Chapter 0017 BAILEE I squeezed my eyes shut as I failed to swallow back a sob , and prayed that he would have the answers to my questions " You lean on family , and we hold you up until you have healed and can walk on your own again . " I missed him . I missed my brother so much , and I needed him . I hated that he was so far away right now when all I wanted to do was curl up under his arm like I was still a kid and let my big brother hug me until everything was right with the world again . Yet , I couldn't . It didn't even feel right to cry right now when I had a sick little girl sleeping down the hall that I needed to be strong for Tcan walk just fine . " " Okay , run then I'll walk with you until you can run again , " Ben said , and I laughed , wiping my hand over my cheeks to get rid of the tears " Once you can . Tll go back to cheering you on from the sidelines . " Guilt crashed into me again . When was the last time I had been to one of Ben's games to literally cheer him on from the sidelines ? I had wanted to , but Caleb always said no , and I knew going alone would make him even angrier . So I stayed home and checked the score on my phone instead of seeing my brother actually play . " And I'll be there to cheer you on , too , " I promised . Brinley would just have to get into Hockey because we would be going to many games in the future " Deal ," Ben said " Send me your schedule , " I said before another voice sounded in the background . The man was obviously drunk , and Ben groaned . " Hang on , Bails . My roommate just got back . I'm going to step into the hallway . " Ben said , but I spoke quickly to stop him " No. That's okay . I'm sure you're tired or sore . Just relax , and I'll see you when you get home . " I assured him . " I'm not waiting three weeks to talk to you while you're dealing with this . Text me tomorrow so I know you're okay . " My head bobbed up and down as I realized it would be a big change having someone around who actually cared about me instead of just seeing my presence as a burden , " Okay . I'll text you tomorrow . I said as I heard a soft knocking on the door , and my spine went rigid . Was it Caleb ? Did he know I would come here ? How did he get past the gate without the code ? " Hey Bailee , before you go … " Ben started , but I was staring at the front door across the room . " You know I don't believe what he said about you , right ? " My eyes closed hard as I tried to make sense of his words while also attempting to muster up the courage to go answer the door as the person on the other side knocked again . " What ? " saw your message from earlier , but it was vague , and I was hearing so many things from my teammates and the reporters . Before I responded , I wanted to see what everyone was talking about so I didn't accidentally say something insensitive . I wasn't ignoring you . When I returned to the hotel , I watched the report on your hearing . The things Caleb said about you today … I know none of it was true . I know you and the woman he described is not who you are . " Ben took a deep breath . " But I need to know . Did he ever hurt you ? " My head shook back and forth even though he couldn't see me . " No. No. He just scared me . I thought he was going to a few times , but he didn't . " +25 BONUS ' Not yet . ' I thought . " Okay . " He sighed , sounding relieved , repeating himself . " Okay . Text me tomorrow . " " Bye , Ben Love you . " I said as the knocking grew louder this time , sounding impatient . " I'll have my finance manager wire you some money tomorrow , but there's some cash in the safe . Take whatever you need . The code is 0218. I love you , too . Bye Bails . " February eighteenth . Brinley's birthday . I didn't have time to dwell on how my brother , who wasn't a part of Brinley's life yet had so obviously wanted to be , loved her more than her own father did . Instead , a cold sweat broke out over my body as a key was inserted into the door , and Alexander strode in His eyes scanned the room wildly as if looking for a threat before they landed on me and softened . " Bailee , we need to talk