by Kai Juniper
"Shit," Danny mutters, leaning over, shaking his head as he stares down at the floor.
"What was the surgery for?" I ask my mom. "Did she tell you?"
"To repair the damage caused by the knife and stop the bleeding." My mom takes my hand in hers. "He's going to be okay. He's young, strong, in good shape."
"If he was okay, he wouldn't be in intensive care," I say, wiping my eyes.
"It's just temporary. His body needs time to recover. The nurse said his whole body is covered in bruises and he had some internal bleeding, and then of course his neck, which will need time to heal. Honey, I think you should wait to see him. I don't think you want to see him this way."
"I don't care how he looks. I have to see him."
"That bastard," Dean mutters, still staring at the floor. "If they find him, I'm gonna fucking kill him."
"Who is he talking about?" my mom asks.
"Nothing. Just forget it." I turn to her. "You want to go walk the halls with me? I don't think I can sit down right now. I'm going crazy sitting here."
"I understand," she says, helping me up. "Danny, would you like to come with us?"
He stands up. "I can't. I need to go back to school and get my stuff." He looks at me. "The guys from the team are coming here later tonight. I told them we can't see Dean yet but everyone still wanted to be here. Some of the cheerleaders are coming too."
"That's nice he has so many friends," my mom says, smiling. "He must be a very popular young man."
"Yeah." Danny keeps his eyes on me. "You gonna be okay?"
I nod.
He gives me a hug. "I'll text you when I'm coming back. Let me know if you need anything."
"I will. Bye."
When he's gone, my mom wraps her arm around mine and starts walking down the hall. "Danny seems nice."
"He is."
"You haven't mentioned him before, have you?"
"I have, but you probably don't remember. I don't know him that well. I just see him at school."
"He seems to care about you."
"Because he cares about Dean." I sniffle. "And Dean cares about me. Danny's looking out for me because Dean can't right now. That's how it works here. People look out for each other. It's not like back home."
She doesn't respond as we continue down the hall. When we get to the end, she pulls me over to a bench to sit down.
"I need to know what's going on here," she says.
"What do you mean?"
"Who did this to him? Do you know?"
I don't answer.
"If you don't tell me, I'm sure the police will. So what's it going to be? You, or should I call the police?"
I swallow and look down at the ground. "It was his dad. He did this."
"Dean's father," she confirms. "You're saying he attacked his own son?"
"Yes," I whisper, tears forming again.
"Why would his father do that to his own son?"
"Because he's violent. He's...he's a criminal."
"What do you mean he's a criminal?" she asks in a cautious tone.
I look at her. "Don't tell Dad this. I don't want him knowing any of this. He'll overreact and tell me I can't see Dean anymore."
"I'm starting to think the same thing," she says, her brows furrowed.
"Just forget it," I say, getting up. "I knew I shouldn't have told you."
"Too late." She takes my hand and pulls me back beside her. "Are you saying Dean's father has served time?"
"He still is. He's in prison. But he escaped. And showed up at Dean's house this morning."
"Oh, Brook," she says with a sigh. "Why would you get involved in something like this?"
"I didn't know. When I met Dean, I didn't know his dad was in prison, and then he told me but he said his dad had three more years there. I didn't think Dean was in danger."
"It's not just him, it's you." She turns me toward her, her hands on my shoulders. "By being with Dean, you're putting yourself in danger. This man could come after you to hurt Dean. Does he know about you?"
"No. I mean, not unless Jake told him."
"Who?"
"Jake. Dean's little brother. He's missing, and we think Dean's dad took him."
I tell her the story.
"Jake doesn't know how dangerous his dad is," I say. "His dad could've told him anything and Jake would probably believe it. If Jake trusts him, he'll tell him stuff, maybe even stuff about me."
"We're going to have to move." My mom gets up and paces back and forth as she takes out her phone.
"Mom, we're not moving." I follow beside her, trying to see what she's looking up on her phone.
"We could go live with your grandparents. My mother will drive me crazy but it's only for a few months, just until you graduate." She swipes through her phone.
"Mom, no. I'm not going. Nothing's going to happen to me. Dean's dad doesn't want me. He wants Jake. The police said he's probably already left the state with him."
She turns to me. "I don't trust that they're right. I can't risk anything happening to you. I'll quit my job. I'll drop you off at school and pick you up. You won't leave my sight until that man is caught and back in prison."
"You're not quitting your job. This has nothing to do with me." I take a breath. "This is why I don't tell you stuff. You always overreact."
"I'm overreacting?" She points down the hall toward the ICU. "There's a young man down there, clinging to his life, because his sociopath father decided to break out of prison and beat up his son. If he'd do that to his own flesh and blood, what do you think he'd do to a girl he doesn't even know?"
"He's not going to come after me. He doesn't even know what I look like. I can't talk about this. I'm going back to the waiting room." I storm off, furious she's reacting like this. The last thing I need right now is for her to be ordering me around, lecturing me, and making me feel stupid for dating Dean. If she wants to be that way, she can leave.
"Brook!" I hear Eve's voice, then see her running down the hall, a shopping bag on each shoulder, the bags swinging as she runs.
"Eve, what are you doing here?"
"I came as soon as I found out." She hugs me. "Kendrick told me as I was leaving school. Why didn't you call me?"
"Sorry. I've been so caught up in everything that's going on I didn't even think to call."
"It's okay. I'm here now." She holds out the bags. "Here."
"What's all this?"
"Supplies." She points to one of the bags. "This one is snacks, mostly chocolate but also some energy drinks Evan recommends, and some packs of gum. My mom says chewing gum relieves stress, although I've never found that to be true. The other bag has stuff to distract you. Word puzzles. Adult coloring books. A really dirty romance novel."
I smile. "You bought a romance novel?"
"It's my mom's. She has tons of them."
"You must be Eve," my mom says, coming up behind me.
"Yeah." She smiles at my mom. "I'm Brook's friend."
"Yes, she's told me all about you. It was nice of you to come by."
"Oh, I'm not just stopping by. I'm here for as long as Brook needs me."
"What about work?" I ask.
"I called in. Told her I had a family emergency. She was totally cool with it."
"Eve, you didn't have to do that."
"Um, yeah, I did," she says like I'm crazy. "Your boyfriend's in the hospital. You really think I'd let you sit here all alone?"
"Boyfriend?" my mom says.
Eve's eyes bounce between my mom and me. "I mean, friend. I didn't mean boyfriend. I don't know why I said that."
"I think I know why," my mom says, putting her arm around me. "I think we need to start having more talks."
"Okay, yes, we're dating but it's recent. We decided to start dating last night. I didn't have a chance to tell you."
"I'm going to go down to the cafeteria," she says with a sigh. "I think I need that coffee after all. Do you need anything?"
"No, I'm good."
She wal
ks off.
"Sorry," Eve whispers. "I thought she knew."
"It doesn't matter. She would've found out anyway."
"Why didn't you tell her?"
"Are you kidding? She doesn't even like that I'm friends with Dean. She tried to tell me I couldn't see him anymore."
"Why? Because he's poor?"
"That, and because he's not like Chad."
"Chad was an ass. She really wants you to get back with that guy?"
"Maybe not Chad, but someone like him. Someone who's smart, sophisticated, comes from a rich family and has the potential to make a lot of money."
"Dean could make a lot of money. The way he plays football? He could go pro someday."
"He's done playing football," I say, looking down. "Something happened to his knee."
She takes the bags from me and loops her arm around mine. "Let's go sit down. Where do you want to go?"
"The ICU. I want to be there in case he wakes up."
We go find a seat in the waiting room, back in the corner, near a window.
"So how bad is it?" Eve asks.
"Bad." I tell her about Dean's injuries, then I tell her everything that happened from the moment I left school, including the stuff about Jake being taken.
"Holy shit," she says. "You need more than chocolate."
"I know. I don't think anything would make me feel better right now."
She takes a chocolate bar out of the bag and hands it to me. "Just in case."
I smile. "Thanks."
"You want me to go in with you when you see him?"
"You can't. Only family is allowed. I had to lie and say I was his sister."
"You lied?" Her eyes get wide. "Little Miss Perfect?"
"Hey! I'm far from perfect. And you know I lie. I've been lying to my parents this whole time."
"And then I ruined it. Oops!" She covers her mouth.
"You didn't ruin it. I told her almost everything before you got here, except the part about me dating Dean."
"Mrs. Sanders?" I hear the nurse say. I look over and see her waving at my mom as she comes down the hall.
"Did she just call your mom Mrs. Sanders?" Eve asks.
"The nurse thinks she's related to Dean."
"And your mom didn't correct her?"
"It's the only way she could get information so she just went along with it."
"Your mom lied for you." She nudges me. "She can't be that bad."
"She's not. But I'm not letting her keep me away from Dean."
I watch as my mom talks to the nurse.
"If she was keeping you from Dean, you wouldn't be here right now," Eve says. "And she wouldn't be lying to get information for you."
"I guess, but then why is she telling me to stay away from him?"
"Did she tell you that today?"
"Before you got here she was talking about moving away. That's how much she wants to get me away from Dean."
"She's just panicking because of what happened. It's a mom thing. My mom freaks out about stuff all the time, and then the next day she's back to normal. Like last year, this guy brought a gun to school and my mom told Evan and me we could never go back there. She said she was going to homeschool us. Then the next day, she changed her mind and we were back at school."
My mom walks over to us. "You can go see him."
"I can?" I jump up from my chair. "Right now?"
My mom nods. "Would you like me to come with you?"
"No. I want to do this alone."
"Then I guess I'll wait with your friend." She smiles at Eve.
"Want some chocolate?" Eve holds up the bag.
I hurry over to the nurses' desk. "I'm here to see Dean Sanders."
"Right this way." She takes me through a door and stops at a sink. "You'll need to wash your hands."
After that's done, she takes me through a room full of beds. I thought he'd be in a separate room, not one big one. We go past some curtains and she stops.
"Dean?" she says, going past the curtain. "You have a visitor. Your sister is here."
"Sister?" His voice sounds weak, barely a whisper, not at all like his normal deep strong voice.
"Come on in," the nurse says.
I'm scared. I want to see him but I'm afraid to. I'm afraid to see what that monster did to him.
Approaching the curtain, I slowly slide it over and see Dean in the bed. I gasp, then cover my mouth, noticing my hand is shaking.
That's not Dean. It can't be. It doesn't even look like him. He's covered in bandages, and whatever's not covered is swollen and bruised. His left eye is outlined in a dark black circle and is so swollen you can barely see his eye.
"Brook?" he whispers.
Hearing him say my name makes tears well up in my eyes. I was trying to be strong, trying not to cry, but I can't do it. My heart is breaking, seeing him like this, knowing what he went through to end up here.
Chapter Five
Brook
"Hey," I say, smiling through the tears as I slowly approach Dean.
"Let me just check something," the nurse says, messing with his IV. "Okay, you're good." She smiles at him, then says to me, "It may be hard for him to talk after the surgery." She points to her neck.
I nod. "Okay."
She leaves and I step closer to Dean.
"I've been waiting for you to wake up," I say, trying really hard to smile.
"Come here," he whispers, opening his hand. He's too weak to reach his arm out. Just hours ago, he could lift me off the ground with no effort at all, and now he can't even lift his arm.
"I'm right here," I say, taking his hand as I stand by his bed. I'm trying to look at him but I keep looking away. It's so hard to see him like this. I can't believe his own father would do this. If they ever find him, he should be locked away for life.
"I'm sorry," he whispers, his eyes fluttering.
"For what? You don't have to be sorry."
"We were..." He takes a breath. "Tell people."
I rub his hand. "It's okay. We'll tell them later. When you're better."
His eyes move slowly over my face. "I could see you."
"What?" I ask, not sure what he means.
"When everything went black, I saw you."
"You mean when you were sleeping?"
His other hand lifts to the bandage on his throat.
"Dean, what's wrong? Do you need me to get the nurse?"
"No," he whispers, lowering his hand.
Keeping hold of his hand, I move a chair over and sit beside his bed. "How are you feeling?"
It's a dumb question. Given how he looks, I'm sure he feels awful but I didn't know what else to say.
"Better." He softly smiles. "With you."
I smile back. "I'll stay as long as they let me." I lean closer to him and whisper, "I had to tell them I'm your sister to get in here. Just play along if they ask."
"Sister?" he laughs, then cringes, his hand going back to his neck.
"Are you okay?" I ask, getting up.
"Yeah." He lowers his hand. "How long?"
"Have I been here? Hours. I came as soon as I found out."
"How long..." he takes a breath, "have I been here?"
"Since this morning."
His eyes close for a moment, then open again. He's really out of it. It must be the drugs they gave him for the pain. I can't even imagine the amount of pain he's in. Every part of him is bruised or swollen, and that's just what I can see on the outside. His insides are damaged too.
"Danny was here," I say. "The other guys are coming later."
"Tell them to go," he says, his eyes closing. "I don't want them seeing me. Like this."
"They won't. They're not allowed in here. But they still want to come." I put my hand along his cheek. "They love you. So do I."
"I love you too," he whispers, taking my hand from his cheek and bringing it to his lips. He softly kisses my hand, then brings it down to rest on his chest. "I knew he'd come."
I as
sume he means his dad. I keep quiet, hoping he won't ask me what happened. He needs to know about Jacob, but not yet. Not when he's still in such a fragile state. There's nothing he can do about it so worrying him won't do any good. It might even make him worse.
"Where's Jake?" he asks.
Shit. What do I say?
The nurse appears. "The doctor will be in soon," she says to me as she checks on Dean. "I'm sorry, but you'll need to go."
"Okay." I look down at Dean, forcing out a smile. "I'll be back."
His eyes close, then flutter open before closing again.
"He's got a lot of drugs in him," the nurse says to me.
"When will he get out of here? Like go to a regular room?"
"When he's more stable. The doctor wants him to remain here until we start to see some improvement."
"Any idea how long that will be?"
She looks at him. "I really can't say. He's young and strong so the chances are good his recovery will be quicker than most. Do you need me to show you out?"
"No. I know where to go."
Dean's eyes are closed and he looks like he's sleeping.
I lightly squeeze his hand. "Bye, Dean."
His eyes flutter open and his lips move, just slightly, but no sound comes from him. I set his hand down and step back from his bed. I get one last look at him, then leave, walking quickly past the curtains and beds back to the waiting area.
Eve sees me and runs up to me, pulling me into a hug. "It's okay."
As she says it I realize I'm crying, my face wet from tears.
"He looked horrible. Every part of him was bandaged or bruised." I sniffle. "I barely recognized him."
"He'll get better." She pulls back, holding my arms. "It's only the first day."
"He could barely talk. And his neck. He kept trying to reach for it, like it was hurting and...I didn't know how to help him."
"You helped him by being there. Let's go sit down."
She takes me over to where my mom is sitting.
"How was it?" my mom asks, helping me to my chair.
"Bad. Really bad."
"I'm sorry, honey. Is there anything I can do?"
I shake my head, staring at the floor, still seeing Dean in that bed, bandaged and broken and barely recognizable.
"How he's doing?" I hear someone say.
Looking up, I see Danny, Kendrick, and Josh coming toward me. They're all big and strong, like Dean used to be. How did he go from that to the person I just saw lying in that bed? How long did his dad beat him to hurt him like that? And why didn't Dean fight back? Maybe he did but his dad was stronger. But I can't imagine anyone being stronger than Dean.