Whispering Rock. Robyn Carr

the IV, she gently closed her eyes again. Her hand slipped out of his and he sat back in his chair. Then, his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his hands, he silently wept.

      Jack was back at the hospital before dawn, not looking particularly rested although he had showered and shaved. He had dark circles under eyes that were lit by a very scary inner brightness. Mike had sisters he cherished; he could imagine the rage that burned inside Jack.

      Mike stepped into the hall outside Brie’s door to quietly talk with Jack, explaining the night had been quiet and he thought Brie had rested. While they stood there, the doctor making rounds went into the room, his nurse in tow. Mike used that opportunity to visit the men’s room. He stared in the mirror; he looked far worse than Jack. He needed a shower and shave, but he didn’t want to leave her. Family members would be returning soon, but Mike didn’t think they’d be keeping Brie in the hospital for long.

      On his way back to Brie’s room, he saw Jack talking to a man outside her door. In fact, Jack was right up in his face. The officer providing security was stepping closer to them, making a gesture with his hands that they should separate. Then Mike realized it was Brie’s ex-husband, Brad, and that probably within seconds Jack was going to kill him just on principle.

      Mike made fast tracks. “Whoa,” he said, separating them first with an arm between them, then with his entire body. “Whoa,” he said again. “None of this. Come on.”

      From over Mike’s shoulder, Jack demanded of Brad, “What the hell are you doing here?”

      Brad glared meanly. “Nice to see you, too, Jack,” he said.

      “You don’t belong here,” Jack said too loudly. “You left her. You’re done with her.”

      “Hey,” he said, bristling. “I never stopped caring about Brie. Never will. I’m going to see her.”

      “I don’t think so,” Jack said. “She’s in no shape to have to deal with you right now.”

      “You’re not in charge of the guest list, Jack. That’s up to Brie.”

      “Come on,” Mike said sternly. “Let’s not do this here.”

      “Ask him if he wants to take it outside,” Jack snapped back.

      “Yeah, I’ll—”

      “Whoa,” Mike said yet again, widening the space between the two men. “This isn’t happening here!”

      Brad moved closer, pushing up against Mike, but lowered his voice cautiously. “I know you’re angry, Jack. In general and at me. I don’t blame you. But if you get tough with me, it’s going to be worse for Brie. And this officer is just going to hook you up.”

      Jack ground his teeth, pushing up against the other side of Mike. Mike was having some trouble holding them apart. “I really want to hit someone,” Jack said through clenched teeth. “Right now, you’d do as well as anyone. You walked out on your marriage. You left her while she was building a case against that son of a bitch. Do you have any idea what you did to her?”

      Oh, boy, Mike thought. It was going to happen between these two any second, right in the hospital hallway. Mike was a good six feet and pretty strong, but Brad and Jack were both taller, broader, angrier and not a shoulder injury between them. Mike was going to get hammered when they lost it and started pummeling each other.

      “Yeah,” Brad said. “Yeah, I do! And I want her to know that I still care about what happens to her. We’re divorced, but we have history. A lot of it good history. If I can do anything now …”

      “Hey!” Mike said to the cop. “Hey! Come on!”

      The police officer finally got in it, putting himself between Brad and Jack along with Mike. “All right, gentlemen,” the cop said. “I have my orders. No scuffling outside Ms. Sheridan’s door. If you want to talk this over calmly, I’d like you to move down the hall.”

      Oh, that was not a good suggestion, Mike thought. If they moved down the hall, they wouldn’t be talking. Mike cautiously backed Jack up a few steps. “Take a breath,” he said quietly. “You don’t want to do this.”

      Jack glowered at Mike. “You sure about that?”

      “Back off,” Mike said with as much authority as he could muster.

      Just then a nurse came out of Brie’s room and Brad snagged her too fast for Jack to intervene. “Ma’am, I’m Ms. Sheridan’s ex-husband. Brad. I’m also a police detective,” he said, badging her. “Off duty. Will you ask her if she’ll see me? Please?”

      The nurse made a U-turn and went back into the room.

      “What’s he doing here?” Brad asked, indicating Mike with his eyes and a jut of his chin.

      Oh, mistake, Mike thought instantly, stiffening. Was Brad crazy? Pissing off the guy who was keeping Jack from killing him? He felt his own fists begin to open and close. The ex wants to know why another man is here? He dumps his wife for another woman, but no guy is supposed to pick up where he left off? Mike actually smiled, though coldly. Balls, he thought. I should just let Jack beat him up.

      “He’s a cop,” Jack said, stretching the truth somewhat. “I asked him to come. To help.”

      “He can go,” Brad said. “We don’t need his help.”

      That did it. Mike took one fast step in Brad’s direction, but was stopped by a strong hand on the bad shoulder, pulling him back. That was all it took to get his attention; he wasn’t going to put Brie through this. But if they all ran into each other somewhere else, like the parking lot, he couldn’t make any promises. Right now he wanted a piece of Brad as much as Jack did.

      The nurse returned from the room and spoke to Brad. “When the doctor is finished, you can go in.”

      Brad had the good sense not to take on any superior airs. He didn’t avoid eye contact with the other men, however.

      “Let me ask you one question,” Jack said to Brad, trying to keep his voice under control to avoid being ejected by the uniform. “Were you at work the night it happened?”

      “No.”

      Jack ground his teeth. “Then if you hadn’t walked out on her for another woman, you’d have been at the house that night. Maybe waiting up for her to get home. Maybe right inside where you could hear her scream. So much for your good history.”

      “Hey,” Brad began, clearly wishing to argue the point. But Jack turned away from him and took several steps down the hall. Right then the doctor came breezing out of the room, looking down at the chart as he walked by all three men. Brad lifted his chin, glared briefly and entered Brie’s room.

      Mike let out his breath. “That was gonna be so ugly,” he said. He went to the chair outside Brie’s door and sat. Jack paced, fidgeting. He took several steps down the hall, away from the door.

      Mike rested his elbows on his knees. He scratched his itchy beard. He noticed the cop was standing beside him.

      “This has got to be tough,” the cop said to Mike, indicating Jack just a few feet away, his jaw pulsing and his hands in fists at his sides.

      Mike turned his head, looked up at the young officer. He glanced at his best friend; Jack was tortured, helpless. “Nothing can prepare you for something like this to happen to a woman you love,” he said softly. “Nothing.”

      Brie was released from the hospital that afternoon and she went home to her father’s house. Sam and Jack drove her while Mike followed in his own car, watching with concern. He hadn’t been around very many sexual assault victims in his police career, but certainly he’d come into contact with some. He had never seen a woman so stoic, so removed. Once they all arrived at Sam’s, she went directly to the room that had been hers when she was younger. She called Jack to come, to cover the mirror.

      Brie took her dinner on a tray in her