Chapter 3
“Jason, everything okay?” A fist tightened around Bridget’s middle and didn’t let go as she listened for her brother’s words.
Ever since he had returned from his deployment to the Middle East, he had been different.
Things had only escalated since Mom died six months earlier.
The grief had layered with the complications of being responsible for her older brother in a way she never would have anticipated.
It felt like she hadn’t had time to truly work through her mom’s death with the way caring for her brother had landed on her.
“It’s bad tonight.”
She rubbed her forehead as she leaned against the wall. “Have you talked to your counselor?”
“I can’t get a hold of him. That’s why I’m calling you.”
The fact the time was nearing nine o’clock probably didn’t help in reaching his counselor. The man was committed but deserved time when he wasn’t on call. “Where are you?”
“Outside the Big R Grill and Bar.”
“Don’t go inside. You know nothing good will happen if you do.”
“But all I see is my buddy lying in pieces.” The PTSD from the roadside device that had destroyed the vehicle in front of his, replayed inside Jason’s mind on repeat on the worst days. Some days, he could pause the tape. Sounded like this was a day that wasn’t working.
“What does Ryan have you do? If you could reach him, what would he tell you?”
“He’d ask if I really want to go in there.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
“Then what? What would he ask next?”
“He’d ask if I’d prayed. If I’d asked for peace.”
“Have you?”
“No.” His voice was muffled. As if he didn’t want to admit it.
“Is that why you called me? You hoped you wouldn’t have to answer that question?”
He snorted. “Maybe.”
She had to make a note of these questions. Be better prepared for next time, because with Jason, there would be a next time. “Are you ready to pray now?”
There was a long pause, but she waited. He had to make this decision on his own.
He had to make it as many times as it took.
Over and over. Because maybe he wouldn’t ever be cured of the PTSD from watching his friend be killed by an IED in the vehicle in front of him on his last tour in Afghanistan.
Maybe he’d have to live with the survivor’s guilt that wasn’t fair.
But he had survived. And she wanted to keep him here.
With her. And she didn’t know what he needed.
One more way she felt helpless and incompetent.
He whispered a prayer for strength and peace. Then Bridget prayed for him. “Fill his gaps, Lord. Help Jason to see himself as you do. Amen.”
After a pause, he sniffed. “Thanks, sis.”
“I love you, Jason.”
“Love you, too.”
“Text me when you get home.”
“Will do.”
She waited a minute but didn’t hear his car start. “Are you leaving now?”
“Yes, Mom.”
The sarcasm cut through her, as she missed her mom.
So much. Mom had known how to reach Jason.
How to help him keep hoping as he tried to process his grief.
Bridget didn’t have that gift, because she was trapped in her own loss.
She was vividly aware of how poorly she’d allowed herself to work through her mom’s death.
How could she pretend to help Jason in his?
“Love you.” She hung up, as she tried to swallow around the tears clogging her throat. He didn’t mean to be cruel. She had to focus on that, but as she leaned her head against the wall and tipped up her chin to keep the tears from falling, it was hard to remember.
“That sounded intense.”
She wanted to groan as the male voice intruded her bubble of pain. “Don’t you have anywhere else to be?”
“Right now it looks like you need a friend.” Detective Westmont settled next to her against the wall. “Seriously, everything okay?”
“I’m never sure with my brother, but nothing anyone else can help with.” She blinked a couple of times and then pushed the residual emotion down. She’d have to deal with it later because right now, there was a young girl in the next room who needed her best efforts.
Todd watched the mask settle on Bridget’s features.
It was eerie watching her settle back into professional mode when a moment before vulnerability had cloaked her in a fragile softness.
Should he remind her that they had met before?
Could he do that without letting her know she’d intrigued him from the first time he saw her at the cookout at Caleb and Dani’s?
No, he’d hold back. Especially, since he could sense the stiff arm as clearly as if she’d thrust her arm out in a stand back gesture.
“I should touch base with the nurses. See if they have any news.”
He let her go.
But as he watched her walk down the hall, he wondered whether she was walking towards something or running away from him.
The thought pulled him up short.
Why would he wonder that?
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out. “Westmont.”
“I thought you were off duty tonight.” Caleb Jamison, his partner, didn’t sound pleased.
“I thought so, too. I didn’t plan to find a kid while I was picking up my dinner.” His stomach grumbled at him. “Huh, I never did pick that up. Think they’ll make me another one?”
“Probably not, but that’s not what I want to know. Why did you take a girl to the hospital, and Dani wants to know if you’re the reason Bridget left dinner without eating?” The man muffled the phone. “You’re in big trouble if you are.”
Todd rubbed his eyes. He’d just wanted to go home. Turn on the TV and veg out. Put in a couple of miles on his treadmill. Lift a few weights. Anything to end the day on an exhausted note. This hadn’t been in the script, but he’d had to stop for dinner. “I need to learn how to cook.”
“Huh?”
“If I cooked better, I wouldn’t have stopped for take-out.”
“And that girl would still be in the alley.”
“Maybe.” Or the kid would have found someone else to help her. He should have made the kid come with him. He had information about the girl, but he had disappeared. “How did you get word of all this? I didn’t tell you.”
“There’s video of you carrying her into the emergency room. You’re going viral.”
“Seriously?” He groaned. “I do not need this.”
“Your nickname might become Superman or something equally ridiculous.”
Todd pinched the bridge of his nose. He could already hear the ribbing he’d get at the next meeting. “Maybe it’ll die down.”
“Not anytime soon based on the videos I’m seeing. Dani’s saying she might interview you if she wasn’t ticked you interrupted her girls’ night.”
“I don’t understand why she’d think that.”
“According to Dani, one of her group left to take care of an unknown minor at the hospital. Sound like anyone you know?”
Ouch. That did sound like his scenario. Could he claim he didn’t know her? “Maybe.”
Caleb’s sigh said so much. “We’ll talk about that in the morning. Just know Dani’s not happy. Though I didn’t mind getting her home a little early. Little Miss was happy to see her mom.”
A woman in a lab coat walked toward him, Bridget with her. “I need to go.”
“See you in the morning.”
Todd hung up and slid his phone back in his pocket. He braced for whatever news the doctor had because, based on the solemn lines of her face, it couldn’t be too good.
The woman slowed as she neared him. “You’re still here.” The words were a statement, and she didn’t sound that surprised.
He glanced at the embroidered name on her jacket. Dr. Jodi Miller. He made a mental note. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll be here until it seems like a good idea to leave.” Though he had to stifle a yawn. The day was beginning to feel unending.
She slid her hands into her white coat pockets as her gaze slid from him to Bridget and back. “Any progress made on finding our Jane Doe’s parents?”
Bridget shook her head, her red ponytail bouncing with the motion. “I don’t have any way to start.”
The doctor’s gaze slid to him, and Todd shook his head. “Nothing for me to go on yet, either.”
Dr. Miller nodded and aged ten years in front of him.
“We need to find her family quickly. We’ve ruled out the relatively easy fixes.
It’s not dehydration. Type one or two diabetes.
Etcetera. But that means we’re looking at potentially more serious causes of her lingering unconsciousness.
She really should have come around by now since we’ve been hydrating her and getting her nutrition through the IV.
” She straightened, and it felt as if she took up her weapon to keep fighting.
“There are a lot of blood tests in the works. Other tests, too. They’ll come back over the next few hours.
Until then, we wait to see what kind of story they tell us. ”
“I don’t like that.” Bridget’s words were harsher than she probably meant them to be.
Todd took a step toward the door, watched the girl’s chest rise and fall, but noted there was no other movement. “What else are we supposed to do? We can’t will her to wake up, and without a medical history, there doesn’t seem to be much we can do but wait for the tests.”
“I can go to the office and see if there are any reports of abuse related to a girl approximately her age. Maybe there’s something that will help me find out who she is.
” She rubbed her arms as if to push the cold from them.
“You don’t just throw away a child, but maybe that’s what happened if you found her where you say you did. ”
He didn’t appreciate the doubt in her words. At the same time he understood the need to push back and protest the reality that it defined. No one wanted to believe he’d found what he had. He wanted to remind Bridget that he didn’t like it either.
Did he have to remind everyone he’d just wanted a late supper?
Not to find a desperately sick girl?
The doctor glanced at her watch. “I’ll let you know what we learn.
Make sure the nurses know how to reach you if you leave.
” She turned to leave, then stopped and looked at Bridget.
“We will need some paperwork from your office establishing who will make decisions regarding her health care until her parents are found.”
Bridget put her hands up as if to stop the flow of words. “I’m not a parent and unqualified to make health decisions for someone else’s child.”
“You are today. Welcome to your role.”
A nurse hurried up and tapped Dr. Miller’s arm. “You’re needed in room four.”
She nodded to them, then followed the nurse, asking questions as they left.
Bridget glanced from Todd to the room. Then, without a word, she headed into the small room.