Nonstop (Open Skies #3) - Becca Jameson Page 0,39

if she cried all over him?

Eventually, he managed to lure her back to the couch where he sat with her next to him, holding her against his side. “I’m so sorry, baby,” he murmured, trying to remain calm for her.

“She’s gone,” Bex murmured. “My best friend died and I couldn’t stop it.”

Light bulbs went off. Bex had found herself in a similar situation on the airplane five weeks ago. Christa had been the one taken by the trafficker. Bex had watched completely helpless while the man held her hostage. Bracken couldn’t imagine how traumatic that must have been for Bex.

Dr. Rawlins let everyone sit with their thoughts for a few minutes. Bracken suspected she was rattled. Finally, she cleared her throat. “Did you see a counselor after this happened, Bex?”

“Yeah,” Bex murmured. “For a while, but mostly I just sat in his office and stared out the window. I wanted to die. It wasn’t fair that Jenny died and I didn’t. And my parents…they’re kind of religious…not that that matters much I don’t think, but they thought if I just went to church more often God would help me get through this.”

Bracken cringed. As did Dr. Rawlins, he noticed. Bex wasn’t looking.

“I kept telling my parents I didn’t want to see the counselor anymore. I didn’t want to talk about it. I just wanted to be left alone. And I think my mother thought if we stopped talking about it all the time, I would be able to move on. So, that was the plan. We moved two months later to another town where no one knew what had happened to me. I never went back to high school though. I rarely left the house. I got my GED from home. My mother just told people that I was homeschooled. My parents did their best. They tried. I wasn’t open to anything else.”

“But you went to college eventually. How did you manage that?” Dr. Rawlins asked.

Bex shrugged, still gripping Bracken’s shirt in her fist. “I stuffed it all down deep. I knew I had no choice. If I was going to live, I had to find a way to get my life back on track. So, I did. Or I pretended, I guess.” She tipped her head back to meet Bracken’s gaze. “Minus the dating and stuff.”

He gave her a squeeze and kissed her forehead.

“So, you didn’t date?” Dr. Rawlins asked.

Bex shrugged. “Eventually I came out of my shell enough to go on dates, but usually just one. Rarely two or three with the same guy. I always felt like I was out of my body. Not really participating. Until I met Bracken.”

Dr. Rawlins smiled. “You’re a lucky woman then. He seems to really care about you.”

“He’s very patient.” She smiled up at Bracken, making his heart soar. He needed to put on a brave face for her. She’d been through a lot, and she needed his support. Throwing things against the wall and screaming in frustration for what those assholes did wasn’t going to help.

“What happened to the boys?” Bracken asked, hating to bring up this subject.

“They’re in prison. Life without parole. I try not to think about them.”

“Does that give you some closure?” Dr. Rawlins asked.

Bex shrugged. “I don’t know. They aren’t really people to me. I was in no state of mind to even attend the trial. Luckily, they were convicted without my physical presence. I made numerous statements on the record. They had the police report I filed when I woke up in the hospital. Apparently, two other guys busted into the room and saw what had happened. They both testified. And the guys who did this pleaded guilty.”

“That’s good. I’m glad you didn’t have to testify in court. That can be very traumatic. However, it’s obvious that you never fully dealt with the pain and the guilt.”

“I guess. I didn’t want to. I still don’t want to.”

“Understandable, but you need to in order to move on. It’s hanging over you, controlling your life. You can’t give those two thugs your power any longer,” Dr. Rawlins said.

Bracken was extremely grateful that Bex had decided to talk to the psychologist instead of him alone. He didn’t have the skills to have handled this right. He was also glad that Bex had invited him to sit in on this session. Making her relive this once was bad enough.

Dr. Rawlins continued. “You have amazing survivor skills, Bex. Most people couldn’t have coped like you did. Even though you didn’t