Page 67 of Tortured Whispers
“I know, okay,” I growled. I hated having to break such terrible news to the love of my life. I wanted to see her eyes shine once more before I had to plunge the knife into her heart. She would break down and it would take everything to pull her out of it.
I couldn’t send her into the water deliberately.
Maybe I was a fucking coward or maybe I was being selfish again. All I knew was that Brook was my heart and if she broke and shattered then…I did too.
“What’s wong?” Brook’s voice was stronger that time but it shook violently like she knew. Ronnie glanced at me and pushed out a breath.
“I’ll give you two a few moments and I’ll come back after I’ve done my rounds for the night.” Ronnie’s smile was warm and polite as he left but god did the weight of the world fall once he was gone.
I sat on the side of Brook’s bed and held her hand, stroking it repeatedly with my thumb. She had every right to know. So why the hell was it so hard to make my mouth move? My tongue was swollen and glued to the roof of my mouth. I couldn’t begin to figure out what to say to soften the blow.
“You’re scawing me, Cease.” Her feet moved back and forth rapidly under the blanket. “I can still walk, right? I’m moving my feet.”
“Yes, you can still walk, Brook,” I sighed.
“Then tell me what’s going on,” she demanded.
“You lost a lot of blood,” I began quietly. “You needed two transfusions. When they told me about it, they uh…they said that you’d been six weeks pregnant but they couldn’t save the baby. Too much blood was lost too quickly.”
Shimmering tears flooded her eyes as she removed her hand from mine. She couldn’t move her arms too much so she let the tears stream rivers of sorrow down her cheeks without wiping them. Without stopping them.
My stomach flopped saying the words out loud. It made things so much more real. It hit home so much harder. Gingerly, Brook cradled her flat stomach.
“I killed our baby, Cease,” she whispered.
“No, you didn’t know, Brook.”
“I should have known! I kept throwing up even aftew the pawty and everything made me nauseous. How did I not see that? I’m an awful pewson.”
“You’re not an awful person. Ashley preyed on you like a goddamn vulture. She pushed you and pushed you until you snapped. You were vulnerable, Brooklyn.” I wiped her eyes but she turned away from me.
The small action hit my chest hard, making it tough to breathe. “I want to be alone,” she whispered.
“Brooklyn…”
“Alone, Cease.”
I nodded and left the room, trying to hold it all together. I wanted to talk to her though. Talking was how I worked out my problems. I wanted to listen to her talk but she shut me out.
My heart was empty as I stood in the hallway, braced against the wall. I wanted to be in there offering comfort, holding her hand, rubbing her shoulders, telling her it would be okay. I wanted to do something.
“Cease, what are you doing out here?” Ronnie came out of a room nearby and closed the door behind himself.
“She put me out. She wanted time alone.”
“That’s normal. You know that. Don’t hold it against her,” he said.
“I know, Ronnie. And you know things are a lot harder when they hit home. I can deal with patients all day long but Brook isn’t a patient. She’s…everything.”
“The mother of what would have been your child.” His brown eyes studied mine and I finally broke down with a nod.
“It hurts so fucking bad, Ronnie. I know we can try again. I know that but finding out this way? It’s torture.” I fought back the emotions trying to slide down my cheeks. I couldn’t help wondering why though. Why the fuck would someone want to hurt a girl like Brooklyn? She was quiet and never hurt or bothered anyone. Her only mistake was wanting a friend so badly that she didn’t think things through.
“I know. Come with me. We’ll go talk in an office. I have to tell you some things.” I nodded and followed him.
“What’s going on?” I asked after he shut the door and sat down.
“I need you to be one hundred percent honest with me, Cease. I need to hear it from your mouth before I can offer any modicum of help. Are you and Brooklyn romantically involved?” There was no more hiding it from him. I doubted there was anymore hiding it from the entire fucking world.
