Read Healing Touch: Play Doctor, Book 2 for Free Online

shocked her with his insight. He cut through all the bullshit on top and dove to the heart of the matter.
    “Maybe if I had tried something else…”
    “Maybe you wouldn’t have endured.” His tone grew slightly stern. “You may not have lived to fight again. You made the best decisions you could at the time. As a nine-year-old girl, I’d say you did pretty damn well for yourself.”
    “Thank you.” She wished she could hug him. Sure that wasn’t appropriate, she wedged her fingers beneath her legs on the sofa. Maybe someday in her life she’d find someone who allowed her to express herself. Brad hadn’t welcomed unsolicited contact either.
    “Do you want to tell me what happened when you went back?” he prodded quietly.
    Brielle paused.
    “You don’t have to. We’ve already shared a lot for our first session. Whatever you’re comfortable with is fine.”
    “Is our time up soon?” She couldn’t believe the reading on the clock above his desk.
    “I was going to break for lunch. You could join me if you’d like to continue another hour.” He smiled, encouraging her.
    “How about the abridged version? I’d like you to know.” She bit the inside of her cheek.
    Luke nodded. “I’m listening.”
    “I climbed up to our apartment that night, using the fire escape for the first time. I wanted to see what was going on. Had he even noticed I was gone? It was late. I should have already been in my closet. When I got to the top, there was only one light on. No people. No chaos. My dad sat in the room with empty bottles, broken, everywhere. He had a gun in his mouth and his finger was on the trigger.”
    “Brielle,” Luke whispered.
    This time she reached for his hand and he linked their fingers.
    Why couldn’t it have been so simple with her father? “I shoved open the window. The locks had never worked right, nothing to steal anyway. I ran inside and yanked the gun from his hand. It was so heavy. He looked at me and passed out as if he’d seen a ghost. He didn’t wake up for almost a full day after that. I was afraid he would die.”
    Neither of them said what she was thinking… She would have been better off if he had.
    “From then on he was careful to lock me in the closet right away. Every night. Usually before I’d eaten dinner. And even when I used the bathroom or took a shower, he would make one of his friends watch me. Always.” She shuddered.
    “You’re so strong, Brielle,” Luke murmured to her. “To have gotten through it all, mostly intact. Trust me, you’re doing great. Amazing. I see patients all the time who have been challenged by far less than you, yet haven’t coped as effectively. I’m impressed with your resilience. Your bravery. Do you understand how tough you are?”
    Seldom in her life had someone praised her. The compliments went to her head, making her bold and confident. Enough to spit out the rest of her story. The important parts anyway.
    “When I was seventeen, he pissed someone off. Bad. I was locked in my closet for the night. I heard arguing start. This time was way worse than others. There were guns in our apartment a lot of the time. They didn’t really frighten me. I never realized how loud it would be…”
    “Your dad killed someone while you were in the closet?” Luke’s blend of empathy and quiet anger—not at her, but for her—helped her divulge the truth.
    “No.” She swallowed hard. “Someone murdered him. Blood and…other gross gray stuff floating in it…ran under the door to my closet. I stayed quiet so they wouldn’t do the same to me. But I was stuck. In there. With the smell. And the bugs. No food, or water, or bathroom. Or light. For days. I think it was the stench that eventually drew enough complaints, even in that hellhole, to bring the landlord’s son to investigate. Brad. He found me. Let me out of my closet. I’m not sure which of us was more surprised. Or scared.”
    “This was your boyfriend?” Luke tilted his