Mirrors |NH|

Chapter Fifteen

When Edie walked back through the door, her brother was sitting there staring at the blank television. "Where the hell have you been?" he asked.

"The Police Station. And before you say anything, he wasn't there. He had already been bailed out."

"Someone bailed that creep out?" Benny said, rising from the couch.

Edie threw her bag on the ground, she had had enough. "Yes, Benny, someone bailed the innocent man out of jail. And if he had still been there when I got there, I would've done it. Instead, I dropped the charges that YOU forced me to make. I told you he didn't do anything to intentionally hurt me. He wasn't trying to rape me!"

Edie looked at her brother who slowly sat back down and started to cry. She immediately felt horrible and ran over to him to give him a hug. 

"I just want my sister back," he sobbed, "Someone stole her from me and there's nothing I can do about it. I thought that this time I would be able to do something about someone trying to hurt you."

"But he didn't mean to. He doesn't know what happened to me. And if he did, then I'm sure his reaction would have been different. But, at the same time, he's clearly dealing with his own trauma and that was his reaction. Be thankful it was. He heard what sounded like gun shots and the first thing he did was try to protect me; shield me from it all. I truly believe he didn't mean to be as rough with me as he was."

Edie made some tea for them both while her brother calmed down. "I miss you, Edie. I miss the strong, independent woman you have always been."

"I miss her, too. I promise, Benny, from now on, I will go to these meetings and I will put forth all effort to try to work through this."

He nodded. He took the cup of tea from her and they spent the rest of the night in silence.