Mine to Protect

by Sarah J. Brooks

  Throughout the years since Derek had died, Rose had spent some serious hours in front of her television. One of her favorite shows to watch involved a courtroom, and she found herself replaying a scene in her head from one of the episodes. The episode had started with a man taking the room hostage and then killing the witness on the stand and his own lawyer. The gunman in the television show then started murdering the people in the rest of the courtroom and had only been stopped when a man tackled him to the ground. Rose desperately hoped that the man who was holding their courtroom hostage wouldn’t decide that he wanted to start killing people.

  Rose closed her eyes as she listened to what was going on only a few feet in front of her. Her entire body shook, and she could hear her heart beating in her ears. She didn’t want to die. It was that simple. Rose had spent the last few years thinking that she didn’t care about life. She lived simply because she wasn’t going to take her own life. But sitting there, on the floor of the courtroom, Rose wanted to live.

  “Can we get out of here?” she asked Noah as she ducked down to see if they could crawl to the back of the courtroom.

  “No, too many people. I don’t want to risk drawing attention to us.”

  Rose agreed. As she looked under the bench seats, the room was filled with people. As soon as she started moving, or anyone else for that matter, the defendant could easily decide he wanted to start shooting them. At least if they were sitting there, quietly, the man was more preoccupied with the judge, witness, and everyone else that was up there with him. Rose, Noah, and the rest of the people observing in the courtroom that day were out of sight and hopefully out of mind of the gunman.

  “This way,” Rose heard a woman whisper from under the bench behind her and Noah.

  As she peered under the bench, it looked like a few people had decided to try and sneak out the back of the courtroom. Rose held her breath as she leaned toward the ground and watched them. The courtroom had gone silent, and Rose feared that the gunman would hear the people or that he would turn around and see the back door being opened as they ran for their lives.

  She understood the inclination to want to get out of the courtroom. Rose wanted out of the courtroom too, but she genuinely felt like she was safer sitting on the floor and not moving than she was if she tried to escape. It was a judgment call that she hoped she wouldn’t come to regret.

  The back door swung open, and Rose watched as a few people were able to get out of the courtroom before the chaos started.

  “Don’t move,” shouted the gunman from the front of the courtroom.

  Rose sat up and leaned back into Noah as they watched the gunman walk toward the back of the courtroom and stand in front of the door as he yelled at the people back there.

  “I’m not going to kill you. You don’t have to escape. Just sit still and be quiet,” he yelled. “Get up. Right now. Get up and sit in those seats up in the front row.”

  Noah looked at Rose, and they both glanced at the other people who were on the floor in their row. The whole group slid toward the wall to get as far away from the gunman as possible. He walked to their row with three people who had been trying to sneak out.

  “Sit there,” the man said before returning to the front to continue persuading the witness to tell the version of the story that he wanted him to say.

  Rose breathed a sigh of relief when the gunman was out of sight again. Although she knew they weren’t safe. So did Noah, his hands were shaking just as much as Rose’s were, and he was alert and paying attention to everything that was going on. Rose felt like he was ready to protect himself and her if the time came, but he was also doing his best to stay quiet and out of sight of the gunman.

  The hostage situation escalated as local police arrived at the courthouse and surrounded the courtroom. It was looking less and less like the gunman was going to make it out of there alive. He was angry and agitated. He wasn’t listening to his lawyer and had fired a shot when the judge had tried to talk. Rose felt bad for the man, not because she believed he was innocent; she had no idea about that. But she felt bad because he thought his actions were going to deliver him justice. She knew there would be no justice for him if he continued on his current path.

  The police already had enough evidence to shoot him. He had stolen a gun and fired it. For all the police knew, the defendant did want to kill people. Just because he was saying he didn’t, that meant nothing to them. If he didn’t end the standoff by putting the gun on the ground and his hands in the air, Rose was certain he would be shot.

  “He’s going to get himself shot,” she whispered to Noah.

  Noah looked at Rose, and something came over him. He grabbed her face and kissed her. The passion in his kiss was beyond anything she had expected, and Rose pulled away from him. But Noah wasn’t going to let her get away so easily, and he pulled her face back toward him and kissed her again.

  His lips were gentle, yet firm as he commanded Rose’s attention and didn’t let her go. They were being held captive by an angry gunman, and Rose couldn’t exactly just get up and walk away. Not that she would want to.

  Noah’s lips on hers were calming, and she decided not to fight him. She turned toward him and wrapped her arms around his waist as they continued to quietly kiss. There was no sound, hardly any movement. Just passion between two people who had been hurt by the world and might meet the end of their days right there in that courtroom.

  “I’m sorry. I lied,” the witness finally admitted on the stand, and Rose pulled away from Noah to listen. “I never saw him at the crime scene. I hated him because he stole my wife away from me, but I never saw him there. It was a young white kid who had on a red hoodie, just like he said.”

  Rose’s eyes got big as she looked at Noah and then one of the women sitting on the bench. The gunman had gotten the confession he was hoping for, so maybe it would all finally be over soon. There was a look of relief on the faces of the people around Rose, and she suspected even her own face expressed relief.

  Then there was a single gunshot, and the entire courtroom turned into chaos. Rose saw the women on the bench duck down and start crying. The officer on the other end of the courtroom rushed across the room, and several officers from outside of the room rushed through the back door. But the chaos quickly died down, and when Rose lifted her head up over the seats she saw why: the defendant had turned the gun on himself and committed suicide right there in the courtroom.

  Rose was dumbfounded. He had gotten the confession he wanted out of the witness. He could have easily dropped the gun and put his hands up, and he would have gotten out of the situation alive. Sure, he would have had consequences for what he had done. But the witness said he wasn’t there—the witness admitted that someone else had killed the woman. That should have given him hope that they would drop the murder charges against him.

  The scene was too chaotic for Rose and Noah to move from. They did climb back up into their seats, though, waiting for an officer to officially clear them and let them out of the room. When they got outside the doors there, were other officers grouped to take their statement and contact information. Elaine and Bronx waited at the end of the hall for them to be released, and Rose couldn’t help crying as they finally walked toward them.

  Noah’s inclination was to lean over and comfort Rose when she started to cry; his hand touched the small of her back but then pulled away when he realized Elaine was right there. That was the problem; even if they decided everything between them was fine, Noah was still her boss, and Rose had still promised Elaine she wouldn’t have a relationship with him.

  “I’m so glad you’re safe. I was so scared,” Bronx said without hesitating and hugged Rose.

  Rose looked shocked at his willingness to hug her, but she desperately wanted a hug. As Bronx and her moved in their embrace, she could see Noah’s eyes narrow in on her. Bronx kissed her right on the lips and didn’t seem to care at all that both Noah and Elaine were standing right there. Rose pulled away and l
ooked at Noah and a realization that Bronx might have been the man she was sleeping with.

  Noah pushed away from Elaine’s hug too, moved toward Bronx and shook his hand, which left Rose to talk with Elaine. The two men were pleasant with each other, and Rose heard Bronx say something about being happy that Noah was safe.

  Rose felt a horrible headache coming on. The excitement of the day had certainly taken its toll on her. The throbbing in her head was building quickly, and all she could think about was getting out of that courthouse and home, or at least back to the office where she could put her head down and take some medicine.

  “Bronx told me about you two, and I’ve decided I’m okay with it. As long as you are getting your work done, you two can continue to see one another,” Elaine said as she hugged Rose.

  Rose’s heart sank, and she looked over at Bronx and Noah as they talked. Her head continued to pound, and she was trying to make sense of everything that was going on around her. Her chest felt tight and her breath heavy as she looked at Elaine and tried to answer her, but the words just wouldn’t come out. How was she suppose to respond to hearing that the man she had broken up with had just made their relationship public knowledge?

  “Oh, um …” Rose said as she looked between Elaine and Bronx.

  “Man, I was really worried about you guys,” Bronx said as he came up next to Rose and put his arm around her waist. “I heard the news and grabbed Elaine, and we’ve been waiting outside this whole time. Thank God, you guys are alright.”

  Rose stayed silent as she tried to figure out what Bronx was up to. Had he purposely outed their relationship in hopes that she would stay with him? She couldn’t believe her ears and had nothing to say yet. She didn’t want Bronx; she wasn’t even sure that she wanted Noah. The day had certainly been more than she had expected, and all she knew that she wanted was to go home and take a hot bath.

  “If you guys don’t mind I need to go rest,” Rose said as she reached for the wall and leaned against it.

  Her whole body was shaking as she tried to get herself oriented. Her vision was getting blurry, and her heart felt like it was pounding right out of her chest. Something wasn’t right, but she didn’t know what was going on. Perhaps it was a panic attack or low blood sugar from not eating; either way, she knew she would feel better if she could just get somewhere and sit down.

  “Are you alright?” Noah asked as he reached for her, but Bronx stepped closer and held onto her.

  “Do you need a doctor?” Bronx asked.

  Rose could hear them talking, but her vision was getting rapidly blurrier and blurrier. She closed her eyes in the hopes that she could refocus, but then felt herself passing out as her body fell backward.

  Luckily, Bronx had been right there and gently helped her to the ground, and they called over a medic team to take a look at her. Noah had been pushed aside, and Bronx stayed next to her while the team examined her. Rose was dizzy and light-headed, her chest hurt, and she was scared, but she couldn’t find the words to talk. Her mind seemed confused, and she just looked up at Bronx, Elaine, and Noah and watched as they talked to her, but she couldn’t respond.

  “Her blood pressure is dangerously high, we need to get her to the hospital,” one of the men said. “Does she have any medical conditions?”

  The men looked at Bronx, but he had no idea of Rose’s medical conditions. He didn’t know much about her because she refused to talk to him about anything personal most of the time. The few times that she had shared personal information about her life, it certainly hadn’t been her medical information.

  “She has a heart murmur. It’s never caused her problems before, but I remember her talking about it,” Noah said.

  The medics took down some notes and then quickly put Rose on a stretcher to take her away. She was aware of everything that was going on, but her head was pounding and in pain. Too much pain for her to react or answer as they asked her questions.

  She could feel someone holding her hand as the stretcher was loaded into the ambulance, and she squeezed the hand for comfort. It was ironic that she had just decided to take back control of her life and her entire day had been spent with her life at risk.

  “It’s okay, I’m here,” she heard a man’s voice say, but as she looked toward the voice, her vision was too blurry to make out who it was.

  Chapter 27

  “Well, well, well, looks like you’re going to make it,” Noah’s voice said from next to Rose’s bed at the hospital.

  As she woke up and looked around, she was relieved it was Noah and not Bronx. She was also relieved to be alive. Everything had happened so quickly that Rose hadn’t been sure exactly what was going on with her. She had never experienced an episode like that before, and on top of the events in the courtroom, it had been one hell of a scary day for her.

  “What happened?”

  “Apparently, you don’t take good care of yourself, or that’s what the doctor said, at least,” Noah said with a smile. “He said something about you needing to be nicer to your boss, eat your meals, and I think he even mentioned that you were working too hard.”

  “Oh, stop. What did he really say? And why are you being nice to me? I thought you were angry with me.”

  Rose didn’t mean to be rude, but she knew that Noah now knew the truth about her and Bronx, and after the huge argument they’d had just the day before, she wasn’t sure why he was being nice. She liked that he was being nice, but she wasn’t sure.

  “Well, we were almost killed today, and I watched one of my very good friends carried out of the courthouse on a stretcher. I just don’t have it in me to be anything but happy now that I know you’re alright.”

  Noah looked really relaxed for a man who had just been through what Rose had been through. Plus watching her being carried away on a stretcher would have been scary. But then again, Noah always seemed to handle stress better than Rose did, it was one of his best qualities.

  “Everyone followed the ambulance here, but when the doctor said you were going to live, they got tired of waiting and went home,” Noah joked.

  “So it was all because I wasn’t eating?”

  “No, I think the doctor will come explain it all to you tomorrow, but partly from stress, partly from not taking care of yourself.”

  “How is Elaine?” Rose asked.

  “Well, she’s fine. I think she was scared by everything today too. But she’s alright.”

  Noah seemed confused about why Rose was asking how Elaine was. Obviously, Elaine was fine; she hadn’t been involved in a hostage situation and wasn’t sitting in the hospital at that moment in time like Rose was.

  “And Bronx?” she asked.

  “Oh, you done and made that boy fall in love with you. It seems to be a hazard of men that are around you.”

  Noah laughed as he talked, and it put Rose at ease, at least a little bit. She still had a splitting headache and still felt very confused about everything that was going on. She wasn’t even sure if everything she remembered about the day had actually happened or if it had been another one of her weird dreams.

  “I broke it off with him, really I did,” she said quietly, closing her eyes to avoid the bright lights of the hospital room.

  Rose needed Noah to know that she had been honest with him, and she really had broken things off with Bronx. She didn’t know why Bronx had decided to tell his aunt about them or why he had tried to pretend like they were still together. Rose was desperate for Noah to believe her and not get angry with her like he had the night before. She didn’t want to hurt him; Rose didn’t want to hurt anyone.

  “It’s alright. I think, for the time being, you and I are just going to work and take care of ourselves. Nothing changes, we just need to move forward.”

  Rose liked that idea, although she was afraid that it meant that they weren’t going to have a future together at all. She didn’t know if a future with Noah was really what she wanted, but she thought that it might be. All she really knew
was that she felt horrible and couldn’t even think about major life decisions at the moment; all she wanted to do was sleep. She also didn’t want Noah thinking that she and Bronx were dating in the traditional sense. She hadn’t lied about that and needed Noah to know the truth.

  “Yeah, I suck at relationships and men. Maybe I should just become a lesbian,” Rose said as she pulled the covers up over here eyes.

  Noah got up and turned the lights off and then sat closer to Rose so he could pull the covers down. He had more to say to her, and he needed her to hear him. He really didn’t care about Bronx or what had gone on between them. Rose saw determination in his eyes that calmed her and made her pay attention to what he was about to say.

  “I’m not giving up. You should know that. I’m just giving you the time to find yourself. Isn’t that what you told Bronx? I’m going to give you that time too. I will be alright if we decide to only be friends; I promise I will be. But before we do that, I want the opportunity to take you on a real date. Bronx and I talked; I understand where he’s coming from, and he understands where I’m coming from, and we are both going to give you space.”

  “What? You two talked?”

  Rose felt panic rush through her. The idea of Noah and Bronx sitting down and actually talking to each other openly about the situation between Rose and them; it scared her to death. She was alright with being honest, she just didn’t know if that was actually what Bronx was doing. After his little incident at the courthouse, Rose wasn’t sure she knew where his mind was at all.

  When she was feeling better, Rose and Bronx were going to have a nice long conversation, in person. They were going to straighten everything out, and he was going to tell his aunt the real truth. He was going to tell her that they weren’t dating and that they weren’t anything more than fun friends, or something close to that.

  Rose would rather deal with the truth than feel like she had to remember lies, and in that sense, she was happy things were out on the table. Although the idea of Noah and Bronx in deep conversation still scared her to death.