The man suddenly frowned, glaze flicking down. “I thought you went to the hospital today to get your cast removed.”
“As did I. But, it turns out the doctor there was a moron who I wouldn’t let near me with a stethoscope, let alone a saw.”
Tony rolled his eyes, and pulled a sticky pad closer to him. He quickly jotted something down before holding out the pink note to him. “Take it. It’s the number for a local vampire physician. Just tell him I sent you, and he shouldn’t question or turn you away.”
Foxx blinked and slowly reached out for the paper. The name Doc Robinson was written on it, and there was a number. “How do you even know of them?”
“The truth?”
Foxx nodded. “Preferably.”
“Off the books. I met Doc many, many years ago. I never subscribed to the notion that the entirety of one species could be evil. That includes vampires. I met a lot who didn’t deserve the shit that happened to them. And knowing of someplace safe where they could get medical attention was helpful. And after the world changed and became a bit less ignorant of all that was out there…I kept in touch, even as things went crazy for a while. Turned out to benefit me. Now I have a place to send vampire victims that isn’t a hospital full of humans they don’t know or trust. I find it hard to get them to go to the hospital anyway. Then again, I can’t really blame them. Why would they want to trust their care to more humans, after no doubt having just been almost murdered by a few.”
“I see.”
“I don’t always do things by the book here, Foxx. You can’t in this job. Too much gray and blurred lines. But I want you to go see the psychologist. Doesn’t have to be today. Doesn’t have to be tomorrow.”
Foxx sighed. “Why are you pushing this?”
“Because Harlow has been acting weird since all this shit went down. I know he didn’t tell me everything that went on. It's likely he wouldn’t, even if I asked. Which is good. He is your partner, and you need to be able to trust him. But if what he didn’t explain comes back to bite you both on the ass, then it’s my problem. Shit catches up to you, Foxx. You can run, but it always catches up.”
Foxx leaned back in his chair, glaring slightly. He really didn’t want to do this. He didn’t want to talk about any of it with some stranger. And he didn’t want to resolve shit. He wanted to be left alone so he could compartmentalize his issues and lock them away. “When is my deadline?”
“Five weeks. You have five weeks to make an appointment with the Guild’s psychologist. If the five week deadline comes and you still haven’t made your appointment, I will pull you from duty. If you don’t do it after I pull you, it will be grounds for dismissal.”
Foxx gasped. “You’ll fire me for not talking to a bloody shrink?”
“Yes.”
He glared. “Fine… I’ll make the damn appointment. But just so you know…I’m going to make sure Harlow has a long, LONG life.”
Tony blinked. “You…”
Foxx stood up from his chair. “A long, fit life. With a healthy sex life, for many years to come. So he can visit you every day, in whatever nursing home you end up at.”
Smiling at the baffled expression on Tony’s face, he left with his head held high.
Foxx walked up to Harlow and stared. The human didn’t react or look up, he just continued to read his dumb old man paper.
“Harlowww,” Foxx chimed.
Harlow sighed, slowly lowering the newspaper. “What?” he asked with narrowed eyes.
“Let’s go out.”
“No,” the man replied without hesitation, before going back to his paper.
“But, whyyy?!”
“That new vampire doctor of yours, Dr. Robinson, said no strenuous activity until the pain goes away. If we go out, you being the brat that you are, will likely find some way to do what you shouldn’t. So again, no.”
Foxx pouted. “But I’m bored. And I no longer have my cast or my stitches. And it’s been ten days. I’m only in a little pain now! It’s barely there! Let’s go out,” he whined.
“Still no.”
He glared before forcing himself to get excited about other possibilities! He would not let rejection get him down. He had too much energy for that. Well, energy in a relative sense, as he got tired really quickly. And there was still a little pain when he moved too fast or too much, but it really wasn’tthatbad.
“Fine! Then let’s at least do something here.”
