Chapter 83: The fight of their lives

It was 7:30 at night and Heath and Brax were ready to leave to fight the Curers gang. Casey grabbed onto Brax's arm. "Please don't go. Don't leave me here. What if something happens? You know they broke in before. I'm scared. Please." Casey pleaded.

Brax could see the terrified look on his baby brother's face but believed it would be safer for him to stay at the house than go with them to the Curers territory.

"Just do what I said. Lock all the doors and windows and don't open anything for anyone."

Casey shook his head. "Can't I go with you? Maybe I can help?"

"I'm sorry Casey I want you to stay here. It will be far too dangerous there for you." Brax replied.

"Maybe someone should stay here with him?" Heath suggested.

"I need you to help me fight them. Casey will be alright."

"Brax" Casey pleaded.

"Just promise me you'll stay here and call me if anything happens. We'll fix this Case." Brax rubbed Casey's shoulder and shooed Heath out the door, closing it behind him.

Casey looked around the vacant house and went to sit on the couch. Brax and Heath walked towards the gang's hangout.

"Ready?" Brax asked. Heath nodded. "Let's do this for Casey."

"Hey! We're here to settle these threats against my brother once and for all!" Brax shouted.

"Well look who it is? Where's the one we wanna kill?"

"That's none of your business!" Heath shouted.

"Get 'em!" Hero shouted and it wasn't long before Brax and Heath were swamped with gang members punching and wrestling them.

Back at the house it was getting darker outside and the dead silence scared Casey. He then heard a strange noise coming from one of the back rooms and he panicked. Did he lock that window? What if someone was here? Casey could not take it anymore he needed to feel the security of his brothers.

Casey ran to the kitchen and pulled out the sharpest kitchen knife for protection and raced out the door. He knew where his brothers would be and headed straight there, continually looking in every direction for the slightest movement or sound.

Brax and Heath were fighting off the other gang members well and had only managed to sustain and few knocks to the face and stomach. Casey finally reached the hangout and saw his brother's fighting they were winning in his favor.

Casey was too busy watching his brothers to notice someone had crept up behind him and grabbed him by the arm. "Hey look everyone. Look whose come to join our little party."

Everyone stopped fighting and looked up. Brax and Heath were horrified to see Casey being held by one of the members.

"Casey!" Brax and Heath yelled.

"And look at what he bought us." The guy snatched the knife out of Casey's hand.

"That's so nice of you to come baring gifts, so we can kill you, but maybe you'd like to see us kill your brothers first."

"No please let me go and don't hurt my brothers."

"Ah isn't that cute? The little pip-squeak is begging."

"Take your hands off Casey now!" Brax yelled.

"Now why would I do that? After all he did come to us, why deny him the opportunity to be killed?" The guy laughed.

"I'll smash your face in if you hurt him!" Heath yelled.

The guy nodded to his fellow members, Brax and Heath were now distracted by the presence of Casey that the gang members had the opportunity to overpower them. One picked up a plank of wood and knocked it over the back of Heath's head, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Heath!" Casey yelled.

"Shut your mouth! You should never have rejected us!" The guy yelled at Casey. Casey was terrified.

The guy tossed the knife Casey brought across the room to his mate, who caught it mid air. Brax was trying to hold off as many of the people as possible. Heath stumbled to get up and Brax gave him a nod to get Casey.

Heath approached the man holding Casey and punched him hard causing him to release his grip on Casey.

"Come on Casey, let's get you out of here." Heath stated.

"What about Brax?" Casey asked worried.

"Brax wants you out of here. Now go." Heath spoke firmly.

Casey walked out of harm's way as Heath turned back, but before he got back to help out his brother he saw a man run up behind Brax and stab him with the knife in the lower abdomen.

"Ah!" Brax cried out in pain as he doubled over, feeling the blood seep though his shirt.

Casey turned at the sound of his brother's scream and saw him fall to the ground, blood on his shirt.

"Brax!" Casey cried and went to run to his brother, but Heath held him back. "No! Wait."

Heath ran to the guys and started knocking them out one by one, until they all gave up feeling satisfied they managed to get away with badly injuring one of them. Heath ran to his brother and pressed his hand on his open wound to help apply pressure as Brax was losing focus.

Casey rushed up to them, tears falling. He had just watched his big brother get hurt and it was all his fault, he would never forgive himself.

Heath turned to Casey and tossed him his phone, Heath too had tears in his eyes. "Casey call an ambulance!"

Casey grabbed the phone but stood stunned, watching his injured brother. "Casey now!" Heath ordered.

Casey dialed. "Hello I need an ambulance please." Casey struggled to speak through tears. Casey gave the details and hung up.

Shortly the ambulance arrived. "What happened?" The paramedic asked Heath as he checked over Brax's injuries and vitals.

"He was stabbed with a knife in a gang fight."

"I just need you two to step aside so we can treat him." Another paramedic said. "What is his name?"

"It's Darryl Braxton, but everyone calls him Brax. He's our older brother." Heath tells.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Casey asked.

"We'll know more when he gets checked." One paramedic replied.

The paramedic assessing Brax then raised the alarm. "He's lost a lot of blood. We need to get him ready for the crash cart. We're losing him!"

Heath and Casey panicked at the words as all the paramedics rushed to hook Brax up to the defibrillator and Cardio machines and rushed him into the ambulance.

"Can we please come with you?" Heath asked.

"I'm sorry we can't allow you in the ambulance when we have a critically injured patient."

Heath who had is arm wrapped around his younger brother, who was sobbing heavily, added, "Please we have no other way of getting to the hospital. He's our brother."

The paramedic sighed. "Alright."

At the hospital the nurse told Heath and Casey to wait in the main room while they took Brax into emergency. Brax was in there for hours, he had to have emergency surgery to stop the internal bleeding. The knife had just nicked part of his Liver, any more and it may have been fatal, but they were able to stitch it up and repair the injury.

Heath approached the desk. "What's taking so long? He's been in there for hours. Shouldn't they know something by now?"

"I understand you are distressed Mr. Braxton, but the doctor will tell you of any news as soon as they know." Heath sat back down next to Casey. "You alright Case?"

"What if Brax dies. This is all my fault. If I had just listened to you both in the first place and stayed away from them, none of this would have happened and it was my stupid knife I took along for safety that hurt him. I'm so sorry. I wish I could take everything back."

Heath wrapped his arms around his brother. "Don't say that Case, Brax wouldn't want to hear you say that. Brax is going to be fine. You couldn't have stopped this, even if you didn't do any of those things. Brax or I don't blame you."

Casey lent into his older brother. The doctor walked over to them, resulting in Heath standing up. "How is he?"

"We had to perform emergency surgery. Your brother lost a lot of blood. Luckily the injury did not penetrate any major organs. The minor injury to the Liver was easily repaired. Your brother is recovering, but it is still early days. I do not want to get your hopes up complications may still arise in the next couple of days."

"What do you mean? I thought you fixed it?" Heath questioned.

"It is repaired yes, but infections may occur, sepsis may set in and he may have secondary issues due to the lack of blood supply in his organs. But these conditions are rare. Most patients recover perfectly fine."

"Can we see him?" Heath asked.

"He is still under sedation, so you can visit quickly." The doctor lead the two brother's into Brax's room.

Brax was hooked up to several machines and had a massive bandage over his lower abdomen. A nurse was present taking his vitals. "Doctor, it appears he still has too low blood levels in his system."

The doctor read his chart. "What does that mean?" Heath questioned.

"We need an immediate donor to transfuse blood into your brother's system."

"What blood type is he?" The doctor asks the nurse. "AB"

"Right. I have to get some AB blood lined up."

"Wait." Heath spoke. "I know I'm AB, all three of us have the same blood type. Can I be a donor?"

"I don't see why not, as long as you're over eighteen and agree to have us take out as much blood as we need." Heath nodded.

"Can I donate too? I wanna help him." Casey pleaded.

"Sorry son, you have to be over eighteen to donate." The doctor said.

Casey slumped back into his chair and watched Heath get taken off to another room to give his blood. When the doctor came back with the blood he asked Heath and Casey to leave and placed the bag of blood on a drip line to transfuse.