Page 99 of Tear Me Apart

“Yes,you!” They are yelling at each other now. Nurses are turning; the hallways are silent.

“You’re being a complete and total ass, Jasper Wright. I can’t believe you’d say that to me. All I’ve done is try to make things easier on our little girl, and you say I’m being a jerk? Go, just go. I don’t want to see you anymore.”

Zack is standing in the doorway now. Jasper sees him, gives his wife asatisfied now?look, then storms off. Juliet comes out of the elevator, and he brushes past her like a bullet.

Lauren fights back the tears. “I’m so sorry,” she says to the nearest nurse. “We don’t mean to disturb everyone. The pressure...it’s getting to us both.”

It is Zack who comes to her side and puts his arm around her. “Come with me,” he says quietly and leads her down the hall to the private room, right past Juliet, who looks at them both in astonishment.

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Inside the quiet room, Lauren sags against Zack and starts to cry in earnest. He holds her, lets her get it out. It feels like the kindest thing anyone has done for her in weeks, and it makes the tears come anew until she is sobbing.

After a while, she realizes he is patting her back, murmuring to her as if she were a child who’s had a nightmare. She is having a nightmare. Her life has turned into one big, huge fucking nightmare.

“Hey, it’s okay. You poor thing, you’re worn out, aren’t you? You’ve gotten no sleep. Mindy told me how you’ve been nursing her practically full-time since the accident. Why don’t you go home, Lauren? Get some decent rest.”

She pulls away from him stiffly. “Why, because you’re here now? You’re riding in on your white stallion to save us all?”

“I’m going to try,” he says, and the quiet strength of it makes her feel even worse. Zack is a victim here, just as she is.

She doesn’t want this man to be so solicitous. He isn’t supposed to be the one comforting her, damn it.

But here he is, big and solid and concerned, where her own husband has stormed off. She and Jasper were overdue for the fight. Jasper has been ridiculously patient, and she’s taken advantage of that, kicking the can down the road so she won’t have to deal with the bad feelings, the hurt and betrayal. Having Zack here so quickly messed with everything, in ways no one can truly understand. But she needs everyone on her side. She needs her team together if they are going to face down a police investigation and a stem cell transplant at the same time.

She wipes her eyes and pushes her hair off her face.

“I’m sorry. You’re right, I’m overtired and angry and upset. I’m going to go home and rest, like you said. That’s a good idea. Thank you, Zack.”

“You bet. Have a good nap.”

She ignores Juliet, who is standing in the hall frowning at her phone, and steps into Mindy’s room for a second. Mindy’s eyes are wide, and the dog is lying next to her, ears cocked forward.

“Everything okay with you and Dad?”

“Of course it is. Sorry about that, sweetheart. I think my nerves are a bit frayed. I’m going to go home and take a nap, talk to your dad—” she winces as she says it, she can’t help it. God, she has to get it together “—and we’ll be back a little later. Okay? Is Zack nice? Do you like him?”

“Yes, Mom, he is. Very nice. He’s going to get me some new books. I like Kat, too.” The smile is genuine now, and Lauren takes a deep breath.

“Good. I’ll see you later. You hang tight. I’m so glad you’re feeling better. Yesterday was rough, I know.” Lauren kisses Mindy on the forehead and marches out.

Her first instinct is a drink, but that isn’t going to solve anything. She gets into her car and spills her purse out onto the seat. She scrabbles through the mess, notebooks and tissues and wallet and phone. There it is, the bottle of antianxiety pills that Dr. Oliver kindly prescribed. She tosses one in her mouth, chases it with the dregs of a week-old bottle of water sitting in the car’s door.

She has to think. She has to breathe. She has to look at all the angles here. She can’t lose Mindy. She just can’t. She knows Jasper is right about their legal ties to Mindy—no judge in the world will take their side once the truth comes out.

She pulls out of the parking garage, not sure where she’s headed, consumed by memories.

57

UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE

1993

LIESEL

Have you ever felt blood on your hands?