The Chase

Seth whirled as Beck did. There sat Heavenly in River’s lap, cuddled against him, arms thrown around him, head buried in his neck. The former soldier had his big hands splayed across her back.

Seth tried to understand, but the primal part of him saw red. “She won’t lean on us, but she’ll take comfort from him?”

Fuck that.

He marched for the patio door, half-ready to commit murder.

“I’m sorry,” Beck muttered, following. “This is my fault.”

“I don’t need your apology,” Seth growled. “Just put us back together.”

“I’ll try, man. I swear.”

Side by side, they approached Heavenly. She still wept, though she’d grown quieter.

Raine stepped in front of them. “She’s calming down, but she’s totally wrung out. You’re obviously not happy, but River is just trying to help… Remember, she lost her only family tonight.”

Seth jerked his head from side to side. “We appreciate you and your brother, but we’re her family now. We’ll give her the comfort she needs.”

* * *

Wednesday, April 3

After his roundsand morning appointments, Beck hurried back to the condo. While at the hospital, he’d let Heavenly’s nurse administrator, Bridget Lewis, know that her father had passed and she wouldn’t be back for a while. He’d also taken a moment to email her online nursing instructors the same information. Several had already written back their condolences and indicated that she didn’t need to worry about school until after next week’s spring break. Then he’d cleared most of his own calendar for the next ten days, thanking God he didn’t have any critical patients and that he’d been able to postpone all but two of his surgeries.

Now he could focus on Heavenly.

As he shut the front door behind him, Seth entered the kitchen in a pair of boxers, yawning and stretching. Since he’d been chasing a cheating spouse until four a.m., Beck was surprised to see the PI awake.

“Hey.” Seth bobbed his head in greeting.

“Hi.” Beck tossed his keys on the foyer table. “How’s Heavenly?”

The big guy hesitated. “Still sleeping.”

That worried him. “Has she eaten since I left?”

“No. When I came in, she was sleeping like the… Well, you know.” He grimaced. “After you and I talked, I tried to wake her for breakfast. She wouldn’t budge, so I crawled into bed beside her for some shut-eye.”

Beck raked a hand through his hair. “Other than meeting with the funeral director, she’s been asleep for forty-eight hours.”

“She’s trying to escape what she can’t process yet.”

The behavior was common, but it worried Beck. “She’s been burning her candle at both ends for months, so at first I was glad to see her resting. But she must be dehydrated by now.”

“I’ve been worried about that. Coffee?” Seth flipped on the brewer.

“Please. Make it black, strong, and hot.”

“Only way to drink it.”

Beck nodded. “Raine called me to check on Heavenly. I guess she texted last night and didn’t get an answer.”

“Shit.”

“If I thought it would do any good, I’d call one of the grief counselors at the hospital. But if Heavenly won’t talk to the people she knows, she won’t talk to a stranger, even a well-trained one.”

“I never did.” Seth stared through the sliding glass door to the balcony, peering at the shimmering Pacific. “Maybe we should take this chat outside…just in case.”