Mindy Sue took a washcloth from a drawer and folded it in half. She gently raised Brooke’s tank top enough to put it over her breasts. He guessed it was the best she could do without waking Brooke completely.
“Her pills are on the desk. She can’t have anything else until two in the morning. If she wakes up, help her the best you can. I’ll be downstairs on the second floor in room twelve. That’s Julie’s room. You remember her from summer last year. We all hung out at the ranch for a week.”
Cody remembered the petite blonde with the giggling personality. She was a sweet kid.Kid, he thought. She was only a year younger than Brooke. Brooke seemed to age before his eyes. He saw her now for the woman she was: a badass mother, who fought for her life and that of her child. He was sorry it had taken him this long to see how tough, resilient, and strong she’d become.
“I don’t know how she’s going to react to seeing you.”
“It’ll be fine. I love her. I’ll give her whatever she needs. But I’m not leaving her side for anything. Not now. Never again.”
Mindy Sue stared at Brooke, then him again. “Okay. You can have my bed for the night. If you need me, come down and get me. We’ll figure out what comes next in the morning.” She bit her bottom lip, obviously reluctant to leave.
“I’ll be gentle with her. You can trust me. She does.” He hoped that was still true. If not, he'd spend the rest of his life proving it to her.
Mindy Sue came to Cody and gave him a hug, holding him tight for a moment. He needed it. He gave her a squeeze. “Thank you for taking care of her, for being the friend she needed, for watching out for her, for…everything.” It should have been him with her, but he was glad Brooke had Mindy Sue.
She hugged him harder. “Make her happy again.”
He held her at arm’s length. “I won’t stop trying until I do.”
She nodded with a look in her eye that said she’d hold him to that. “I’ll see you in the morning.” Mindy Sue moved toward the door.
He waited for her to leave. The locks clicked into place with her key. He wondered if Brooke needed that sense of security even now, after Adam had been locked up.
Toeing off his shoes, he sat heavily on Mindy Sue’s bed. Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he dialed Susanne. Well after ten, but he knew she wouldn’t care about the time, and only needed to hear from him about her daughter.
He didn’t want to wake Brooke and walked to the door, undid the locks, then stepped out.
Susanne answered on the first ring, and he said the only thing that mattered. “She’s going to be okay. I swear it.” He would do anything to help Brooke heal. “I have to whisper. She’s asleep.” He didn’t want his voice to carry through the door or to others on the floor.
“What happened?
“She was attacked by the campus stalker.” He let that sink in for a moment. “But it’s a lot more complicated than just that.”
“Did they catch him? Who was it?”
“You can’t tell anyone for a lot of reasons.”
“I won’t. Just tell me.”
“Governor Harris’s son, Adam.” He paused and looked through the crack in the door at Brooke, twitching in her sleep. He wanted to go back in and softly touch her shoulder to try to soothe her but knew nothing he did would help her. “I’ll explain when I have more time.”
“And your baby?”
Your baby.
“Our little girl was killed during the attack,” he said, choked up, and let the tears fall.
Susanne’s tears and grief drifted through the phone. “No, Cody. No,” she sobbed. “I didn’t want it to be true.”
“It is.” He needed to face reality and be strong for Brooke. She needed him to hold it together so she could fall apart and he’dbe there to pick up the pieces. “I spoke with Mindy Sue. She told me everything. I’ll fill you in on the details when I can. I want to bring her home tomorrow, but I’m not sure I can because of her injuries. They’re bad. The drive will be hard on her. She might fight me about coming home to the ranch after…everything that’s happened.”
“If she can’t come here, I’ll go there. We can stay in a hotel until she can travel. In the meantime, take care of my girl, Cody. Tell her I love her. Tell her I want her home. Tell her nothing else matters. We’ll take care of her.”
Nothing else matters, as in it didn’t matter that she hadn’t told them about the baby. No one would be upset with her over it.
Cody had to agree. He’d made it impossible for Brooke to come to him.
Shaking off his misery, he remembered the most important thing was getting her well.
