The doctor shrugged. “That’s above my paygrade. Maybe it was a simple theft. He’s been admitted to a room and can have visitors as soon as he’s settled. You can check at the desk to see when that happens.”
When the doctor left, Elise gripped the table. “Since you’ve all seen him, would you all mind if I went in first?”
The group agreed.
“You seem pretty shaky, Elise,” Oliver observed. “I can go in with you.”
Oh, dear. She didn’t handle this well. “I, um, I’d rather see him alone.”
Heath got up. “Sit here, Ms. Preston. I want to walk around.”
“Thank you.”
* * *
Heath needed to get away from his colleagues. He didn’t want to show any emotion around them. They thought of him as cold and disinterested in friendships, and they were right. He’d been down that road, and vowed five years ago, not to let anyone close again. The only reason he joined a group was because he was thinking of changing the emphasis of his practice to men’s health exclusively and the opening of the collective was a good way to get his feet wet.
But he couldn’t help being affected by what happened to Finn. Along with Oliver, he was one of the nicest guys Heath had ever known. He was friendly, generous, kind to a fault and had a good sense of himself. Heath envied the latter. He used to know exactly who he was, too. But that was before.
He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned away from the window. “Hey, guy. You all right?” Daisy’s tone was soft and gentle.
“Yeah. I needed to move. I’m worried about Finn.”
“I know. Of all the people to get attacked, he’s the last one you’d want to get hurt.”
He grunted a response.
“Want to go get coffee? I think Elise will be in with him a while.”
“Did you know about him and the movie star?”
“I knew he was treating her.”
“How come I didn’t know?”
“You never ask about our clients.”
“I get it. I don’t encourage familiarity. But I hope he isn’t involved with her. That’d be a big breach of ethics.”
“Let’s not worry about that now. Coffee?”
“Yeah, let’s go get some.”
* * *
Elise approached room 252 with trepidation. She didn’t want to break down in front of Finn, but she was worried. Through the glass door, she saw him lying in bed, his head turned to the side, with a sheet covering him to his waist.
Once inside, she could see horrible bruises all over his chest. An ice pack rested on his ribs and was held in place by gauze loosely wrapped around his torso.
Forcing back her emotions at seeing him battered like this, she sat down in a chair beside the bed. His hand lay at his side and she covered it with her own. “Finn,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
He stirred. Opened his beautiful gray eyes that now had mauve bruises beneath them. “Hey.”
“Sorry if I woke you.”
“I just doze on and off.” He gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks for coming.”
“I never questioned if I should visit, but one of your colleagues seemed shocked to see me here. I hope I didn’t compromise you. Anything more than I already have.”
