I was going to wait until tomorrow, to update this, but I decided to update it now.

tracy's dream: Thank you for the review, I'm glad you thought it was a lovely chapter.

CBloom2: Thank you for the review, I'm glad you think I did a great job on the chapter.

The Secret Life Of Casualty.

Chapter 149.

Cal was nervous; he was standing at the mirror in the hallway of his and Ricky's house, he was wearing a black suit, he had a flower pinned to his jacket and he was fiddling with his hair.

Cal, for the first time in his life, was on time for the biggest day of his life as he knew that Ricky would kill him if he was late. He walked in to the church, with Ethan following behind.

As "Here Comes The Bride " Started to play, Ricky walked down the aisle on Heath's arm.

"Caleb Knight and Erica Sharpe, in your jounery of life together, remind yourselves often of the love that brought you together. Give the highest priority to your love. When challenges come remember to focus on what is right between you. In, this way, you can ride out the storms. And when clouds hide the sun in your lives - remember, even if you lose sight of that for a moment, the sun is always there. "

"Can I have the rings please?" Asked Father Bill.

Ethan stood up and carried the rings up on a cushion.

Cal picked up Ricky's ring.

Placing it on her third finger, on her left hand, he said "Just as this ring encircles your finger, so does my love encircle your heart. May this ring forever be a symbol of my growing love for you. With this ring I wed thee"

Ricky repeated what Cal had said. "Just as this ring encircles your finger, so does my love encircle your heart. May this ring forever be a symbol of my growing love for you. With this I wed thee "

"Caleb and Erica, you have consented together in holy matrimony before God, have pledged your vows to each other, and have exchanged rings as tokens of your love, and commitment to each other. In accordance, with the laws of Connecticut, with the authority of God's word, and with great joy, I now pronounce you, husband and wife " Cal grinned. "You may kiss your bride "

Wrapping his arms around his wife, he grinned as he kissed her passionately.

"Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Knight " The vicar announced.

As, Jessica took photos, Cal slipped his arm around his new bride.

Ricky threw her bouquet, and to Robyn's delight, she caught it, Lofty looked terrified as Robyn kissed him.


Her baby boy was strapped in to his car seat in the back of the car, a blanket over him, Ricky was laughing at one of Cal's bad jokes, when the atmosphere took a turn for the worst. A car was driving dangerously close to them and Cal swerved to avoid them.

"Cal!" Ricky screamed, as the car tumbled on to ice.

Casey started crying.

"Case, " Ricky whispered, leaning back in her seat. "It's OK, mate, mummy's here "

Cal kicked at the doors, hoping that they would give in, and he could get Ricky and Casey out, it didn't matter about him.

The car, shifting under the change in weight, broke the ice, and the car slowly went under.


Charlie Fairhead pulled Ethan aside.

"Ethan, there's been an accident " He said quietly. Ethan looked shocked. "Cal and Ricky are trapped "

"I'm coming with you " There was no argument from Charlie, as Ethan strode in to the staff room, Zoe, Dixie and Jeff were already knitted out in the uniform they needed in order to save their friends.


The water was dark, and Cal couldn't see a thing.

Ethan raced to the water. "Cal!" He shouted.

"Be careful Ethan " Called Zoe as she tottered carefully on to the ice, in her heels.

Cal resurfaced.

"Cal" Ethan said, he was really relieved his brother was ok.

"Casey, Ricky " Cal said, out of breath.

"I'll go " Zoe offered.

"No" Cal shook his head, it had to be him. "Somebody's got to be here to help pull them out "

Taking a deep breath, he dived back in to the water, finding baby Casey and giving him to his brother, who shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around the baby.

Cal loaded Ricky on to the stretcher and watched as Ethan loaded Casey on to a mini stretcher.


"Er, she was submerged in icy water for several minutes, her temperature unrecorable, she may also have sustained a head injury, GSC of 9, resps of 8 and she may have inhaled some water as well " Cal was frantic as he reeled off medical information that he usually found so easy.

"This is Casey Braxton, 8 months old, he's hypothermic, breathing difficulties " Said the paramedic.

The small trolley was rushed in to RESUS, along with the stretcher Ricky was on.

"He needs a capillary blood gas " Cal ordered.

Zoe nodded and got the equipment ready to do the procedure.

"His temperature is at 1 degree " Cal nodded.

"28. 3 degrees, she's not warming up quickly enough " Said Ethan as Cal alternated between Casey's stretcher and the bed Ricky had been moved on to.

"Her temperatures still down at 28. 9 " Charlie mentioned to him.

"I know, it hasn't come up much, but its still come up, right?" Cal questioned.

"It's increased much, but it's just too slow, the peritional lavage isn't working, it's soon going to affect her heart " Ethan said, doing his best to stay calm.

"Well, lets go for plural lavage. Lets do that, shall we?" Cal stressed.

Ethan walked over, seeing his brothers desperation at wanting to save his wife and her child.

"No. No. No " Said Ethan. "Cal, she's suffered too much trauma, there's no point messing around with tubes in her chest for the sake of 1 degree an hour. "

"She's at serious risk of arrest from VF "

It was then Mr Nick Jordan had an idea, he had done it with Jessica when she was in the same position. "We could put her on cardiac bypass. It's the only way to raise her core temperature in time "

"Fine " Cal agreed, he would do anything.

Nick made the incision in Ricky's chest, he then got the practor ready, he then used the saw to open up her ribcage, and placed the spreaders in the incision.

"I can't grip it " Said Nick, his hands were shaking, a symptom of his brain tumour. He looked around for someone to take over from him. "Dr. Hardy?"

"What?" Ethan asked nervously.

"Come here " Ethan walked over to Nick and Nick talked him through what he had to do, to complete the operation.

"3. 0 prolene and a snugger "

Ethan made a pear string stitch around the ascending aorta, he then cut, then put the snugger on, then he did the same for the right atrium appendage, he cut again. He then gave a heparin injection, he then gave it to the right atrium, he made a cut in to the aorta. He then picked up the scalpel and located the aorta and made the cut. He then inserted the aortic cannula, then he tightened the pear strings and then he attached on to bypass.

He stole a glance at the monitor and saw that that her heart rate was up at 28. 4.

Cal walked in to RESUS, he had tried to get some sleep in the on- call room, but every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Ricky screaming.

"Her temperature is almost back to normal, her heart rate is 60 and she's clearly in sinus rhythm. We'll be taken her off soon and sending her up for a head CT"

"Then she'll go to ITU " Cal guessed.

"Yes" Said Ethan.


Casey was in a side room, tubes in him, Jessica watched him, her thoughts flittering to her own baby son, Harry, who had died, after being in water, she knew that she couldn't allow another woman to bury her baby. Adam walked in to the room.

"Are you OK?" He asked, quietly, handing her a cup of tea.

"I'm fine" She replied, equally as quietly, taking a sip of the drink.

Adam pulled her in for a hug. "Come here "

Jessica leant against Adam, breathing in his familiar smell. Releasing the hug, he cupped her face in his hands and then walked out the room.


"Her BP's hit the floor "

"Pulse is not recordable "

All, Cal heard was the mutterings of his colleagues, and for once, he didn't understand.

"I need adrenaline. 1 in 10 thousand " Stated Zoe, Tess drew up what she needed and handed it to her, as Zoe injected it in to the woman lying on the bed.

"Please, " Cal begged as Zoe did compressions on Ricky.

Zoe continued compressions, but she knew it was futile, Ricky was gone. She stepped back, resting her hand on Cal's shoulder. "I'm sorry Cal "

Cal buried his face in his hands and sobbed. She was stable, how could this have happened?


A couple of weeks later, Zoe told Cal that baby Casey was ok to be discharged. Cal was excited, but he was hit by the reality that Casey wasn't his baby, he would, because his dad was in prison, have to go to his uncle, Kyle.

He charged Ricky's phone up and lay it on the table.

"Is that Kyle?" He asked.

"Yep " The younger man replied, clearly wondering who this man was,

"You don't know me" Cal replied. "But I'm Ricky's husband "

"Oh" Said Kyle as he served a customer at Angelo's.

Kyle asked Maddy to mind the restaurant as he made plans to go to England for a brief time.


Jett - legged, was the word best to describe Kyle when he got off the plane and got Casey's changing bag. He took out his wallet and found the small piece of paper with Caleb's address on.

"1 Farmead House "

Running up the building stairs, Kyle continued to walk until he found the number he was looking for.

He took a deep breath as he prepared to knock on the door. His fist reached out as he knocked.

A pair of footsteps could be heard and then the door opened.

"Are you Cal?" Kyle asked, uncertainly.

"No. That's my brother " He replied, stepping aside so Kyle could come in.

He walked in.

"Cal, there's someone here to see you "

"I'm Kyle " He introduced himself.

Cal stood up from the sofa, holding his hand out. "Caleb Knight. "

Silence lapsed over the men that were stood in the living room, which was broken when Casey started to cry, wanting his bottle. Usually, Cal would have picked him up and fed him, but he knew he should let Kyle do it as Casey would be going home with him, until arrangements could be sorted out. One thing Kyle knew was that, Brax wouldn't want him going in to the care system. Kyle knew what this was like, just when he was feeling settled, he was moved on to another home, he didn't want that for Casey. He groaned, running a hand over his face. "Brax?"

"What?" Cal asked.

"Does he know that Ricky's dead?" Kyle could hardly bear to say the words, they made him feel sick. He looked down at the baby in his arms, completely unaware of his mums tragic fate.

Cal shook his head. "I don't know, mate "

"I'm not your mate " Kyle said, running a hand over his face.

"Hey, mate " Kyle said to the baby as he tickled his tummy.


Kyle was now back in "Summer Bay" After a 9- hour flight, he was thankful that Casey had slept through it, he didn't think he would cope if he had cried the whole way through.

As, soon as he headed back to the house, he put Casey down in his cot and rang the prison. "Hello?" The prison guard asked.

"Can I speak to Darryl Braxton?" Kyle asked.

"Do you have a visiting order?" The guard replied.

"No. "

"Then, I'm afraid, I can't let you "

It's important " Kyle said.

The guard agreed and the next day Kyle told Maddie he would be in late, she asked why, but Kyle told her it was family business.

Getting in to the car after securing Casey in to his car seat, Kyle drove to the prison.

"Kyle Braxton" He told the guard, who found his name on the sheet and ticked it off. He then searched the young man and baby.

"Hey mate" Brax greeted his brother, sitting down. "Where's Ricky?"

"Ricky's what I wanted to talk to you about " Kyle said, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"What?" Brax asked as Kyle handed Casey to him.

"She's... she's dead mate "

Brax's eyes' widened, he was in shock. "How?" He asked.

"A car crash, it looked like she was going to be OK, but she took a turn for the worst "

Brax allowed his head to fall in to his hands. Kyle reached out and touched his shoulder.

Brax and Kyle had decided that Ricky should be buried in "Summer Bay "


When Kyle got back to the house, he found Phoebe, sitting on the couch. "What are you doing here?" He questioned.

"I want too see Ricky "

Kyle agreed and again, leaving Casey with Marilyn Chambers, he and Phoebe drove to the funeral directors where Ricky was resting.

"Oh, Rick " Phoebe said, when she mentioned that she wanted to see her friend, Kyle found that he couldn't refuse his ex - girlfriend that request.

"It's alright, Phoebe." Kyle comforted, putting an arm around her shoulders.

Phoebe turned to face Kyle. "None of this is alright, Kyle, Case will never know his mum "

Kyle nodded, it wasn't fair, Ricky had, had her whole life in front of her and it had been snatched away in a freak accident.

He looked in to the coffin. She looked to be asleep, with her blonde hair tied up in a pony, her ring on her finger, a picture of Brax and Casey tucked in to her pocket.


Brax turned up, handcuffed to an officer, he couldn't miss Ricky's funeral.

'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies,' says the Lord

'For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'

'Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

"We are here today to mourn the life of Erica "Ricky " Sharpe. She was a loving mother, daughter and girlfriend. "

"Wife" Cal muttered under his breath. Ethan put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's OK, Cal " He whispered.

"Earth to earth, Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust:

We now commit our sister's Erica's body to the ground,

in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life… "

As the coffin was lowered in, Brax caught sight of Cal.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Caleb Knight "

"The bloke she left me for, " Brax said.

Cal didn't know what to say.

But Brax did. He punched Cal in the face. Cal stumbled back, clutching his nose.

"That's enough, Braxton!" The officer, who was escorting Brax, got in between him and Cal, pushing the prisoner back.

As punishment, for what had gone down at Ricky's funeral, Brax had been sent to solitary confinement, he would be down there for a couple of days.


Cal and Ethan were staying in Australia for a few days, before flying back to England, Zoe had given Cal compassionate leave and had allowed Ethan to take time off to look after him.

Cal had been quiet and Ethan was worried, he wasn't expecting Cal to be happy, but a small "I'm fine, Ethan " would have done him, it was like he was shutting down.

Kyle pushed Casey's pram in to the diner, heading up to the counter, Cal stared at the baby, who was asleep, sucking on his thumb.

"Thanks " Kyle told Irene, who smiled sympathetically as the young baby started to cry. Kyle lifted Casey in to his arms and bounced him gently in his arms.

"Why don't we go and get some fresh air, Cal " Ethan said.

Cal brought some flowers and lay them on the ground, the stone wasn't ready yet, but Brax and Kyle had given Cal instructions for what they wanted written on the stone.

"Here lies Ricky Sharpe,

1988 - 2016.

Mother to Casey, partner to Brax.

Gone, but not forgotten "

Cal wiped away his tears, he was fed up of losing the people that he cared about: Matilda, little Matilda, Emile and now Ricky. He was also hurt that the stone had no mention of the fact she had married him.


A few days later, Phoebe, Kyle, Denny, Josh, Cal and Ethan all gathered to see the unveiling of the stone.

Tears were shed, stories were shared about her and a glass was raised to her in Angelo's.

She was at peace now.


I really, really enjoyed writing this one. Thank you for reading. Next chapter: Adam, Jessica and Jessica's friend Linda, are all involved in an RTC, will Adam be able to save them?