“Was that the same side that you took the blow to the head?” The ask is gentle, and even though I feel a massive headache coming on, it makes me smile.
I crack open one eye and ask, “How do you know about that?”
“How do you think? Answer the question. Did he hit you on the same side as you took the rifle butt to the head? Did he hit you where they cracked your skull?” He says the last part on a whisper, his hands caressing my face. I would absolutely take another blow to the head just to have Heath keep touching me like this.
“Yeah, he did.”
Heath’s eyes narrow, and his lips thin. “You’re not really supposed to take more of those kinds of blows, right?”
I laugh, which in hindsight was a mistake because… yeouch. “Yeah, they don’t recommend it. But the dizziness is fading quickly, and I can see clearly. I’m going to have a pretty bad headache, but that’s nothing I haven’t dealt with.”
“He was really going after you. Did you wanna press charges?”
I shake my head, even though it hurts. I’d finally figured out something that probably should’ve been more obvious from the start. “He… um. I’m pretty sure he’s Asadi’s husband.”
Heath looks confused, but Rafi, still being held in place by Everett, yells so loudly that he’s practically spitting at me. “Fuck you, Roly. You keep his name out of your mouth, you fucking coward.”
I sit up slowly and Heath supports me with a hand on my lower back. Talking to myself as much as to Rafi, my voice is barely above a whisper. “I made a promise to him, to be better. That’s part of what this gym is about, Rafi. Keeping my promise to Asadi.”
Questions fill Heath’s eyes, and I know that there’s a conversation that we need to have.
Rafi says through gritted teeth, “Don’t say his name. Don’t you dare fucking say his name.”
I nod and lean forward onto my knees, the headache getting stronger.
Heath takes over. “Everett, can you make sure Rafi gets home all right? I don’t think he should be driving.”
Everett, who is still holding on to Rafi for dear life, nods and walks him over to the locker room.
Heath is still kneeling beside me, rubbing his large hands up and down my spine. “I’d feel better if you let me take you to the hospital.”
I shake my head, slowly. “I haven’t thrown up, my speech and vision are clear, and I know my name and the date. I don’t wanna be in a hospital with a pounding head.”
Heath pulls out his phone and checks a few things. “Okay, but I’m going to drive you home. That one is nonnegotiable.”
* * *
We get to my house a few minutes later, and I see a familiar person in my driveway. Painfully glaring over at Heath, I ask, “You couldn’t help yourself, could you?”
Heath waves at Jonathan, then meets my angry gaze. “Nope.”
We sit in my living room with Audrey on my lap, and Jonathan performs a neurological exam while Heath grabs a chilled gel pack for my eye. It’s mostly just him having me state my name and the date and count backward from thirty-seven. I messed up with the memory game he has, but he knows me well enough to know that’s where I usually mess up anyway.
“You seem good neurologically, and the blow to your eye was pretty minor, but you’re going to want to take it easy for a couple of days.”
Ha, no problem there. I’ve got days and days stretched out in front of me with nothing left to do.
“And I’d like for someone to stay with you tonight so that you’re not alone. If any of your symptoms worsen, get to the hospital right away. I’d feel better if we had some imaging, but you really do seem fine.”
Heath rubs his chest and opens his mouth to say something, and at that exact moment, Nick walks in with a gym bag in his hand. “Oye güey,it’ll be like sharing quarters in Iraq all over again. Except without the bombs and small weapons fire and Billy Boy’s chili farts.”
Oh god, those were horrible.
“N’ombre, this is too much. I’ll be fine. We all live five minutes apart, I’ll call you—”
“What, if you lose consciousness? No,primo, that’s not going to work. Remind me, do you like big spoon, or little sp—eh, I think that’s pretty obvious. Just make sure you don’t have any plans for some bear to walk in and ravish you. I don’t want to have to defend your honor.”
“I kind of hate you right now.”
