Chapter 6

Glaring at Jack, Rose walked towards the porch.“What?” he asked looking back at her perplexed.Rose just shook her head and put her face in her hands,“You can’t just ask a question like that without talking to her first. Can’t you see how much pain that poor girl is in?”Jack was taken back. He had always been a straight forward tell it like it is type guy and honestly believed that was the best route to take in these type situations. Just ask the question directly, don’t beat around the bush, and you will get a straight forward answer. Looking back at Rose he realized that probably wasn’t the best approach to take in this particular situation.“Fine,” he blurted out, “but how am I supposed to know how to proceed? Is this a rape investigation or do I need to charge her with impaired driving? She did drive her car into that tree and was clearly drunk when I found her.”Rose just shook her head at Jack’s black and white view of the world. She never understood people who wanted answers before they understood what happened. Nothing was ever that simple. Her career as a doctor had taught her that nothing was ever a straight forward simple fix. That without looking at the person and situation, solving problems were a shot in the dark, sometimes with adverse outcomes.“I agree that we need to figure out what happened, Jack. I just don’t think that you are going about it the right way.”Rose waited for Jack to push back, but when that didn’t happen she looked him in the eye and said,“Let me take care of her for a while. Tell her that she can’t leave town while the investigation is on going and let me work with her. I’m sure we can figure this out. As I told you last night, this isn’t a simple situation, Jack, there is something larger than having a party weekend going on here. She seems hurt beyond the injuries we can see. Please just give me time with her.”Jack knew that when Rose got something in her mind, there was no arguing with her. He’d butted heads with her when she first came to town, but learned quickly that he was never going to win an argument with her. Grumbling he rolled his eyes and replied,“Fine, you get one week with her then she either tells me it was rape and she was trying to get away, or I charge her with impaired driving.”After Jack moved the personal things he found in Laura’s car from his truck to the house, Rose sent Jack on his way and returned to the kitchen taking a seat beside Laura. Not being sure how well the idea of Laura staying with her for the week would go over, Rose chose her words carefully,“With your injuries and the ongoing investigation, Jack and I discussed that it would be better if you spend the next week here.” Rose waited, fully expecting an outburst.Laura felt her shoulders tense. There was no way she could miss work. Everyone would judge her, she would never be able to explain it and her career would never recover. Her breathing grew rapid and uneasy. She knew Rose was right, she was hurting from her injuries and had no way to get back to the city, but at the same time the irrational part of her, the part that always pushing forward no matter how bad things were, was screaming. Could she take a week off? No. There was no way. Things would fall apart. If she wasn’t there to keep that completely inadequate staff in check, nothing was going to get done. Looking over at Rose she bite her bottom lip and went to explain but instead a simple, “k,” was all that came out.Rose nodded her agreement and the both sat quietly for a while. It was going to be hard for both of them. Laura feeling so lost and broken and Rose feeling a need to fix the broken girl she saw before her. They both felt pain. They both felt scared. But more than all of that, they both knew that somethings needed to change.“We should figure out if you will need anything for the week - clothes maybe? Jack left the things from your car by the front door, but I haven’t looked to see what you have,” Rose pointed towards the door walking with Laura.Laura looked down and felt grateful that she always kept a packed suitcase in the trunk of her car. Too many unexpected business trips had left her packing on the fly and more often than not forgetting important items. It should be enough for a week, although the practically of business suits by a lake was questionable. Laura opened her laptop bag and pulled out her computer hoping to get a bit of emails done before figuring out the rest. She was taken back when Rose grabbed the laptop from her hands.“Do you really think that doing work right now is the best idea? Weren’t you just telling me that one of the reasons you ended up in the mess that you are in was because you were working too much and not giving anytime for your wellbeing?”Laura started to cry again and watched as Rose put the laptop away in a cabinet. She wasn’t sure that she could make it a week without being in constant contact with work. Her head was spinning again, partly from the hangover and concussion, and partly from the anxiety of the situation. Was she really going to stay here, with this woman she knew nothing about, for a week? How could she.