***Contains strong language, drug use and violence.***He was just some kid, just a drop in the bucket. He was trouble, an addict, a playboy to the blind eye. But to those who looked closer, he was a kid with potential, to do something with his life, if life wasn't dragging him down. A kid who was a fierce protector of the innocent, of the young, of the weak. He was just a kid dealt a bad hand. He didn't think he could be saved. No one saw him. No one cared, but he deserved a chance to have a life outside of the abuse he had endured. This is his story: a story of hope for all of the kids in the world with black eyes and bruised ribs.Kasey's job is to protect those most dear to him, to keep his family together and safe, and to avoid entering his siblings into a system with a reputation that precedes it. His struggles with drug abuse and relationship turmoil are only a small portion of the resultant damage an abusive environment has had on him. It turns out everyone struggles with their own problems - even his middle-class girlfriend, in the throes of her parents' ugly divorce, is no exception.Police Captain Stine is Kasey's soft landing, when life becomes too hard to bear, but Kasey finds that having support does not mean all of your problems vanish. Not all home lives can be rectified. Sometimes it's time to move on. PTSD isn't just for soldiers, and regaining a sense of security once lost is like climbing Everest, but Kasey learns it can be done. It's gritty and realistic, but it gives hope to all that they are not alone in the dark places they find themselves.
