Page 21 of Trial Run

“Ben would eat pizza for dinner every night of the week if he could, but given a choice between these two options, he’s more of a sandwich guy.”

“Then sandwiches it is.” Reggie looked around. “Where do you keep the bread?”

Brooke pointed to the pantry across the room, both grateful and sad to send Reggie out of her orbit for a moment so she could compose herself. In the meantime, she pulled condiments, the packet of sliced turkey, and the provolone cheese that Ben liked out of the fridge and set them on the counter. When Reggie returned with the bread, she handed her plates and asked her to set the table.

She’d just started arranging the fixings on a platter when Reggie held up the envelope Peterson had brought over. “This fell on the floor,” she said. “Where would you like me to put it?”

She’d been so preoccupied with Reggie’s presence, she hadn’t paid attention to the fact this envelope looked exactly like the others that had shown up, each carrying threats about the pending trial. Without thinking, she snatched the envelope from Reggie’s hand and gripped it tightly. She wanted to rip it open and confront whatever was inside, but she also wanted to burn it and forget it had ever existed. She looked up to see Reggie staring at her with a worried expression.

“Something’s wrong.”

“No, everything’s fine.”

“Are you expecting bad news?”

Brooke shook her head afraid if she spoke out loud she wouldn’t be able to keep her secret any longer, but Reggie was not to be deterred.

“Wait a minute. You mentioned something about envelopes before. Didn’t you accuse me of putting an envelope in your purse? Is someone harassing you? Is it that guy I saw you talking to in the parking garage yesterday?”

Brooke felt the tears start to form and she swiped at her eyes with her hand, determined she wasn’t going to cry in front of Reggie who would no doubt think she’d lost her mind. As if it could hear her plea, the universe interrupted with a rousing version of “The Imperial March.”

“What’s that?” Reggie asked.

Brooke took a deep breath and prayed for composure. “It’s my son.” She reached for her phone relieved for the interruption. “Hey, kid, where are you?”

“Mom, don’t freak out, but I’m at the hospital.”

* * *

Reggie steered the Jeep into the parking lot at Baylor, hopped out, and snatched the ticket from the valet’s hand. Brooke was already running through the hospital doors.

Brooke had barely spoken on their way here, but Reggie had managed to find out Ben had been in a car accident and he’d hit his head on the passenger side door. The officer on scene had called an ambulance and both Ben and the driver had been brought here to be checked out.

She caught up with Brooke at the reception desk in the ER where she was having an animated discussion with the nurse on duty.

“He just called from here so no, he hasn’t been released. Besides, he’s a minor, so you need my permission for any treatment—that should be a good enough reason to tell me where he is. Right. Freaking. Now.”

Reggie touched her elbow and Brooke whirled around, fists clenched and ready to fight. Reggie raised her hands in surrender. “Hey, hey, not looking for a fight.” She pointed at her chest. “Support only.” She looked over Brooke’s head at the nurse. “Seriously, don’t keep her waiting. Her kid just called and said he was here waiting on her. His name is Ben Dawson, and he was in a car accident.”

The nurse sighed and typed a few keystrokes into her computer. “Sorry about that,” she said. “He wasn’t released, but he was taken for an X-ray. He should be back down here bynow.” She pointed to a set of doors to her right. “Go on back and look for room number three.”

Brooke shot through the doors and Reggie jogged to catch up. When they reached the room, she saw a lanky kid sitting on the edge of the bed talking to a nurse. Brooke was instantly at his side, gently hugging him, and asking if he was okay. Repeatedly. He insisted he was before launching into a colorful description of the entire incident.

“We were driving down the street and Mia was going the exact speed limit when out of nowhere, this pickup shoots out from another street, blowing through the stop sign, and plows into us.”

Reggie watched Brooke stiffen at the description of what must’ve been a harrowing experience no matter how cool Ben was trying to play it off and she instinctively reached for Brooke’s arm again. This time Brooke didn’t shake her away, instead she leaned in.

“Who’s this?” Ben asked, pointing at her, his tone more curious than accusatory.

“I’m a friend of your mom’s,” Reggie spoke first to save Brooke from having to explain why some stranger had showed up at his bedside. “We’re serving on a jury together and I was with her when she got the call about your wreck. Is your friend okay?”

“Mia? She’s good. The airbag scraped her up a little and her car is pretty messed up, but that’s about it.” He stuck out his hand. “Ben Dawson. Nice to meet you.” He didn’t wait for a response before looking over at the nurse. “Can we go now?”

“The doctor has to sign off, but you should be good to go soon.” The nurse made a few notes in her tablet and turned to Brooke. “He hit his head, so the doctor’s going to want you to keep a close eye on him tonight to make sure he doesn’t have a concussion. He had a minor cut that’s been cleaned and bandaged,but otherwise he appears to be okay. He will likely be sore tomorrow. If you have any concerns, you can call or bring him back in. Dr. Murphy should be in soon to give you any additional instructions and sign his release.”

“Where’s Mia?” Brooke asked. “Is she still here?”

“She’s in the room next door. Also fine considering. The paramedics said it was quite an impact.”

---