22. CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 22
SIERRA
I’ve just finished loading the washer when I hear the ringing of my cell phone. I hurry to the kitchen where I left it and answer when I see Brook’s name light up.
“Hi, Brook. How are you?” I’m met with crying on the other end of the line. “Brook. What is it? What’s going on?”
“I-I need you, Sierra. Please help me. Trevor’s here, and he’s drunk. He’s going to hurt me again.” I can hear the fright in her whispered words. I need to get to her.
“Give me your address.” I put my phone on speaker, noting the low battery and wishing I had plugged it into the charger. I type the address she gives me on my notes app. “I’m coming, sweetie. Just stay on the line.”
“I c-can’t. He’ll hear me,” she murmurs quietly before hanging up. I’m frantic with worry, and I don’t hesitate in my snap decision to go and help her. With my phone in hand, I grab my sneakers that I left by the front door and slip them on, thankful that I’m wearing my comfy clothes of black leggings and a T-shirt. I rush back into the kitchen, grab my keys, and race to my car. Jumping in it, I set the address into my navigation and speed out of the garage.
Brook has never reached out to me in this way, and although I’m scared for her, I’m also so proud of her for calling. She’s never said it, but I knew there was more going on at her home than she was ready to tell. I told her I would be here for her, and I intend to keep that promise.
My hands are shaky on the steering wheel as I drive like a bat out of hell, honking at stupid drivers who cut in front of me in my panic to get there. I want to call Brook back, but I fear the ringing of the phone on her end might get her in more trouble than she’s already in.
I have no idea what I’m walking into, but I already know it has to be bad, so I call the police next and give them what information I have. They inform me a cruiser is on its way.
There’s one person I need in my frantic state more than anyone so I call Kason. I know he’s in a meeting, but I need to tell him what is going on. I’m disappointed when it goes right to voicemail. He never has his phone off.
Damn it.
“I can’t come to my phone right now, leave a message.” Although I’m not speaking directly to him, his rough timber soothes me a little.
“Hey. It’s me. I’m on my way to—” I’m cut off by the dying of my phone.
Double damn it.
Throwing my phone on the passenger seat. I end up having to park my car a couple blocks away as there is nothing available closer. The police haven’t arrived yet, but I get out of my car and hurry to the broken door with a piece of cardboard where a window once was. Once inside, the smell of weed and piss hits me full force, and I lift my shirt over my nose. This is a seedy area of the city, and the apartment is owned by a slumlord by the looks of it. There is garbage and empty beer cans scattered in the hallway. Climbing the stairs to the second floor, I stand outside of her apartment door. I hear a loud thud then a soft cry .
No one comes out of their apartments to check on the commotion. Knowing she needs help, I take a risk and put my hand on the doorknob. Lucky for me, it opens. Unlucky for me, I take in the scene in front of me, and it breaks my heart.
Then I’m madder than I’ve ever been. A man with dark hair has Brook pinned against the wall. Her shirt is ripped open as she cries and fights to get away from his mouth latched near her shoulder. Then she screams out in pain.
I don’t think at that point and just react.
Grabbing the shadeless lamp I spot on the table, I charge forward with it and crack it against his back and yell. “Get the hell off of her!”
He releases her while he screams, and his hands fly to his back before he falls to his knees. “What the fuck!”
I glance at Brook. She has teeth indentations above her right breast, and there’s blood dripping from it. I rush to her, and she wraps her hands around me, crying and holding onto me for dear life. There’s a sharp pull to my hair, and I’m yanked away from her and thrown to the floor. I land hard on my ass and wail from the shooting pain.
Trevor stands above me with violence in his eyes. I’ve never been in a situation like this before, and my body trembles in fear. Before I can move away, he grabs me by the neck, lifts me from the floor and shoves my back into a wall.
“Who the hell are you?” Spit flies from his mouth, and I can smell the liquor on his breath. I don’t have time to react as his hand fists, and he pulls his arm back. I close my eyes to prepare for the blow I’m about to receive, but it never comes. The release of his hand from around my neck has my eyes fluttering back open as I slide down the wall.
Brook is now on his back, fighting against him as he swats the air trying to remove her from his body.
“Stop! Police!” My head snaps up at the sound of a woman’s voice .
Two officers stand with their guns drawn in our direction, one male and one female. Glancing at Brook, she drops off Trevor’s back and onto the floor, curling into a fetal position, and sobs. Crawling over to her, I place her head in my lap, covering her breast as best I can with her torn shirt. There’s still blood around the open wound, but I don’t examine it, choosing to try and protect her modesty as best I can.
Everything happens quickly after that. The male officer places Trevor in cuffs while the female officer kneels down to us. “Is she hurt? Does she need to go to the hospital?”
“Yes, please call an ambulance.”
The officer nods and radios for one while Trevor screams nonsense about us attacking him first before he’s taken out of the apartment in cuffs. I continue to try and soothe Brook, letting her know that she’s safe now and he can’t hurt her anymore while she sobs in my arms as my heart breaks for her.
When the medics arrive, I encourage Brook to allow them to take care of her, and though she refuses to allow them at first, she eventually relents. While they check on her, I give the female officer my account of the event. Then she walks over to the medics and has a few words before coming back over to me.
“They’re going to take her to the hospital. Do you need the paramedics to look at your neck and are you hurt anywhere else?” Her eyes study the area below my chin. I remember his hand around my throat right before he almost punched me. If it hadn’t been for Brook jumping him, his fist would have landed.
Lifting my hand to my neck, I feel around it. It’s a little sore but nothing I can’t handle. “Is it bad?”
“I’ve seen worse, but I think it’s in your best interest to let them have a look to be on the safe side.”
“I’ll have it looked at when we get to the hospital. ”
“The bite on her is deep and is going to need stitches. Is there someone we should call for her?” the female officer asks. “Do you have a contact number for her family?”
I don’t have her mom’s information, but I can get it from Brook at the hospital. “I’ll go to the hospital to be with her and try to contact her mom from there.” Brook reaches out to me as they lead her to the door, and I take her hand in mine.
As Brook is loaded into the ambulance, I climb inside to be with her. She grasps my hand once again with fear still in her eyes. I hold my emotions at bay, wanting to be strong for her.
Once we get to the hospital, they take Brook back, and I’m directed to another room. Two ladies come into the room, one wheeling a machine with her to input my information and the other, a nurse, asks me questions and informs me that a doctor will be in to see me soon.
There’s a mirror in the room, and I walk to stand in front of it. Sure enough, there’s some dark bruising around my neck. Touching a mark, I wince at the pain. Kason is going to lose his shit when he sees this. We may sometimes get a little rough in our bedroom, but that pain is also mixed with pleasure. There is no pleasure associated with this pain.
I jump when the doctor comes into the room, too absorbed in examining the bruises. He’s an older man with gray hair and a nice smile.
“Sorry to scare you.”
“No need. I should have been paying attention.”
“How about you have a seat on the bed and allow me to take a look at your neck.” I do as he asks and sit on the bed while he checks out my throat, and I answer his questions. “I think you’ll be fine. You can take some Tylenol for pain as needed. If you find the pain increases or you develop worse symptoms, I want you to have it looked at again.”
“Thank you, Doctor. ”
“You’re welcome. A nurse will be in shortly with paperwork.” With that, he leaves and a nurse enters several minutes later to discharge me. I waste no time checking on Brook.
Entering her room, I see her lying on a bed with her eyes closed. She must hear my footsteps as I move closer because her eyelids flutter open. I take a seat at her bedside, placing my hand on hers and give it a squeeze. “Do you want to call your mom?”
She shakes her head. “No. I can’t go back there and listen to her tell me it was all my fault again.” The sadness in her voice brings tears to my eyes because her words confirm my worry that this may not have been the first time.
Standing, I rub the hair from her eyes. “Do you want to talk about it?” I won’t push her if she isn’t ready, but to my surprise, she nods and sighs before she speaks.
“She won’t care. I told her many times what he was doing, and she didn’t care. When she asked him about it the first time, he said it was my fault because I was running my mouth at him, and she believed him.”
“Brook,” I pause, knowing she may choose not to answer, “what all has he done to you?”
“Are you asking if he raped me?” Yes, it’s exactly what I’m asking because I can’t get her torn shirt out of my mind. I nod and wait for her response. “No. It never got that far. I think he would have tonight if you hadn’t come.” She gives me a soft smile and this time it’s her hand squeezing mine. “Thank you. Thank you for coming for me.”
“I told you I’ll always be here for you.”
“You’re the one person I can count on anymore.”
I start to say something else when a nurse enters the room. She smiles sweetly at Brook. “Brook, we are going to keep you here for observation. You have a slight concussion, and we’d like to see how you do overnight. Hopefully, if no further symptoms arise, we can discharge you in the morning. ”
“Okay,” is all she replies. The nurse rubs her shoulder gently before leaving the room.
“What happened to your head?”
“When he came after me, he slammed me into the wall, and I hit my head against it. It doesn’t hurt so much. He’s done worse.” A tear slips from her eye as she turns her head away from me. I know she won’t be saying anything else. I’m not sure how long I sit there but eventually her breathing evens out, and I know she has fallen asleep. I stand and kiss the top of her head, then leave the room. I make sure to stop at the nurse’s station and ask her nurse to let her know that I will be back in the morning to check on her. I don’t want her to think I deserted her.
I walk outside and for once tonight, luck is on my side. I hail a taxi right away and have the driver take me to my car. I always keep spare money hidden in it, so I use it to pay him before hopping in my car and driving to Kason’s. When I peer at the clock on the dash, I realize it’s after midnight. Kason has got to be going out of his mind wondering where I am. With a dead cell phone, there was no way to contact him.
The night’s events are starting to catch up with me, but I stay strong. I have to make it home to Kason. I need to be with him before I lose it.
After parking my car in the garage, I open the back door to a pacing Kason in the kitchen with a phone to his ear. He stops and stares at me then gripes into the phone, “She’s here now. I’ll call you back.” Disconnecting the call, he throws his cell on the counter. “Where in the hell have you been?” He’s frantic and maybe a little angry.
I say nothing and finally let the reality of everything that happened hit me. My emotions overwhelm me, and I fall to the floor on a sob.