Austin shook his head. "No man. I did this. You're not taking the blame for me. Whatever punishment they give me, I deserve it," he said.

The police threw open the pool house door and shouted, "Police! We're coming in!" and then within a minute there were 10 police officers in the room and they looked back and forth at Blaze and Austin and then down at Ryan moaning on the floor, laying in a pool of blood.

"What did you do this time Blaze?" the sheriff asked him.

Austin spoke up and said, "It wasn't him. It was me. Blaze had nothing to do with this sir."

The officer looked at him shocked. "Austin Fox? You did this? Why?"

He already knew who Austin was because he was like a celebrity in this town, being the quarterback of the football team and the captain of the basketball team.

"Ryan here is supposed to be my best friend and I found out he slept with my ex-girlfriend while we were still together and he assaulted my new girlfriend to keep her quiet about it. He put big bruises on her arms and a knot on the back of her head and threatened to do worse. I was so mad I just snapped," he explained.

The officer nodded and walked over and examined Ryan who was groaning on the floor in pretty bad shape. He spoke into his radio and said, "We called earlier for an ambulance. Are they en route? We're down here at the country club pool house and we have 1 juvenile male with multiple injuries; multiple contusions and a laceration to the face. Possible concussion."

"Okay turn around and get up against the wall with your hands up," he said to Austin and he did what he was told. They patted him down to make sure there were no weapons and put his arms behind his back, and cuffed his wrists together.

"You have the right to remain silent. If you do say anything, what you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult with a lawyer and have that lawyer present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you if you so desire."

Austin couldn't believe he was actually being arrested and it felt like a terrible dream that he would wake up from at any minute. As he was being walked out the door, he watched as the paramedics came in and loaded Ryan up on a stretcher and he wondered if he was going to be okay.

Blaze watched as the paramedics checked Ryan over and loaded him onto a stretcher and into the back of an ambulance. His nose was bleeding, his cheek and eye were swollen and over the top of his right eye was a gash that was open and bleeding.

Ryan's Dad, Mason Gentry, ran up as they were loading Ryan into the back of the ambulance and said, "I just heard and came right away. What's going on?" he asked Blaze. He looked over and saw Austin in the back of a police car that was just starting to pull away and over at his son Ryan who was in terrible shape.

Before Blaze could answer a paramedic asked him if he was the father and if he could meet them at the ER in his own car. He said, "Sure. Blaze will you ride there in my car with me and explain what in the world happened here?"

Blaze nodded his head and followed Mr. Gentry to his silver Lexus LC and got into the passenger seat.

He knew Mr. Gentry because Blaze used to be a close friend of Ryan's and Austin's when they were in elementary school, going to their birthday parties and hanging out during the summers, but as they had gotten older and ran with different crowds of people they split apart.

Mr. Gentry started up the car and pulled out of the parking space before saying, "So tell me what happened? Why did they arrest Austin and why does Ryan look like he was hit by a train?"

Blaze shifted in his seat and said, "Sir. There are some things about your son that you really might not want to hear."

Mason scoffed, "Blaze I am well aware that Ryan's no saint. I've had to save him from getting thrown in prison more times than I can count. Just tell me. I can handle it."

"Okay," Blaze said with a nod. "So, at the end of last year right before summer break, Austin had a girlfriend named Mandy that he had been dating for a while and they were getting pretty serious."

Mason nodded, "Oh yeah. I remember Mandy. Austin brought her over to the country club a few times for dinner. Pretty girl."

"So one night Ryan threw a big end of year party but Austin didn't go because he was studying for Finals. He found out the next day that his girlfriend had slept with someone else that night and Ryan told him it was me, so he's been hating me for months. Austin and Mandy broke up because of it."

Mason nodded his head and said, "Yeah I remember Austin telling me about that. He was really torn up over the whole thing."

Blaze continued, "Well the thing is, I'm not the one that slept with Mandy that night. Ryan did."

Mason's eyes grew wide and he gasped.

"What? How could Ryan do that to Austin? They're like brothers. They've been best friends practically their whole lives. I'm really shocked by that. Wow!"

Blaze said, "That part made him really mad but the part that really sent him over the edge was when he found out that Ryan had shoved his new girlfriend Jolie really hard into the lockers leaving a lump on the back of her head and squeezed her arms tight enough to leave bruises and told her if she told Austin about him and Mandy that she was gonna get hurt. Austin tracked him down here and beat him up really bad as you saw."

Mason looked so disappointed. "My son did that to a girl?"

Blaze nodded and said, "Yeah and when he found out that I'm the one that told Austin about all of this he threatened to kill me and said he would get away with it because of your money."

Mason had heard enough. "Blaze. You know I haven't been a very good Dad. I'm gone too much and stay out working late most days. I've just left the kids' Mom to run everything but I know she gets overwhelmed and can't do it all. She's gone a lot too. I think a lot of Ryan's behavior is my fault. Maybe this is his way of trying to get my attention."

Blaze's phone dinged and he looked down to see a text from Jolie.

He texted back to her and said,

Once they got to the ER they had to sit in the waiting room for hours before the doctor finally came out to talk to them. "What's taking them so long?" Mason complained as he paced back and forth looking at his phone. "I want to know if my son's going to be ok or not!"

Finally a doctor came out to the waiting area where Jolie, Blaze and Mr. Gentry sat, patiently waiting for news.

Mason got to his feet right away and asked, "How is he doc? Is he gonna be okay?"

"Mr. Gentry. Your son's body has experienced quite a bit of trauma similar to someone that's been in a car accident. He's got a bad concussion, a broken bone in his cheek, a ruptured blood vessel in his eye and a couple broken ribs but he'll be ok."

Jolie breathed a sigh of relief. She was so glad Ryan was going to be okay. She was so worried Austin was going to face murder charges if he didn't make it.

"What are you planning to do for him?" Mason asked.

The doctor said, "We need to take him to surgery right away to repair the broken bone in his cheek with a screw. He'll have a very small scar from it. There's not much we can do for his concussion other than lots of rest and fluids for 7-10 days and taking it easy. Not too many visitors or socializing allowed. As far as the broken ribs go, most heal on their own within six weeks. He'll need to restrict activity and ice the area regularly. We'll wrap his stomach with bandages and give him something for pain relief."

Mason listened and nodded his head. "Ok. So how long do you think he'll need to recover?"

"I would say he needs to stay in the hospital for a week and then he can go back to school but with limited physical activity. No sports or strenuous activity of any kind for at least 2 months."

"Ok. Thank you doctor. Is he awake? Can we see him?" Mason asked.

"You guys can go in until we take him back for surgery, but we don't want him to overdo it. Make sure not to upset him."

When they walked in the room they saw Ryan hooked up to an IV and several monitors and his face was swollen and bandaged. He had a knot on the side of his head where he had hit the cement and his one eye was cut and swollen shut almost completely. It reminded Jolie of what the UFC fighters faces looked like after a really bad match. Ryan was normally so handsome that it made Jolie start crying to see him this way.

"Ryan?" she whispered and he turned towards her and opened his good eye that he could see clearly out of.