Hello everyone, sorry for the late update. I have been away over the weekend and didn't really have the time or mojo to write! I don't really know how to follow up the last chapter espically after receiving all your AMAZING comments in your reviews! Thank you all so much, I cannot believe how much you all enjoyed reading the last chapter and the story so far. I had a lot of fun writing the last chapter, I really tried to put a lot of emotion into it so you would all be feeling what the characters are. I hope that this chapter can live up to your standards, well this will not be uploaded until I am satisfied with it! ;) As per usual EVERYONE review or PM me! I love to hear from you! Thanks again for all your kind words and support. Dannielle xx
Now on to something unrelated to the story, I have recently heard about a campaign that is taking the world by storm. Now some of you may have heard of this but some of you may not have, the campaign is Kony 2012. Joseph Kony is a Ugandan War Criminal and one of the worst criminals in the WORLD, in fact he is number 9 on the Worlds Most Wanted Criminal list and he must be stopped. He is the leader of the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) who kidnaps young children from their homes and forces the boys to become child soldiers and the girls to become sex slaves and wives for his army members. The children are then forced to kill their own parents and siblings – brutally to keep their own lives. Joseph Kony has kidnapped over 30 thousand children and continues to do so. The non-profit organisation Invisable Children have released a 30 minute documentary detailing Joseph Kony and the horrible unthinkable things that he has done, to watch this video just go to Youtube and you can find it under 'Kony2012' then go to the Invisible Children's website and pledge your support, make a donation or buy a bracelet, poster or t-shirt from their shop to help support the fund. Help make Joseph Kony famous so that he can be brought to justice once and for all. Okay thanks for reading that, please help out it is a really important cause that makes you realise that we really are lucky to live in countries like Australia, New Zealand, England etc. I also makes you realise that although you may have it tough there is always someone who has it tougher and to keep on going because these kids never give up. Dannielle xx
[DISCLAIMER/COPYRIGHT: I do not own any of the existing characters or storylines in Home and Away but any characters, storylines or ideas used in this story are strictly copyrighted and are not to be used by any other person/s without written permission of the author of this story. Thank-you.]
BRAX POV
It had been half an hour since we watched the house burn to the ground, the police had arrived soon after and had begun to inspect the place. There was tape cordoning off the crumpled wreck and the ambulance officers were checking out Charlie who had not stopped crying or saying Mckenzie since we had arrived. I could barely comprehend what was happening around me, ambulance officers were trying to check me out but I could barely see two centimetres in front of my face and Watson was asking questions to Heath who was sitting next to me. I had a thick woollen blanket wrapped around me but I just felt numb and cold. Suddenly there was someone shouting from behind the house. I stood and made my way over to Charlie who was staring into space, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into my chest when all of a sudden a stretcher was wheeled around the house towards the ambulance followed by another. Bella was on one and Mckenzie on another.
Charlie and I ran to the stretchers barely able to understand what we were looking at. Bella was covered in thick black smoke and was out of it, Mckenzie was awake and surprisingly clean considering what she had just went through. I watched as they loaded them into the back of the ambulance Charlie climbing in after them, I joined her as we began to drive off towards the hospital.
It had been four hours since they had brought Bella and Mckenzie in and there was no word on either of them. By now everyone was sitting in the hospital waiting room, Cooper's family had joined us and had gone to get food for everyone, not that any of us could think about eating right now. I looked up as Sid rounded the corner, we all leapt to our feet as we surged forward. "Sid what's going on? How are they?" I asked frantically "well, Mckenzie suffered mild smoke inhalation but it seems Bella was able to protect her from any major smoke inhalation, burns or other injuries." He explained. Everyone sighed "what about Bella?" Heath asked "Bella's injuries we extensive, when she was found she was not breathing and it is believed that she hadn't been for a period longer than 10 minutes, she has multiple fractured ribs, internal bleeding and also suffered major smoke inhalation" Sid spoke before being cut off "but she's gonna be okay… right?" Heath asked nervously as everyone looked at Sid intently. "We operated on your sister and managed to repair the internal bleeding, however there were some complications… Bella flatlined for about 4 and a half minutes" Sid continued "what does that mean?" I uttered "well basically Bella's heart stopped beating, which means her brain was deprived of oxygen until we could get her heart started again, now considering that Bella's heart was not beating when she was found and had not been for some time, it's almost impossible that her brain can function anymore. Of course I am awaiting test results to confirm her brain activity but at the moment she cannot breathe on her own and is attached to a ventilator that is breathing for her." Sid spoke slowly before placing his hand on my shoulder "I am very sorry" he said before heading back around the corner.
I stumbled back to my seat as I felt Charlie's hand on mine, I looked up into her tired eyes and gave a weak smile as a nurse came around the corner "Mr and Mrs Braxton, would you like to see your daughter now?" she asked. Charlie and I nodded as the others went into Bella's room. We walked into the babies ward and saw Mckenzie lying in her crib, wriggling around like nothing had ever happened. The nurse picked her up and handed her to Charlie who immeaditely broke down in tears "what's wrong baby?" I asked softly. She looked up at me "the only reason she is still with us is because Bella protected her, she promised me she would keep her safe before he took them and she did… but instead she had to…" Charlie trailed off unsure of what to say next, the truth was none of us knew exactly what was going on with Bella, we didn't know if she was alive or not and until Sid told us we would stay in the dark.
We stayed with Mckenzie for an hour before Charlie wanted to go and see Bella, we tucked Mckenzie safely in her hospital crib and headed down the hall. We turned into Bella's room like we had so many times before, Casey sat on one side holding her hand to his lips while Heath, Bianca, Cooper and Ruby all stood at the back of the room, too scared to move, too scared about what would happen next. Charlie walked over and stood beside Ruby, pulling her into a tight hug as Ruby broke down in her mother's arms. I pulled a chair to the other side of Bella and sat down, taking her small delicate hand in mine and holding it tightly.
CHARLIE POV
I was scared, nervous, tired and relieved all at the same time. Scared about what the doctor would tell us about Bella when he came in, nervous about how the boys and Ruby would take the news, tired after the day's events and relieved that I still had my daughter all thanks to one teenage girl who had been through so much and still managed to protect her niece even if she couldn't protect herself.
We sat for an hour just watching her as the heart monitor beeped steadily as the ventilator pumped air through the clear plastic tube and into Bella's lungs. She was pale white, the tan of her skin was more yellowish and even her shiny blonde hair looked bleak. Her body was covered in bruises and cuts all caused by one man with a grudge. I looked up as Sid walked into the room, his expression was blank giving me no clue as to what he would as next, I stood and made my way over, taking Brax's hand in mine and giving it a light squeeze as Sid began to speak.
"We have got the results back from the test we did on Bella's brain function and I wish I had better news, unfortunately Bella's brain was starved of oxygen for too long and is no longer functioning the way it should, which means she cannot breathe on her own and never will be able to." He said sadly looking to the ground "but she's breathing, she's alive, she's warm" Heath stuttered "Yes, the life support machine that Bella is on is the only thing keeping her alive, breathing and warm. Without it she can no longer breathe on her own. I know this is hard to hear but eventually you will need to make a decision whether to turn off the machine or not" Sid said. Brax's head flicked up, rage in his eyes. He lunged at Sid pushing him up against the wall "you want me to kill my sister?" he spoke coldly. I pulled him back as he looked down, Sid stood straight "Brax you need to know that turning the machine off will not kill Bella it will let her rest peacefully" Sid said before turning and leaving. Leaving us with a dreadful decision that none of us wanted to make.
Okay how did you like that. I know it was shorter than usual but I wanted to continue on next chapter. I don't know much about life support most of what I know comes from Home and Away and watching the episodes in which Charlie was on life support (unfortunately) so some of this may sound very similar to what you saw Sid tell Ruby about Charlie's condition, I usually don't use lines from the show but as I said I am unfamiliar with the subject (thankfully) and only know what was seen on Home and Away. As I said I know this chapter was short, most of the writing is me blabbing on in the beginning but I promise that I will try and make the next one longer and Kony2012 is an important cause which I want to raise awareness about so like I mentioned earlier check out the video on Youtube and visit the website and pledge your support, donate or buy merchandise and don't forget to spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, email and of course by telling all your friends and family! Next chapter should be us soon but review and tell me what your thoughts are, your reactions – are you angry at me or sad or what! I would love to know and if you are uncomfortable with people seeing your opinion of whatever just PM me and I will definitely get back to you! You are all amazing! Review, Dannielle xx