Free Give Me a Reason by Lyn Gardner

and
if that’s the case, you should be the one working on getting her out of her
shell, not me. I certainly don’t want to give her the wrong idea. I mean...I’m
not into women.”
    Smiling, Kris got up, grabbed a photo from her desk and
handed it to Laura. “Her name’s Robin and she’s my wife. I’m in love with her,
not Toni, but Toni and I have been through a lot, and I owe her my life.”
    “ You were the one she saved
that night?”
    “How did you know about that?”
    “I’m sorry. John let me read her file and then filled in some
blanks. Being the way she is, he thought it wise.”
    “Smart man.”
    “John also said drugs were involved. That’s why the copper
was here that night.”
    Rolling her eyes, Kris let out a laugh. “When we first opened
we had some issues with people bringing that shit into the club, but we always
handled it ourselves. We made them leave and that was the end of it, but I
guess the word got out on the street so the police started coming around every
now and then. We didn’t care. We weren’t doing anything wrong, so when the copper
came in that night, I didn’t pay him any mind, but when I tried to lock up, he
wouldn’t leave. A few minutes later, I was fighting for my life, and that’s
when Toni walked in...” Kris stopped for a moment and drew in a ragged breath.
“She tried so hard to stop the bleeding. She was pressing her hands on the
guy’s neck, trying...trying to make it stop all the while screaming at me to
call the medics. It was all just a mistake, an accident...a stupid, fucking accident, and she paid for it with four
years of her life in that hole...and she’s still paying for it.”
    Leaning back on the sofa, Laura sighed. “Oh, Kris, I don’t
know what to do. I certainly don’t want to push her over the edge—”
    “Laura, she’s not suicidal! Yes, she still has the fucking
bottle in her fridge, but it’s just a crutch. It gives her an option, but you
have to trust me, Laura. She doesn’t want to die! She’s just stuck in this...in
this prison she’s made for herself, and she doesn’t know how to get out. And as
for Toni getting the wrong idea, as you put it, I’m her best friend and she
won’t even touch me, so I think you’re safe.”
    “I don’t know...”
    “I’m not asking you to shag her, for God’s sake. All I’m
asking is that you be a friend and visit her class a few times a week. Just
make yourself known. Please, Laura, I’m running out of options.”
    “I still don’t know what makes you think that I—”
    “Because you got to her! When you wouldn’t give up and kept
going to her class…well, I think she’s met her match in you, and she knows it.”
    “Krista, if anyone has shown that they can be stubborn, it’s
you. You’ve spent two years by her side, and you said it yourself, she hasn’t
opened up to you at all. What makes you think I have the magic key?”
    “That’s simple,” Kris said with a knowing grin. “I’m her
friend, and I proved over the years that she can trust me. You, on the other
hand, are a total stranger, and in five days you were able to get her to show
an emotion. You got her angry, and that’s something that no one, including me,
has been able to do.”
    Laura stood and returned to the wall where images of a woman
once alive and vital filled the frames. Her eyes went from one picture to the
next, studying the Toni Vaughn who existed before Thornbridge. There wasn’t a
photograph where she wasn’t smiling, and in her eyes Laura could see youthful
confidence with just a hint of mischief. Laura’s eyes darted back and forth
across the photos as she chewed on her lip, and drawing in a slow breath, she
said, “I’ll still have to think about it, Kris. I’ve heard what you said, and
some of it makes sense, but I don’t want to do anything to upset her.”
    “Well, then you’d best not give her any more apples.”
    Spinning around, Laura’s eyes flew open wide. “What?”
    “She