Well, she had believed. Now she just felt confused. He had spent the night sleeping beside her bed. He made her feel safe. He’d spoken to her like she mattered to him, but then he vanished, and she didn’t know why.
She’d waited for him to come by all day. Every time the door opened, she expected to see him standing there, but he never appeared. Even when the nurse said she wanted the doctor to check her over, as her temp was up a little again, she was sure Dylan would come then, but he hadn’t.
Now she just felt stupid. Like he’d just been nice to her because he felt sorry for her, or worst, he wanted to make sure she talked to the police. In her heart, she knew that he wouldn’t have done something like that. She remembered how nice he had been to her three years before. She believed he was one of the good guys. She didn’t know if she could trust him enough.
Either way, she knew if she talked to him, or even looked at him right at that moment, she would have fallen apart, and falling apart was not an option.
She needed to focus on getting better, then getting the hell out of there. Once she was well enough, she was going back to New York, and this time she was taking her father with her, no matter what happened.
Closing her eyes, she pushed all thoughts of Dylan from her mind. He was just another stranger in a long line that would pass through her life, and in time she would forget about him too.
“Brook,” a voice crashed into her dreams. It was familiar, just as the cologne that invaded her nostrils was too. She slowly opened her eyes, to find a pair for grey, cold eyes that she knew all too well staring back at her.
It was Warren. He’d found her once again.
Terror wrapped itself around her, as she opened her mouth to scream, but before she could get a sound out, his hand clamped down on her mouth, pressing so hard, her teeth pierced her bottom lip. Instantly the taste of blood filled her mouth.
“You thought you could get away from me!” He growled into her face, his face so close, she could feel his breath against her skin. “I told you, Brook; I would never let you just walk away from me. I told you I would kill you before I would let that happen. When are you going to fucking learn?”
Brook tried to push him off, but he was just too strong. Suddenly he released her mouth, instead, wrapping his hands around her throat. Brook did everything she could to fight him off, but it was no use. His grasp grew tighter around her throat, as Brook could feel her lungs burn, desperate for some precious air. She could feel herself become light headed. She knew if she didn’t fight him off, she was going to die. So Brook kicked and hit to free herself. Finally, she dug her nails into his hand, making him yelp, as he released his hands from her throat.
“You little bitch!” he hissed before he drew back and slapped her across the face. The blinding pain shot through her face, making her stomach heave. “I warned you not to fuck with me, Brook!”
He hit her once more, this time she became disorientated.
“Brook!” He hissed once more before he hit her again. “Brook!”
“Brook!” A soft, gentle voice sounded in her head, pulling her from Warren and his grasp. “Brook! Wake up, Sweetie.”
She snapped open her eyes and was relieved to see the friendly face of Jenny, the nurse who was taken care of her that evening. Her eyes searched the room, and her heart sank when she realised she was alone in the hospital room. She told herself she wasn’t looking for Dylan, but in her heart, she knew she had.
Hot tears suddenly burned her eyes, but she didn’t know why.
“Oh, Sweetie,” Jenny said, reaching for Brook’s hand. “It was just a bad dream. You’re safe here. The police officer is still outside the door, and I am out there too.”
Brook just nodded as she tried desperately to blink her tears back, but she couldn’t.
“Maybe I can call the doctor to come and give you something to help you sleep,” Jenny offered, squeezing her hand tighter. “You’ve been through so much. A good night sleep will do you a world of good.”
Brook considered her offer, as Dylan instantly jumped into her mind. She wondered if he would be the one who came if a doctor was called. Somehow, she doubted it. He was dressed in his regular clothes so more than likely; he was going home. Still, the last thing she wanted was to have to face him right at that moment.
“No,” she replied, giving the nurse a grateful smile. “I think I’m okay. As you said, it was just a bad dream.”
Jenny reached for the ear thermometer, quickly taking Brook’s temperature. Next, she checked Brook’s pulse, giving her a worried look, but still, she didn’t say anything. Finally, she took Brook’s blood pressure.
“Brook,” Jenny said finally as she picked up her chart and began to write in it. “Your temperature is still up a little higher than we are happy with, and now, so is your blood pressure. I think I’m going to page the on-call doctor to come and check you over.”
Brook nodded, knowing there was nothing she could do now. Jenny would page the doctor, and they would come whether she wanted it or not.
“We’re going to get you sorted out,” Jenny added as if sensing Brook’s dejected mood, before picking up her chart, heading for the door. “I’ll be right back.”
Brook looked up at the ceiling above her bed, wishing she could just close her eyes, then wake up a million miles away. She thought about her dad, and how different things would have been if he hadn’t been sick. She knew that if he still was himself, and he knew she was lying there in the hospital, he would have been right there with her. She wished more than anything that he was there with her. That she had someone who loved her enough to sit by her bed, hold her hand.
She thought of Dylan once more. She knew she was being ridiculous. But for the briefest moment that morning; as he held her hand, while she was talking to Liam, she felt for the first time that she wasn’t alone in the world anymore.
But she was. There was no one in this world that cared whether she lived or died. Maybe she would have been better off if Warren had just killed her.
Closing her eyes, she lay back into her pillow, allowing exhaustion to claim her once more.
Brook woke and was surprised to find that it was already morning. She didn’t remember the doctor coming to examine her the night before. In fact, she didn’t remember much of anything after she closed her eyes. She looked up and saw another bag had been added to her collection of IVs and she knew she had slept through the doctor checking on her. She couldn’t help but wonder if it had been Dylan
. The sound of her door opening pulled her attention away from her IV and to the entrance of her small cubicle. She smiled when she saw Jenny walk into the room.
“Good morning, Brook,” Jenny said, making her way to Brook’s bedside. “How are you feeling this morning?”
“Tired,” Brook said, feeling like she just wanted to turn over and go back to sleep.
“Well that’s to be expected,” Jenny said, giving her a sad smile that just made Brook feel even sadder and even more pathetic than she already did. “You were fast asleep when the doctor came to check on you last night. She ordered some more blood tests and increased your antibiotics once more. She also increased your pain medication, so that would probably explain why you’re feeling so sleepy.”
“What’s wrong with me?” Brook asked, but in her heart, she really didn’t care. Right now, the only thing she wanted to do was close her eyes, and let the exhaustion claim her once more. She didn’t have any more energy inside her to even care.
Brook also noticed that the nurse said she, when she spoke about the doctor, so it wasn’t Dylan who’d come to check on her. She didn’t know why, but this just made her feel sadder than she already did.
“The doctor will be by to talk to you in a little while,” Jenny explained, giving her another smile. “But try not to worry. In the meantime, the doctor said that maybe you could try to eat something today. You’re still on your glucose IV, but he thinks that the sooner you get back onto solid food, the
sooner you will really get on the road to recovery.”
“I’m not really hungry,” Brook sighed, looking up at the nurse.
“I know,” Jenny replied, as she checked at the tubes and wires that were attached to her beaten, broken body. “But the doctor thinks it will be good for you to try to get back to normality as soon as possible.”
Normal! Brook thought miserably. Whatever the hell that is!
She smiled back at the nurse, but she didn’t say a word. Instead, she turned her head away from the girl, wishing she could just close her eyes, and disappear.
She glanced out of the cubicle towards the nurse’s station and froze the moment she spotted Dylan standing there. He was reading through some charts, when he suddenly looked up and glanced into her cubicle. The moment he did, his eyes met hers, as a cautious smile slowly spread across his lips.
Brook stared at him for a moment, before she dropped her eyes away from his. Instantly she could feel her eyes blur over with unshed tears. She hated that she felt so sad and lonely, but she did. She pinched her eyes closed, wishing she could just disappear completely.
“Brook!” Jenny called as Brook realised the girl had been talking to her the whole time. She quickly opened her eyes at turned to look at the girl, but before she could reply, the door to the cubicle opened.
“Good morning,” Dylan said as he stepped through the door. Brook wasn’t sure, but she thought she could hear a trace of uncertainty in his voice. Jenny turned to look at Dylan, giving him a wide grin, before she stepped back, allowing Brook to see him clearly.
“Good morning, Doctor Murphy,” Jenny said as she stepped back further, allowing Dylan more room to approach the bed. “I was just telling Brook that we were hoping to get her eating some proper food…”
“So I see,” Dylan said, glancing down at the file briefly, before he looked up, allowing his eyes to meet Brooks. “How are you feeling this morning, Brook?”
“Okay I guess,” she replied, having no clue why she suddenly felt so uncomfortable with this man.
“How’s the pain level?” He asked, still holding her gaze, but she had no clue what he was thinking. His eyes were filled with kindness, but his body language said he was unsure of himself.
“Okay I guess,” she replied, hating that she was so confused by her feelings for this man. “My head hurts.”
Since Warren, Brook had learned to detach herself from her emotions whenever she needed to. She had learned how to keep people at arms’ length. She could walk away from anyone, and never look back.
But with Dylan, something was different. She had felt it that night in the emergency room three years earlier. He had been the first one to believe her story, and he had been the first one who genuinely wanted to help her.
She had thought about calling him so many times in the past. She wondered if he could have helped her with her father. Helped her get him to safety. He’d seemed like one of the good guys, but she never made that call.
She didn’t know why she had, but she’d held his number in her purse since the night he’d given it to her. It had been like a safety net of sorts. She knew once she had that number, she’d always have someone to reach out to when the day came that she needed it.
Which was something that had bothered her since she spoke to Liam, the day before.
While she thought Liam was a sweet man too, she had no clue why she would have called him when she needed help. In her heart, Brook knew there was no way she would have called a cop. But she had. Whatever had happened that night, he was the one she reached out to. He was the one who rode in like a knight on a white horse and found her before she had died.
Still, she felt a connection to Dylan; she just didn’t know why.
“We can get you some more pain meds if you need them,” Dylan continued, glancing down at her chart. “I see you needed a doctor to stop by last night?”
“Her temp was up a little,” Jenny explained, moving closer to Dylan. “Her blood pressure was a little high. It might have been from the dream…”
“The dream?” He asked once more looking at Brook, concern written all over his face. But before he could continue, the door of the room opened behind Dylan.
“Brook!” The sound of Warren’s voice filled the tiny room, as Brook froze in complete terror. He pushed past Dylan, almost knocking him off his feet, hurrying to Brook’s side. Reaching for her hand, he grabbed it tightly, giving her a look that sent a chill down her spine. “Sweetheart! My, God! What the hell happened to you?”
Brook stared at him for a moment, her heart hammering out of her chest.
Suddenly a blinding pain shot through her head, taking her breath away, and she cried out.
Then everything when black.
Chapter 9
Without thinking, Dylan pushed Warren out of the way, hitting the call button on the wall behind the bed, before he turned Brook onto her side, into the recovery position, as her body shook violently from a seizure.
“What the hell is going on?” Warren demanded in his, ‘I’m very important,’ arrogant way that Dylan remembered all too well. “What is wrong with her?”
“This is going on too long,” Dylan said to Jenny after a couple of moments, ignoring Warren completely as more medical staff hurried into the room to assist Dylan. “We need to stop this. I need ten of Lorazepam.”
“Certainly, Doctor,” Jenny said as she hurried out of the room, while another junior doctor moved closer to the bed, helping hold Brook on her side.
“We’ve got you, Brook,” Dylan said, as he leaned in as whispered into her ear.
“I asked you a question,” Warren demanded, walking around the bed, so he was now looking directly into Dylan’s face. “That is my wife, and I want to know what the hell is going on with her. And I want to know why nobody called me to tell me she was here in the first place. What sort of a shit show are you running here?”
“Actually, she is your ex-wife,” Dylan said, raising his eyes to meet Warren’s finally. “So, you are no longer her next of kin. I can’t discuss her medical condition or her care with you. You’re not even supposed to be in here. She is not supposed to have any visitors, so I would be grateful if you could get the hell out.”
Before Warren could respond, Jenny returned with the medication Dylan had requested.
“Thank you,” Dylan said taking it from the girl, “And can someone please escort Detective Pearse to the waiting area.”
“I’m not leaving her,” Warren insisted as Dylan administered the medicine to Brook, and finally her seizure began to pass. Even without looking up at him, Dylan could feel Warren’s eyes burn into him, but he refused to rise to him. “I asked you a question, and I expect an answer.”
“We need to get her to CT to see what the hell is going on inside her head. I think it could be another bleed in the brain,” Dylan instructed Jenny, once more ignoring Warren. “And get him out of here now. Call security if you have to.”
“Detective Pearse,” the officer that was posted outside the room, said from the doorway of the room. “I’m sorry sir; I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“That is my wife,” Warren insisted, turning to look at the young officer. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m sorry, Sir,” the officer insisted, stepping further into the room. “I’m afraid I’ll have to insist.”
“You don’t know who you’re messing with,” Warren hissed as he turned his attention back to Dylan. “I have a right to be here. And you or no one else is going to stand in my way.”
Without saying another word, Warren stormed out of the room.
“Wow,” Jenny said to Dylan, once he was out of earshot. “He seems a little intense.”
“You have no idea,” Dylan sighed as he rolled Brook back onto her back. “But right now, he is the last thing I care about. We need to get her up to CT.”
“I will go call ahead,” Jenny replied, hurrying towards the door. “I will let them know we are on o
ur way up.”
One of the other nurses helped Dylan prepare Brook for her journey to CT. Moments later, they were hurrying out of her room, toward the elevator at the end of the corridor. As the doors closed, Dylan glanced down the corridor, and he quickly spotted Warren the far end, stomping up and down, ranting at the uniformed officer, and two security guards.
Even from this distance, Dylan could tell he was more than a little pissed off. He knew that they had not seen the last of him. If anything, he was surprised he hadn’t turned up sooner. Dylan was just stunned that he even had the cheek to act like the doting husband.
Suddenly Warren turned and looked down the hallway, his eyes meeting Dylan’s just as the door closed.
Dylan knew from the look on his face that Warren realised that he knew exactly who he was, and more importantly, what he’d done. He looked furious, but right at that moment, he didn’t matter. Brook did.
When they reached CT, Dylan and Jenny moved Brook onto the bed of the CT machine. Once she was settled on the machine, Jenny hurried out of the room, but Dylan hesitated.
He leaned down over her, as Dylan softly whispered into her ear.
“I don’t know if you can hear me,” Dylan said, trying to choose his words carefully. “I don’t know if you will even remember what I’m about to say even if you can, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t come by yesterday. I’m sorry that I upset you. But more than anything, I’m sorry he got too close to you. I give you my word; he will not get near you again.”
He stared at Brook for a moment, before he stepped back, then turned and walked out of the room, into the viewing booth.
Dylan (The Murphy Series Book 5) Page 9
