Harlow pulled from Foxx’s hold and straightened up in his seat. Eyeing the man and woman, he waved them towards the chair he’d kicked over earlier, and the cot, since that was all that was left to sit on. Harlow was somehow not surprised when the CEO righted the seat and took it, while the nurse awkwardly stood next to him.
Okay, he was slightly surprised that the man hadn’t expected the woman to put the chair right for him to use.
Foxx scoffed at them, but didn’t say anything otherwise. One of the machines hooked up to the man made a sound. Harlow eyed it, and then the vampire, who began to smile oddly.
“So, Robert,” Harlow drawled, purposely being overly familiar. “This is one fucked up hospital you’ve got here.”
The man blistered. “Excuse me?!”
“Rogue nurses, crappy, harmful policies, priests going into places they shouldn’t. How else would you describe that?”
Robert’s face pinched. “The nurses here do everything in their power to make sure the patients remain healthy and safe, along with all the other staff.”
“Yeah, the woman who accused me of being controlled, after I drove over an hour to get here, really was ‘just doing her job’ to keep me safe.”
“That…” he trailed off.
“And what of the priest?” Foxx asked. “Why would you let a priest run around these rooms?”
“Father Donovan is a man of God. He is simply here to give last rights and absolution. He is here to comfort,” Gladys said with conviction.
“And how would that man of ‘God’ help anyone here, when the majority of paranormals don’t ascribe to any of the sects of Christianity? Or do you allow scribes of other Gods and Goddesses to do the same? Have you seen any scribes of the great Goddess of the Night, Nycinthea, running around, Harlow? You’d think with me being a vampire, that is who would show up to my room, instead of a man who prays to someone who despises my Goddess, and thus my kind, to the point that his very scripture causes us pain.”
“No scribes. Didn’t see anyone else of any other religion except the priest.”
“We can’t cater to everyone,” the CEO said firmly, but his gaze avoided theirs. “Frankly, the accusations you two have thrown Father Donovan’s way are ridiculous. Like Nurse Gladys has said, he brings comfort and resolution to those in pain that ask for it. That is all. He has permission to be here.”
Foxx let out a chuckle. “I assure you, I did not ask that bastard to set his cross on my chest and pray over me. Then again, what vampire would? The very words he spews out drains and causes my kind pain. Or did you think I, passed out as I was, could have asked him to hurt me more?”
“It was a misunderstanding,” the nurse piped up.
“Oh, he just accidentally entered the room of a passed-out vampire, and ‘oops’...dropped his cross, and then thought I might as well pray while I’m here?” the vampire mocked. “Who in their right mind would believe that?”
Harlow snorted. “Yeah, no one is buying the misunderstanding bullshit. And frankly, misunderstandings don’t end in the person disappearing to avoid questioning.”
“Disappearing?” the nurse asked in confusion.
“Oh, didn’t you know? Your innocent man of God ran for it the first chance he got. Which happened to be when the police had multiple, and some very questionable, system failures. But that’s none of your concern. What is your concern, is that your lovable man of God was illegally collecting private information. Something that actually comes back on you, and opens you up to not only civil lawsuits but probably a few federal ones too, because you gave him permission to walk these halls in the first place.”
Harlow decided to hold back that if there was any correlation between vampire disappearances and this hospital, they were in even deeper shit. No point in giving things away. Harlow couldn’t rule out the possibility that this CEO and the other staff were not just morons of epic proportions, but also involved in whatever was going on here.
“I… We had no clue he was collecting anything!” Robert snapped.
“Are you two the only ones aware of this priest?” Foxx asked.
“No… All the staff are aware. He has always been part of our family,” Gladys said stiffly. “Furthermore, we have always taken great care with our patient’s privacy.”
“Doesn’t seem that way from my end. You don’t even seem to care enough to make sure your patients are safe,” Foxx scoffed. “I’m still deciding if I want to sue or not.”
“Sue?! You were caused no harm here!” Robert roared.
Foxx’s sniffling had Harlow glancing over. His eyes widened as the vampire’s eyes began to get glassy, filling with tears. But something was off about the expression. While it looked genuine…for some reason, Harlow was sure that it was fake.
“I was traumatized. How can you say no harm was done?” Foxx cried, a single tear slipping down his cheek. Suddenly, the waterworks disappeared, and a vicious smile took its place. “I’ve been told I’m quite cute. Most juries find me precious, and hard to say no to.”
“That’s…” The man looked baffled. Harlow was amused…actually impressed. His brat was a good actor. But after seeing Foxx genuinely cry, he had to say, it was nothing compared to the real deal.
Wait…his brat? Had he really just thought that? Well…he supposed Foxx was his, in a way. The vampire was his partner. It was possible that Harlow was getting a little bit attached. Just a small bit. In the way one would get attached to a thing though… He wasn’t sure he was capable of more than that. Everyone in his life was like that—a thing that was his, and that he would be irritated if someone took them away.
