“I know you think I’m stupid for staying,” she said suddenly without looking at him. “I wish to God that I had a different option, but I don’t.”
“If you let me help you…” Dylan began to reason with her, but she stopped him.
“You can’t help me,” Brook sighed, giving him a sad smile. “No one can help me. He is a cop…”
“That doesn’t mean he should get away with this,” Dylan insisted, but Brook just smiled.
“He already has,” she sighed, as she pushed down from the bed. “His friends all have his back. There is no one who can help me. So please, just let it go.”
Dylan knew that there was nothing he could say to her to make her see this was not the answer. He had seen enough women like Brook to know that they needed to make that decision themselves.
Helping her back into her wheelchair, he felt a wave of sadness wash over him, mixed with pure and utter anger. He hated that he had to let her leave with her husband, but he also knew, if she didn’t want to speak up there was nothing else he could do.
They rode back up in the elevator in silence, Dylan wishing there was something more he could do. He couldn’t just let her walk away like this. That’s when it hit him. He hit the emergency stop.
“Brook,” he said as he moved in front of her, bending down. “I know there is nothing I can say to you right now. I get it. And I know you think there is no one you can turn to, but you’re wrong.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. Writing down both his and Liam’s number, he handed it to her.
“This is my number,” Dylan explained. “The other is my brother’s. He is a cop.”
Her eyes widened when she heard his words.
“I know you have every reason in this world not to trust me,” Dylan quickly added. “Or my brother for that matter. But he is one of the good guys. He is a good cop. If there is ever a time when you need someone, you call him, and I promise you, he will help you. Or you can call me. I will always be here.”
“Why would you do this?” Brook asked, looking down at the piece of paper still in Dylan’s hand.
“Because wearing a badge doesn’t put you above the law,” Dylan replied. “And you deserve better than this.”
Brook stared at the paper for a moment, but she didn’t say a word. Finally, she reached up and took it, as she looked up at Dylan and smiled at him.
“Thank you,” she whispered softly. “And… I will leave him. One day. I know it’s the right thing to do.”
“Good,” Dylan replied, giving her a smile before he stood up and pressed the button once more, and quickly the elevator jumped to life again.
Thirty minutes later, Dylan stood in the emergency room and watched as Brook left the hospital with her husband. Looking at them, one could be forgiven for assuming they were a happy couple, but Dylan knew differently.
He sighed as he turned and headed for the elevator, heading back to the ICU to his family and to check on Emmy.
Chapter 1
“Doctor Murphy,” a voice came through the door of the on-call room, waking Dylan from a restless sleep. “We have a trauma rolling in. It’s four minutes out.”
“Okay,” Dylan yawned as he pushed up from the bed. “I’ll be right there.”
He looked at his watch and sighed. He’d only managed thirty minutes of sleep after assisting on a fourteen-hour surgery through the night, and he felt exhausted. He sat there for a moment, feeling almost tempted just to lie back down, and just go back to sleep, but he knew that wasn’t an option. He was the trauma surgeon on-call today, and it was time to roll.
Yawning as he pushed up from the bed, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, then scrubbed his face as he grabbed his white coat from the end of the bunk he had been sleeping in, before slipping it on. He groaned as he walked towards the door. Every muscle in his back ached, and the lumpy mattress in the on-call hadn’t really helped it.
“What have you got for me?” He asked the intern who was standing outside the on-call room, waiting for him. He gave her a tired smile as she held out a cup of coffee, and Dylan took it from her. “Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.”
“Head trauma was found unresponsive,” she replied, answering his first question as they both walked towards the ambulance bay to wait for the ambulance. “Possible internal injuries. I don’t have any more than that.”
Suddenly the sirens roared as the ambulance quickly approached the ambulance bay, followed closely by a police car. The sound pierced Dylan’s ears, making sure that he was now, well and truly, wide awake. He dropped the half-drunk cup of coffee into the trash can next to the door, ready to get to work.
“Let’s do this,” Dylan said, giving the intern a broad smile, as the emergency vehicles came to a stop in front of them, and they both hurried towards the back doors.
“Jane Doe, late twenties” the paramedic started to rhyme off the patient’s details the moment the doors opened, and they climbed from the back of the ambulance. “Blunt force trauma to the head; found unconscious by police, GCS of two, multiple contusions to the torso and face, systolic fifty in the field…”
The paramedic continued, listing off what other injuries the girl had, followed by what treatment had been given at the scene, and on route to the hospital. Dylan made mental notes of what they were saying, but he couldn’t seem to take his eyes from the girl’s face.
She was almost unrecognisable as a girl, other than the long, matted, blonde hair, which was thick with red, clotted blood. She looked like she had been through hell and back, and Dylan had no clue how this girl was even still breathing, much less, still alive. Now it was his job to keep her that way.
Without even thinking, he jumped into action, working on her, trying to keep ahead of every problem, every injury and every new issue as they arose.
His hands worked faster than they ever had before. He was so determined to make sure this girl made it.
Once she was intubated and was stable enough to be moved, he decided it was time to take her to surgery to relieve the pressure on her brain, from the open skull fracture she had.
“Shouldn’t we do a CT first?” The intern asked, giving Dylan a questioning look.
“There’s no time,” Dylan explained his decision. “We can get some x-rays once we get her to the OR. And can somebody page neuro!”
“Dylan,” Liam called just as he and the other doctors and nurses began the journey to the OR, guiding the gurney carefully alone the corridor. “What’s going on? How is she?”
“Can’t stop, Liam,” Dylan called over his shoulder, as they moved quickly along the corridor. “We need to get her to the OR.”
“Has she regained consciousness yet?” Liam asked, hurrying behind them. “Did she say anything at all?”
“She hasn’t opened her eyes since she got here,” Dylan called back. “Honestly, I don’t know how she’s still alive. She took some serious beating.”
“Shit!” Liam said, as they reached the elevator and rushed inside. Liam stopped outside and gave Dylan a worried look.
“Did you find out her name? Dylan asked as he reached for the button to take them down to the lower floor.
“No,” Liam replied giving Dylan a worried look. “But she had my number. You need to save her.”
“I’ll do my best,” Dylan assured his brother as the doors to the elevator closed.
“Okay, Miss,” Dylan leaned down and whispered into her ear. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep you alive, but I’m going to need your help. I need you to promise me that you won’t give up either. You have to keep fighting for me.”
He stared at her for a moment, then smiled. This was going to be okay. He could feel it in the pit of his stomach. This girl was a fighter. It was the only explanation for why she was still alive.
The elevator came to a stop. Dylan didn’t waste any time. The moment the doors opened, he and the others were off again, heading straight for OR one.
Dylan stood next to the girl’s bed, watching the monitors, checking that everything was as it should be. He sighed as he glanced at the battered girl lying in the bed before him and shook his head. He had no idea what she had been through, but judging from her injuries, it was as close to hell as he had ever seen.
As he watched her lying there, Dylan thought there was something familiar about her, but for some reason, he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It was hard to tell with so much bruising and swelling.
She had a fractured skull, which caused a significant brain bleed, a fractured cheekbone and eye socket, several broken ribs, one of which had punctured her lung, causing it to collapse. She had to have her spleen removed, along with a laceration to her liver and damage to one of her kidneys. Finally, she had a hairline fracture to her left wrist, and three broken fingers as well.
With all the injuries she had, she should have died, this Dylan knew for sure, but she survived the surgery, and she was still fighting. He just wondered what was going to happen to her now. Would she wake up? And if she did wake up, what kind of deficits she would have?
The neurologist had stopped the bleeding and had placed her into a medically induced coma. Her brain needed time to heal; Dylan just didn’t know how well that healing would be. He checked his watch. He knew he needed to go home and try to get some rest, but he hated the thought of leaving her while she was still so weak.
“You’re still here,” Liam said from the doorway, pulling Dylan from his thoughts. “The nurse said you’ve been here since yesterday. It’s almost seven o’clock. You need to call it a night.”
“I was on call last night, but I’m going to head home soon,” Dylan replied, looking at his brother, giving him a tired smile. “Tell me you found the guy who did this to her or even her name?”
“Not yet,” Liam said, scrunching up his face, and Dylan knew this meant he was frustrated. “How is she doing?”
“She’s hanging in,” Dylan said, turning his attention to the girl in the bed. He looked at her bruised and battered face, and it pulled at something inside him. “But she has a long road to recovery ahead of her, assuming she will even make a full recovery. Whoever did this to her, meant to kill her. They very nearly achieved that. I’ve never seen so much anger before.”
“What about the rape kit?” Liam asked, giving Dylan a worried look.
“The rape kit came back clear,” Dylan replied. “This wasn’t just some nut job trying to overpower a woman for some cheap thrill. This was personal; whoever did this, wanted her dead. You said she had your number?”
“She called my cell,” Liam explained.
“What did she say?” Dylan asked, intrigued why this girl would have called his brother.
“Nothing,” Liam replied. “I could just hear breathing and this gurgling sound, but the line remained open. I had them trace the call, and that’s how we found her.”
“Jesus,” Dylan sighed, looking down at her once more. He still couldn’t shake the feeling he knew her.
“We will get whoever did this; I promise you that,” Liam assured him. “In the meantime, we are going to post an officer outside her door, just to be on the safe side.”
“Good thinking,” Dylan said. “Because I don’t think whoever did this is done. How could they be?”
“We’ll catch them,” Liam assured him. “Whoever it is. But right now, you look like hell. You need to get some sleep. I mean it.”
“I will,” Dylan promised. “I’m going to call it a night now.”
“Actually, I was just going to head home myself,” Liam said, giving Dylan a worried look. “I think you should let me drop you home. You look like hell, and if Mom knew I was letting you drive the donor cycle like this, she would kick my ass.”
“That would be great, Liam,” Dylan chuckled and gave him a grateful nod. “Just let me finish up here.”
“I’ll wait outside for you,” Liam said, giving him a smile before he turned and left the small glass cubicle once more, leaving Dylan alone with the girl.
“So,” Dylan said, stepping closer to the bed once more, picking up her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. He wished he knew her name. He thought maybe hearing her own name would somehow pull her back from where ever she was. “I’m going to head home for a few hours’ sleep.”
He leaned down closer to her and spoke to her softly.
“You’re going to be okay,” he whispered. “Do you hear me? You’re safe, and we are going to do whatever it takes to get you through this. I give you my word.”
He stared at her for a moment. He knew she probably couldn’t hear him, but he hoped she knew that she was safe now.
“I will be back later,” Dylan continued. “I just need you to promise me that you will keep fighting. Don’t do anything stupid while I’m not here.”
He stared at her for a moment, knowing she wouldn’t respond, but for some reason, he felt reluctant to leave her.
Finally, he continued to step back, until he reached the door. He stared at her for a few more moments before he turned and left the cubicle, then went in search of Liam. He was tired, and looking forward to climbing into bed, and sleeping for a few hours.
Dylan found Liam standing in the ambulance bay, talking on the phone. When Liam saw him coming, he nodded at him before he hung up the phone.
“Are you ready to go?” Liam asked, giving Dylan a questioning look.
“Yep,” Dylan confirmed with a nod. “But you know, it’s only a couple of blocks away, I could walk.”
“Just get in the car, Loser,” Liam said with a grin. “I want to talk to you anyway.”
“Oh!” Dylan replied, raising his eyebrow before he opened the passenger door, climbing into the car. “I’m intrigued.”
Liam just laughed as he climbed into the driver’s side.
Dylan couldn’t believe that Liam was no longer driving his old bucket of bolts. Instead, Liam was now driving a top of the range Audi Q8. It was so not Liam, but lately, nothing Liam did was very Liam. Lexi coming back into his life had been the best thing that ever happened him.
It was still weird to think of Liam as being a married man, living in his perfect house, with his beautiful wife, and their crazy dog. Dylan thought he would never see Liam looking so happy living a quiet life. He had always been the wildest of the Murphy boys; even when they were kids. But marriage suited Liam, and Dylan loved that his brother was finally happy.
“Okay,” Dylan said, his curiosity piqued. “What’s going on? You have me intrigued.”
“Well,” Liam said, giving Dylan a broad smile. “I do have a little bit of news.”
“Then spit it out,” Dylan replied with a laugh.
“But I need to know that you can keep a secret?” Liam said with a chuckle, as Dylan groaned out loud. He knew Liam was dragging this out on purpose, just to drive him nuts.”
“LIAM!” Dylan exclaimed with a laugh. “Tell me!”
“Okay, okay! Well, I need you to keep this under your hat for now,” Liam said as he pulled the car out of the parking space, heading for the exit. “But we heard back from the adoption agency yesterday, and we’re getting a baby. Actually, we’re getting twins.”
“What? Wow! That’s great news,” Dylan exclaimed, thrilled for his brother. “When? How?”
“Well, you know we were approved a few weeks ago,” Liam explained, still with the biggest grin on his face. “Well there is a girl in San Diego who saw our file, and she picked us. She is almost eight months pregnant. The father isn’t on the scene, and she just doesn’t think that now is the right time for her to start a family. So, we got the call yesterday, and I have been bursting to tell someone.”
“Oh my, God!” Dylan laughed again. “This is the best news ever. I’m so happy for you, Liam. Honestly. I know what you’ve been through; what you’ve both been through and for this to happen to you. This is the best news possible.”
“Thanks, Dylan,” Liam said, giving him a grateful smile. “ That m
eans a lot to me.”
“And can I say, I can’t wait to watch you trying to survive with not just one, but two babies,” Dylan said with a deep laugh. “This is going to be so much fun to watch.”
“Gee, thanks, little brother,” Liam sighed, but he couldn’t help but smile too.
“When are you telling Mom and Dad?” Dylan asked as Liam pulled the car to a stop outside Dylan’s townhouse.
“We are going to have everyone over for dinner later this week,” Liam replied, turning to look at Dylan. “Lexi will be busy with a photo shoot for the next few days, and I need to try to find out more about this Jane Doe, who she is, and who could have done what they did to her.”
“You’re going to catch them, right?” Dylan asked, giving him a worried look. “I mean, whoever did this to her, they wanted her dead. Nobody can show that much anger and hatred towards someone, and let it go. Whoever did this, will surely want to finish what they started.”
“I will do whatever it takes,” Liam assured Dylan once more. “I promise you that. I need to know why she called me. Why did she have my number? She needed my help, so I am going to make sure she has it.”
“Good,” Dylan nodded, knowing that Liam meant what he said. “Because I don’t know if she could survive anything else.”
“But she’s going to be okay, right?” Liam said. “I mean, you said she was stable, so that’s a good thing.”
“She’s stable, but not out of the woods just yet,” Dylan admitted, wishing he could give his brother the same promise that he had given him.
“I know you will do whatever it takes to help her,” Liam smiled, giving Dylan a knowing grin. “You’re a good doctor, Dylan. She’s in good hands.”
“Thanks, Liam,” Dylan said, giving him a nod. “I guess I should head in; let you get home to that beautiful wife of yours.”
“I guess you should,” Liam laughed. “I will drop by the hospital in the morning to see if there is any update on the girl.”
“Okay,” Dylan replied, knowing that there would be no change in her condition in the morning, at least not the kind of change Liam was hoping for.
Dylan (The Murphy Series Book 5) Page 2