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“WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?” Steve bellowed at the nurse. He pointed toward Tom, lying semi-conscious on a cot in the corner, with a bloody rag pressed to his cheek. “When I dropped him off, there wasn’t a scratch on him.”
“I don’t know, sir,” the nurse said, her gaze bouncing between Tom and the floor in front of Steve. “He came in alone and said he had an accident. That’s all I was able to get out of him before he passed out.”
Steve crossed and took a seat on the edge of the cot. “Who did this to you?”
Tom opened his good eye and shook his head. Leave it alone.
“The hell I will,” he whispered.
“The ambulance should be here any moment,” the nurse said, and Steve turned toward her.
“You called an ambulance?”
“He needs medical attention, sir,” she said.
“I can see that, but I said I’d take care of it when you called.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I just thought...” she trailed off.
The knot between his shoulders tightened and he glared at her. She assumed he wouldn’t take care of Tom; that he was every bit the asshole the news made him out to be and he bit down on the response, turning back to Tom. “I’ll follow the ambulance to the hospital,” he said and pulled the towel away from Tom’s cheek.
Tom winced in response.
Steve stared at the ugly gash deep enough to require several stitches and the purple and swollen skin stretched over Tom’s cheekbone. He pulled up Tom’s shirt and looked at the purple bruises on his abdomen, ones that were indicative of a fist pummeling flesh and he dropped the fabric back in place before meeting Tom’s half-open eye. Hot fury cascaded through him, coiling in the center of his chest just itching to let loose. He closed his eyes, willing the feral beast to calm down before it grew to a level he couldn’t control.
“Does CJ know where you are?” he asked through clenched teeth.
Tom nodded.
“Will he tell me what happened?”
Tom’s head shook side to side and Steve clenched his fists.
“I will find out who did this to you,” Steve said, and Tom closed his eyes.
Please, just let it go.
“I can’t let it go. This isn’t right,” he said, and Tom’s eyes opened.
CJ’s handling it.
A pair of EMTs stepped into the nurse’s office approaching Tom with a stretcher and he struggled to sit up. Steve helped him to his feet and over to the stretcher, wondering just how much internal damage there was when Tom flopped down, wheezing from the effort. He followed the medics to the ambulance.
“I’ll meet you in the emergency room,” he said before the doors closed. He turned, giving the nurse a final glare before slipping into his car. As the ambulance pulled out, Steve opened his phone, pressing his speed dial. “Ron, Tom’s being taken to the hospital; can you run interference for me?”
“What happened?”
“Tom got the shit beat out of him at school,” Steve said, the clip in his voice enough to cause his boss to suck the air in between his teeth.
“Did you file a complaint?”
“No. Tom’s not naming names.”
A beat of silence passed. “I’ll take care of it. Just make sure your boy is okay.”
“I’ll let you know what happens,” Steve said and hung up the phone, bracing himself for a nasty confrontation.