The clerk checked the screen. “Yes. They’re in bays three and four but you all can’t go in there. Only one person per patient.”
“I’ll go for Manny,” Fernando said.
“I’m with Brenner.” There wasn’t even a question. The two of us pushed open the door to the chaos of a typical emergency room—gurneys everywhere with patients lying on them in various stages of distress. Doctors, nurses, and EMTs all hustling around while the overhead speakers blatted out calls and codes.
I paid attention to none of it, my sole concern finding Brenner. “There.” I pointed. “Three and four.”
Pulling back the curtain, I saw Brenner sitting on the examination table, head propped in his hands. Something in my stomach twisted, sending a knife’s edge of pain straight to my heart.
“You’ll do anything for attention, won’t you?” The curtain fell behind me as I stepped inside. With some difficulty, Brenner raised his gaze to meet mine, and my breath caught. He sported numerous cuts to his cheeks, a busted lip, and the bruising suggested he’d have at least one black eye. “Jesus, Brenner. What the hell?”
“Bastards came after Manny and me. They thought we were a couple. Seems the combination of gay and lawyer set them off. Do you know how he’s doing?”
“No idea. Fernando is with him, but he called to let us know.”
“And you came…why?” Brenner winced as he shifted position.
“Seriously?” That hurt. “Come on. Aside from what they did to your pretty face, what else is wrong?”
The curtain opened. “Mr. Fleming?” The doctor directed his sharp eyes to me. “You are?”
“A friend. We work at the same firm, and we’re both here for a corporate team-building event.”
He didn’t answer me and addressed Brenner. “We’re going to take you to X-ray for your ribs and have you checked out to make sure you don’t have a concussion. Are you dizzy, nauseated, anything like that?”
“No. I’m fine, aside from the obvious.” Brenner managed a wan smile that was more like a grimace.
Anger swelled inside me at whoever had done this to him and Manny. I’d never had a violent urge in my body, but I wanted to hunt down those punks and beat them senseless.
“I’ll wait until all your tests are done.”
If I’d stood naked in front of him, Brenner couldn’t have looked more surprised. “What? No, go back. I’ll be fine.”
I didn’t get a chance to argue because the orderly came to take him, and they left without another word. Without Brenner, it made no sense to remain in the examination bay, so I left, but peeked into the next room where I’d seen Fernando disappear to check on Manny. The room was empty. Out in the waiting area, Fernando and Grady waited for me, along with the other members of Brenner’s team.
“Where’s Manny? How is he?” I questioned Fernando.
“He’s all right. Shaken up and a few bruises and scrapes, but they’re releasing him. He said Brenner took the brunt of the attack. Maybe because he tried to reason with them. Who knows?”
“He should know better. You don’t argue with idiots.”
Manny appeared in the doorway to the waiting room, complete with bruises on his face and a scrape on his chin. He joined our group, and I waited for him to greet the other members of his team and then introduced myself.
“Hi, I’m Weston Lively, a friend of Brenner’s.”
“Hey. Where’s Brenner?” I found his abruptness odd but ignored it. The man had been through enough. He didn’t need me judging him.
“They took him to X-ray for his ribs, and they may keep him overnight to see if he has a concussion, but he said he has no symptoms,” I explained.
“What happened?” Grady asked Manny. Other people from the firm had come as well, and we made a crowd in the small waiting area.
“We were in the bar and had a drink and some food. These punks were drinking beer and doing shots. Definitely got an anti-gay vibe from them—they kept staring at us, like they thought we were a couple. We got the bill and went out to wait for the car to take us to the hotel, but they followed us, and that’s when the harassment started. I warned Brenner to ignore them, but he thought he could talk his way out of it.” For the first time, Manny met my eyes. “He’s never had to deal with this before, and it’s hard to imagine so much hate until it’s directed your way.”
“How did you get away?” Instinctively, my hands had curled into fists. “They could’ve killed you.”
“The car we ordered arrived, and they ran when the driver got out of the car and screamed at them. He took us here.”
“Thank God for that,” I muttered.
