A couple of months had passed since Summer's arrival and everything seemed to be settling down in Summer Bay. The atmosphere in the Braxton house was happier and more relaxed, as each week passed Summer seemed to open up a little more to her brothers and develop a lovely personality.
Summer had got to know her brothers little by little, she enjoyed going to school with Casey and seemed to have a positive influence on his studies by completing her homework in plain sight; making him feel guilty for neglecting his own. Heath and her had strengthened their bond and frequently played pranks on Casey. Whilst the biggest change had been with Brax, since allowing him to see her cry they had become close. Brax desperately wanted her to tell him what had gone on at Richard's but at this point, he was happy that she would at least come to him for comfort after a long day.
Heath and Brax were back at the house, chatting about everything and nothing in particular. "Do you think that the pup has settled in?" Heath asked suddenly.
Brax looked at the second eldest for a moment and could see the concern etched across his face. "It's just, we haven't really talked about why she came to live with us. Maybe she doesn't trust us enough to tell us?" Heath sighed as Brax put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"She'll tell us in her own time mate. Summer's been here a few months now, she's had to adjust to living with us, moving to a new school and making new friends. We've still got a way to go yet" Brax said squeezing Heath's shoulder gently before turning to hand him a letter.
"It's from the prison." Heath blinked at the envelope but before he could open it, Brax interrupted.
"You've not told them that you've seen dad have you?" Brax said referring to Casey and Summer.
"No, do you think I'm an idiot?" Heath protested, he'd been seeing their father over the last few months in an attempt to understand who the man was. He didn't know how to be a father and with Rocco on the way, he turned to his own father in an attempt to understand. Sure, he'd looked after Darcy but that was for no more than a week at a time; Connie did all the parenting. Brax had gone ballistic when he had found out. Brax couldn't understand how Heath could forget all the years of abuse in just one afternoon, but Heath hadn't forgotten; he was trying to learn what a father shouldn't be like and he had, especially since Summer had arrived.
Heath sighed as Brax shook his head disapprovingly and continued to open the letter. He read through the letter slowly, but soon encountered a problem. "Erm Brax, we've got a problem."
"What are you..." Brax was about to ask when he was interrupted, but not by Heath.
"Door wide open, anyone could walk right in." Came the voice of a man who caused Brax to flinch slightly. He prayed to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that there was that the man from his nightmares was not stood behind him; he prayed he would wake up at any moment.
"What are you doing here?" Brax hissed violently, he didn't need to turn around and look at the intruder to know who it was.
"Dad." Was the only word Heath could muster, he was seconds away from telling Brax that Danny Braxton had been released from prison but he hadn't envisioned this."
"Darryl, is that any way to greet your dear old dad?" Danny laughed cruelly.
"Dad what are you doing here?" Heath tried to deflect his dad's attention onto him, something he'd always done.
"Well I just wanted to catch up with my boys didn't I?" Danny said stepping further into the house and looking around. "Nice little set up you have here."
"You're not welcome here." Brax said through gritted teeth.
"Who are you to tell me where I am and am not welcome Darryl." Danny took a step towards Brax.
"This is my house and I want you gone now before anyone else sees you." Brax stood tall against his father; he was not going to allow this man to bully him like he once had. He was the man of the house and this was his house. He sincerely hoped that Danny would take the hint and leave before Casey and Summer got home.
"You still have an issue with respecting your elders don't you Darryl." Danny said dangerously with clenched fists but Brax was not going to let him intimidate him as he stared straight back into Danny's eyes.
"I said leave." Brax snarled, he had his eyes fixed on Danny but he could see a frantic looking Heath in his peripheral vision. As much as Heath had been visiting Danny, it did not mean that he wanted him to turn up like this; he did not want him in his life. Heath could feel himself shaking slightly, when he had visited Danny in prison there had been the security of the guards but now what?
Just then, Brax's prayers had been ignored as Casey and Summer arrived home. Casey was teasing Summer about how she liked jet when they both came to a sudden halt in the doorway.
"Dad?" In that moment Casey sounded the same as it had in Summer's memories; a scared 6 year old.
"Casey." Danny greeted as he turned around to face him, but as soon as his eyes landed on Summer, a malicious grin took over his expression. "Well hello there princess."
Summer recoiled in fear, she may not have remembered much from her childhood but she knew this man. So many questions were running through her head; why was he here? What did he want? Why had her brothers let him into their house? She could feel herself starting to panic and her eyes darted to Brax hoping that he would see her distress.
"Now where have they been hiding you all these years?" Danny said moving closer to Summer to try and embrace her, luckily Brax moved quicker than Danny and managed to intercept.
"Stay away from her." Brax threw his arms backwards and pushed Summer so that she was completely behind him.
"I should have known you would step in. Always so gallant aren't you? I bet it was your idea to hide her?" Danny snarled.
"Yes." Brax said defiantly, "And I'll do everything above and beyond my power to keep her safe."
Summer was shaking behind her brother; she knew she should feel safer with him protecting her but at the moment she was struggling to hold it together. She closed her eyes as she was hit with an intense wave of emotion. She had very little memories from her childhood, whether she was too young or she had blocked it out, she didn't know. But just a few minutes in Danny's presence had caused her to nearly double over with the intensity of the flashbacks. Summer felt the hurt all over again as if it was happening to her at that very second.
Casey looked between Danny, Brax and Summer, but his attention was fixed on his sister. He couldn't believe how much just seeing him had affected her, he instantly felt guilty due to his own inadequate memories; maybe Danny hadn't targeted him? "I won't ask you again." Brax snarled, rotating himself and Summer around to make a path for Danny to leave, but protecting her at all time.
"You were always her hero, but she's a big girl now." Danny winked at Summer. "I'll see you soon." He called as he walked out laughing.
"Whoa!" Heath cried as he leapt forward and caught Summer her knees buckled. Heath guided the pair of them safely down to the ground, had he been a second later she would have injured herself.
"Sum!"Brax spun around and crouched down the where Heath was cradling her. "Open your eyes for me sweets." Brax tapped lightly on her cheek but he wasn't getting a response, and I he was just about to check that she was breathing when he heard her moan.
"Hey kiddo, come on. Open your eyes." Heath said to her with urgency in his voice. He was only met by pain filled moans, which were starting to escalate into thrashing against Heath's arms.
"No... no..." Summer was writhing and whimpering as Heath tried to comfort her. Slowly she begun to open her eyes and looked up at her brothers with confusion and flowing tears.
"What's going on?" Summer stuttered.
"You passed out pup, I caught you before you hurt yourself." Heath explained.
"How do you feel?" Brax asked concern plain on his face.
"Tired, scared." Summer said slowly, still trying to comprehend what was going on.
"I'll call Sid." Casey said suddenly, Brax and Heath almost forgetting he was there.
"Good idea." Heath nodded as Casey stepped outside to see if he could make a house-call.
"Why don't we get you lay down on your bed, eh?" Brax said and with her nodded consent, he bent down and lifted her up carrying her to her bedroom.
Brax gently laid her down on the bed and was about to stand up, when he felt her grab his shirt. He looked down at her and his heart melted; she looked so vulnerable and young. Brax nodded and knew what she wanted; he sat down beside her on the bed leaning against the headboard. He barely had a second to adjust when he found his sisters head on his chest and her hands clawing at him for comfort. Hi mate, thanks for coming over." Brax said, he looked down to Summer and coaxed her to sit upright against the headboard as he got up. "Could you just check her over, she collapsed suddenly."
"Shhh, it's ok." He said stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head. "I've got you." He had done this with her when she was little too and he felt tears forming in his own eyes as he desperately tried to comfort her.
Brax wasn't sure how long he had sat with her when Sid arrived. "Hi Brax, Casey called." Sid said and smiled as he looked down at Brax and Summer.
Brax didn't want to tell the doctor what had happened exactly, the town knew that the Braxtons had enough family dramas as it was. Sid seemed to understand and simply nodded at Brax, knowing that there was more to this but for now his priority was Summer.
"Hey Summer, how you feeling?" Sid asked crouching down beside the bed and putting his medical bag down.
"I'm ok, there's no need to worry." Summer smiled weakly at the doctor. Summer wasn't convincing anyone though and Sid knew that something was a-miss. He watched her eyes dart up to Brax and back down to her hands again.
"Do you mind waiting in the living room Brax?" Sid asked and Brax got the hint. "I'm going to just listen to your breathing, do you mind lifting up your shirt so I can get to your back?"
Summer hesitated and tried to regain her composure, as she rotated to allow him to get to her back with his stethoscope. She slowly exhaled in a last attempt to calm down and lifted up her shirt, the next thing she heard was Sid inhale sharply.
Sid closed his eyes and remembered that he was a doctor and this was his patient, irrespective of whether he was seething right now. He lifted his stethoscope to her back and asked her breath in and out on command; he had to remain professional despite the scars that littered her back. As Sid continued his assessment, her breathing deemed sufficient, he knew that he had to speak to Brax about this.The rest of Sid's assessment went fine, it looked as if she'd collapsed due to anxiety as nothing was medically wrong with her. He smiled at her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder as he went to leave. "You're ok, rest easy."
As soon as Sid returned to the living room, he was bombarded with questions from the Braxton boys. "Calm down, she's ok." Sid put his hands up to cease the questioning. "Brax, can I have a word."
Brax nodded and led the doctor outside towards his car where they could talk. "I appreciate that Summer has only been with you for a few months, but how much do you know of before she came to live with you?" Sid asked.
"Not a lot." Brax sighed, "Between you and me doc; our uncle killed himself in front of her, had her tied up whilst he hung there. That's all I know for definite, but there's something more to it with Richard, I don't know what though." Brax rubbed his forehead, feeling a stress-induced headache brewing.
Sid nodded before saying solemnly, "Between you and me Brax, because you're now her guardian, she's got a lot of scarring on her back."
Brax clenched his fists and leaned against the car, trying to breathe; he knew it. "What kind of scarring?"
"Belt marks." Sid said quietly and he swore that Brax nearly burst into tears.
"I got her away to Richard's so that she could be away from our dog of a dad. She was supposed to be away from the abuse. She was supposed to be safe!" Brax was angry and Sid felt for him, he didn't know a lot about the Braxtons but he knew they had a troubled past. When treating Brax once he had seen similar scars but they were much more faded than Summer's.
Brax walked into the house slowly, weighed down by grief for what his sister had continued to suffer. Summer was supposed to have been away from all the abuse but it looks like Brax had thrown her straight into another kind of hell. As Brax entered the house, he ignored his brothers and headed straight for her room. Heath and Casey quickly followed him and towards Summer's bedroom.
"What is going on?" Heath called after Brax but he and Casey quickly came to a stop at Summer's doorway.
Summer looked up at Brax and smiled as he came towards her, not seeing her brothers behind him, but then she saw the look in his eyes. He sat down on the bed in front of her and reached up to stroke her face. "You know" Summer said as she looked away.
"I'm so sorry." Brax whispered back and then reached forward to hug her, both siblings bursting into tears, causing summer to quickly jump up and huge Brax.
"It's not your fault." Summer said eventually. Brax was still holding onto her tightly, as if she would break if he let go of her. "You did what you thought was best."
"But it wasn't enough!" Brax said, his voice was mixed with sorrow and anger. Summer wriggled out of his grasp and looked seriously at her eldest brother, sustaining more eye contact that she felt comfortable with but enough to make him look at her.
"Brax, what is going on?" Heath asked, growing impatient at being left out of something that seemed so important.
Brax was only focusing on Summer at the moment, he needed to know that she was ok. He wanted to right all that had been wronged for her. 'It's a good job Richard' is dead, Brax thought angrily and clenched his fists. Summer took his fists and unclenched them, she held them and Brax enjoyed the warmth from her touch. As he looked down at his hands in hers, he saw faded scars on her wrist. He paused for a moment and just stared at them before picking up her wrist and kissing it softly. Brax wondered how he had never seen them before. He loved his sister and needed her to know that he would always be there; he just didn't trust himself to say it out loud without crying.
He looked up at her and she was crying silently, her brother knew her secret and that overwhelmed her. She felt ashamed and disgusted, the painful memories were etched on her skin permanently reminding her of the darkest days.
"I'll always be here for you, you will have better days." Brax said softly.
Summer's eyes were watering once more and she threw her arms around Brax once more. As she looked over her shoulder, she saw Heath had tears in his eyes too. She turned her wrist ever so slightly towards Heath so that he could see and he nodded at her; no explanation was needed, he understood what she had done and why and it damn near killed him. Unable to contain his anger, he left quickly.
Casey was still stood in the doorway, too young to remember what had happened before Summer had left to understand why Brax was so upset now. He knew that Brax was suspicious of Richard and how he'd treated Summer, had Sid discovered what had actually happened? Casey didn't dare ask but seeing Brax, his hero, reduced to tears was enough of an explanation for now. He too left, not because he was angry but because he needed to process today's events and wonder if he was blocking out more memories than he knew.