Page 11 of Montana Mystery

“Okay.” I tried not to show my eagerness too much. Brandon awake was the only thing that I wanted. I needed to know what had happened to him. “I’d like that.”

“So for the next day, you can feel free to go home and get some rest. There won’t be anything happening here.”

My own smile was forced. “I’ll think about it, thanks.”

Clearly aware that I wasn’t interested in that idea, the doctor took his leave. I couldn’t leave Brandon here. As much as sleeping in my own bed sounded nice, I knew that as soon as I went home and tried to sleep, all I would do was worry about what could happen while I was gone.

It would be as equally exhausting and uncomfortable as just staying the night here. I could catch up on good sleep later when Brandon was out of the coma and we knew more about what had caused this in the first place.

Time passed slowly in the hospital.

The next day, the nurse slowly decreased the drip that was keeping him sedated. Finally, she was able to turn it off completely. I was relieved. I’d been trying to convince myself it was all an accident. No matter how unlikely it seemed, that was what Brandon was going to wake up and tell me.

Wrong place, wrong time, and nothing more.

I was knee-deep in emails when I heard the rustle of fabric, followed by a groan. The sound was only pain.

Brandon moved for the first time since I’d seen him in the hospital. “Brandon?”

He opened one eye. The other was still swollen enough that he couldn’t open it even if he’d wanted to. “Kate?”

Shoving my laptop onto the chair next to me, I was on my feet immediately. “Hi. Oh my God, Brandon. You have no idea how glad I am to see you awake.”

Another soft groan. “Probably not as glad as I am to be awake. How long has it been?”

“Two days.”

“Fuck.” The word was soft under his breath. “That’s not good.”

Dread seeped through my gut. “Why? What the hell is going on? Who did this to you?”

He was pale from the pain. Whatever they were using to sedate him must have been keeping that at bay too. “It doesn’t matter.”

“The hell it doesn’t. After Mom and Dad, you don’t get to say that to me. I don’t want another call that you’ve been dropped off at the emergency room beaten nearly to death. What happened?”

Anger and shame burned in his eye. He didn’t want to tell me, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to give an inch on this. “I was gambling.”

I swore quietly. “I thought you were doing okay with that.”

“I was,” he said. “It was a one time thing. Should have been a one time thing. You don’t understand, Katie. It was a sure bet.”

“Don’t call me Katie. And you should know by now that there’s no such thing as a sure bet.”

“It was.”

“Brandon—” I cut myself off. I was so happy to see him up. But now that he was, I was having a hard time keeping my own anger in check. “How much did you lose?”

“Enough.”

“Enough? Obviously it wasn’t enough if this is what they did to you for it. Who did this?”

He pressed his lips together. I knew him well enough to know it meant he didn’t want to tell me and was going to try his best not to.

“Do you have any idea how out of my mind I’ve been? I went through your clothes and the only thing I found in there was Noah Scott’s number, so I went out to Resting Warrior to find out what the hell was going on. But they didn’t do this to you. So who did?”

“You did what?” The visceral anger in his tone made me take a step back. “Why would you do that?”

“What would you have done?” I asked. “If it were me and the only thing you could hold on to was a scrap of paper with a phone number? I did what I had to.”

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