Beep. Beep. Beep.

The only sound in the small, white room was the heart monitor.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The noise was infuriating, but it was the only thing I had to know that my brother was okay. We didn't know if he would make it or not. The surgeons had performed a three hour operation to remove the tip of the knife that had got jammed into his liver. Trent had caused some ever lasting damage to my family. That scum bag was where he belonged now though. He and Emerald were locked up in jail until the court case in two months time. I don't get why we had to wait so long before we knew what would happen to them, I hardly think they'll be released after everything they've done. Two different incidents for domestic abuse, kidnapping, attempted murder, and if Shayne doesn't pull through...manslaughter.

I was lucky. I had got away with rope burns to my arms and legs. They hurt like hell but I didn't care about them. There was nothing anyone could do about the burns, they would heal in their own time. Duncan was also lucky. He had gotten away with a mild concussion thanks to Emerald whacking him over the head with the hedge trimmers he had used to help me. He did have a broken nose from where Trent had punched him, and a busted lip, but that was nothing compared to the damage he had done to Trent. I didn't hurt Emerald, I just wrestled her to the ground. But looking back on the moment now, I wish I had.

Duncan was blaming himself for everything. He said it was his fault that Gwen had got hurt. If only he had tried a little harder to stop her from going to see him, but I know he couldn't have. Gwen was very stubborn about it, but that doesn;t mean she deserved what Trent had done to her. She too will be scarred for life, just like me.

Then he blamed himself for me getting kidnapped. Yet again, if only Duncan had stayed by my side during the stupid hunt, but it was against the rules. He couldn't have known that Trent would be after me. There was no way of knowing what that messed up family were going to do.

Duncan then went on to blame himself for Shayne. Trent wanted to kill Duncan. He had aimed the knife for Duncan's heart, but Shayne had jumped in front of him before he could. The knife impaled Shayne's stomach, going straight to his liver. Duncan claimed that if only he hadn't shown Shayne that stupid letter, if only he had told him to keep searching for those stupid golden ring things, then maybe he wouldn't have been hurt. But I know that it wasn't his fault hayne had taken the wound for him, no one knew that Shayne would ever do that for someone, not even Shayne himself.

I know that none of that was Duncan's fault. There is no way he could have stopped any of that from happening. What Trent had done was unstoppable, he was twisted kid who desperately needed help from an expert therapist. But Duncan couldn't see it that way. In his mind he was the one who had caused all of this, not Trent, him. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't talk him out of it. He was determined to blame himself.

I couldn't take it any longer. I got up and walked straight out the door. I wanted to cry so badly, but I couldn't. I had no tears left. I had been crying so much there was none left. Typical, the one time I want to cry and I can't.

I took a seat with the rest of my siblings in the waiting room. The doctors had said there was too many of us to all go in, so my parents had gone in along with me.

"How is he?" Charlie asked. I didn't reply, I kept staring blankly at the dull colored wall.

"It's not your fault, Courtney." Stevie said to me. She could read me like a book. I was blaming myself, because lets face it, it was my fault. If I had never dated Trent in the first place then none of this would have happened. I know I just said that it was Trent's fault, but it's my fault for bringing Trent into everyone's lives.

Robin came over and tried to sit on my lap like she usually does, but I flinched as she touched my raw skin.

"Don't do that, Robin." I told her.

"Why not?" She asked. She was only five, not old enough to understand anything that had happened over the course of our supposive holiday.

"Because." I answered. "Because I've been badly hurt and when you touch me it hurts more." Robin's eyes fluttered to my burn's from the ropes, and she ran her finger softly over the patterned mark on my arm.

"Does that hurt?" She questioned.

"No." I lied, in honesty it did, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

"Where's Shayne?" Kyle asked, again too young to understand. I looked to Dani for an answer, but she was rubbing her stomach mindlessly. She was very distraught about everything that had happened, we all were.

"Shayne's not very well." Charlie explained to the younger siblings.

"But he'll be okay, won't he?" Jessy asked, she was twelve so she did know what was going on, this only made her worry more than the four youngest who were slightly confused about everything going on.

"We don't know, Jess." Dani said in monotone.

We all sat in silence, each of us thinking about Shayne. He had to be okay, he had to pull through. He just had to.

"We did all we could, I'm sorry." The doctor walked away with sorrow on his face, but he had no idea how the rest of us felt. My heart had been ripped from my chest without consideration. The pain I was feeling was unbearable. It was not true, Shayne couldn't be dead. Not Shayne. Not my older brother who I always looked up to. No. It couldn't be him, the hospital had made a mistake. No.

Shayne was only eighteen years old. He was the jokester in the family. Without him we're just...plain. Shayne was the best brother I could have asked for. It took me years to realize just how much I needed him, and once I had he was gone from my life. Gone for good. My life is nothing without Shayne. Nothing but a big pit of emptiness.

Shayne had so much to live for. . He still had his whole life ahead of him. He was still young. He was supposed to be going off to college, he'd only just graduated high school. He was going to become a mechanic and help out at the local junk yard for extra cash. Shayne wanted to meet a girl and start a family. He may not have bee the type to plan out his life, but he had. Shayne knew what he wanted to do, and he had planned to do it.

Tears pricked in my eyes and I clung to Robin for support. Everywhere I looked my family were bawling their eyes our too. My vision became blurry and I fell backwards onto the hospital chair.

I sat up straight and screamed my head off.

"Do you mind?" A passing doctor scolded. "Patients are sleeping around here." I watched as the man walked off before turning to face in front of me. I was panting for breath and my eyes hurt from tiredness and crying. Most of my siblings were asleep. We had all had a rough day and were shattered. I must have dozed off in my attempt to stay awake tll news of Shayne came through.

"Court, are you okay?" Charlie asked soothingly.

"I'm fine. Just another bad dream." I answered.

"Was it about that douche?" I heard Stevie ask. She was stretched out on a few seats with her back turned to me.

"No. It was about Shayne." Tears were brimming my eyes for the umpteenth time that day. I hated the feeling of knowing that your whole world might come crashing down at any moment. That my family could be torn apart if Shayne didn't make it. I would never feel the same way if he didn't make it. I would never be whole inside. I would know that all of this was because of me, all of it was my fault.

A/N: The point of this chapter was to understand...I don't know what, but hopefully you understood.

Plus, we all wanted to know a bit more about Shayne's state. I did anyway. I LOVE SHAYNE! Still might kill him though...I don't know what to do right now. It all depends on if I wanna do a sequel or not, and I don't know if I will or not. I have got a good idea for a sequel , but unsure whether to do it or not. Been thinking about it since this story is coming to an end. Only a few chapters left now people. And I have enjoyed this story definitely my best one by far. Now the question is do I continue with a sequel?

Okay. School started today for me. WHOOP-DE-EFFING-DO! First day back and I sat in chewing gum! It was DISGUSTING! Did they not clean the chairs ready for when we came back? ANYWAY! It shouldn't damage my updates for a lil' while, I can juggle everything. I hope. But, in case my updates aren't as regular or something, that is why.

Please Review!

Love Chloe Rhiannon x x x x