Chapter 33
SCARLETT
“This seriously was unnecessary.” I shifted uncomfortably on the paper-covered gurney that crinkled with every movement, the smell of alcohol wipes mingling with the slight tang of blood.
He’d refused to answer why he’d shown up at my apartment, too fixated on inspecting my injuries and making sure I was physically okay first.
“Humor me.” Jace stood along the wall. Still wearing his three-piece suit, though his tie hung loose and his shirt was painted with a light splattering of blood. Whether it was his or my father’s, I couldn’t tell.
“You said that no less than ten times since I got in the car with you.”
A distant code announcement echoed over the PA system, followed by the squeak of rubber-soled shoes rushing past our door.
“Evidently, you take a lot of convincing.” The corner of his mouth twitched upward, despite the angry red swelling around his eye.
“The only reason I agreed to this is because you agreed to get looked at too. Your face looks far worse than mine.” My attention flitted down to his knuckles, which were raw, split, and beginning to bruise. “So does your hand. God, I hope it’s not broken.”
“Even the police agreed with me,” Jace reminded me, the overhead light catching on his cufflinks as he gestured.
The police interview hadn’t taken as long as you’d think. Ex abuser strikes again. That kind of thing probably had pre-populated fields. I was grateful to the cops but worried no one could truly protect my mom from my father’s dark side.
“I shouldn’t have left my mother’s side.”
“There’s a security guard positioned with her right now.”
“What if my dad comes looking for her here? Makes it past him?” I ran my fingers along the edge of the bed.
“He’d have to get past hospital metal detectors, hospital security, and a security guard who, I assure you, is very good at his job.” His tone softened. “Your mother is safe. If you’d prefer, I can have my security guard take her home.”
“No,” I said, wincing as the movement pulled at my throbbing cheek. “I want to spend the night with her.” She’d be scared, and I wouldn’t be able to sleep, worrying about her. “How do you have security at your fingertips at any hour, by the way?”
One phone call, and a dude with a gun showed up with an earpiece. Nothing says abnormally protected like that.
“In business, you can make big enemies sometimes.”
Seriously? Did all CEOs have security on retainer like most people had DoorDash? But I had bigger things to worry about right now. Namely, the terror of replaying this night in my mind.
God, if I hadn’t walked Mom to her car, what would have happened to her?
“Thank you,” I said, the words feeling inadequate against the weight of what he’d done. “For what you did.”
Jace tilted his head slightly, studying me. “I have questions.”
“Figured you would.”
“May I ask them?”
“You certainly earned the right to. You literally took a beating to protect me and my mom, so, yeah, ask away.” I gave him a weak smile that pulled painfully at my injury.
Suddenly, the door to our emergency room opened, and a familiar set of eyes locked on mine.
“Scarlett?” Blake’s eyebrows slammed together.
Dr. Blake Morrison was my best friend, Tessa’s, boyfriend. Wearing blue scrubs and a white lab coat, he had a stethoscope strung around his neck.
“Blake.” I knew it was a possibility to see him here tonight, of course, though the jury was out if that was good (comforting) or bad (he might tell Tessa about this before I could).
His eyes narrowed at the mark on my face, then shot to Jace.
“What the fuck happened?” he asked, accusatory. Very not doctorly, but as I said, this was my bestie’s boyfriend.
“You guys know each other?” Jace asked, his gaze darting between us.
Wait. “You guys know each other?” I echoed.
But Blake was too busy examining my face to answer, his fingers gently probing the edges of what was surely becoming a spectacular bruise. After a few seconds of visually inspecting my father’s handiwork, Blake’s attention wandered over to Jace. Specifically, to his very swollen knuckles.
Blake looked between the knuckles and my face, then glared at my boss’s boss’s boss’s boss with enough intensity to trigger a cardiac arrest.
“Jace, if this is a domestic violence thing, I’m going to kick your ass.” His fingers flexed at his sides.
Jace’s jaw tightened. “Really, Morrison? You know me better than that!”
“You have bruised knuckles. She has a bruised cheek. It’s a fair conclusion. You’d better start explaining now. Because we might be friends, but violence against women? I’ll give you a one-way ticket to the ICU if you did this to her.”
“Did you notice the injury to MY face?”
“He didn’t do this to me,” I assured, jumping in before they could start measuring testosterone levels.
“Jesus, Morrison.” Jace ran a hand through his already-disheveled hair.
In fairness, Blake was an emergency room physician, and this did look rather suspicious. And also in his defense, it would’ve been unethical for him to not at least ask, bro code or no bro code.
“Then what the hell happened?” Blake demanded.
“It would seem my cheek slammed into my sperm donor’s hand.” I replied.
“Your sperm donor?” Blake questioned.
“He doesn’t deserve the term father. This isn’t his first rodeo with violence against my face.”
Okay, that appeared to have given Jace a full-on … red face attack. Seriously, the guy needed to breathe, or he might pass out. The vein in his temple looked ready to erupt from his skin.
“Christ, Scarlett.” Blake slapped on a pair of latex gloves with a snap that made me flinch.
Something Jace very much noticed, by the way.
“How do you two know each other?” Jace demanded again, gesturing between Blake and me with his injured hand.
“This is Tessa’s best friend,” Blake said, finally answering as he reached for an antiseptic pad from a metal tray.
Jace looked up at the ceiling. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”
“Does Tessa know about your sperm donor’s violent side?” Blake pulled up a rolling stool next to my bed, its wheels squeaking against the linoleum, and tilted my face for a better look.
“She didn’t tell you?”
“Should she have?”
I smiled, cringing as it pulled at my cheek. I had asked her not to, and that meant the world to me that she kept my information private. Speaking of private …
“Do not tell her you saw me here tonight,” I said, fixing Blake with my best attempt at a threatening glare. “She’ll freak out and overreact, and I don’t have the energy to deal with that right now.”
Blake began to clean my wound, the sharp sting making my eyes water. The little white swabs came back with small streaks of red, confirming that the skin was split slightly. I suspected a nurse could clean it just fine, but he was doing this himself because it was me. His girlfriend’s best friend.
“Do not call Tessa,” I repeated.
“If I don’t call Tessa, she’ll cut my balls off,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’m fond of my balls.”
“Blake …”
“Sorry, but she’ll want to know you’re here.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell Tessa; it was just that I was all talked out with this whole harassment situation at work (which, by the way, I also had to fill her in on), and now my father showed up, and my head was spinning, and—
“I’m exhausted, and all I want to do is go home and sleep, please.”
“Scarlett, you were there for her; she’ll want to be here for you.” Blake applied butterfly bandages to my cheek.
“Tessa’s heart stopped. My sperm donor slapped me. There’s a big difference. Please. I don’t want to talk about this right now. I promise I will call her and set up a drink for later. Okay? Just not tonight.”
But Blake didn’t say anything. I was about to shift the stance of my argument when Jace stepped forward.
“Don’t tell her,” he said.
Blake shot him a look.
“She’s asking you not to tell her, so don’t,” Jace continued. “If you need a reason, you can cite those pesky HIPAA laws that’ll have your nuts in a vise if you do tell her.”
The doctor took an annoyed breath, standing up.
“Take a seat, Jace,” he said. “I’ll examine you next.”
“So, you won’t tell Tessa, right?” I touched his handiwork.
Blake took his latex gloves off with a snap and tossed them into a canister.
“Fine,” Blake agreed. “But you’d better call her soon.”