Chapter 6
Oliver, Heath and Juliet drove into the collective parking lot at the same time. They met in front of Oliver’s practice.
“This is a pain in the ass,” Heath said.
“Stop complaining.” Oliver was cranky. “Did you leave a woman in bed, like I did?”
“You did?”
“You did?”
Oliver laughed out loud. “Yep.”
He unlocked his outside door and took a couple of steps inside. And fell to the floor hard. His forehead cracked on the wooden surface. Heath leapt to the side and said to Juliet, “I keep a bag in my office.” He tossed her his keys. “Go get it.”
“Is—is he—”
His hand on Oliver’s neck, he said, “He’s out cold, but breathing steadily.”
Heath forced his doctor side to surface. He felt Oliver’s neck and shoulders, which seemed fine, but he waited until Juliet got back to do more examination. “He’s bleeding so get out the thick gauze pads for me.”
When he had them in his hands, he gently turned Oliver’s head to the side. Blood flowed out with its coppery scent and Heath clapped the gauze over his forehead. He looked up at Juliet. “Head wounds bleed easily. He’ll be okay.”
“You don’t know that.”
Oliver stirred.
“We’ll find out right now.”
“Ahhhhh.”
Heath gentled his voice. “You tripped over a barbell in front of the door and smacked your head. Try to stay still.”
Oliver settled, but his breathing escalated. Heath continued to hold the gauze to his head, replacing it when needed, until the bleeding stopped.
“Can I sit up?”
“When I get you set up.”
First Heath moved the upholstered chair behind him. Both he and Juliet grasped him under his arms and helped him to sit back.
“Fuck, this hurts.”
Heath inspected the wound. “It’s not too deep. I’ve got to put antiseptic on it and it’ll hurt like a bitch. Then we can take you to the hospital to get it stitched and get you a CT.”
“No hospital. Can’t you stitch it up here?”
“I guess I could.” He rummaged in his bag. “I have some lidocaine to numb it.”
Juliet sighed. “For what it’s worth, I think you should go to the hospital.”
“No. I’m not going.”
After administering the drug, he got out the needle and sutures then waited some. Finally, he said, “I think we’re ready.”
Oliver sat still while Heath tended to him. When he finished he asked, “What the hell were barbells doing so close to the door?”
“I have no idea. I stow them in the closet. Maybe Finn used them. But he’d never leave them where anybody could trip.”
“No, I guess he wouldn’t.”
They stared at each other. Oliver asked, “Do you think…”
“Yeah, I do.”
“What?” Juliet asked. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth. “No, not another thing against us. A violent thing.”
Oliver grasped Juliet’s hand. “I only came in for one session in an hour, then I was going back to…my girl.”
Juliet frowned. “Your girl? That’s vague.”
“I don’t want to say more.”
Oliver fished in his pocket for his phone and handed it to her. “Can you call my client, Leslie Long and cancel? She may not have left yet.”
Juliet made the call by the time Heath was finished.
“I’m done,” Heath said. “You can go to your girl, but you can’t drive. And you have to promise me you’ll go to the ER if you start feeling dizzy or in too much pain.”
“I promise. And don’t worry. She’s a doctor.”
“I’ll take you to her, Oliver.” Juliet sounded stronger. She’d gathered her composure.
Oliver stood. He grasped Juliet’s arm. “I’m shaky.”
“You better call what’s her name on the way over. I’ll get in touch with Captain Marshall before my group session.” Heath cracked a smile. “Unless you want to stay for it. It’s on sexual health.”
“No thanks, buddy, I’m fine in that area.”
All three of them laughed.
Heath helped Oliver to Juliet’s car and settled him in, even buckled his seatbelt. When they left, he blew out a heavy breath. In truth, he was worried as hell.
* * *
Anabelle cleaned up the girls’ room before Oliver was due back. Just as she finished, her cell buzzed. Oliver. She hoped he didn’t have to cancel. “Hello.”
“Hi, sweetheart. I’m on my way over.”
“Great.”
“Not so great. I fell going into my practice. I’ll explain it all when I get there.”
“Are you all right?”
“Not exactly. I hit my head pretty hard.”
“Then you should go to the hospital.”
“No, I’m fine. I’ll be there soon.” And he disconnected before she could say more.
After she tidied up the living room, she went outside to the front porch, sat down in a chair and waited for Oliver.
The sun shone brightly and a soft breeze ruffled the trees.
But she couldn’t enjoy it. Oliver had been hurt.
Soon, an unfamiliar car pulled into the driveway. She got up and walked to it.
A woman got out. A woman?
“Hi, I’m Juliet Sullivan. I was at the collective when he tripped.”
The passenger door opened.
Anabelle greeted her then said, “We better get to him.”
They circled the hood quickly. Oliver had swung his feet to the ground but hadn’t tried to stand. Anabelle read the pain on his face. Both she and Juliet bent in to get him up. Shaky, he leaned heavily on them as they walked to the house. Once inside, Juliet asked, “The couch or bed?”
“Couch.” Soon, he was stretched out.
“He can tell you what happened. But here’s a prescription from our doctor, Heath Elsworth. It’s for pain pills. I can go get it.”
“My pharmacy delivers. I’ll call it right in. Thank you, Juliet.”
“Do you mind telling me who you are?”
“My first name is Anabelle. We’re trying to keep our relationship quiet with all the danger your members are in. So best to stay anonymous.”
Juliet nodded, walked around Anabelle and said to Oliver, “I hope you’re okay here.”
“I am.”
Leaning over, she kissed his forehead. “Get that prescription filled.”
“Yes, of course. Thanks, Juliet. I’ll take good care of him.”
“We’ll stay in touch.”
Juliet left. Anabelle went to the couch and sat on the side of a cushion. “You can tell me about this but I’m calling in the pain medicine first.”
After she ordered oxy, she asked, “Do you want to sleep or talk now?”
“Heath said to stay awake so you can observe me.”
“I’ll watch for signs of a concussion.”
Oliver blew out a heavy breath. “Three of us met at Harmony. No one’s going there alone, which turned out to be a good thing. I opened my practice door, went a few steps inside and tripped over a barbell.”
“A barbell?”
“I keep weights in my closet. I like to do them through the day.”
“No wonder you’re so buff.”
A smile edged across his face. “You think I’m buff?”
She made a show of squeezing his bicep. “You know you are. Back to what happened.”
“I don’t know. I am sure I didn’t put the big weights in front of the door, nor did Finn, who uses them sometimes.”
“So someone planted the barbell there?”
“I think so. Heath called us on the way over. He phoned the police. Our contact is coming over here as soon as he can get away. I hope that’s all right.”
“Of course it is. As long as you take the oxy when it comes.”
“I want to stay awake. I only have a headache.” The other signs were confusion, nausea, memory loss and vision changes.
“That’s good. Still, it doesn’t take the place of a CT.”
The doorbell rang. She got up and went to the foyer, opened the door. An attractive blond man stood on the porch. Hell, were all the people he knew gorgeous? Juliet was beautiful. This guy was too. “Captain Marshall?”
“Hello, Dr. Baxter.”
“Come on in.”
The man walked inside and Anabelle showed him into the great room. He crossed to the couch and stood before Oliver. “Mr. Ricardi. I understand there was another incident.”
“Yes.”
“Can you explain it to me?”
“Sit down here,” Anabelle said. She’d moved a chair in front of the coffee table. “I don’t know the details yet, so I’d like to stay if it’s all right.”
“Of course.”
She sat on a side chair. Marshall dropped down in front of Oliver.
“Since the murder, we’re meeting in threes, so when someone has an appointment, there’s two of us around. We drove in at the same time, I opened my practice and tripped over a barbell.”
“Is it still there in the same place?”
“Yes.”
“Did anybody touch it?”
“No, we knew not to.”
“Go on.”
“That’s pretty much it. Are you making any progress in finding the person who’s doing all this? Finn was attacked more than two months ago.”
“The detectives declared that a carjacking. Homicide took over when the guard was killed and they solved that murder.”
Anabelle shivered. She knew this, but she still felt fear rush through her.
“That was a month ago. We should have an answer by now.”
“I’m sorry. This guy isn’t leaving a trail.”
“That’s almost impossible.” His words slurred a bit.
The doorbell rang again. Anabelle left to get the prescription from the courier. She retrieved a glass of water and went back into the family room. “I’d like to give this to him. He’s fading already.”
“I can tell.” Marshall stood. “I’ll let you rest. I’m going back to talk to the other two you were with and look around. Put up some police tape.”
“No, you can’t do the tape. You can’t close the collective. This has been bad for business already.”
“I’ll think about that.”
When he left, Anabelle sat down next to him. His face was lined with fatigue and pain “I still think you should go in for a CT. I’ll call Mom and Dad. They can watch the girls.”
“No. Just give me the medicine.”
She handed him a pill and the glass. After he took it, he laid back. “This doesn’t help our relationship.”
“I’m handling that. I told you I was invested.”
He grasped her hand. “I love hearing that.” His eyes closed.
Soon, he was sound asleep.
Anabelle sat by his side for a bit, then got up to make a call. In the kitchen, she punched in her mother’s number. “Hello.”
“Hi, Mom. Would you mind keeping the girls for the morning then bringing them over? Something’s come up.”
“Something good?”
“Not exactly. I’ll explain it when you get here.”
“I’ll see you after lunch.”
Anabelle brought her computer into the family room and curled up on the second couch. She typed in, When to go in for a CT? and waited for a response. Then she canceled it.
As a doctor, she knew to go whenever there was severe head trauma. She picked up the phone to order the test for Oliver and make an appointment. Her doctor credentials got it for later today. If he balked, she’d force him to go.
She called her mother back. She had some explaining to do.
* * *
Oliver awoke. Someone was shaking him. “Hi,” that someone said. Through blurry eyes, he recognized Anabelle.
“Hi.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Like there’s a jackhammer going off in my head.”
“I’ll bet. It’s time for more oxy, but you can’t go to sleep. You have a CT appointment in an hour.”
“Why, when I said no?”
“You have severe head trauma.”
He touched the wound and felt the bandage. “Heath fixed me up.”
“There could be more damage.”
“Like what?”
“A concussion. Internal bleeding and more.”
He sighed heavily. “You can’t leave the girls.”
“Mom is going to keep them.”
“I’d rather stay here and see them.”
“You can do that when we get back.”
“You’re really going to make me go?”
“Absolutely.”
He stood, was unsteady on his feet but was able to make it to the car. He plunked himself in the front seat and let her drive him to the Urgent Care Center.
He was in and out in a half hour.
She said, “The results will be up soon. But the tech is a friend of mine. She said everything looks normal.”
On the way back to her house, she added, “I’ll apologize for jumping the gun if you want me to.”
“No, of course. You were doing what was best.”
She reached over and grabbed his hand.
Once home, she got Oliver settled on the couch again, called her mom then came back inside. “They’ll be right over.”
“Good. But I can go home in an Uber if you want me to.”
“Do you want to?”
“No.”
“Then stay. They’ll like meeting you.”
Her mom and dad arrived each carrying a child. Lucy yelled, “Ma ma ma.”
Emily smiled broadly.
Anabelle put them in two play centers that she’d brought out. Each had beads and other activities attached to it. But when they got a glance at Oliver, they both lifted their arms. “Up, up, up” they said simultaneously.
“Not yet, girls.” She transferred her gaze to her parents. “Oliver, meet Lila and Duncan Baxter.”
“Hello Oliver,” her mother responded.
Her dad shoved his hands in his pockets. “Oliver.”
Lila Baxter cocked her head. “How were you wounded?”
“I tripped over a barbell at my practice this morning.”
“Practice?”
“I’m a massage therapist.”
“I fully support alternative medicine. Are you in the new collective that opened near the outskirts of town?”
“Yes.”
“How long have you lived in Rockford?” Duncan asked.
“All my life.”
“Anabelle told us some about you.”
“I’m glad.”
Duncan grasped her mother’s arm. “Now, let’s go, Lila. The man is injured.” He kissed Anabelle’s cheek while Lila went to kiss the girls. “Call when you can.”
“I will, Dad.”
After they left Oliver collapsed back onto the couch pillows. “I didn’t make a very good impression.”
“You did fine. Now, take this pill and go back to sleep.”
He gulped back the medicine with some water from a bottle she’d given him. Then he crossed to the girls. Both said, “Up, up, up.”
“Not yet, ladies. I’m too unsteady.” He kissed their heads then turned to Anabelle. “I need more sleep.”
“Let’s get you into my bed. You’ll rest better.”
He leaned on her until they reached her bedroom and she tucked him in. “Not exactly how I wanted to get in here.”
Leaning over, she whispered in his ear, “Don’t worry, you’ll be here again for a better reason.”
“Ah, music to my ears.” His eyes closed. Everything went dark.