“Dylan,” she said ten minutes later as he carried their bags down to his car. “I can’t do this. I can’t be the reason you fall out with your family.”
“This is not your fault,” Dylan said as he opened the back of the car and put their belongings in the trunk. “This is about them thinking that they get to tell me what I can and can’t do. This is about them telling me who I should love.”
“That’s not what they are doing, Dylan, and you know it,” Brook sighed, knowing he was only seeing what he wanted to see and not the bigger picture.
Before Dylan could reply, a car pulled through the gates of the house, and Brook knew that whether he liked it or not, he would have to face his family again. As it drew closer, Brook could see that it was Nell and Sean’s town car.
“Get in the car, Brook,” Dylan said, slamming the trunk shut.
“Dylan, you need to talk to your mother,” Brook replied, but Dylan didn’t wait. Instead, he just climbed into the driver’s seat and waited for her to get into the car too.
“Dylan!” Nell called as she quickly climbed from the back of the car, hurrying towards the passenger side of Dylan’s car, where Brook was still standing. “This is stupid. “Please, come back inside the house so we can talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about, Mother,” Dylan replied without looking at his mom. “My wife and I are simply going home. It’s no big deal.”
“Dylan, please,” Brook begged, but Dylan was not going to back down.
“Brook, just get into the car,” Dylan repeated, once more just staring ahead.
She turned and looked at Nell, having no clue what she should do next.
“You should go with him, Sweetheart,” Nell told her, giving her a tearful smile. “Maybe tomorrow things will seem better.”
“Okay,” Brook nodded as she too blinked back the tears that were now burning her eyes. She turned to get into the car but stopped and quickly turned back to Nell. “I’m sorry.”
Nell smiled and instinctively hugged her.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, my sweet girl,” Nell whispered before she released Brook. Brook glanced over at Sean, who was now standing at the bottom of the steps to their home. The moment their eyes met, Sean gave Brook a broad smile. Brook smiled back before she turned and climbed into the car, pulling the door closed behind her.
The drive home was uncomfortably silent. Brook knew she needed to say something, but she had no clue what.
“Dylan,” she said cautiously as they walked through the door a short while later. “This is stupid.”
Dylan didn’t respond. Instead, he walked into the kitchen, slamming the door behind him as he went. Brook stood there for a moment, unsure if she should go after him, or just go bed. In her heart, she knew she needed to make this right.
Taking a deep breath, she followed in him to the kitchen.
“Dylan, you can’t leave things like this,” She pleaded with him. “I can’t be the reason you lose your family.”
“You’re not,” Dylan sighed as he stood at the sink, filling a glass of water. “Not everything is about you.”
“But you would have never had this argument if we hadn’t got married,” Brook tried to reason, but Dylan was not backing down. He turned and without even thinking, he smashed the glass on the floor.
“I SAID LEAVE IT, BROOK!” He yelled, finally letting his eyes meet hers. “This is my mess, and I will sort it myself.”
Without saying another word, he pushed past her, and stormed out of the house, leaving her standing there, frozen to the spot, having no clue what she should do now.
By the time he returned, a couple of hours later, Brook was in bed. When he came into the room, she pretended to be asleep, something she had learned to do when she was living with Warren.
Now, as she sat there, staring across the table at the man she loved, a tiny bubble of doubt formed in the pit of her stomach. Brook wondered if she’d made the biggest mistake of her life marrying him. Still, she knew she needed to try sort things out with him and his family.
“Dylan, please,” Brook sighed.
“I SAID LEAVE IT!” He snapped, slamming his hand down on the table, making Brook jump with fright.
She pushed up from the table, knowing there was nothing she could say to Dylan to make him see sense. Releasing a sad sigh, she turned and walked towards the door to the hallway.
“You have your physio this morning,” Dylan said stopping her in tracks.
She turned to look at him, and for the first time since they argued the night before, Dylan let his eyes meet hers. Brook’s heart almost broke to see the hurt and sadness that was staring back at her.
“I’ll get ready,” was all she said, allowing her eyes to linger on his for a few seconds, before she turned, heading for the stairs.
She held her breath as she hurried up the stairs, knowing that if she as much as breathed, she would have sobbed harder than she’s ever sobbed before.
When she reached the bedroom, she hurried into the closet where all her belongings were still just lying there in the bags, she’d taken from Dylan’s parents’ house the night before. She kneeled down on the floor, searching through the bags, but for what, she had no clue. Suddenly the sob she’d been holding back, escaped from deep inside her as she was unable to hold back her tears any longer.
She buried her face in her hands and let go of the pain that was almost suffocating her.
“Brook,” Dylan said suddenly from behind her, making her freeze, unsure of what was going to come next. With Warren, it would have been a beating no doubt. With Dylan, she really didn’t know. She had believed in her heart he would never hurt her as Warren had.
But that was before last night.
Now, he was just so angry; she really didn’t know what she should think.
“Brook, I’m so sorry,” Dylan said, as he climbed down onto the floor next to her. He reached up to touch her, but she froze, and so did he.
“Do… do you think I would ever hurt you?” He asked, sounding almost hurt as he said the words. “Do you think I could hit you like he did?”
“No… I… I don’t know,” Brook shrugged as she brushed away the tears from her face with the back of her hand. “I don’t know what to think anymore. You’re just so angry, but I don’t know why. I mean I…I would have never believed you could ever be as cold and distant as you were last night, but right now I feel like I don’t even know you. I mean, I get it, Liam upset you, but you shut me out too, Dylan. And how you were with your mother? It’s almost like you’re not the same person. We are supposed to be in this together, for better and worse, isn’t that what we said. We didn’t even make it through our wedding night; what does that mean?”
“I know,” Dylan sighed as he reached up and softly brushed away her tears. “And I’m so sorry for how I behaved last night. I know I acted like a complete asshole. But you know me. You know that’s not who I am. Please just give me a chance…”
“Dylan, I love you,” Brook said, looking up into his eyes as the tears continued to stream down her face. “But I’ve heard ‘I’m sorry’ so many times in my life, that the words have lost all meaning. Maybe we just took things too far, too fast.”
“What are you saying?” Dylan asked as a look of panic filled his face.
“I’m saying that maybe we made a mistake,” Brook whispered, unable to believe that she was actually saying the words herself.
“No!” Dylan exclaimed, taking hold of her hands, giving her a pleading look. “Okay, so I screwed up last night. I acted like such a dick, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not meant to be together.”
“No, you’re right, it doesn’t,” Brook continued, giving him a sad smile. “But you got so angry last night, and you shut me out. I can’t live that life anymore. I won’t live that life. So, I think I’m going to just go to physio, then maybe book into a hotel until I can get all my medical stuff transferred to a hospital back east.”
“So, just like that,” Dylan said, and Brook could hear the hurt in his voice. “You’re giving up on us.”
“I know it doesn’t seem fair,” Brook sighed, knowing there was nothing she could say to make him understand. “But I don’t have any fight left inside me. I’m sorry.”
She softly kissed him on the cheek, then climb up from the floor.
“I was angry because Liam was right,” Dylan said, making no attempt to get up from the floor too. “He said I was stupid, and I made things worse, and he was right. I knew we were taking a huge risk. I knew that when Warren found out, it would piss him off, and it did. Now, if he comes for you, it will be my fault.”
He turned and looked at Brook, who was now standing by the door.
“I wasn’t angry at anyone but myself,” Dylan continued as tears trickled down his face. “I just didn’t know how to tell you I had fucked up. But I don’t regret marrying you, Brook and I don’t want you to give up on me. Please don’t leave me.”
Brook stared at him for a moment, her heart breaking into a million pieces for this man who she loved so completely and utterly.
“Please,” he begged, his eyes holding hers as he searched for the tiniest trace of hope.
In her heart, Brook knew that the right thing to do at that moment was to walk away. She knew that she needed to tell him that she loved him, but that she didn’t think they were right for each other. The only problem was, she loved him more than she’d ever loved any other living soul in her life. As much as she tried, she just couldn’t picture a life without Dylan in it.
Deep down inside her, she knew he was nothing like Warren. If he said sorry, he meant it, and she needed to accept that.
Unable to hold back any longer, Brook closed the distance between her and Dylan. Dropping to her knees before him, she took his face in her hands.
“Don’t shut me out again, Dylan Murphy,” she said, looking up into his eyes. “I’m your wife now. So, for better or worse, we are in this together.
Giving him a bright smile, she leaned forward and claimed his lips once more.
Dylan
Arriving at the hospital, Dylan felt a little uneasy. He knew he was probably just being paranoid, but he had the horrible feeling they were being watched.
“Are you ready?” Brook asked, but before he could answer, his phone began to ring once more. He looked down, and Liam’s name flashed on the screen. “Why don’t you just answer?”
“I’m not ready to talk to him yet,” Dylan sighed looking up at Brook. “I know I need to, but I need to get straight what we’re going to do before I let my family get involved. I know they mean well, but sometimes they can take over because they forget I’m not the baby anymore.”
Brook smiled, but she didn’t say a word, Dylan knew she hated he wasn’t talking to Liam, and if Dylan was honest, he hated it too.
“I will call him tonight,” he assured her. “I promise.”
“Okay,” Brook said, giving him a warm smile before they both climbed out of the car and headed for the hospital.
As they walked through the door, Dylan hesitated for a moment when he saw his father sitting in the waiting area, just inside the door.
The moment Sean spotted them walking through the door, he stood up and gave Dylan a nervous smile.
“Dad,” Dylan said as he and Brook walked up to where he was standing.
“I remembered that Brook had physio today,” Sean said, looking from Dylan to Brook. “I didn’t know if you were in work or not, and I didn’t want her to have to go alone.”
“You came to here to go to physio with me?” Brook asked, giving Sean a smile that made Dylan smile too.
“Well, I can’t have my daughter going alone,” Sean said, giving her a smile. “Now, can I?”
“I guess not,” she smiled, before she turned to Dylan, giving him a smile that said she needed him to try.
“That would be great, Dad,” Dylan said, giving his father a grateful smile. Sean held out his hand to Dylan, and Dylan quickly took it, shaking it firmly.
He turned back to Brook and kissed her on the lips.
“I will see you when you’re done,” Dylan explained, giving her a knowing look. “I just need to make a few calls, set things in motion from this end.”
“Okay,” Brook nodded, giving him an uncertain smile.
“Everything will be okay,” Dylan assured her, kissing once more before she and his father set off down the corridor. He turned and headed towards the elevator to take him to the resident's lounge.
As he waited for the elevator to take him to the fourth floor, his phone began to ring again. He looked down and sighed when he saw Liam’s number on the screen again. He hated that he and Liam were at odds. To Dylan, Liam was more than just his brother. Liam was his best friend.
He stared at the phone for a moment, then sighed as he hit decline on the call.
“Well that would explain why your phone keeps going to voicemail,” Liam’s voice said suddenly from behind him. “Doesn’t explain why you are refusing to talk to me.”
“I don’t want to fight, Liam,” Dylan replied with a sigh. “That’s why I’m not taking your call.”
“Avoiding me isn’t going to make this go away, Dylan,” Liam sighed too. “But that’s not why I’m here. Where’s Brook?”
“Brook?” Liam asked, that now familiar feeling of dread forming in the pit of Dylan’s stomach. “Why, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Warren,” Liam replied, and from the look on his face, Dylan knew something really bad had happened. “You know the kid that ran you off the road? He was found dead late last night: witnesses put Pearse at the scene. We put an APB out on him. Forty minutes ago, he was stopped at a roadblock, not far from your house. He shot and killed the two officers.”
“And you think he is looking for Brook?” Dylan said as a wave of panic settled inside him. “This is my fault, isn’t it?”
“This is all him, Dylan,” Liam said, giving his brother a reassuring pat on the arm. “Nobody else. But we need to find her and take her somewhere safe until we pick this asshole up. I’ve sent a patrol unit to Mom and Dad’s. They are going to take them to my place, where they will stay with Lexi and the baby. I also have a patrol car at Landen’s and Callum’s. Finn and Emmy are on the way to Landen’s too. We just need to find Brook.”
“She has physio,” Dylan explained as he and Liam headed down the corridor Brook and Sean took a short while earlier. “Dad is with her.”
Suddenly, an alarm went off inside the hospital, and the automatic doors all began to close.
“What’s going on?” Liam asked, giving Dylan a questioning look.
“I’ve no idea,” Dylan replied as he turned and hurried toward the nurse’s station. “Can you tell me what’s happened?”
“We’re on lockdown,” the nurse replied, a look of terror on her face. Suddenly the phone at her station rang, and she quickly answered it. Dylan and Liam both watched her as the blood drained from her face.
“What is it?” Liam asked as the girl hung up the phone.
“That was security,” the nurse replied, her voice shaking with blind panic. “They said there’s an active shooter in the hospital.”
“Jesus!” Dylan exclaimed as he hurried towards the double doors towards the corridor. “I need to get to Brook. This is him.”
When he reached the doors, he pulled with all his might, but they wouldn’t budge. They were locked tight.
“OPEN THE DOORS!” He yelled as he continued to pull at them. “OPEN THE GODDAMN DOORS!”
“Dylan!” Liam said as he hurried towards him, pulling him away from the doors. “You can’t get through there. We need to find another way.”
“I don’t know if there is any other way,” Dylan said, as his heart began to pound in his chest. “But I need to get to her. I promised her she would be safe. I told her I would never let him near her again.”
“Dylan, listen to me,” Liam said, trying his harde
st to calm his brother. “The doors are locked, that means he’s locked in too, wherever he is. So is Brook, and she’s with Dad. If Lexi was stuck in this hospital with someone that wasn’t me, the only other person I would want with her is Dad.”
“Okay,” Dylan nodded, but Liam’s words offered little comfort.
“Why don’t we call Dad?” Liam suggested, once more giving Dylan a hopeful smile. “Then we will try to find another way to get to them.”
Dylan nodded, but if he was honest until he saw her for himself, there was nothing anyone could say to make him feel better. He held his breath as Liam pulled out the phone and brought up their father’s number.
Brook
Brook sat on the exercise table, nervously swinging her legs as she watched Sean pace up and down. She had a bad feeling, despite Sean’s reassurance that it was most likely just a drill or a glitch in the system. The truth was, his words had said one thing, but his face told a completely different story.
“Maybe we should call Dylan,” she finally suggested as she pushed up from the table. “I think this could be more serious than we thought. As if on cue, Sean’s phone began to ring in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out.
“It’s Liam,” Sean said as he answered the phone, and brought it to his ear. Brook tried to listen, but Sean was speaking in a hushed voice, and she couldn’t hear a word he was saying.
Still, her curiosity was getting the better of her, so she walked to the door to see if she could see anyone. At first, there was no one on the corridor, which Brook knew herself was a little strange, but then she saw two nurses running, and one seemed to be crying.
Right at that moment, she knew. It was just a feeling she had deep inside her. It was Warren. He had come for her. Suddenly there were two popping sounds, like firecrackers, but different somehow.
Brook held her breath as she stared out through the small glass window in the door. That’s when she saw him. He turned the corner at the far end of the corridor, looking madder than hell. There was a gun in his hand, and another in the waist of his pants.
Dylan (The Murphy Series Book 5) Page 28