Chapter Nineteen
“Lieutenant Walker to the desk. Lieutenant Walker to the desk,” Pam’s voice came over the paging system.
Brody looked at the ceiling-mounted speaker.
What the fuck? Since when did he get paged with his rank?
Honestly, when did they page him? Normally, they’d send a tech to find him.
Brody looked at his patient and shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Specialist. I’ll be right back to finish your assessment,” he told the soldier before stepping back and removing his gloves.
Something big had to be going on and they didn’t want to stress the patients out any more than coming to the ER already did.
He made sure the curtain was closed before he walked to the desk.
He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary going on.
No one was running around in the controlled-chaos of an incoming trauma.
“What’s going on, Pam?” Brody asked as he stopped at the desk.
“You’re needed in the SAFE room,” she told him as she handed him a folder. The SAFE room? He wasn’t trained as a sexual assault forensic examiner, yet, or maybe ever because… yeah
“Are you sure that’s correct, Pam? I’m not trained in forensic exams.” Brody wasn’t sure what was going on but he wasn’t going to put any potential investigation in jeopardy.
His relationship with Drew might be a new thing but Drew had shared enough about police processes and procedures with him that he knew enough to be cautious.
“Yes, Lieutenant, I’m sure. You were specifically requested,” Pam told him. “Now, SAFE room double-time.”
Brody wasn’t stupid. He knew his only response to that command — and it was a command — was “Ma’am, yes, ma’am.
” Pivoting in the opposite direction, Brody looked down at the folder in his hands.
It wasn’t their normal clear folder with patient information.
It was a blue file folder with just a number on the tab.
He got to the SAFE room before he had time to look at the contents.
He knocked gently, waiting to be called in before entering. “Hello, my name is Brody.”
“Lieutenant, you said you could help me,” the patient said, snapping Brody’s head up. When he looked, he met Jared’s barely-open eyes. What. The. Fuck.
“Jared, who did this to you?” Brody tried to keep his disgust out of his voice.
Whatever had happened, Jared was the victim and didn’t need a loud voice asking him questions.
“Wait. Before you answer me, do you want to talk to the MPs?” He watched as shame — and maybe fear — crossed Jared’s face.
Brody had a feeling that this wasn’t a normal fistfight gone wrong at the barracks.
“No matter your answer, I am here for you.”
Jared shrugged and looked at the floor. He mumbled something, but his words were a bit thick through his swollen lips.
Brody did a visual check. Eyes split open.
Lips swollen and bleeding. Jaw bruised and swelling.
Arm cradled to his chest. He would bet his favorite stethoscope that Jared had a broken rib or two.
“Do I have to?” Jared asked softly.
“If you’ve been assaulted because of your sexual orientation, it’s a hate crime and should be reported,” Brody told him. He thought that Jared was gay but he wasn’t 100-percent sure.
He waited while Jared thought about what Brody had said. He could see when the young man came to a decision. “It wasn’t a hate crime, but I need help. I’m scared of the MPs.”
That soft statement pushed Brody into action. “I know someone over there. Let me call to the station and get them to come over here to take your statement. They’ll handle it quietly. I guarantee you that you will be safe.”
§ § § §
Drew parked the MP SUV in the designated spot outside of the ER Brody’s call had been all types of cryptic.
Asking him to come over in an official capacity but on the down low?
Drew had no idea what was going on; he’d mentioned to Captain Ash that he was heading over here.
He removed his cover as he stepped up to the registration window.
“Good morning. Lieutenant Walker is expecting me,” Drew said as the woman looked up. He watched as she frowned.
“Brody?” she replied. “Hold on and let me get him.” She stood up and disappeared through a door behind her. Drew moved to stand against the wall out of the way. It didn’t take long before Brody was opening the double doors to the right of the window.
“Lieutenant Nolan, thank you for coming so quickly,” Brody said as he motioned him to follow.
Okay, Drew was nervous. Not that he was expecting Brody to kiss him in the middle of the emergency room but still…
a little recognition that they were at least friends.
Guess he was more invested than Brody. Fuck.
When they were away from the door, Brody reached out and took his hand, giving it a quick squeeze as he smiled. “I know that you’ll handle Jared with kid gloves. I’m thanking you ahead of time. He’s a bit fragile right now.”
The name rang faint bells in Drew’s memory. “Jared? Your tech?” He thought he had that right but…
“That’s him. I don’t want to cloud your first impression. See what you think. We haven’t done anything yet. We held off to not mess with your investigation,” Brody told him as he stopped outside an exam room with an actual door.
“Why do I have the feeling that this is going to be a hard one?” Drew asked. Lord, he’d only been an MP for ten months or so. “Should I call over one of the more experienced MPs? Maybe one of my NCOs?”
Brody started shaking his head before Drew had even finished his questions.
“I got the impression that there’s something that would make that a bad thing?
I had to reassure Jared that you would handle this confidentially.
” He shrugged then knocked on the door. “You okay for us to come in?” Drew heard someone call out before Brody pushed open the door.
A young soldier was sitting on the edge of the exam table and to say that he looked like he’d been worked over hard would be the understatement of the century.
Drew shut down the emotions running through him about finding the person who had done this and putting a hurting on them.
The soldier didn’t need Drew to mete out physical justice on the asshole.
He needed Drew to do his job and have him, or her, face the consequences of their actions for more time than it took for them to heal.
Drew cleared his throat and introduced himself.
“I’m Lieutenant Andrew Nolan from the Fourteenth Military Police Brigade.
Lieutenant Walker asked me to come and talk with you.
Can you tell me how this happened? Who did this to you?
” Drew paused to take a breath before continuing, “Do you know them on a personal basis?” There was always the chance that it was a stranger who took offense to this soldier.
Drew watched as the soldier looked at Brody, then back to Drew, then the floor.
“Do you want me to step out of the room, Jared? I trust Drew implicitly. You’re safe with him.
He’ll take good care of you and then we’ll get you checked over,” Brody offered.
Brody’s trust in him warmed Drew from the inside.
“Could you stay?” Jared asked Brody before he looked at Drew. “The guy I was seeing did this.”
Pulling a notebook from his thigh pocket, Drew started his case notes.
“Then you can give me his name. Was this the first time he hurt you?” Christ, intimate partner violence.
He was going to need a shower after this.
He always felt dirty after dealing with the slime who could do this to someone they professed to care for.
Maybe he needed to call Uncle Mooney for a debrief.
He, unfortunately, probably had dealt with many cases of this.
None of his cousins except maybe Cal should have any exposure to dealing with this on a professional level.
At least there were no children involved.
“Sergeant Doug Provo,” Jared started crying as he told Drew the man’s name. When Drew heard who the aggressor was, his blood ran cold. He didn’t want to doubt Jared but maybe he’d misheard.
“Jared, can you tell me where the sergeant is stationed? What unit?” Drew was holding out hope that there was more than one Sergeant Provo at JBSA.
“Fourteenth Military Police Brigade,” Jared replied.
Oh fuck.