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Fatal Attraction

Guest lollypop

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lollypop

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Sorry it took so long...been wrapped up preparing to go on hols. Anyways hope you like it. Thanks for all the comments and please keep on reviewing. It's what motivates me to keep on writing

Chapter 2

The sun was beginning to rise of Summer Bay. A new day was dawning. But for Charlie Buckton, it just felt like the start of a long and painful nightmare that she coudn't wake up from. Brax stood by the door to the open balcony of the restaurant staring out at the ocean. Racking his brain trying desperately to come up with a plan to clear up the mess he now found himself. Turning around, he found Charlie sitting a the centre table. Her head in her hands, sobbing her heart out as she clutched the chain Ruby had given her for her birthday.

Pushing aside his own pain, Brax walked over to the table to comfort the woman he cared so deeply about and sat in a seat next to her. As he reached out to pull her into a hug, she backed up and pushed him away. A look of hurt and betrayal burned in her eyes. "Charlie, please. Don't do this. We'll get them back, I promise!", he said with pleading eyes as he tried to reach for her hand. Charlie looked up at him, tears tracked down along her soft bronze cheek. "Don't! Don't try and comfort me. You lied to me. You looked me in the eye and you LIED to me. You asked me to trust you and I did and now, I could lose my daughter. Because of YOU!!!" she screamed at him.

Brax's heart ached at the sight of the woman he loved breaking down in front of him. He never meant to hurt her, he never wanted to betray her trust. But he knew if she ever knew the truth that he would lose her. That they would be pushed apart by the fact that they live polar opposite existences. That the people surrounded them would never allow them to live happily ever after. She was a cop who upheld the law. He was a man who had crossed the line on more than one occasion to provide for his family and earn enough money to break away from Mangrove River and start fresh. But he realised now, that if he had stayed on the straight and narrow, rather than breaking the rules, he wouldn't be in the situation he currently found himself. He would never have had to hide parts of his life from Charlie.

Unfortunantly he couldn't go back and undo the choices he had made, the life he had been leading up to now. All he could do was try and change the current circumstances and make things right. As he sat there, rubbing his head in frustration an all too familiar voice cut throught the tension. "You've got some explainin' to do, bro", Heath said, as he stood by the doorway. His anger so clear for all to see. Brax stood up and raised his hand to gesture for Heath to calm down. "Heath now isn't a good time mate".

"DON'T CALL ME MATE!! You played me. You played all of us. Just so you could sleep with some cheap tart and save your own skin", he shouted. Brax's calm demeanour changed dramatically when he heard his brother refer to his girlfriend as a 'tart'. "Oi, don't you dare call her that. You don't know what you're talkin' about", he said as he squared off against his own brother. Brax laughed into Brax's face then turned away from his brother. In a split second outburst, he turned and smashed his fist off the side of Brax's face. Sending his older brother crashing into the table opposite where Charlie was sitting. She couldn't bare the hostility anymore. Her emotions getting the better of her, she sent the chair she was sitting on crashing to the ground as she jumped up from her seat and screamed at both Braxton brothers.

"STOP IT!! Just stop. I get that you feel betrayed Heath. I do, believe me I do. Brax messed up. But so did I. We never should have lied. But right now the only thing that matters is getting Ruby and Casey back", he said look at a confused Heath as tried to make sense of what he had just been told. "What are talkin' about? What about Case?", he asked as his eyes fell upon his brother who was picking himself off the floor and wiping the blood away from his split lip. Rubbing the blood into fom his hand onto his black t-shirt Brax looked at Heath. "Brodie and the rest of the boys have taken them hostage......", he was cut off by an even more confused Heath, "Wait, hostage? What are you talkin' about? Brodes wouldn't do somethin' like that".

"Well he just did. They boys are keepin them held hostage until I agree to give up everything to them. The money, this place, everthing. If I don't, well, you know what they're capable of", he finished, not wanting to go into gruesome detail in front of Charlie who was already plagued with her own horrible ideas of what they would do to her baby girl. "You know you've messed up big time. If you had just kept it in your pants we wouldn't be in this mess. If anything happens to Case it's on your head", he said. Brax walked to the bar and placed his hands on the counter, his back to Charlie and Heath. He lowered his head as the full extent of what his brother had said sinking in.

"I'm calling Morag", Charlie said as she snapped out of the daze she had been lost. Brax and Heath turned to look at the petite brunette. Heath shaking his, "What? Are you stupid or somethin'? If anyone finds out about this we're cooked", he said pointing towards his older brother as he spoke. Charlie turned and looked at Brax. "I don't have a choice. So you think she won't be suspicious of Ruby's disappearance? She's my stepmother. I have to". They all knew that if Morag found out about everything, that they would be in serious trouble. Morag would never condone allowing someone who broke the law to go free. But they had no other choice. Ruby and Caseys lives depended were at risk. Brax looked at Charlie and nodded at her to make the call. Standing up, she picked up her mobile and dialled Morag's number.......

It had been about a half hour since Charlie had called Morag and now they were all sitting around the restaurant awaiting her arrival. "What ah, what did Morag say?" Brax asked trying to break the silence. Charlie looked up from staring at her crossed arms and thought back to the phone conversation she'd had with her stepmother. "Not much, just to stay put and do nothing till she get's here", she said in almost whisper. She wiped a tear that had fallen down her cheek. Heath rolled his eyes at his brothers blatenly obvious attempts to get Charlie speaking to him. Just then they were all startled by the harsh tone of someone who had entered the restaurant. "Well you've really done it this time haven't you", Morag said, her eyes piercing into Charlie.

A few minutes later they were all sat around the main table having filled Morag in everything that had gone on the previous night and about the drug crop the Riverboys were harvesting. Morag glared frostily at Brax as he tried to make her believe he never meant for any of this to happen. But with his history of twisting the truth she found it hard to believe a word he said. "Forgive me if I'm not too sympathic to your problems Darryl, but it's the lies you've been spinning that are the reason why you're in this mess in the first place", she said almost snarling at him. Then she turned to Charlie, "And you, you've had some pretty questionable taste in men over the years Charlie but this one really tops the list. How could you be so stupid? To comprimise yourself, your career and now your own daughter".

Charlie looked at Morag, upset that her own stepmother thought she would out her own daughters life at risk and angry for treating Brax like something nasty stepped in. "How dare you think I would put Ruby's life at risk. She means everything to me. You know I would piut her above everything else", she said. Morag glared back at her. "Oh on the contrary Charlie, that's exactly what you've done. You had your suspicions about Brax but you were still happy to continue on sleeping with him in secret because you knew how damaging it would be if you went public. And your were just proven right", she said, putting Charlie firmly on her place. Brax looked at Morag with an angry expression and retaliated. "Hey you have no right to speak to her like that. Charlie is a grown woman she can make her own decisons so why don't you just back off eh", he said trying to defend Charlie's honour. However, undeterred by the attack, Morag fought back, "Yes and she's made a disasterously bad one", she said not breaking eye contact with Brax as she spoke. Then turning to face Charlie she finished "I just hope Ruby and Casey don't pay for it with their lives".

Ring, ring....ring, ring. Suddenly they were all pulled out of their heated discussion by the sound of Brax's mobile ringing. Looking at the caller ID he saw Brodie's name flash across the screen. "It's Brodes", he said as he looked at Heath who sat up when his brother sopke. "Well answer it then. And for God's sake put it on loud speaker", Morag yelled impatiently. Pressing the answer button he pressed the options button and then clicked on loudspeaker. "What?", he said. "Aw come on Brax, that's no way to answer the phone to an old friend. As a matter of fact I'm the one who should sound annoyed. See I just had a call from an old friend of ours who told us that you've been keepin' a secret stash of cash around that we weren't supposed to know about. Been squanderin' extra money out of our dope sales and lyin' about the value", he said as Brax tried to come up with an excuse.

"Brodes listen to me, I wasn't takin' that money for myself, I was usin' it as bail money", he tried to explain. Heath watched his brother carefully trying to decipher his body language to find out if he was telling the truth. Then paying close attention to the phone call he listened to the background noises to try and pick up on something that would indicate where Brodie and the boys were. "Listen Brax, you've got two hours to get me that money. If you don't then be prepared to be responsible for unnecessary blood spill", Brodie hung up and the restaurant went silent.

Pacing the floor, Brax looked at the chair in front of him. Picking it up he flung it against the wall, causing it to break in two. The outburst startled Morag and Charlie, but Heath seemed unfazed. "We have to call the police", Morag said. "No! We do that and Ruby and Casey are dead", Brax said, flinching when he realised what he had said upset Charlie. Heath spoke up. "So what are we gonna do then". Brax looked at him, then at Morag. "We get them the money". Morag let out a shocked laugh "Are you stupid. Feeding their wishes is only going to make them more determind to get whatever they can out of. They're not just going to stop there. We have to inform the police for Ruby and Casey's safety". Charlie sat there, her brain working over time trying to decide what was the safest option. But she couldn't. she couldn't think straight. Every time she tried all she could think about was Brodie hurting Ruby and it was too much for her to bear.

"We give them the money, but only after they hand over Casey and Ruby", Brax said more firmly this time. He was going to sort this mess out his way. Afterall, he was the reason they were in this mess in the first place. "All we need to do is find out where Brodis is holdin' them. If we can get there without the boys knowing we're comin' we can hold the upper hand and make the deal", he said as tried to rack his memory for possible places they could be. "I think I know where they are", Heath said as he sat up. Brax turned and looked at him. His eyes pleading for his brother to continue. "When you were talkin' to Brodes I was listenin' to the background noise. I could hear dirt bikes in the distance. They only place we would ride on 'em is in the National Park. If I'm right, then they're hidin' put in the old house nearby where we used to stash the crop to let it dry". Brax thought about it for a minute. Heath was right. It was the only place outside of Summer Bay and Mangrove River that wasn't completely obvious.

"Alright, but we need to get a move on. Heath you come with me. You two stay here incase something happens", Brax said as he and Heath prepared to leave. "NO! I'm coming with you. Ruby's my daughter and I want to make sure they don't lay so much as a hand on her", she said. Looing her in the eye Brax could tell there was no arguing with. He just nodded and acknowledged what she said. "Well if that's the case, I'm going too", Morag said as she stood up grabbing her handbag off the table. With that all four of them left the restaurnat and headed down stairs to Heaths white truck. Once they were all in, they took off to retrieve the money Brax and stashed and then for the National Park..................

...............Hanging up the phone Brodie smiled to himself as he realised his plan was working. When he turned around he saw one of the other Riverboys walking towards him. "So what are we gonna wait for the cash or are we just gonna go ahead and do it now?, Pee Wee asked. Brodie looked at his watch then smirked. "Ahh why wait? Let's just get over and done with. Go tell the other boys to get their gear together and get ready", he finished as he made his way upstairs with Steve.

Walking along the hall he stopped outside the last door on the left and removed the key from his pocket. Unlocking the door, he opened it to find Casey and Ruby sitting on the floor. Looking up Casey spotted Brodie and jumped to his feet, making a dash at him. Ruby tried to get up as quick as she could to stop him but she was fast enough. "Why are you doing this?", he shouted as he tried to lunge for Brodie, but he was held back by Steve. Brodie laughed and looked him straight in the eyes, "Why don't you ask Brax that, whenever you two meet again", he said laughing.

Casey struggled against Steve. Finally twisting hismself around he punched Steve and then when he was free, he attacked Brodie. "Case stop it", Ruby screamed, but to no avail. Casey continued to square off to Brodie. Then Steve stood and ran for Casey, grabbing him from behind and holding his arms behind his back. "I'll show you to mess with the big boys. Take him downstairs to the other fella, have them teach him a lesson", Brodie said as he nursed his bruised jaw. As Steve nudged Casey towards the door Ruby tried to run to him to set him free, only to feel the force of Brodie's fist smack her across the face and send her flying against the wall. Knocking her out stine cold.

With that Brodie went downstairs and found the three of the boys beating Casey until he lost consciousness. Grabbing his stuff he whistled for the boys to gather their things and head outside. Exiting the house some of the boys put their gear down and picked up the beer bottle bombs they had made earlier. Lighting them one by one they threw them at the house throught the windows, upstairs and downstairs, setting the place alight. Stnading back Brodie watched as the house erupted into flames. "Right boys, let's go", he said. With that they all hopped into their cars and trucks and sped off.

Upstairs, Ruby began to come around. Her cheek throbbed from the hit and then as the smoke began to fill her lungs she began to cough uncontrollably. Looking out the open door onto the landing, Ruby saw the glow of fire coming from downstair. Standing up she called out for Casey, but got no reply. As she walked out of the room she moved along the hallway opening doors one by one trying to locate her boyfriend, only to be met with an overwhelming degree of smoke. Then she reached the last door. When she went to twist the metal doornob to open it, it burned her hand. "Ow", she said as she pulled her sleeves down over her hands so she could twist the doornob.

"Case", she said as she began choking on the smoke. "Casey are you in there?", she shouted. Then as she finally managed to open the door.....bang.....an burst flames and debris exploded out of the room striking Ruby in the eyes and sending her backwards against the wall. Holding her hands up over her eyes Ruby screamed out in agony. She tried to open her eyes but she couldn't. It was too painful. Stretching her hands out in front of her she tried to feel around for the banister so she could hold on to it and make her way to the stairs. Finally reaching it, she felt her way along it until she reached the end and tried to feel out the stairs. Unable to find the first step, Ruby mistimes her movement and topples to down the stairs, landing in an unconscious heap as the flames grew larger and more fierce.........

Speeding through the National Park, Heath tries to get to the old house as quickly as possible without crashing. Looking up ahead out the windscreen Brax see's smoke rising up into the sky through the trees. Heath momentarily takes his eyes off the dirt road to look at what has caught Brax's attention. "Is that comin' from where I think it's comin from?", Brax looks at him. Charlie having spotted what they were looking questions them, "Where's it coming from? Brax WHERE IS IT COMING FROM?", she shouts. But he doesn't answer her. "Heath, speed up!", he orderes.

Within minutes they arrive at the scenes of the burnin house. The intensity of the smoke already taking hold outside. Skidding to a stop, they all jump out of the car. "RUBY!" Charlie screams as she makes a run for the burning house. "Charlie NO!" Brax shouts as he runs after her, grabbing her around he waist from behind. Heath tries to see if he can spot anyone through one of the windows and to his dismay he finds Casey in what used to be the living rooom unconscious. "Brax, they're in there", he shouts over at his brother.

"We gotta get them out. You get Case, I'll get Ruby", he orders as Heath holds his arm up around his mouth and enters the burning house. "Charlie stay here I'm gonna go get Ruby. Morag call the paramedics, tell 'em we're up the Old Creek Road, 10 k's south of the National Park, alright hurry", he says tossing her his phone and running into the house. Charlie watches on in horror as Morag makes the call, only to see Heath emerge two seconds later, dragging Casey out of the house, to safety. Holding her breath, Charlie's worry increase when she still see's no sign of Brax or Ruby. Then a figure appears through the smoke and her eyes fall upon Brax carrying Ruby in his arms. Running up to where Charlie is stood, Brax drops to his knees and lays Ruby carefully in the ground. Charlie kneels down beside her daughter and checks for a pulse. Relief sets in when she feels drumming sensation at her pulse point.

"Heath, is Case alright?", Brax asks as he makes his way over to his brothers. "He's gotta pulse but he's been roughed up pretty good", he says as they both notice the cuts, bruises and burns on his body. Turning around Brax see's Charlie kneeling over Ruby stroking her hair. He walks over them. "Is she okay?", he ask placing a hand on Charlie's shoulder. "Look at her eyes Brax", she says as he looks down to see two red and bloodied closed eyes. It didn't look good. But until they received medical attention, they couldn't be sure anything was wrong. With Ruby or Casey.

A couple of hours later and they were all sat in the hospial waiting room. Sid emerged through the doorway in surgical scrubs and made his way over to Brax and Heath. The two boys stood up as he approached them. "Casey's out of surgery. He has a couple of broken ribs, one of them punctured his lung. But other than some cuts and bruises and some minor burns, he should make a full recovery", he said. "Thanks Doc", Brax said shaking Sid's hand. A nurse walked in to show them to Casey's room and they exited the waiting room. As Heath went on ahead, Brax stayed back and listened to Sid through the open door.

"Ruby's eye's were damaged in the fire by some burns and debris, probably most likely from a small explosion of flames of some sort. There's an extensive amount of scaring.......", before Sid could finish Charlie cut him off. "Wha...what does that mean?", she asked fearing the answer. Sid looked at her sensing the anxiety. "We can't be one hundred percent certain yet, but there's a big possibility that Ruby may be blind", he finally managed. Allowing what Sid had said to sink in Charlie's heart broke at the thought of her daughter living the rest of her life in complete darkness. "She also broke her leg. It was a clean brake, so it should heal well and she should be back on her feet in no time. I'm sorry Charlie. I know this must be difficult for you to hear. I'll take you down to see her". Brax cursed himself after hearing what Sid had said.

Just then Charlie, Morag and Sid emerged from the room. Watching her walk down the corridor Brax called out, "Charlie....", he said. But he couldn't find the words make things better, Because in that moment. There were none. "Don't, just don't. This your fault Brax", she said and then turned on her heel and continued walking. Brax turned and struck the wall with his fist. His heart breaking as he watched the woman he loved walk out of his life. Arriving at Ruby's hospital room, Charlie entered to find her daughter under sedation. Her eyes were covered bandaged and her leg was incased in a black removeable casing designed to stop her leg from moving. Charlie took one look at her daughter and burst into tears. Taking a hold of Ruby's hand, Charlie rested her head on her daughter's bed, and in that moment she realised, Darryl Braxton had truly turned her world upside down.

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Next Time:

*Charlie tries to comfort a devastated Ruby after she receives life altering news

*Sid and the rest of Summer Bay are suspicious about what happened to Ruby and Casey

*Morag ponders over whether or not to reveal the truth for fear of tarnishing Charlie's career

*Brax is left out in the cold by the people who mean the most to him

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lollypop Member

lollypop

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Hey....found some down time to update so here's my next chapter. Hope you like it. I'm going to try and have a few more updates before the end of next week as I'm going abroad on holidays soon and I won't be able to update while I'm away. So anywayas hope you enjoy. Thanks for the comments and please don't forget to review. If you have any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.

Chapter 3

The diner was a buzz of noise and activity as the lunch time rush hit its peak hour. Leah and Irene were run off their feet, but as busy as they were with work, they couldn't help but be consumed with worry for Ruby and Casey. Charlie had called Leah the night before to fill her on what had happened to them but kept the majority of the details under wraps knowing it would only raise questions from the rest of the residents of Summer Bay. But more importantly, the police. Leah had told Miles that night and filled Indi and Irene in that morning at work. They were all shell shocked.

As per ususal, Colleen had overheard the whole thing and was now coming up with her own conspiracy theories, while also passing the information on to everyone who walked into the establishment. While on her break, Indi had found time to sit down with Romeo, April, Xavier and Dex, who were all as equally shocked. "Are they gonna be okay?", April asked after everything had been explained to them. Indi shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not sure. I called Dad this morning to see if I could find out how they were. He Just said that they had no life threatening injuries, but that they had a long road to recovery", she said, sighing at how little she knew.

"Well that's something positive in a way I suppose", Romeo said as he placed a comforting hand on Indi's shoulder. They whole gang acknowledged the fact that they knew they're friends were alive and as well as could be, considering the circumstances. Just then they were interrupted by Leah walked over to the table having just gotten off the phone. "Hey guys, I just got off the phone with Charlie and I thought you should know that both Ruby and Casey are awake", she said and smiled when the group all sighed with relief. "I think this calls for some celebratory milkshakes, on the house", she finished. The gang thanked her and then expressed their happiness at the good news. That was until Dex spoke up.

"Hey, does anyone actually know what happened?", he asked as he looked around at everyone. "Duh, they were trapped in a fire. Weren't you listening?", Xavier asked as he playfully slapped him on the arm. Dex gaving him a mocking glare and then made a snide remark about Xavier's sarcasm. "Thank you for that Xavier but that's not what I meant", he said and looked around at the raised eyebrows of his friends all staring at him with confused expressions. "What were Ruby and Casey doing there? How did they get there? It seems a little mysterious if you ask me?", he said as he returned to playing with sugar sachets in front of him. Romeo nodded his head in agreement. "I hate to admit it, but Dex has a point. I mean neither of them have a car and they never mentioned going anywhere together", he said trying to piece together the giant puzzle. Indi looked at him with a slight frown. "What are you saying?", she said as she sat up straight. "I'm saying I don't think this was an accident. I think someone did this to them".

Later that day at the hospital, Brax arrived to see Casey. Deep down he was hoping to bump into Charlie. After yesterday he wasn't even sure she wanted to see him, but he knew they had to talk. They had to sort things through. If not for themselves, then for Casey and Ruby. It wouldn't take long for the rumour mill of Summer Bay to kick into overdrive. And with the Riverboys reputation, it wouldn't be long before the finger of blame starting aiming towards him and his brother. Which meant Charlie's credibility as police officer would also be called into doubt.

Arriving outside his brothers room, he looked in the door to find Casey asleep and their mother sitting by his bedside. When she spotted Brax she stood up and walked over to the door closing it behind her as they stepped out into the corridor. "How's he doin'?", Brax asked as he rubbed his forehead and looked at his mother. She turned her gaze up to her eldest son and in one sift motion, she slapped him hard across the face. "How dare you ask how he is when you're the reason he's lying in that bed in the first place", she said. A look of disgust in her eye as she finally learned the truth about Brax's "business".

She always knew that Brax and Heath were no angels. That they liked to push the boundaries between breaking and obeying the law. But she never thought that they were in this deep. That her own soon was the brains behind it all. What's worse, was the fact that it had caused pain to her youngest son. The one who was different to other sons. Who had the potential to do something more with his life. Even Brax said so. But instead, he had been dragged into the whole mess, against his will. It sickened her.

"Look Mum, Case, he's a tough kid. He'll be fine eh?", he tried to reassure her, but it didn't make her feel any better. She looked at her son and then shook her head in disappointment before turning back towards the door. "I want you to pack your stuff and get out of my house. I want you gone before I get home tonight", she said. With that she opened the door and walked back into the room closing it behind her. Shutting Brax out of her life. "Like I said, if you had kept it in you pants we would've been smooth sailin' it right now. But you had to go and stuff it all up. And not just for yourself but for both of us", Heath said from behind Brax's back.

Turning around to face his younger brother, Brax looked at Heath with a glint of anger in his eye. He had enough on his plate without Heath making snide remarks and hassling him. Heath looked at Brax's healing cut lip and laughed. "You're lucky that's all I gave ye, coz we both know if the rest of the boys get there hands on ye, you'll be a goner and there is no way I'm stickin' my neck on the line for you after what you've done", he said and with that he pushed past Brax and exited the hospital. Brax stood there with his hands on his hips wondering how he had gotten himself in so deep. Knowing he had no one but himself to blame.

Sitting outside Ruby's hospital room, Morag leaned her head back against the wall trying to come up with sort of plan of action. But every road she thought of taking was useless. There was no way they could have Heath, Brax and the rest of the Riverboys arrested without damaging Charlie's career, or worse losing her job. But they couldn't do nothing. Either they came forward themselves and explian what happened and accepted whatever punishment was dished out. Or, they risked the police finding out themselves, which would look much worse for everyone involved. The only innocent parties in all of this were Ruby and Casey, and they were the one's suffering the most. It didn't seem fair. None of it did. But as Morag told Charlie last night, you play with fire and you get burned, literally.

Charlie sat next to Ruby's bed holding her daughter's hand as she slept. The previous night when Ruby had awoken to complete darkness, as her eyes were bandaged, Charlie had to calm her down and explain that her eyes had been damaged in the fire. Panicked, Ruby had tried to remove her bandages only for Sid to come in and sedate her. It broke Charlie's heart to see Ruby in such a state. She had watched her cry with fear as the sedative kicked in her daughter drifted back to sleep. It was possibly one of the worst moments of her life. Next to Ruby being kidnapped and almost killed. But what was worse was today was the day Sid would remove the bandages and determine what path Ruby's life would take.

Tired, but to worried and scared to go to sleep, Charlie was relieved to feel her daughter squeezing her hand as she began to wake up. Sitting up, Charlie placed her hands ontop of Ruby's to stop her from tearing her bandages off again. But this time Ruby didn't even flinch, so Charlie removed her hands. Feeking around the bed for her mother's hand, Charlie reached down to grab a hold of Ruby's and placed a gentle kiss on it. "No matter what, everything's going to be okay. I promise I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere", she said as nodded her head and tightly squeezed her hand back.

"I'm scared Charlie, what if I can't see, what if I'm blind for the rest of my life......", she trailed off. Charlie leaned forward and cupped Ruby's face in the palm of her hand. "Then we'll deal with it. Together. Rubes I love you and no matter what the outcome I will be there to help you through it. Just promise me that you'll talk to me and be honest with me about how you're feeling and I promise I will do whatever I can to make it better or make it easier. Okay?", she said, and Ruby gently nodded her head in agreement. Just then they were interrupted by a knock at the door and Sid entered the room.

"Okay Ruby, it's time we take those bandages off", he said. Ruby nodded and sat up a little straighter in the bed as best she could with her broken leg. Walking over beside her Sid began to unwrap the bandages. Charlie stood back to make room for the doctor to work. Holding her breath as she waited anxiously for him to finish. Within seconds he had the bandage unwrapped and carefully, he began to remove the eye patches. Ruby's eyes were still red and there were a few little tiny scars around both eyes from debris that had been lodged their from the explosion.

"Alright Ruby, I want you to open your eyes slowly and tell me if you see anything", he said as he stood back to make it easier for her to make out people and objects if she could. Slowly and carefully Ruby began to open her eyes. They were still a little sore from the blast but she was determind to do it. At first she squinted, then she opened her eyes more. "I can't..........I can't see anything", she said as s he began to get teary. "You can't make anything out or you can't see anything at all?", Sid asked as he tried to get more detail out of the distressed teenager. "No I can't see anything! It's all just black", she said as she broke down in tears.

"Sid", Charlie said almost pleading with him to say it was some sort of a mistake. That it was just going to take some more time to heal. "I'm sorry Charlie. There was an extensive amount of scar tissue. I'm afraid Ruby's blind", he said as gently as he could as he sympathetically placed a hand on her arm. "Charlie", a sobbing Ruby called out as she tried to feel out where her mother was. Walking past Sid, Charlie climbed onto the bed and took her daughter into her arms. Rocking her back and forth as she tried as best she could to comfort her as her own tears began to fall.

Outside the room Morag lowered her head after overhearing everything. Turning around she faced Brax who was planning on talking to Charlie. She walked up to him with a frosty, angry expression etched across her face. "Are you happy now?", she asked and she watched as he lowered his head. There was nothing he could say. "I think you better leave", she said. And with that Brax turned on his heel and made his way out of the hospital. He could feel himself getting choked up. Because of him he had hurt his brother, his family, his secret girlfriends daughter. But most of all he had hurt Charlie. And now he had nowhere to go and nowhere to turn to. Brax's life had been turned upside down.

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I'm sorry, I know people didn't want Ruby to be blind, but for story purposes I had to make it happen. It will actually be key to the progression of the story down the track.

Next Time:

*Charlie and Ruby try to adjust to living with Ruby's disability

*Brax and Charlie find it hard to avoid each other

*Casey learns of his brothers deceit and Ruby's condition

*Romeo, Indi, Xavier, April and Dex try to uncover what really happened, and the truth shocks them

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