he was too big. Too strong.” Bex screamed out in frustration. “Why did we go with them?” She jerked her gaze to Dr. Rawlins. “Why?”
“You didn’t know, Bex. You had no way of knowing. You said yourself the party was crowded. No one would suspect anything would happen like that at a crowded party with so many people around.”
“Ugh,” she shouted in anger. She jumped to her feet now, shocking Bracken who didn’t move.
She paced toward the window, her hands on her head. When she spun around, she was not looking at either of them, and she spoke as if she were watching that damn scene unfold. “He fucking made me watch. That asshole fucking held me against the wall and made me watch while his friend yanked off Jenny’s clothes. He stripped her naked and kept slapping her hard in the face. He kept telling her to be quiet or he would kill her. She had no choice but to do as he said. When she tried to scramble away, he yanked her back under him. He pinned her to the bed, jerked his jeans down a few inches, and then he raped her. My best friend. He raped her right in front of me. He kept pounding into her over and over and over. She wasn’t moving. She stopped fighting him. I thought she was dead.” Her words kept coming faster and faster in a rush.
Bracken couldn’t breathe. He’d suspected all of this, but hearing it was so much worse.
“And his friend, the guy holding me, kept talking. He kept telling me that I was next. That I would watch Jenny get her cunt filled and then it would be my turn. He said they were going to switch back and forth. That they were both going to fuck us until they were too tired to stand.”
Bracken wasn’t sure his heart could stand this. He hurt so badly for the woman he was falling in love with. He was afraid to hear what happened next because he didn’t think Bex had been raped. Something about her tone and what he knew about her told him this story was about to end.
“I thought she was dead, but maybe she just shut down. She wasn’t moving. She just let him jerk her across the bed over and over while he raped her. I couldn’t see her eyes, but I didn’t know why she wasn’t moving. When he finally pulled out and leaned back, she suddenly lifted a hand and punched him right in the jaw. She screamed as loud as she could.”
Bex grabbed her throat in a motion Bracken was growing used to. Throughout this entire nightmare, the other guy had been holding her by the throat. “I was so stunned to realize she was still alive, though I don’t know why I thought she was dead. There hadn’t been a good reason. But suddenly, everything changed. The guy holding me gripped me even tighter. My feet were barely touching the ground, and his other hand was over my mouth, blocking my nose. I couldn’t breathe. And then his friend was angry. He lifted Jenny off the bed like a rag doll and slammed her head into the headboard.”
Bracken gasped, unable to stop himself.
Bex didn’t seem to notice. “I heard the crack. Her eyes went wide for just a second and then nothing. Blood. So much blood. It poured out of the back of her skull. And the guy kept shaking her. He shook her so hard. But she was really dead by then. Her body was so limp and all I could see was the red blood because my tears were falling so hard and so fast and I couldn’t wipe them away and the other guy was holding me tighter and tighter.”
Bex was sobbing now. Sucking in air and sobbing over and over. She stood rigid, swiping her face to no avail.
“What happened next, Bex?” Dr. Rawlins encouraged.
Bex’s voice was calmer. “I blacked out. I woke up the next day in the hospital.” Another sob.
Dr. Rawlins pulled some tissues from a box and lifted them out toward Bracken. He was surprised, but realized the doctor thought it would be best if he went to Bex. Without hesitating, he shoved off the couch, grabbed the tissues, and crossed the room to reach Bex.
He pulled her into his arms, ignoring the tissues. He needed to hold her against him as tightly as possible. To hell with his shirt. So what