RICKY'S POV:
I walked back into Casey's hospital room, handing the coffees I'd been to the canteen for to everyone; Brax, and Heath and Bianca who sat in the corner…
"Any ideas who did this, bro?" Heath asked as Brax stood up and walked across to the other side of the room
"Nope," he replied, taking a sip of his coffee "do you, B?"
"I haven't seen anything at school, and none of the teachers have said anything." she informed him
"I don't think we should pressure him into telling us when he wakes up…" I admitted
"What?" Brax asked as he turned to face me "we need to know who did this!"
"I know we do, and we'll find out eventually, but you heard Sid earlier, he and his body have been through a very significant trauma; he needs time to rest and recuperate before we ambush him with questions."
"Brax…" Casey's voice whispered as I finished speaking
"Case!" Brax proclaimed, hurrying over to his bedside "it's alright, mate"
"Where am I?" he asked
"You're in the hospital," Brax informed him "someone go and tell a doctor he's awake."
"I'll go." Bianca replied, setting her coffee down and making her way out of the room
"Hey, Case," I greeted him as I walked over to his bedside "how're you feeling?"
"Sore" he admitted "what happened?"
"That's what we wanna know…" Brax informed him
"I don't know," he replied "I'm guessing I was jumped."
"Do you have any idea who by?" Heath questioned
Casey shook his head, signalling no as Bianca, followed by Sid walked into the room…
"Hello there, Mr. Braxton," Sid greeted him "how're you feeling?"
"Sore." he replied
"On a scale of one to ten, what number would you say your pain is?" he asked
"Five, maybe six." Casey informed him
"I'll get you some pain relief then," Sid replied "and then I'm going to run some routine tests."
"When can he get out of here, doc?" Brax inquired
"We want to keep him in overnight due to the severity of his injuries, and depending on how he goes tonight, we'll prepare him for discharge tomorrow morning." he informed him
Brax nodded his head in understanding… "In that case I'll nip home and get you some things."
"Shall I go?" I suggested, raising an eyebrow at him
"You both go," Heath replied "B and I will stay here and keep an eye on Casey."
"Are you sure?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him
He nodded his head, signalling yes… "I know Brax is dying to check on the restaurant too."
I smiled at Brax warmly as I turned back to him… "Shall we go then?"
"Yeah." he replied
BRAX'S POV:
Ricky and I arrived back at the house half-an-hour later, making our way up the driveway, finding an unfamiliar face outside the front door…
"Can we help you?" I questioned
"Is Casey around?" he asked
"Who's asking?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow at him
"Ben, I'm his friend. We were meant to be going to the skate park." he informed me
"Casey's never mentioned you." I informed him
"I'm afraid Casey's not around," Ricky admitted "and he won't be for a number of weeks. We'll tell him you were asking after him though…"
"Is he okay?" Ben questioned
"Yeah, he's fine;" I replied "do you mind going? We've got stuff to be getting on with…"
"Course, sorry." Ben stated "please do tell Casey I was asking after him. Bye.
I unlocked the door and Ricky and I made our way into the house and I moved to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water from it… "That guy's never been mentioned before, has he?"
"Not to me. Why do you ask?" Ricky questioned as she began to look through the clean washing that sat on the kitchen table "do you think he's one of these guys that is bad news?"
"I don't know, maybe." I admitted "it's just strange that Casey never mentioned him…"
"Knock, knock…" Denny's voice sounded as she tapped lightly on the door
"Denny, come in" Ricky greeted her, smiling at her warmly
"Is Casey around?" she asked
We glanced at each other and I sighed… "I'll go and check on the restaurant."
"What's going on?" she inquired
"Take a seat…" Ricky replied as I made my way out of the house
RICKY'S POV:
After informing Denny of what had happened, packing a bag for Casey and calling Irene to check she was okay with the kids, I made my way into the restaurant as Brax walked out of the office…
"How did it go with Denny?" he asked as he walked over to me
"As well as can be expected," I replied "she's upset and concerned, and says she'll come and visit him tomorrow when he's home."
Nodding his head in understanding, he took the bag from my grasp and guided me out of the restaurant, placing his hand on my lower back as we walked…
CASEY'S POV:
Brax and Ricky arrived back at the hospital a little while later, Brax placing my overnight bag on the table in front of me, Ricky beginning to unpack it…
"You had a visitor when we got back to the house…" Brax informed me
"I did?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at him
"Yeah," he replied "Ben?"
"Casey, please tell me you're not friends with Ben Carmichael?" Bianca begged
"What's so bad about Ben Carmichael?" Brax inquired
"He's the school bully." she informed me "I've had him in my office more times than I care to count."
"You're hanging out with a bully?" Brax asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned to face me
"Not hanging out as such…" I replied
"Then what exactly are you doing with him?" he questioned
"We just chat on the odd occasion, that's all." I informed him
"Promise me you'll stay away from him, Case…" Bianca begged
"I promise." I assured her, licking my suddenly dry lips
RICKY'S POV:
Brax and I had been given permission to stay the night with Casey, and as one of the nurses left the hospital room, Casey began to stir. Opening my eyes again, I noticed Brax was still asleep and placed my hand on Casey's… "Case, it's okay."
"Please don't, Ben, please…" Casey begged
"Casey, wake up!" I whispered, shaking his arm
"What?" he questioned as he jolted awake suddenly
"Did Ben do this to you?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow at him
Did Ben put Casey in hospital? And if so, what will Ricky do?