Chapter 5
Finn turned the key in the lock of his reiki practice and headed out to his car. All the other practitioners had left so he was the last one here tonight. He’d stayed behind and done a treatment on himself, like he’d taught Elise to do. He was in need of balance.
Elise. He took in a deep breath. He wanted to go to her right now. Kiss her. Make love to her. Even just be with her. Preoccupied, he reached the car and clicked the remote.
An arm went around his neck from behind. Finn gasped. And choked. He was yanked around and a fist slammed into his stomach. He doubled over. Another punch and his head exploded…
He awoke to pain. The bushes next to the parking lot scratched his arms and face. His head thrummed. He touched it and his hand came away bloody. He started to cough and his ribs erupted in a spasm of agony.
So he lay still. His mind was fuzzy. What to do? Call someone. Not Fiona because she already had too much on her plate. Elise would get too upset. Oliver. He could call Oliver. But he didn’t want his friend in danger in case the guy came back.
Fishing his phone from his pocket racked him with pain. The numbers were blurry. He managed to hit 9-1-1.
“911. What’s your emergency?”
“I’m Finn McKenna.” His voice came out in a croak. “I’ve been attacked in the parking lot of the Harmony Healing Collective. I’m…I’m hurt…badly.”
“We’ve got a read on the location. We’re sending the police and an ambulance now.”
“T-thanks.”
The person kept talking but he was depleted from the effort of the call and dropped the phone. He closed his eyes. The whir of sirens woke him. Flashing lights preceded their arrival. And pain. Deep, deep pain shot to all his nerve endings.
A lot of people appeared.
A female attendant knelt beside him. “Sir, I’m Emily. A paramedic. What’s your name?”
“F-Finn.”
“I need to examine you before we move you.”
He was poked and prodded. The pain was great and he cried out. A C-collar was slid around his neck. “We’re going to move you to the stretcher.”
His scream sounded into the night air…and was prolonged until he was flat out again on the stretcher. He felt the bed raise up. Movement took his breath away. Bump, bump, bump. New levels of agony assaulted him.
He heard, “Can you wait for a second, Emily? I have to ask the victim a couple of things.”
A cop asked, “Mr. McKenna, what were you doing out in the parking lot?”
“I work at the Harmony Healing. I was leaving for the night.”
“In what?”
“Excuse me?”
“There’s no car in the parking lot.”
“My car was here.”
“The attacker must have taken your keys and stolen your car.”
Overwhelmed, Finn’s head lolled to the side. Blackness consumed him.
He awoke to voices and shouts in the background. The pain wasn’t as bad. Still, his head pounded.
“Hey, buddy.”
He blinked. “Oliver? Did I call you?”
His friend’s face was lined with worry. “Yeah. Don’t you remember?”
“No.”
“That’s okay. I’m sorry this happened to you.”
“I don’t know exactly what happened. Somebody grabbed me from behind, punched me in the stomach. That’s pretty much all I remember.”
“He beat you up. And he stole your car.”
“What the hell?”
“Everybody else is in the waiting room.”
“Everybody else?”
“Of course. Juliet, Daisy, Scarlet and even Heath. I called them to tell them what happened at our collective and they all showed up here.”
“That’s nice.”
“Scarlet says she can make some of your pain go away.”
“Boy, I’d like that. Did anyone call my sister?”
“No, I don’t think so. You told me she was going through a rough time so we didn’t know if you wanted to let her know right away.”
“Yeah. Besides, if she hears it from me, she’ll feel better. Can you get me my phone? It should be in the bag with my clothes.”
“What about the others?”
“What others?” The words were spoken by a man in scrubs who walked into the cubicle.
Finn focused on him. “Are you my doctor?”
“Yes. I’m Dr. Mancini. I treated you when you came in. I gave you a shot of oxycodone because you were writhing in pain.”
“My pain is less but I’m beginning to hurt more and more.”
Mancini turned to Oliver. “Could you wait outside the cubicle? I need to properly examine Mr. McKenna. When I’m done the others can come in two at a time.”
When Oliver left, Finn said, “Please call me Finn.”
“I’m Vince.” He had those good Italian looks and dark hair and eyes.
Vince shined light in his eyes. Examined his head. Ran his hands along his arms and thighs. Palpated his stomach, which caused him to cry out again.
“Sorry,” the doc said. “We’ll need to get some imaging on your torso. Everything is bruised, but no limbs appear to be broken. I do expect some fractured ribs. I hope it’s nothing worse.”
Finn just laid there.
The doc checked his watch. “It’s too soon for more oxy but I’ll order Tylenol and Ibuprofen. That should get you through until you can take the stronger drug.”
He managed to nod.
“I’ll tell the others they can come in while you wait for transport to radiation.”
The doc left. Finn laid there staring at the cubicle’s ceiling. Soon, Juliet and Scarlet came through the curtain. Juliet was near tears. “Hey, sweetie. I’m okay.”
“Finn. How could this happen to you in our parking lot?”
Even Scarlet seemed affected. “I suppose we’re as susceptible to theft as anywhere.” She took his hand. “Since most of us have odd hours, maybe we should hire a night guard.”
“Hmm.”
“And I want to do a treatment on you. I can make you feel better.”
“I’m all for that. But I’m going to imaging soon.”
“Then I’ll be back.”
Juliet said, “We’re going to let the others come in before you leave the room. Everybody’s frantic.”
Heath and Daisy came in next. Heath was scowling. “This is a hell of a thing.”
“How are feeling?” Daisy asked. She looked like a kid with her hair down to her waist. She usually wore it up and in a braid around her head.
“It was bad. But they’re giving me drugs. Scarlet says if she does a treatment, I’ll feel better.”
“Then go for it,” Daisy told him.
Heath came closer to the bed. “Sorry about this. Can I do anything for you?”
“I don’t think so. You being here is enough.”
Then a guy in scrubs came in. “I’m from transport. I’m taking you to imaging.”
He nodded. He still hadn’t called Fiona. He’d wait for the results of the imaging. No use upsetting her without answers.
* * *
Elise sat in her condo and wished Finn was here. Of course, he said no more contact outside of treatments but she hoped she could change his mind. She sipped a glass of Chardonnay and turned on the TV, vowing not to give up on him.
“In other news, an attack occurred in the parking lot of the new Harmony Health Collective. Sources say one of the practitioners was working late and was overcome by a perpetrator, who also stole his car…”
His car. His car. Elise shot up from her seat, spilling the wine into the carpet. She slammed the glass down on the table and, since she’d dismissed Jimmy for the evening, she called a taxi.
She arrived at the hospital, parked and hurried down to Emergency. When she walked inside, she saw a scattering of people waiting to be treated. At one larger table were the members of the collective. She’d met Juliet and Oliver Ricardi but didn’t know the others. She hurried to them.
“Excuse me.”
They all looked up. A couple seemed startled. Oliver stood. “Hey, Elise. I’m Oliver.”
“I remember you.” She grasped onto his arm. “How is he?”
“In a lot of pain, but he’s going to be okay.” He turned to the group and introduced her.
Heath said, “How do you know Finn?”
“He’s been treating me. But we’ve become friends.” Close friends. “I heard it on the news.”
Juliet said, “I hope he called Fiona. If she hears it…”
“Call her, now,” Daisy said. “He can get mad at us if he wants. If Elise heard it on the TV, she could too. We have to protect his family.”
As Juliet stepped away, Elise said, “Would I be able to go in and see him?”
Oliver squeezed her arm. “He’s in imaging right now.”
Just then the doctor approached them.
“Hello, everybody. I’m Dr. Mancini. Your friend is back from imaging and he said I could tell you that he has a rib fracture and is bruised pretty much all over his body.”
Elise stumbled back. “Oh, no.”
The doc glanced at her then continued. “He’s better off than that sounds. Or at least better than it could have been.”
“Why would someone attack Finn?” Oliver asked.
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.”