad and upset didn't give me the right to call you selfish. I know you look out for Kyle where you can," Phoebe apologised.

Brax looked up and nodded, "Thanks Phoebe."

The awkwardness of silence in the room was broken apart by the doctor entering.

Brax stood up and moved away from the bedside to allow the doctor room to assess his brother.

After shining a light in Kyle's eyes to test his reflexes and checking on his heart rate and respiration rate, the doctor scribbled down some notes and adjusted Kyle's intravenous fluid rate.

"How's he doing doc?" Brax asked.

The doctor sighed and glanced back over his notes.

"He's still not responding, but he is stable, which is a good thing."

"When do you think he might respond?" Heath asked.

"It's hard to say; each patient wakes up on their own accord, but with his progress remaining stable, I should hope to see some change in the next few days."

The doctor added the notes to Kyle's hospital forms near the bedside and turned to the worried family.

"I do have to warn you visiting time is almost up for the night, so for the patient's best interests we cannot have you all here in his room. Maximum of three people can stay," the doctor explained before leaving the room.

Phoebe sat down beside Kyle.

"Well I'm not going," she stated.

Ricky glanced at the three brothers.

"I'll stay," Brax said firmly.

"Guess that leaves us to head home; no use us hanging around," Ricky mentioned.

Casey shrugged, but agreed to head home.

Brax stood beside Ricky with his arm around her waist.

"You sure you'll be okay?" he whispered.

Ricky smiled, "I'll be fine. Let me know if anything changes."

Brax gave Ricky a kiss on the forehead.

"Bye Pheebs," Ricky fare-welled.

Casey got a lift home with Ricky while Heath went his own way back home in his car.

As the night marched on, Brax and Phoebe watched over Kyle, not saying much at all to each other, until the oldest Braxton noticed Phoebe give a yawn and flex her neck.

"Hey, you want to take the arm chair?" Brax asked.

The arm chair was situated towards the corner of the room and the most appealing chair in the bleakness of the room.

Phoebe shook her head.

"I want to stay by Kyle's side."

"You won't be that far away from him; besides you look like you could do with the rest. Go on; I'll stay awake and keep watch," Brax offered.

Phoebe moved away from Kyle and rested back in the arm chair; soon falling asleep.

Brax flicked any thought of sleep from his eyes, and flopped down into a hospital chair.

It was the following morning when Kyle began to finally come through and stir from his deep sleep.

Brax sat upright in his chair, having heard a groan from his brother.

Phoebe also alerted to the minute movements of her boyfriend.

"Kyle?" Phoebe questioned and quickly stood to attention.

Kyle flicked his eyes, as if he was gauging his surroundings and gasped over his dry mouth; still covered by an Oxygen mask.

Brax rushed over to glance at his brother then rushed out of the room towards the reception desk.

"Can you get somebody; my brother is waking up!" Brax ordered.

"I will page a doctor right away," the receptionist replied calmly.

When Brax returned, Phoebe was standing, hovering over Kyle.

"Kyle, Kyle; can you hear me?"

The doctor came into the room shortly after and made his way next to Kyle's bed.

Phoebe was reluctant to release her hold on Kyle's hand but the doctor had needed as much space to assess the injured Braxton.

The doctor removed the Oxygen mask and shone his light into Kyle's eyes.

"His reflexes are definitely improving, though they still show some lack of reaction," the doctor explained as Brax remained staring, while Phoebe watched in worry, with her hand firmly pressed against her mouth.

"Okay Kyle, I need you to answer me a few questions. First: how many fingers can you see?" the doctor asked; waving two fingers in front of Kyle's face.

"Uh, uh; it's all blurry: three?" Kyle replied.

The doctor noted the response on Kyle's chart and proceeded.

"Okay, can you tell me if you feel any pain?"

Kyle groaned again.

"And can you remember what happened to you?"

Kyle slowly shook his head.

"I'm so tired," he mumbled and through his blurry eyes gazed around the room.

Kyle only saw visions of a man and a young woman who appeared to be familiar.

"Phoebe? Brax?" Kyle whispered.

"That's us mate," Brax called out.

Phoebe rushed back over to Kyle's bed and grabbed his hand.

"I love you Kyle; what happened to you?"

Kyle only blinked his eyes and slowly closed them again.

"Well what happened, doc?" Brax asked, with his hands on his hips.

"Kyle's recovery is looking up, but he still has a while to go. I must warn you, that Kyle is still in a fragile state and any stress could cause serious injury to his long term memory."

"What does that mean?!" Brax demanded.

"It means because Kyle suffered a nasty blow and gash to the head, he could suffer some short term memory loss; so that is why we need to monitor him closely," the doctor explained.

Brax frowned and glanced back towards Phoebe who was doting over her injured boyfriend.

That's just great; if Kyle can't remember who was after him, we're all just back to square one! Brax muttered inside his head.

Brax took out his phone and messaged Ricky telling her that Kyle had finally woken up.

Back at the Braxton house, Casey had just finished having breakfast after his surf when Ricky's phone beeped.

"Is that Brax?"

"Yeah; he said Kyle woke up," Ricky replied.

Casey's eyes widened in surprise and he gave a smile.

"That's great. I guess I'll pop in and see him before my shift at the gym."

Ricky nodded and poured water into her coffee mug.

"Yeah, I might come along with you and try and relieve Brax for a while."

Casey scoffed, "Good luck with that; you know how stubborn he is."

Ricky smiled weakly and the two made their way towards the hospital, with Ricky texting Heath along the way.