"Don't you understand?" Lex cried out. "He's going to kill me."
He was positive of it.
"He broke into my apartment and took stuff and moved stuff around. He handcuffed me to my bed. He sent me flowers." Lex connected all those dots in that instant. He didn't have proof that Carson had done all of those things, but he knew it deep down in his soul. "He's been stalking me."
A skeptical look made the doctor's eyebrows pull together. "Flowers?"
This man wasn't getting it.
"I don't know this man. Do you get that? Until you told me, I didn't even know his name. I certainly never gave him power of attorney. I don't what this guy's plan is, but it's not going to end well for me. He already beat the shit out of me because I told him no. What's he going to do when he figures out I said something to you?"
Lex really didn't want to find out if the guy was going to follow through on his threat.
"I need to make a phone call."
Lex started to reach for the phone on the stand by the bed when a cell phone was held out to him. His eyes were a little round when he glanced up.
"If what you're saying is true," the doctor said, "you can't call anyone you know from that phone. It can be traced. Use my cell phone."
"Can't it be traced?" Lex asked.
"Sure." The doctor grinned. "But I make a hundred phone calls a day as do most of the staff in this hospital. How are they going to figure out it was you making that phone call and not me?"
That made a weird sort of sense.
Lex took the phone and quickly dialed Tony's phone number. He knew the man would come for him in an instant. He just had to stay safe until then.
The call went to voicemail. Lex didn't leave a message. What would he say? He tried the senator next. It also went to voicemail. Again, he didn't leave a message.
His shoulders slumped as he handed the phone back to the doctor. "Thank you."
"We can try again later," the doctor said as he tucked his phone away. "Why don't you try to get some rest? Mr. Carson shouldn't be back until tomorrow morning, so we have some time for you to figure out what you want to do."
What Lex wanted to do was run. He just wasn't sure where to run to. He knew Senator Khor would help him if he could just reach the man. He was pretty sure Tony would, too. Again, he just needed to reach him.
"Is there any way you can bar him from my room?" Lex asked. "Or call the police and have him arrested?" He was really in favor of the whole arrested thing.
"I have a friend I can call, a detective. Maybe I can see if he can come up and take a statement from you then give us a few ideas of what you should do."
Lex frowned as he looked at the doctor. "Why are you doing this?"
It was a little above and beyond the Hippocratic Oath.
The doctor's smile seemed a little sad. "My brother's roommate back in collage was a man named Paul. No one believed him when he said his boyfriend was beating him. To the world, the boyfriend was this great guy, charming, good-looking, third-year medical student, top of his class, came from old family money. He had it all. He also beat my brother's roommate over and over again until one day, he beat him to death."
Lex gasped.
"The reaction you had when Carson walked into the room was the same sort of reaction Paul had when his boyfriend walked into a room. Everyone told him he was overreacting and being a drama queen. They still didn't believe the boyfriend was that bad even after he killed Paul. The guy walked away without even a slap on the wrist. I don't want to see that happen to you."
Lex didn't either.
"Thank you for telling me."
The doctor stood then patted Lex's arm. "I'll call my detective friend and see what he can do. It might be nothing, but it doesn't hurt to make a simple phone call. In the meantime, you try and get some rest."
Lex didn't really see that happening, but he nodded anyway. When the door closed behind the doctor and the nurse, Lex rolled to his side, pulled the blankets up to his ears, and prayed he was still breathing come morning.
His chances weren't looking good.
