Page 55 of White Raven
“Why are you doing this for me?” Brent asked, confused.
“Because, as of now, you and I are on the same side of this asshole’s teetering fate. Now zip it, and let them finish up paperwork, so you can go home.”
“Damn,” Athan smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Yeah, I second that.” Rhaena cut Brandon a glare that made him swallow, and he turned towards the opposite wall.
“Who are you?” Brenwick asked, startling the timid woman, who pushed her thin-rimmed glasses up her nose. Pretty. Clean. She’d seen her somewhere before.
“I—I’m his doctor. Melissa Ambrose. I was called up here to—”
“Good. You can give him a ride home once he’s finished up here. Brent, I’ll be waiting for you in the captain’s office. I just need to square up a few things.”
With that, she nodded to everyone, and the door buzzed as she stepped out and clacked herself back down the hall. Everyone just stood and stared at one another. Rhaena couldn’t help but feel completely inferior around that woman. This other woman though—Dr. Ambrose—the way she kept looking at Brent. That was…a little more than professional.
“Are you okay with this, Brent?” Rhaena asked, scoping him out. He only nodded, returning his glazed-over stare to the floor. She locked eyes with Athan then, holding it and trying not to get emotional again. “You missed your flight?”
“Not too upset about it. Sarah was pretty persistent on rushing back. Pleasant release of tension in my balls. I’d rather let Stratford kick my ass than get on that bird.”
Brent snorted and shook his head. Brandon cracked from behind the doctor, whose face turned five shades of red. Rhaena smiled at the doctor.
“You alright over there, doc?”
Dr. Ambrose cleared her throat, still blushing. “I can’t offer any professional opinion as far as your lower extremities, but…perhaps take a bus? A train?”
Well, that lightened the situation. They all snickered, and Rhaena patted Brent’s shoulder before walking out, Brandon on her heels. “Sit tight, Stratford. I’ll get your paperwork filed and get you outta here.” They left holding, and started back towards Rhaena’s desk, and she tugged on Brandon’s sleeve when he turned to go the opposite direction. “Hey,” she groaned, pulling him to the side of the hall. He stuffed his hands into his pants pockets, and sighed, staring at her like she was the one that had hurt him earlier. “What’s this all about? Can we talk? I don’t like this…whatever this is between us.”
“Whatever this is, being our first potential fight? Yeah, me neither. But if I’m right about you, then I don’t think it’s anything we can’t handle. However, if you need me to tell you what the problem is, I think there’s a bigger issue here. Why don’t you take some time to think that over before we have this conversation. At home. Not work.” He leaned in and kissed the top of her head before turning away and silently continuing down the hall to his desk.
Every step he took away from her for the second time today felt…horrible. She realized then just how much she cared about Brandon Jenkins, and how different it was from the way she’d always cared for Athan. Of course, itwouldhit her now that she thought breaking down in front of Wren’s apartment was goodbye to a part of her life that felt much more connected than it suddenly did now. The thought of not being withBrandon was crushing. Rhaena pushed off the wall and dragged her heels across the floor the entire way back to her desk.
CHAPTER 11
AGGRESSIVE
The pile of luggage sitting by the door was just another indication of how absolutely fucked everything continued to be, as Sarah paced back and forth across the apartment waiting to hear the sound of footsteps up the stairs outside her door. She glanced at the phone she was white-knuckling in her hand, growing more irritated and nervous by the second when not a single text or call was missed. Finally, after fifteen more agonizing minutes, Wren’s stomping thundered upstairs. She burst through the unlocked door wheezing.
“Damn, I’m outta shape. And I gotta quit smoking.”
“Took you long enough,” Sarah said, tossing her hands up.
“Denver’s fat ass got out the door and I had to chase him down the hall. What was so important? You know my nerves can’t take this kinda shit right now, dude.”
Sarah shook her head. “Do you ever watch the news?”
“Are you being serious, right now? Why am I even here? You’re supposed to be landing in two hours…in Washington.”
Sarah handed her the phone and waited while Wren scrolled through unsettling images of Brent being loaded into a marked police car, bloodied and humble. Her facial expressions were enough to spear Sarah straight through the chest. “Athan’s with him. I haven’t heard from him in a couple hours. He took the bike.”
“What the fuck happened?”
“I’m not sure, but honestly…on the way back home to drop our shit off, Athan did refresh my memory about Brentlooking a little worse for wear, even before the funeral. He shouldn’t have gone back to work that soon. I tried to talk to him that day we picked him up from the hospital about the antidepressants. That doctor warned us. None of us listened.”
Wren gave the phone back and trudged over to plop down on the couch, sighing and dragging a palm down her face. “He told me he’d keep lying. That he wasn’t okay, and he’d continue to tell people he’s fine. I was too wrapped up in my own shit to really say anything. It’s just as much on me as it is anyone else.”
“Wren, you went through a lot, too. You can’t shoulder his shitandyours,” Sarah offered, sitting down beside her. “You need to talk about it too, though. What’s the deal with you and Brent? I know I said I wouldn’t ask, but in light of recent events…”
Wren blew hair out of her face and rolled her eyes before leaning back against the couch and slapping her thighs. “I don’t know, dude. I flutter…you know? I like my options open. I cannotstanda textbook narcissist, or a stuck up, high-class individual. They make everything around them stifling and reeking of pig shit. I told you once…the night Athan found you in the alley…when Brent came to that club, I told you that one day you’d wake up and be married to that fool. That you’d be miserable and stuck with a pompous rich boy.”
