Broken Pieces

[Barbara]

Oh no! I hope Jack and Roy will find Ric before it's too late and he will be okay.

Poor Martha! After all she's been through, something bad had to happen to Ric.

I'm glad Lucas is disgusted with what he did. But I hope Jack will find out what he did and that he will be punished.

I'm intrigued by Jack's dream. Could there really be a letter under his bed?

More please.

[Red Ranger 1]

Oh gosh.I hope they find Ric.For a moment I thought Lucas had realised what he'd done but it looks like he hasn't.Can't wait for more!

[Sabrina]

I really feel sorry for Martha. She's been through so much - she can't lose Ric too

Poor Ric I hope Roy and Jack find him soon.

Lucas

Update soon please

[pamy]

I was going to post this chapter yesterday, but it was getting rather late and my computer decided to do some very weird things. Anyway here's the next chapter, glad you like it.

Chapter 15

Suddenly it begins to rain.

Of course, Jack thinks, just the last thing they need. When they need rain, it never rains; but when they don’t need rain, guess what it rains. It’s not raining that hard either, but it doesn’t matter, he and Roy get soaked almost immediately. Yet he’s not really that worried about himself, he’s worried about Ric. If he’s out there, unconscious, wounded (or perhaps both); rain is definitely the last thing he needs. He tries to focus, but it’s rather hard and they simply have no idea where to look.

He has no idea how long they have been walking.

But suddenly at some point Roy begins to run, Jack concludes that he probably saw something. When they first see Ric ( lying there, for a second Jack actually thinks he’s dead), they freeze in complete shock. It makes Jack completely sic to think that someone could have done this to him, and then simply left him there to die. Jack shakes himself out of the shock and screams for help; Roy is already on his knees next to Ric.

He hopes the kid will be alright, he really does.

*****

Martha has always hated hospitals.

It was the smell, it was nauseating and it made her completely nervous. She sinks on the ground, trying to ignore the smell and focus on her brother. Her little brother, she can still see him lying there on the gurney, he looked dead to her in that moment. She leans against the wall, buries her face in her head and cries. She doesn’t want to think of Ric in that way ( cold, hurt, un-moving, dead ), but she can do nothing else but think of it. She should have never brought him here, should have come alone ( should never have come at all ), what good did it bring?

This town only led to more heartache.

She feels him before she sees him, sitting down beside her, holding her close to him. She leans against his shoulder, he holds her close to him, protecting her, being strong for her. He doesn’t feel that strong, he just feels like she needs him and he wants to be there for her. The minutes tick by, they’re making her crazy. Because every second that passes, it’s a second she simply doesn’t know what’s happening. Jack doesn’t let her go, and she’s glad and grateful; because she doesn’t want to be alone.

She’ll be alone if she loses Ric, she knows she can’t lose him.

******

He hears it when he’s in the diner.

Colleen is talking about it ( of course she was, that women always knew everything; sometimes Aden wondered how she knew everything ), and he simply knew what had happened. He knew he should have said something, but he also knew that nobody would have ever believed him ( still would not believe him in fact), why would they? He’s the kid always in trouble, the kid with the troubled past. Luke on the other hand is the ( almost ) perfect son. Still there is a part of him that does not want to believe it, doesn’t want to believe Luke did it, that he didn’t even listen to a word he had said.

He wonders what happened to the kid he once met.

Maybe in some way it’s all his fault, that he had some kind of a bad influence on him (both him and Drew). Yet despite all he has done ( and he does not deny what he has done) he has always known where the line was drawn. And if it happened the way he thinks it happened ( though he sincerely hopes he’s mistaken ), Luke and Drew didn’t just step over it last night, they flew over it. They didn’t even slow down, to contemplate what they were going to do, they just went out never looking back. Aden briefly wonders if he should go to the police, but they won’t believe him and who knows maybe he’ll get arrested or something.

He’s a coward (no denial), he should have done something, now it’s to late.

****

Time passes them by, and she still doesn’t know.

Jack went out in search for food ( not that she’s actually hungry ), but she’s not alone ( she’ll be alone without her brother ), Roy arrived right before he left. He doesn’t sit down beside her ( he wants to, but it reminds him to much of a moment years ago when he sat next to a little girl and told her she wasn’t going home ), but he is there and really in the end that’s all that matters. He wishes there was something he could say, but there really is nothing ( just like there was nothing years ago), so he remains silent. After all it’s going to be okay won’t be of any help at all.

They sit there silently, waiting for some kind of news.

Roy tries not to think of her as the little girl she once was, but as she sits there crying he can’t help but remember her. Martha knows he wants to help, that he’s desperately trying to think of something that might help, but they both know there is nothing. She can’t stop but think of Ric (lying lifeless on the gurney) and she’s just so scared she’ll lose him, so scared she’ll be the last one left. (Her father never really counted). He had looked dead, she thought he was at first; but he wasn’t, she had to remind herself, he was still alive, fighting.

Fighting to be by her side, and he would win that fight.

****

There has to be something he can do.

He has to do something, he can’t just sit around her without moving, without ever doing a thing. He promises himself ( and Martha at the same time, though silently ), that he will find out who did this. He’ll stop the investigation into her mother’s murder ( it had been years ago, it’s not like it’s that important , he ignores the memory of Brett who might innocently sit in jail) and he’ll focus on finding out who did this to Ric ( to Martha ), he knows he can do it. He can find out, but he doesn’t understand why, nothing had ever happened like this before (not this bad anyway).

Teenagers always fight of course, but never this bad.

Ric was left there alone to die, and besides he hasn’t been here long enough to actually meet someone ( to actually make someone angry). Then again why would somebody randomly attack him? Why would someone do that, it didn’t make sense; Ric didn’t actually look rich either. Maybe it was something personal, but Roy could not understand that either, because he simply wasn’t here long enough. It’s impossible he thinks ( unless the person is completely insane or unreasonable), his hand closes around Sara’s ring inside his pocket.

It has to be connected, somehow.

*****

They heard the story in the diner.

He and Drew made sure not to look at each other while they listened to Colleen telling the story. Luke is almost afraid that if they do they will burst out laughing or something ( it seems impossible that this would happen, but really he’s pretty sure it can) or maybe they will give away something ( not that anyone would ever think he could do it ). Still he’s not entirely sure of how to act, it’s not like they’ve ever done something like this before, and it really makes him crazy. He listens to Colleen tell the story, and feels almost ill as he realizes how wounded Ric actually was.

He hadn’t expected him to be that wounded.

He had thought he’d be wounded, but he’d get up and go home (maybe end up in the hospital) but Ric is practically dead (if he believes what Colleen says anyway). He’s sure he’ll be okay (lie), he wants Drew to reassure him somehow, but by the look in his eyes he hadn’t expected it either. Neither one of them spoke as they left the diner, Luke doesn’t know what to say, neither does Drew. They didn’t want to kill him, just teach him a lesson. Still Luke can’t deny ( not even to himself ), that he sort of like the adrenaline he felt that night, liked the power he had over Ric at that particular moment. It’s wrong and twisted, but that’s what it feels like.

It didn’t have to go this far, it wouldn’t have if Ric has stayed away from Matilda.

That is the full truth.

****

Their mom had send them to the hospital.

To check on Martha and offer her any kind of help ( Beth had made up an entire list made up in under ten minutes, it had to be some kind of record ). Still Matilda hoped that Colleen was overreacting, that it really wasn’t so bad. Ric was such a nice guy and this really wasn’t something that should have happened ( though she’s still doesn’t exactly understand what happened). For a second, a brief second, she thought that Luke might have something to do with it. But then she shook the thought away almost immediately, because how could she ever think that about him. This wasn’t just some guy being unnecessarily jealous, this was evil.

Luke had done nothing to deserve her thinking that of him.

Henry is thinking the same thing, though not dismissing it so fast. He thinks about it for a while, but then thinks it’s stupid because he’s Luke and he would never do this. This is beyond anything he’s ever heard about, Luke would never actually go this far ( especially not over something so stupid). They offer Martha help, but really in reality there is nothing they can actually do, he’s lost for words and apparently so is Matilda. They stay, he thinks of his new found friend and he thinks he might see something in Mattie’s eyes, some feeling that really wasn’t there before. He thinks he might actually like that better, because with the way Luke has been acting lately, Ric would be a better guy for her.

He hopes he’ll be alright, if only for the sister that cries so much for him.

*****

He doesn’t know why he went to the hospital.

He thinks it is because he wonders if Colleen was overreacting, and maybe he really did go to far. He walked in the hospital, thinking of an excuse. Once he sees Jack he realizes he doesn’t need one, he could just simply be looking for his brother. He wants to walk over to them, find out if the kid is really that bad when his eyes land on Matilda. What is she doing here? The second his eyes land on her, every thought he ever had about going to far instantly disappears.

She looks upset, to worried about the guy.

Doesn’t she understand that she is his, that she should not worry about other guys like this? That it will only make him angry, make things worse. What is she doing here, he tries to calm himself down, telling himself that Beth probably just send them. But then why is she so worried, why is she still here, why is that damn guy so important to her, why does he matter. He sees her there, and anger sets in again, and for a brief moment he wishes he had hit the damn guy more. He turns around and leaves, without ever finding out if Ric is really that wounded.

He doesn’t care anymore anyway.

*****

He’s glad he’s the officer on this case.

If only because of the evidence. As he stares at the paper, he swears he’s having some kind of déjà vu; admittedly different though. When he first met Jack he had been surprised by how good he was, how different from his father. At that moment he had decided that there was nothing real about the saying ‘like father, like son’. Still as he stares now at the page, he thinks that there might be some truth in it after all. Maybe it doesn’t apply to Jack, but apparently it does apply to his other son.

He dials the number without thinking.

‘We need to meet. 30 minutes. Same place.’ And they do, just like not so long ago, they meet again. ‘This better be good.’ ‘You heard about her son, Ric?’ ‘Yeah, he alright.’ ‘So far I’ve heard he’s still in surgery. But that’s not why we are here.’ ‘Yeah, I didn’t think so. I didn’t hurt the boy.’ ‘Of course you didn’t, I didn’t think you actually did. Your son however seems to be more like you then either one of us ever thought.’ Tony looks at him shocked for a second, his brain working pretty fast at that moment, he thinks about his sons and ( even though he doesn’t really want to admit it) he instantly knows which one he’s talking about. After all Jack would never hurt anybody. ‘Luke?’ ’Yeah. Here’s what I’ve found….Tony?’ ‘Make it go away, make sure nothing points back to him, you hear me?’ ‘Done.’

Tony walks away, wishing that Luke had never been like him in any way.

History seemed to be repeating itself.

******

He’s not moving, but at least she knows he’s alive.

She sits down beside his bed, she has trouble looking at him at that particular moment. He just looks so vulnerable, so broken. She finds the beeping sound extremely annoying, but she says nothing of it, because it also tells her his heart is still beating. And in the end that is the most important thing of all, is it not. She takes his hand, but he doesn’t even react to her touch, and tries to hold in her tears ( it hasn’t worked at all).

She feels Jack sit down beside her, not leaving her side at all.

She wants to ask him if he shouldn’t be working, be anywhere else but here. But she’s afraid that if she does, he’ll leaver her here alone, and she doesn’t want him to go. She wants him to stay by her side, wants him to hold her, just be there for her. Ric doesn’t move, but at least he’s alive and it gives her hope. She places a kiss on his forehead and whispers (begs him) ‘Please, please wake up Ric. I need you okay little brother, wake up.’

Jack can not imagine being in her shoes right now.

Next chapter : Will Ric wake up? Tasha and robbie go out, Mattie overhears something, two fathers attempt to protect their son and both Roy and Jack discover something....

[Red Ranger 1]

Woah!Great update.Glad they found Ric but looks like he really isn't out of the woods yet.Again, Lucas seemed to be on the verge of understanding but then just let the anger consume him again. Really not happy about what Tony and his friend are up to...

[Barbara]

I'm glad they've found Ric and I hope he'll wake up soon. For Martha's sake especially. I like how Roy and Jack are there for her.

For a second I thought Lucas actually had a heart but apparently, he hasn't. He's now wishing he had hurt Ric even more just because Matilda came to see him. She could have been worried about a friend. And I'm really not liking Tony asking his friend to cover up for him. I hope Jack will find out and stay away from his father and brother.

The next chapter sounds really good. More please.

[Sabrina]

I'm glad that Roy and Jack found Ric. Hopefully he'll be ok.

I can't believe Lucas wished that he had hurt Ric more

I also don't like what Tony and his friend are up to.

Looking forward to the next chapter

[CHARLENE2009]

loving this story so far _ poor Ric

lucas

jack been there for her is sooo sweat

hope Ric wakes up

update soooooon pleeasee !!!

[CHARLENE2009]

oh please update soon _ you cant leave this story hanging

[pamy]

I'm so sorry it has taken so long to post another chapter, I really didn't mean for it to take this long. It's just I got a little overwhelmed with all the essays i had to write and my exams were coming up so. Anyway my exams have finished now so i will be posting again. Again sorry.

Chapter 16

It’s the sounds she hates the most.

Especially the beeping, though in some way she thinks she should be grateful to it as it indicates that her brother is still alive. Alive but not awake, maybe he’ll never be awake again. She shakes her head softly, attempting to get rid of those depressing thoughts; willing herself to believe he will be fine. She wishes she could believe it, that she could stop thinking about losing him forever.

It would probably work better if she couldn’t see him lying there, unmoving.

She suddenly realizes she has never seen him lying so still, not even when he is sleeping does he lie so still. Ric was always full of energy, especially when he was a kid. He used to give her headaches, the way he would never sit still. She takes a hold of his hand, silently begging him to wake up; to return to her. She does not remember now if she told him she loved him, she doesn’t remember if she even said goodbye to him. She doesn’t even remember what her reasons where for coming here, she doesn’t know if any good came from it. Someway she thinks this is probably all her fault.

After all she was the one who wanted to come to Summer Bay.

~*~

Jack wishes he could think of something to say.

Anything really that could help at all, something that would make everything better. But he has never been one for words, never actually been able to say the right thing at the right time. Sometimes he thinks that that is why he and Katie didn’t work out, why Robbie betrayed him, why he and his father never saw eye to eye. Because he always manages to say the wrong thing, and he never actually talks to anyone, not really.

He supposes it doesn’t matter, there’s nothing that could make this any better.

He can’t imagine what she’s feeling; Luke has never been trough something like this. When they were younger he had his appendix taken out, but that was not the same thing. Besides he was far too young to remember what actually happened, just like he was too young to fully understand what happened to his mother. But he can somehow imagine what she’s feeling, he only has to imagine seeing Luke there; lying motionless on that bed, somewhere between live and dead. He hopes he never has to see that, he truly does.

He’ll find out who did this, if it is the last thing he does.

~*~

She has the feeling she will come to regret this.

From the moment she moved to the Bay, hell from the moment she met him Jack Holden had been her best friend. Her big brother. She doesn’t really know much about anything that has happened in his past, she’s note even quite sure what happened to his mother. She’s never really understood why he doesn’t like Robbie, she knows they were friends once upon a time (she found a picture of them both together once, they looked so happy then; she could not fathom what happened to make them so distant from each other. So angry.)

She’s asked questions of course, everyone has.

But Jack didn’t want to talk about it, she only asked him once but he changed the topic of the conversation quickly; he had turned away from her at that point as well, but she did not miss the look of pain that flashed across his face. Whatever had happened had hurt Jack, it had hurt him so much that he couldn’t forget what had happened. Robbie had also avoided talking about it, safe from telling her that Jack was the one that was right. Still when she had told Jack about her going out with Robbie he seemed to be supportive, or at least trying to be for her sake. She could not wish for a better friend (brother), someone willing to put his own feelings aside so that she would be happy.

Maybe her being with Robbie will somehow bring the two best friends together again.

She thinks they might need a miracle for that

~*~

He can’t hear nor see a thing.

He doesn’t know where he is or how he got here, doesn’t even know if it matters. He can’t feel anything either, but he thinks that might be for the best; he seems to remember experiencing excruciating pain. He’s not really sure what happened to him, he remembers two persons jumping him. Beating him, screaming at him (though he can not remember what they screamed at him); and then when they were done leaving him there to die.

He wonders if he is still lying there on the cold ground.

He wonders if maybe he is dead, and this is eternity. He hopes it isn’t, because a place where you can’t see or hear a thing will at some point get boring. Right now it is only peaceful; Ric thinks this might have something to do with not feeling any pain. He doesn’t want to leave this place, at least not right now. He wishes to stay here, wherever here is, and yet he has this feeling that he is supposed to be somewhere else.

That maybe someone is calling out for him to come home.

Please come home.

~*~

Martha had just wanted to close her eyes for a second.

But she was simply so tired, sleep overtook her and soon she found herself drifting of. Jack had not wanted to wake her up, realizing she probably needed to sleep. He watches as she curls up, sleeping peacefully at her brother’s side. He gets up, trying to make no sound as not to wake her up and puts his jacket on her. There is no need for her to be cold, she should sleep he realizes; she’ll need her strength for when her brother wakes up. He wishes he could stay with her, never leaver her side; but he has to work.

He places a soft kiss on her head before he leaves the room.

He does tell the doctor where he is going before he leaves, hoping that he’ll come back before Martha wakes up (though he realizes this would be highly unlikely). He’s having trouble understanding what actually happened; Ric had not been in town that long. If there had been other attacks like this he might be able to understand it a bit better, but as it stands it seems to be only against him. So why? There is no reason for it. He didn’t have any enemies, he hadn’t actually been here long enough for that; they had of course lived her when they were younger, but from what he understood Ric had been a baby back then, so that was not it. He doesn’t understand what happened but he will find out, for Martha and for Ric.

He would find out who did this to Ric and he would make him pay.

~*~

He has no idea what he’s doing, no idea where to take her.

He tries to calm himself down, after all this was not exactly the first time he took a girl out. The last time he was with a girl however was with Katie, and that wasn’t exactly dating. It’s not like he could take her out to public places, the idea of that was that it was a secret. Before that he dated other girls of course, but he was never alone; before he always had Jack to talk to, his best friend who would give him advice on where to take the girl on what to say to her, on what to do. Before when they were still friends, but now they are not and he seriously doubts Jack will want to give him friendly advice on dating Tasha.

Even if they were on talking terms, even if he thought he could get away with asking (pretending if even for one second that he and Jack were best friends yet again), he wouldn’t do it, not now. Not after what happened to Ric, he still quite can’t believe that actually happened. He can’t believe that there is somebody living in Summer Bay that would do something like that, he hopes they catch him soon so that he can’t hurt another person. But seeing as that happened he can’t go and ask Jack, first of all he’s probably working on the case and he is also dating Martha. He supposes he has to help himself, figure everything out. Maybe a simple diner and a movie would be enough, it’s not like it needed to be something incredibly fancy.

~*~

Mattie couldn’t get rid of the image.

It was so strange to see Ric lying there, unmoving surrounded by all that equipment. It was strange because she had seen him, not to long before that; he was laughing and simply there. Mattie wishes she could get rid of that feeling, the one where here heart is almost breaking. She tries to remind herself that she is with Luke, that she loves Luke; but it is of no real use, she supposes that the heart wants what it wants. Maybe she’s just confused; maybe it has nothing to do with having feelings for Luke. Maybe it’s simply because she just saw him, lying there, that she is feeling this. It means nothing.

‘You okay sis?’ ‘Yeah, it’s just so weird. I don’t understand why someone would do this. Who would want to hurt him? He couldn’t have done anything to anyone; he hasn’t been here long enough for that. So what happened?’

‘I don’t know. Maybe he did make someone angry, maybe he said something stupid. Or maybe it has something to do with what happened to his mother, I don’t know.’

‘You think it has something to do with that? But it was so long ago!’

‘Yeah, maybe we’re overlooking this. Maybe it’s just a random mugging or a random attack. It could be anything.’

‘Yeah, I guess so.’

Henry watches as his twin stares ahead again lost in her thoughts, he doesn’t ask her what she’s thinking, he already knows. She’s thinking about Ric. He doesn’t tell her what he’s thinking about either, that this might have something to do with her. That Luke was losing his mind and might have hurt Ric, all because Ric had feelings for Mattie. Henry had also seen the way Ric looked at Matilda (he had even seen the way she looked back) but he had never said anything. He didn’t think it was necessarily bad; he wasn’t actually doing something to win Mattie over. Henry shakes his head, wishing he could forget it; he hopes it is not Luke, he really does. Because if it is he fears for the safety of his sister, because if Luke is angry enough to hurt Ric this way God only knows what he could to for Matilda.

He’s probably wrong; the Luke he knows would never do this.

~*~

There was once a time when he thought Katie was the prettiest girl of all.

He couldn’t believe how wrong he had been back then, because when his eyes land on Tasha he knows she is the prettiest girl of them all. It’s not like she’s wearing anything incredibly special, but she looks special to him. ‘Hey. So you ready to go?’ ‘Yeah, where are we going?’ ‘I was thinking Yabbie Creek. First diner at this small restaurant and then maybe a movie?’ ‘That sounds great.’ Robbie grabs her hand and muses about how natural it feels to hold her like that, how normal. She smiles and he swears this is love, real love; he’s the happiest man on earth right now.

Tasha relaxed as soon as she saw him, forgetting all about her depressing thoughts.

The second her eyes met his all thoughts of Jack left her mind and as soon as he grabbed a hold of her hand she knew Jack would just have to accept them being together, because this is where she belonged. Robbie seemed to be just as nervous as she was, just as lost to the world. She thinks this might actually work out, that maybe just maybe everything will be alright. She follows Robbie wherever he brings her, she trusts him fully; despite what Jack told her. ‘You know, I actually think I might have forgotten something.’ ‘Really? What’s that?’ ‘This.’ Before she really understands what’s going on he’s kissing her, and she finally understands what it feels like to be in heaven.

Yes, they definitely belong together; she simply knows it.

~*~

Aden thinks he might be losing it, thinks he might be going crazy.

The guilt he is feeling is overpowering, for not having tried harder to stop Luke, for not having warned Ric. Not that anyone would have ever believed him, not that anyone would have ever known that he was telling the truth. ‘Hey man, you okay?’ Aden doesn’t look up at the sound of Drew’s voice, apart from Luke he is the last person he wants to see. He realizes soon however that he is not going anywhere as he sits down beside him. ‘You’re asking the wrong person. You should be asking Ric that.’ ‘That wasn’t our fault.’ ‘So what it was his? What exactly did he do to deserve that?’

Drew doesn’t answer for the longest time and Aden thinks he might never answer. ‘I’ll tell what he did, nothing. Nothing to deserve that.’ ‘Okay, so it got a little out of hand.’ ‘A little? He’s in the hospital, he could die. This is not a little this is almost a murder. You could have killed him, Luke could have killed him. And all because he was nice to Matilda? I’m nice to Matilda do I deserve that, hell every new tenant in the caravan park is nice to her, do they all deserve it? Of course they don’t.’ ‘Look I didn’t come here to talk about this; I just came here to tell you that you can’t say a word.’ ‘And why not?’ ‘Well for one thing because no one will ever believe you, which is probably why you haven’t already told. And besides they’ll probably blame you as well, after all the three of us, we always do things together. They’ll think you were there, and even if they don’t you hid this, you could have warned him. You could have prevented it.’ ‘I tried.’ ‘They’ll never believe you. And unlike me and Luke you don’t have a rich daddy to buy yourself out of this trouble, you’ll go to jail. And I’m sure you don’t want that.’

Aden watches in shock as Drew walks away. He can’t believe what he’s just heard and worse he can’t believe he ever called those two his best friends.

The worst is probably that he knows that Drew is right.

~*~

Matilda sinks down hiding her face in her hands.

Attempting to understand what she just heard, to accept it. She really hadn’t meant to overhear them talking, she had just been walking by. But she had heard Aden say ‘You could have killed him.’ And she couldn’t help but stay there, unmoving hearing the entire conversation. She’s not really sure what happened, but from what she gathered Luke and Drew attacked Ric because he was nice to her. As if that was such a bad thing. At least Aden seemed to see this was crazy and then Drew turns around and blames him, threatens him.

For a second she had wanted to go to him tell him that she believed him.

But she doesn’t, she stays where she is. She can’t believe this happened, she doesn’t know how they got here. Luke had once been such a nice guy, such a good guy. That Luke would have never dreamed of doing this or maybe he would have. She doesn’t know, and that’s what worries her the most. What had happened to that kid she had fallen in love with? Had he ever existed? Or was he simply a great actor hiding who he always was, winning her over until she was his; until she couldn’t escape him anymore.

She was afraid now, she really was. If he could do this, God only knew what he was capable of.

And she was the closest to him.

~*~

Alright, Roy thinks, let’s summarize.

Fifteen years ago someone murders Ruth, Ric and Mattie’s mother. It had been his first real case but he had spent it taking care of Martha. His partner had taken care of it, later telling him that Brett had confessed. That he was guilty. He had accepted that, never thinking to check it; after all he trusted him. Someone had dropped Sarah’s ring in Rics room, that could mean something or it could mean nothing at all. The ring somehow connected Jack’s father to everything. Now Martha returns with questions and falls in love with Jack. Some of the evidence is missing and the case against Brett turns out to be an entire cover-up, the real killer is probably somewhere out there.

And now somebody attacks Ric.

Something was going on here, he doesn’t know what but somehow it has to be connected. It’s the only thing that makes sense; everyone else had no reason to hurt Ric. But that would mean that the real killer lived in Summer Bay, that after all this years he was still here. Maybe Ric had discovered something; maybe he knew something without really realizing it. Roy played with the ring, trying to connect it all, trying to make sense of it. What’s worse is he wasn’t really working on Ric’s case, his old partner was. And if Ruth’s case is any indication he knows things are going to be covered up, evidence will go missing. Maybe Martha is also in danger; he should really talk to her. Except that he doesn’t really know anything and he doesn’t want to hurt Jack’s feelings.

Because what he thinks about Jack’s father might change everything he has ever known.

And that is not a good thing.

~*~

Brett slammed his fist against the table, making the guard jump.

‘I thought I told you to protect them.’ ‘I tried, I don’t know what happened. Nobody does.’ ‘Is he alright?’ ‘I don’t know Brett, the last time I hear anything he was still unconscious. I will go back.’ ‘Tell me immediately if he wakes up and find out who did this to him. Make him pay, whoever he is, do you hear me?’ ‘Yes.’ He’s taken back to his cell, all the time thinking about what has happened. He doesn’t know Ric; he only knows what he looks like because of the pictures. The last time he saw him Ric had still been a baby, he probably doesn’t even remember him.

Sometimes he wonders if Martha remembers him, or if she prefers not to think about it. Prefers to ignore he ever existed, prefers to think he was never actually there. He doesn’t blame her for that; after all she believes he killed her mother. He can’t change what happened, can’t take back the years. He’s already long since accepted that he’ll never get his daughter back, but he will find a way to protect them nevertheless. He’ll start by finding out who did this to his son and making him pay, making him understand that he should never hurt his son. Then he’ll find out who killed their mother, his wife, and make him pay. He doesn’t care if it means he’ll spend the rest of his life in this place, if he’ll become the murderer he isn’t now. He’ll make sure his children can’t be hurt anymore.

Somehow he’ll protect them, no matter how they feel about him.

~*~

He kept going trough the file, attempting to understand.

He just discovered something that might mean something important, something that might help him find answers. They had in fact interviewed Jack’s father, but he supposes that’s normal. They did live in the same town, they had children the same age; he supposes they could have known each other. He thinks he might be able to accept that, it might even explain the ring. After all if Jack and Martha had been friends as children or their parents had been friends than that might be how the ring got there. But Tony insisted that they had never even really met. Roy throws that possibility out of the window, and even if they knew each other he can’t dismiss it. Because why lie about something like that? Something so insignificant, so stupid?

He got up to get some coffee, thinking he might go back to the hospital.

He saw him standing there in his office though he didn’t see him. For a second he wanted to go in there ask him about the file, ask him how the investigation into Ric’s attack was going. Listen to his excuses and accept every one of them. This was his best friend, his mentor: how could he have done this? But he froze as soon as he realized what exactly he was doing. Shredding papers, destroying evidence. Roy takes a deep breath and walks away, determined not to go in there. He’s doing it again, only strengthening his belief that everything is connected. He suddenly feels a little fear as well, what is to say that they won’t harm him if they find out he’s digging into the case again?

If he isn’t there who will protect Martha? Who will discover the truth?

~*~

He went home first, to take a shower and change his clothes.

He hadn’t really meant to hang around long, but suddenly he remembered his dream. The letter under the bed. He realizes it is crazy and it was probably just a dream, still he checks under his bed just in case. Otherwise it would occupy his mind all day and he did not need that. There is a letter under his bed, which is strange; he thinks it might be one of those he found in his dad’s study. His eyes wonder to the clock, he’s got a couple of minutes still.

Dear Tony,

I beg you please stop writing me, leave me alone. I understand that this hurts you, it hurts me as well. I love you, I really do. But understand that we can’t be together, that we aren’t meant to be. I am married, and I am not leaving my husband. My children need him, especially Martha. So please let it go….

Jack reads the rest of the letter, understanding what has happened. Ruth had broken up with his father, attempting to make things better with her husband. And Tony had not taken it very well, he stops at the last sentence wondering if it means what he thinks it means.

I am truly sorry; I never want to see you again. You have done enough. Don’t worry Tony, the child isn’t yours, of this I am sure.

There is only one child that fits that description and that would be Ric. Jack shakes his head attempting to clear it and figure out what the hell is going on, because he sure as hell doesn’t understand.

He checks the date the letter was written, not to long before Ruth died.

What the hell was going on here?

~*~

He could hear her suddenly, her voice breaking trough the silence.

It was Martha, begging him to wake up, to come back to him. Suddenly the fight returns to him, he wishes to stay in this place, it is peaceful. But he will not, he can not. Because Martha needs him, because they are in this together; he wills his eyes to open, praying he will see her. The darkness around him brightens, colors begin to seep trough. Sounds fill the air around him, his eyes blink open and then he sees her.

She has never been as happy as the moment she saw her brother blink his eyes open. She thanked God and whoever was listening to her for having saved him. She places a soft kiss on his forehead, simply holding him close to her. He was back, she wouldn’t lose him now and for that she was grateful. Discovering what had happened would come later, all that mattered was that he was back and he needed her.

She could breath easily again.

Next chapter: Does Ric know what happened? Roy keeps digging, Jack talks to his dad, Tasha and Robbie grow closer and so do Mattie and Ric, Luke gets angry again and someone from the past is coming back to haunt them...