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“Of course. As long as you’re qualified.” I lifted my attention back to Novaletti.
“And you’re not convinced I am, Mr. Cole?” If I could have heard it, my name would have sounded like a threat from that robotic voice.
“I believe age brings experience, but...if they are happy, I’m happy.”
They, meaning the doctors already employed by me.
“Are you happy?”
“I’m happy,” Rodregez confirmed. “I think Mercer will be an asset here at Beyond Heaven.”
“Why don’t you test him out with a patient?” Dr. Deane’s suggestion wasn’t a bad one. “We have done so with one or two, but if you’d like to see for yourself, I’m sure Dr. Novaletti won’t mind.”
“I don’t mind.”
I bit my lip, chewing on the idea of letting him see Woodrow. “You could see my brother, maybe.”
“Happy to.” A smile followed the robotic buzz that was already playing on my last nerve.
Before I knew it, I was back at Beyond Heaven after a quick trip back home to pick up Woodrow and Jolie, who I initially wanted to leave at home to watch Cat. I should have known she’d never let Woodrow have the risk of bad news without her hand in his, squeezing tight. And that was exactly what she was doing as she sat on the chair at his side.
Cat had to be here, too, because I’d refused to leave her at home with Dec, who liked my hand-me-downs a little too much. Not that I’d ever hand Cat down. Though, as many younger brothers were known thieves, I wasn’t taking chances. She sat on a seat that I’d dragged in from the hallway, and she fidgeted with a piece of cotton dangling from her hoodie. She didn’t feel she should be here, intruding on a family matter.
Woody—because Woodrow wasn’t around this afternoon—didn’t mind her being here. He actually liked the extra support and feeling the love and compassion from everyone as he sat between her and Jolie, staring at the doctor on the other side of a wooden table.
He could thank his fucked-up childhood for those feelings and for his existence.
On the plus side, because we had returned home, I had my hearing aid.
We hadn’t been in this room long. It still felt cold and vacant compared to every other room in the facility. Novaletti and I had been in here a little less time than everyone else, leaving them to stare at expressionless walls and think the worst.
But I had to ask him about his situation with the trafficker he’d ended.
An email had buzzed against my leg during Woody’s pre-assessment. It was from Rodregez, and he’d used his free time to do a little digging, explaining that the murdered trafficker was exactly who we’d thought. Damiano. I struggled to focus on anything else while Jolie briefed the new doc on Woody’s special needs and why it was so damn important to address the twenty-eight-year-old man as a young child.
I’d held my tongue for close to an hour, listening to the doctor babbling about the medical exams he’d be performing, including the scan that resulted in a terror tantrum.
I’d braced myself for another alter to arrive. However, somehow, Woody stayed at the front and entered the radiology exam room with the doctor, and he did it with tears in his eyes and a million silent fears wrapped around the soul that he thought would soon be going to hell.
I’d voiced a little encouragement, but he didn’t smile when he looked over his shoulder at me.
He came out of the room around half an hour later, finding us all on uncomfortable chairs. He was relaxed, with his eyes dry and nerves calm, and Doctor Novaletti’s hand in his, while mine sweated in my lap until the moment I saw him.
Novaletti’s care meant a lot to me. How he was with Woody brought me a sense of peace because Woody meant a lot to me. His well-being had been at the top of my priorities for so long.
But the curiosity brought by that email hadn’t eased, and it grew on the walk back to the empty room where we’d discuss anything that was a cause for concern.
But first, I had to voice my concerns.
Novaletti knew someone from my past. Dr. Rodregez wasn’t bothered by it, but he had nothing personal linking him to the slimy creep. I couldn’t remember for sure, but the more I thought of it, the more I could almost swear Damiano was involved in Cat’s kidnapping, which was why I’d waited until Woody, his girl, mine, and Novaletti’s were all inside the office he’d be occupying, before going forward with the conversation.
I’d stopped him with a hand on his chest, and his silence grilled me before I had a chance to ask him what it was that made him—the good doctor—commit murder.
But he didn’t beat around the bush when I brought it up. He was open. He was honest. And he confirmed the news that Damiano was dead, which Rodregez had already told me. What I didn’t know was how exactly his death was caused by my soon-to-be employee’s hand.
But I guess they did work wonders.
And that made me happy to have him on board.
