“Agreed,” Anna said. “She seemed almost eager not to have to pull Thea out of Blue Ridge. As if she were grasping at any reason to stay.”
“Snakes and all,” Joaquin said.
Alonzo gave him a dirty look.
“I meant Brett too,” Joaquin said, holding up his hands.
“Miss Hughes was grossly abused while under our care,” Alonzo said. “Delia Hughes would be well within her rights to sue us into oblivion. The fact we’re still here is a blessing.”
“It’s a miracle,” Anna said. “As much as I loathe what happened to Thea, it was the wake-up call the board needed to fix so much of what was broken.”
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Alonzo said. “Delia’s got us by the balls.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Needless to say, your suspension is over.”
Joaquin chucked my other arm. “You did good for Miss Hughes, man.”
“Indeed,” Anna Sutton said. She patted my hand. “Thank you, Jim.”
I looked around at them—Anna and Alonzo like proud parents and Joaquin the brother I never had. A family. My family.
Dream on, you big dummy. Doris scoffed. They just feel sorry for you.
But her words didn’t stick this time. No one lost their jobs and Thea was still here with a new doctor. I went to the break room and changed into my uniform, feeling lighter than I had in days. A new era was beginning. I just wished Thea hadn’t had to suffer to make it happen.
I pushed the mop bucket out into the hallway and began the stretch of the linoleum that led to the front foyer.
Maybe Thea will start a new painting. Maybe this Dr. Chen will have some ideas about her word chains. Maybe I could help—
“You,” a familiar voice said behind me.
“Ms. Hughes,” I said, turning.
“I suppose I should thank you for coming to Thea’s rescue the other night,” Delia said.
“Just doing my job,” I said warily.
“And you did it well. Got to her right at the nick of time, didn’t you?”
I cocked my head. “Sorry?”
“You busted through the door like a superhero. Perfectly timed to catch that man in the act.”
“Not perfectly,” I said, feeling the stutter right there, rising with the anger at her insinuations. “I was t-two nights too late.”
Delia tilted her chin. “And holding my sister? Singing to her? Is that in your job description as well?”
I gripped the handle of the mop. “She was upset. Music helps her calm down.”
She pursed her lips, watching me. “I’m torn, Mr. Whelan,” she said. “I’m grateful to you, and I don’t trust you. You’re not—”
“Yeah, I know,” I said, cutting her off. “I’m not a doctor. I’m just an orderly.”
“You are. Thea is so defenseless, I’ve always mistrusted male staff around her. Turns out I was right to be wary.”
Tears shone in her eyes but she blinked them away.
“Dr. Chen assures me Thea is in safe hands now. A new director will be appointed, more funds allotted for hiring staff and Dr. Chen herself is committed to Thea’s case. The only thing that would reassure me more, is if the man who seems so taken with my sister no longer worked here.”
The words to defend myself rose to my lips but I bit them back. They’d come out stuttering and weak anyway, making my poor excuses sound desperate. Or obsessive. I knew what my fierce protection of Thea looked like to everyone else: a male orderly paying too much attention to a beautiful, vulnerable patient. Stopping Brett only compounded Delia’s worry. In her eyes, I was just another man who had access to Thea. Another predator who could put his hands on her when no one was looking because who would suspect me now?