Mary kissed her mother’s cheek. “Thank you, Ma.”
The door opened behind them and Bradley entered. “Dr. Thorne is on rounds,” he explained. “She’ll be coming in as soon as she can.”
Maggie gave Mary’s hand a soft squeeze and then stood up. She walked over to Bradley and, tiptoeing, placed a kiss on his cheek. “You take care of my baby girl,” she said.
“There’s nothing else more important to me,” he replied.
She looked up into his eyes and saw the truth in his words. “I know that,” she said. “Help her to trust again.”
Bradley nodded. “I will.”
When the door closed behind Maggie, Bradley cautiously approached the bed. “I have to admit I’m a little unsure of things,” he said. “I don’t want to frighten you.”
Mary nodded, took a deep breath and patted her bed. “Why don’t we try having you sit down here next to me and then I’ll try to explain things. But first, I have some questions.”
Bradley sat tentatively on the bed, trying to give her all the space she needed. “Okay, what questions?”
“I remember the brunch, what happened next?”
“Gary drugged everyone and once they had all passed out, kidnapped you,” he explained. “I was looking at the webcam and saw everyone passed out. I called the local police chief and had him check things out. When Jeannine realized that it was Gary and he had you, she immediately went to help.”
Mary nodded slowly. “I remember Jeannine talking to me and I can remember glimpses of fighting Gary, but it wasn’t me.”
He shook his head. “No, you were drugged, but Jeannine was able to somehow enter your body and together you both kicked his ass.”
She studied Bradley for a moment. “Okay, that’s not exactly what happened, was it?” she asked. “What are the things you are leaving out?”
Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair. “When I found out Gary had you I immediately went to his home,” he began reluctantly. “I searched the house and finally found a room in the basement.”
“Was I in there?”
He shook his head. “No, there was a desk, a chair and an upright freezer, the room was pretty empty. I opened the freezer and found the remains of a woman wrapped in plastic.”
Mary gasped, covering her mouth with her hands, “Who?”
“I thought it was Jeannine,” Bradley said. “And then I found a box with the remains of an embryo.”
Reaching out, she placed her hand on his arm. “You thought it was your daughter, didn’t you?”
He nodded. “When I saw what he had done to Jeannine and my daughter, and then I realized he had you…”
Taking a deep breath, he turned away for a moment. “I realized that if he wasn’t home, he had to be at his office,” he said. “When I got there, he had you cornered. Your face was bruised; he had a broom handle in his hand…”
Turning back to her, he met her eyes. “I went a little crazy,” he said. “I tackled him and started to hit him. I just couldn’t stop. Thank God Sean arrived, or I might have killed him.”
There was a brief moment of silence and Bradley wondered how Mary would react to his confession. He had been unprofessional. He had nearly killed a suspect.
Mary cocked her head to the side and bit her lower lip. “I’m afraid I’m going to shock you,” she said. “But after living through what he did to Jeannine and knowing what he was going to do to me, I can’t regret anything you did to him. You didn’t hit him because you were angry; you hit him because you were avenging Jeannine. I know it’s not the right way to view it, but, thank you for making him be a victim, for at least a little while.”
Tension, he didn’t realize he had been feeling, was released. “I never want to be that out of control again,” he said.
“I don’t think that’s something you have to worry about.”
“How did you know the baby wasn’t mine?” he asked. “You said something about hearing her cry before you passed out.”
Mary took a deep breath and sat back in her pillows. “I was there, sort of, when Jeannine gave birth.”
He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
“You remember when I told you that Jeannine had to use my body in order to be hypnotized, right?”
He nodded.
“Well, it was more than just using my body,” Mary explained. “I actually lived through all of her memories.”
“Wait… So you experienced what Gary did to her?” he asked, the realization of her words staggering him. “You felt her fears? You felt… Did he rape you?”
Mary closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath and then faced Bradley. “Yes,” she said, releasing the word with a shuddering exhale. “He raped her…me. Yes, I experienced everything he did to her.”
“I should have killed him,” Bradley said softly, his eyes hard with anger.
He stood up and walked away from her bed, facing the wall instead of looking into her eyes. Guilt and self-loathing filled him. He had asked for her help to solve Jeannine’s murder. He had allowed her to be hypnotized. He was the reason she was lying in a hospital bed. He was the reason she was raped.
“Bradley?” Mary’s shy, uncertain voice brought another wave of remorse.
“I am so sorry for what I’ve caused you,” he rasped, “So damn sorry.”
He heard her sigh deeply. “Bradley, you aren’t going to be able to help me if you keep blaming yourself. And I really need your help.”
“What?” he asked, spinning around to face
her.
She was still sitting up at the top of the bed; the covers clasped in her hands and pulled up to her neck. Her face was pale and he could see that she was trying her hardest to be brave.
“I need your help,” she said, her voice caught slightly, but she cleared her throat and continued. “I don’t want him to win. I don’t want to be afraid.”
“What can I possibly do to help you, Mary?” he asked, lifting his hands in bewilderment. “I’ve let you down more than I’ve helped you lately. How do you know I won’t make it worse?”
Taking a deep breath, she leaned forward and met his eyes. “Because you are the only man I’ve loved, Bradley Alden. And if you can’t help me trust men again, then no one can.”
He exhaled slowly and nodded. Keeping his eyes on hers, he walked back to the bed and sat down next to her. Leaning forward, he lifted his hand and lightly placed it against the side of her face, tenderly stroking her cheek with his thumb.
“He won’t win, Mary,” he said softly. “I’ll help you.”
He felt her stiffen under his hand, but he continued to rhythmically caress her.
“Besides, it would really be a shame,” he said.
She took a deep breath; inhaling the familiar scent of him and trying to force herself to relax. “What would be a shame?”
“I bought one of those black spandex shirts you liked so much,” he teased. “I’d hate to have to return it.”
A giggle erupted from deep inside of her and her tension started to slip away.
“It took me hours to find the right one,” he continued, moving his thumb so he gently grazed her lips. “I even called Ian and asked him where to shop.”
“The right one?” she asked, her lips turning up in a smile.
“Aye,” he said, trying to imitate Ian’s accent, “One that will show off me man boobies.”
Chuckling, she recalled their late night conversations over the internet. She remembered his concern for her and his confidence in her. She studied his face for
a moment and felt love replace
her fear. She nestled her head into his hand, placing a soft kiss on his thumb. “I can’t wait to see it,” she said.
“I can’t wait to show it to you,” he said softly, gently sliding his thumb over her lips.
She stifled a yawn and smiled. “I guess I must be feeling more relaxed because suddenly I’m exhausted.”
“Why don’t you rest up for a bit? I’ll stay here and watch over you.”
“Thank you,” she said, her eyelids slowly shutting. “I just need a nap, that’s all.”
“Sweet dreams, sweetheart,” he whispered, slipping his hand out from under her head as her rhythmic breathing indicated she was already asleep. “We’ll win. I promise.”
A soft knock on the hospital room door an hour later immediately brought Bradley to full attention. He pushed himself out of the armchair he’d been resting in and positioned himself between Mary and the door.
Dr. Louise Thorne slipped into the room, her white lab coat over her blue jeans and flannel shirt. “How is she doing?” she asked in a low voice.
“Good. I guess,” he replied.
“So what do you mean by that?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Well, she was alert and didn’t seem to have any memory loss or have any trouble speaking,” he said. “But…”
He hesitated, trying to decide how much he could share with Dr. Thorne about Mary’s experience. “She went through a fairly traumatic ordeal,” he finally said. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Just tell me and I’ll ask any questions,” Dr. Thorne suggested.
“She was put under hypnosis to help solve a case and she actually lived through someone else’s memories. She felt as though she was experiencing them - felt the pain and the emotion,” he said. “This person, this victim, had been kidnapped, held for quite a few months and raped repeatedly.”
Dr. Thorne took a deep breath and glanced over at Mary. “And she remembers it all?”
He nodded. “When she woke up… I was so relieved, so I hugged her,” he said. “And she was afraid of me.”
She put her hand on his arm. “Not you, Bradley,” she said. “She is trying to deal with the psychological trauma. Fear is one of the most common and most understandable reactions when a woman is raped.”
“Does she need counseling?”
Smiling, she looked over at Mary again. “Yes, that would be a good idea, but I have a feeling that Mary is the type who will try and tough it out on her own,” she said. “Until she finally decides she needs help. You can’t force her to get
help,
she has to decide it’s a good idea.”
“So, what do I do in the meantime?”
“What did she ask you to do?”
“She asked for my help,” he said. “She wants to be able to trust again and she asked me to help her.”
“That’s sounds like a good start. If she is sleeping this soundly while you are in the room with her, she does trust you,” she said. “And it seems that she understands this might be a long process. Bradley, have you had any experience with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?”
He nodded. “Yeah, some of the guys I served with had it.”
“When a person is raped, they experience a disorder that is very similar,” she explained. “They often have flashbacks or nightmares. They are more fearful than they used to be and often try to isolate themselves in order to feel some level of security. The world is not a safe place for them anymore.”
Bradley’s jaw tightened. He turned away from Dr. Thorne and his gaze rested on Mary.
“Did you rape her?” Dr. Thorne asked sharply.
Bradley turned back quickly. “What? Hell no,” he whispered fiercely.
Dr. Thorne nodded and stepped up to face Bradley. “Then stop clenching your jaw and letting your anger get the best of you,” she said. “Yes, whoever did this deserves the worst punishment available. But that’s not going to help Mary.
What’s
going to help her is you being calm and supportive. Do you understand?”
He took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, I got it Doc.”
“You got it, but can you do it?” she asked, her eyebrows
raised
.
He nodded. “Yeah, I will do it.”
“Good, now let’s get her checked out of this hospital and home as soon as we can,” she said.
Shaking his head, Bradley wondered if he heard her correctly. “Home?” he asked. “Doesn’t she need to be in the hospital?”
Moving to the bed and scanning the clipboard at the end, she nodded. “Oh, if it were anyone else, they’d be staying,” she said. “But being here adds more stress than benefits. And I know that between you and the rest of your tight knit group, she’ll be well watched over. Although, I need you to promise me if you see anything that concerns you, you’ll call me immediately.”
“Yes, I promise,” he agreed. “And you’re right, she will be well looked after.”