Marcus opens his eyes, and the way he looks at me… Fuck. No wonder Keegan walks around with the confidence he does. A submissive putting that much faith in you? It’s a heady asfuck feeling, and the gratitude leaking off Marcus right now is powerful.
Standing, I offer him a hand and guide him down the hall. Thankfully, Doc had already gone ahead, and was just stepping out of one of the medical rooms when we drew closer. I lead him in there, with Doc shadowing our moves silently. I gently help him into bed, and he holds out his arm. Doc doesn’t hesitate, sticking the needle in and depressing the plunger.
I sit down next to Marcus and watch as his breaths begin to slow, to calm, and his eyes blink with exhaustion. A small smile spreads across his lips. He gives a deep yawn before whispering, “Maybe I’ll see Amy in my dreams…alive this time. Maybe my angel will be waiting…”
I raise my head and stare at Doc. The hardness there mixes with pity, and I know he’s thinking the same thing I am. Fuck. We should have caught this before it got this far. We’re lucky that Marcus has the self-awareness to come in. It could have been so much worse.
I wait until I’m completely sure he’s out before I nod toward Doc, following him out of the room. I don’t close the door all the way, but we step away from the opening, so we can talk in hushed tones.
“We fucked this one up,” I say grimly. Doc doesn’t reply verbally, but he gives a sharp nod. “I want more therapists. I know, it’s going to be hard, but fuck. I didn’t realize how much trauma Marcus was carrying. And if he is…”
“Then so are Carter and Keegan. Fuck, I know you’re right.” Doc finishes my sentence, but I can’t take pleasure from it. With a sigh, he scrunches his face up. “I’ll help make a list with you in the morning. There’s nothing we can do tonight. I’ll assign someone to sit in there. Lio likely can come off suicide watch soon. He seems better on the medications. I don’t wanthim moved quite yet though. Not only that, there’s Roman to consider…”
“Agreed. I want a therapist here first. We can watch that situation, but…”
“Yeah, I know. Fuck. Hollis is not going to like having an entire empire of therapists on hand…”
My eyes harden and my hands curl into fists. “Too fucking bad. I’m not taking any more chances with these fuckers’ lives.”
Doc raises an eyebrow, likely at the venom in my voice. I force myself to settle. There’s something about seeing a father like this though. It speaks to a part of me I long thought was dead. Hell, it's a part I had hoped I’d buried with my old man. Shaking the thoughts off, I let it go. I can’t afford to get emotionally invested with my subjects. I know better.
And yet…something is drawing me to them. Hunting is bumped up on my to-do list, but I have a sinking feeling from the smug expression Ely had when I left that she knew this would happen.Nobody likes a damn know-it-all…
“Good luck with Hollis.” Doc shrugs and I blink, almost having lost my train of thought, which is always dangerous to do. But thankfully, it was only around Doc.
Then again, do I really want him to see me as weak?A thought for another time, I suppose. For now, work continues. As always. Because I will get these fuckers taken care of, whether they want to or not. But thank fuck some of them know they need help. I give the doorway to Marcus’s room one last look before waving bye to Doc and heading for my office.
Bed is going to have to wait. I’m too keyed up to sleep. Fuck it. I may as well start searching for more therapists now. An empire indeed…
Being summoned to Javi’s office, I’m learning, is never a good thing. First thing in the morning? Before I even finished my coffee? This doesn’t sound promising.
I knock briskly, and barely cover my surprise when Doc opens the door. He steps back and lets me walk in. Neither man is sitting behind the desk, but in front of it. From a glance at the paperwork spread out on top, they’ve been working for hours already.
“What happened?” I ask sharply.
“I need you to run backgrounds on these four,” Javi says, handing me a stack of papers.
Glancing at the top sheet, I see the hand scrawled note that readsChild Psychologist.“More therapists?” I wrinkle my nose and take a drink of coffee from my travel cup. “Though I am glad to hear you’ll be getting Cole some help.”
“Of course, I am,” Javi says, almost sounding offended. “And yes, more therapists. I realized the ones on my first wishlist aren’t enough. Not if I want you fuckers to actually be functioning, and to not break my colleagues. So, three more names for you, and one child psychologist for Cole. That one, and the first adult therapist in that stack, are ones I neednow. Not tomorrow, not next week.”
“You planning on kidnapping them too?” I drink more coffee. It’s not enough to deal with Javi on only a few hours of sleep.
“The child psychologist could be persuaded, but the therapist I need now? Yes. The other two…I’m sure you and Leandro can come up with ways to get them on board, or I will be considering my options.”
“Have you spoken to Jude and Lio about the budget?”
“We’ll meet with them soon, but is there a limit to the mental stability of those you care about?” Javi levels me with a look that makes me want to throw my coffee on him.
“You and an army of mental health professionals at your beck and call seems like a bad idea,” I mutter.
He grins. “Probably, but think of how unstoppable we’d be.”
I make a noise of derision, and turn to look at Doc. “Thoughts?”
He sighs and runs a hand through his already mussed hair. “We need this. I…there’s too much for Javi and I to handle. We don’t want to risk burnout for anyone who comes in to help, so yes, this is necessary.”
I wince, knowing how true their concerns are. Even if I don’t like it simply because they’ll be expecting me to sit down with one of these people. “I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
