When the Music Ends (The Winter Rose Chronicles) (4 page)

            She
breathed deeply a couple of times.

            "Yes.
It’s getting better. The pain is fading."

            "Good.
Can you take a little more?"

            "You
can try it."

            Sean
nudged his way deeper and deeper. The penetration burned, and she felt
ridiculously full, stretched. But she wouldn’t complain. She had begged
him to do this. She wanted it still.

            Sean
was amazed at how much of him Erin could take. She was very deep, especially
given how petite she was. At last, every inch of him was buried.

            "Oh
wow, Erin. You feel amazing." He kissed her.

            He
reached down to caress her again.

Erin
wasn’t exactly sure this was going to
work. She had liked his finger, but his sex was so huge and overwhelming,
spreading her to her limit. Would an orgasm really be able to build around such
an uncomfortable sensation?

It was. Unlike the sweet, pretty pleasuring before, this was wild,
riding the edge of excess, especially when he began to move, thrusting into
her, gently but insistently, as his caresses continued. It seemed impossible
but as she neared her second peak even the pain turned into pleasure and she
spasmed again, violently, wailing. Sean grinned at Erin’s uninhibited
response. She was wet and relaxed now, but still wonderfully tight, her sex
squeezing rhythmically against him, and he continued to thrust until his own
orgasm broke over him in shattering waves.

            Later,
while the couple was still nude and snuggled together, the phone in the pocket
of Sean’s pants began to ring. This was very unusual as the phone
belonged to his father’s company, and was only used during the day for
work related business.  It must be some kind of emergency.

            He
kissed Erin softly on the lips and retrieved the device.

            Erin leaned on one elbow on the turquoise sheet of her little bed and admired Sean’s
muscular physique as he moved through her bedroom. His size made her feel even
smaller in a wonderful, protected sort of way. She wondered if they were
through for the evening. She kind of wanted more, but despite Sean’s gentleness,
her deflowering had been quite painful and she was going to be a little sore
for a while. Of course, if he meant what he had said in the car, that they were
a couple now, waiting a few days wouldn’t matter much at all.

            "Hello?"
Erin couldn’t tell who was on the other end, but she could see that the
person was doing a lot of talking, and that what Sean was being told alarmed
him very much.

            "She’s
where? …What happened? … Oh my God, no! … Of course!...
I’ll get there right away." He hung up and started pulling his
clothes on.

            "Erin, I’m really sorry, but I have to leave right now. That was my mom. There’s
an emergency. I swear I didn’t plan to split like this, but I have to get
to the hospital right away." He looked panicky, stunned. His expression
alarmed her very much.

            "What
happened? Who’s in the hospital?"

            "Danny."

            "Oh
no, did they wreck? Is she okay?" Erin hopped out of bed and began
pulling jeans and a sweater out of her dresser.

            "No."
She had never seen Sean’s face so angry. His jaw was clenched so tightly
she could hear his teeth grinding as he gritted out the words, "That
bastard Jake Morris raped her."

            Erin’s clothes slipped through her fingers. "No."

            "Yes."

            "Oh
God! I have to go with you. Please take me with you, Sean. Danny is my best
friend. I have to be there too."

            "Yes,
okay. Let’s go though."

            Erin retrieved her sweater and pulled it over her head, and they headed for the door. She
scooped up her sneakers but didn’t attempt to put them on. That could be
done in the car. Locking the door, she scuttled to the Mustang and put on her
seatbelt.

            As
she slid on her shoes, hot tears began to roll down Erin’s face. She
sobbed.

            "This
is my fault. I knew she shouldn’t be alone with him. I just wanted so
much to spend more time with you. I can’t believe I was so
selfish."

            He
reached over and scooped up her hand, squeezing it. "It’s as much
my fault. I could see that leaving her with him was a bad idea."
Sean’s voice was harsh and unsteady. He drove to the hospital too fast,
but thankfully not recklessly. He steered with one hand and with the other held
fast to Erin’s. The knowledge that they had been enjoying a passionate
evening in bed while someone they loved was being assaulted was more than
either could bear. That they had had the opportunity to prevent it and had not
taken it was even worse. Erin cried the whole way. It would be lying to suggest
that Sean didn’t too.

            Parking
haphazardly across two spaces, Sean and Erin hurried into the building, up to
the white Formica receptionist desk with its plastic window, still clinging to
each other’s fingers.

            "Where
is Sheridan Murphy?" Sean asked the receptionist. The middle-aged woman
with streaks of gray in her ashy blond hair gave him a hard look.

            "Who
might you be?" she asked suspiciously.

            "I’m
her brother, and this is her best friend. Where is she?"

            "Her
brother?" The narrowed eyes gave no doubt about the woman’s
opinion.

            "Yes."

            "I
swear, ma’am," Erin told her urgently, "He’s not the
one that did this."

            Looking
at the sweetly innocent young girl, tears still sliding down her cheeks
sufficed to convince the receptionist. "Okay, she’s in room 215,
upstairs."

            "She’s
been admitted?" Sean looked appalled. That was not a good sign.

            "Her
injuries are pretty bad. They want her to stay the night."

            His
hand tightened painfully on Erin’s. She flexed her fingers, reminding him
to be gentle. He made himself relax his grip.

            They
raced through the hospital, narrowly avoiding a collision with an elderly
dialysis patient in a wheelchair, before arriving in the intensive care unit.

            Outside
room 215, Ellen Murphy was standing in the hallway weeping into the remains of
a badly shredded tissue. Sean dropped Erin’s hand and grabbed his mother,
hugging her tight. She hid her face in his shoulder. Erin looked through the
window in the door of the room. The curtain had been pulled around the bed, but
periodically it lit up for a moment.

            "What’s
going on?" He asked her

            "The
police are there. They’re collecting evidence." The words had to be
forced out between broken sobs.

            "Is
she alone?" That couldn’t be right. Not when such a terrible event
had taken place.

            "Dad’s
with her."

            That
was good. Sheridan was very close to her dad.

            "When
can we go in?" Sean wanted to know.

            "When
they’re done. They don’t want the evidence contaminated. Sean,
it’s really bad. You have to be prepared."

            He
hesitated. He really didn’t want to know, but..."Tell me."

            "She’s
bruised all over. It looks like he may have hit her, but she didn’t say
for sure. Really, she hasn’t said much of anything. I think she’s
in shock."

            "How
did you know it was…rape?" Such an ugly word, especially when
talking about someone you love. Sean looked like he wanted to vomit.

            "If
you had seen the blood running down her thighs..." Ellen lost control,
sobbed, and then visibly steeled herself to continue. "There was so much.
It must have been brutal. There’s no doubt what happened."

            "I’m
going to kill him."

            "No,
Sean." Her voice was hollow sounding, which matched the desolation on her
face. We’re not going to take an eye for an eye. We’re going to do
this legally. He’ll pay. She’s going to press charges."

            "Do
you understand what that means, Mom? There’s going to be a trial. Danny
will have to relive the whole thing again and again before he can be
punished." Sean shook his head. It was agonizing even to think about it.

            "I
know." Ellen began to cry even harder.

            Erin walked over to Mrs. Murphy and put her hand on the older woman’s arm.

            She
started, looked up.

            "Oh,
Erin. I’m so glad you’re here."

            "Of
course. Where else would I be?"

            Of
one accord Sean and Ellen opened their arms and drew Erin in, as though she were
a member of the family. They remained like that, holding each other, until the
police officer, a kind looking older woman, exited the room.

            She
looked at them for a long moment before saying, "You can go in now.
I’m finished. I’m so sorry." And they could see she was. No
matter how long one worked in law enforcement, some sights still retained the
power to appall.

            They
entered the room on weak legs. The curtain around the bed was open now. Sheridan’s shock had finally worn off and she was cuddled in her father’s arms
crying hysterically. He rubbed her back gently. His own eyes were very red, his
face wet.

            Hearing
the footsteps on the tile floor, Sheridan looked up. The entire left side of
her face was swollen and bruised with a deep cut in her cheek. Sean made a
strangled sound and stopped in his tracks. Erin was at the bed in a second,
scrambling up beside her friend, putting her arms around her.

            "Oh
God, Danny," she wept.

            Sheridan turned and hugged her. "Erin." Her voice was very weak, harsh from so
much crying. The girls clung to each other in misery. Now that the ice was
broken, Sean and his mother approached the bed, hugging Sheridan. No one knew
what to say, so they mostly just took turns holding her and crying.

            After
a couple of hours, a nurse came in and told them, gently, that they
couldn’t all stay. It was very late and the patient should try to rest.
She had a sleeping pill for Sheridan, which the girl accepted gratefully. Ellen
insisted on staying, of course, and so did Roger, but Sean offered to take Erin home.

            Before
leaving, Erin gave her friend a fierce hug and whispered, "I love you,
Danny. I’ll come back in the morning."

            Sheridan didn’t say anything, but her arms tightened around her friend.

            Then
Sean took Erin’s hand gently and led her away.

            Erin was still very weepy as they walked through the silent hospital, hand in hand. She
couldn’t really calm down. Tears kept streaming over her cheeks. Outside,
by the Mustang, Sean pulled her close.

            "Oh
Sean, what are we going to do?"

            "I
don’t know. Poor Danny. I can’t believe it." Both were
drowning in a flood of agonized disbelief. They huddled together, trying to
block out the cold October wind, and the horrible memories of what they had
just seen.

            She
squeezed him tight. Then they got into the car.

            As
they drove, a mean, selfish thought occurred to Erin. She wondered if this
traumatic event meant that the delicious little beginning she and Sean had
shared was over, if this really would be a single night instead of a
relationship after all. She didn’t want that. She wanted him for herself,
but that was no way to be thinking when your friend was lying, wounded and violated,
in the hospital. She tried to ignore the desperate longing for Sean, but she
couldn’t. Finally, the words burst from her.

            "Are
you still going to be with me?"

            "What
do you mean?" Lost in dark sad thoughts about his sister, Sean had a hard
time processing the question.

            "I
mean we sort of said we were going to be a couple. Is that still the case? I
know how terrible it sounds to ask this right now, but I have to know. Are we
through?"

"No, baby. We’re not through," he assured her with
sweet intensity, "I don’t know how we’re going to do this
without upsetting people, but I would never have taken your virginity if I
didn’t intend to stand by you. Don’t think for a minute that
I’m doing this out of duty either. I still want you as much as ever. This
is really hard, this situation with Danny, and..." His voice broke and he
swallowed a couple of times. "We’re all going to need all the
support we can get. You’re part of it too. So, for tonight, we’re
going to stay close. Tomorrow, we can decide what’s next, but I swear
that dumping you isn’t part of my plans. Do you think that it would be
possible to keep this…private, at least for a while? I hate being sneaky,
but I don’t really see any other way."