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“She was naked, Oliver,”Aiden said as he turned to look out the window.
In a whirlwind, it occurred to me what he was implying. I began to gag and sprinted for the exit of the hospital. Outside, I took deep breaths of the cold air, pushing down the vomit that threatened to rise up. I knew exactly what Aiden was implying and my head throbbed with the reality of what Brooklyn had endured when we weren’t there to protect her.
Turbulent guilt roiled in my stomach, and I looked up into the night sky. The city lights prevented anything from shining down, but I tried to imagine the stars, the freedom of the night sky. A scrape of a shoe behind me made me look over my shoulder. I wasn’t even surprised to see Jaxon just outside the doors.
“Are you ok?”He asked.
“Stupid ass question, Jaxon.”
“I know. None of us are ok. Least of all Brooklyn.”He moved forward until he was standing next to me.
“I was so angry with her, a part of me still is, for leaving us again. But I never would have wanted something like this to happen to her.”I covered my mouth, upset that the words were even uttered at all.
“Of course not. We all know that,”Jaxon said.
“But does she? Does she know we don’t blame her? That we aren’t angry with her?”
Jaxon looked over at me, his eyes understanding as he studied me. I was sure I looked a mess. I hadn’t looked in a mirror, but knew my mouth was sore and I tasted blood sometimes when I swiped my lip with my tongue. I had to look away as tears stung my eyes.
“We’ll tell her, as soon as she lets us talk to her,”he said.
The overwhelming feelings I had for Brooklyn were hard to become accustomed to. I had never been in a relationship with someone, other than my brothers, where I would lay down my life for them. Being in love with her seemed like a lame way to look at it, but there weren’t really other words for it. Since Missy, I had dated randomly, but not one woman touched me as deeply as Brooklyn had since the moment I met her. Once she was healed and on the road to recovery, I was going to have to make sure she knew what I felt for her.
A small woman exploded out of a cab and ran up to us. It took me a full moment to realize it was Brooklyn’s roommate, Ash. She had been crying, but was pulling it together when she stopped in front of us.
“Gideon called me! Where is she?”
“I’ll take you,”Jaxon said, putting a supporting hand on her back as he lead her inside.
I followed quietly behind and stayed in the waiting room while Jaxon and Ash disappeared in the elevator. I hopedBrooklyn felt supported with Ash there, hoped she let her in, lean on her. Because I knew with what my girl was going through, she was going to need all the people that loved her.
Chapter
Thirty-Eight
Brooklyn
“Do you need a sexual assault exam?”
The doctor’s voice was soft and kind. When I quickly met her gaze, her sentiment was in her eyes as well. Maybe I didn’t know everything that had been done to my body, but I knew who was responsible. Why did I need tests? Why did I need someone poking and prodding at my body even more?
Before I could answer, there was a soft knock at the door. The doctor went and blocked the view from whoever was on the other side. She turned to look at me.
“Your roommate, Ash, is here. Would you like to see her?”
I nodded and gripped my hands together tightly in my lap. Ash pushed past the doctor as soon as she could and the door was shut again. My friend rushed to my side and dropped into a chair so she was at my level. When I didn’t look over at her, shame drowning me, Ash’s hand found mine. She pulled one of my hands free and laced her fingers with mine.
Immediately, I burst into tears. I looked over at my best friend and I could see tears were streaming down her face too.
“I didn’t think I’d see you again,”she said.
“I’m soo..rrr…yyy,”I sobbed.
Ash stood and leaned over to hug me, cradling my head against her shoulder.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Don’t you dare say that. You were taken, kidnapped. You couldn’t have done anything.”
We cried together for a few moments when a clearing throat caught my attention. It was the doctor standing at the end of my bed, watching me sympathetically.
