Race With a Heart
Chapter 108: Why Is He being Punished So Much?

Chapter 108: Why Is He being Punished So Much?

These weren’t doctors dressed in blue, wearing caps and face masks, as seen in dramas and some movies to emphasize that doctors recover straight from surgery. One of them was in a blue suit, but he was wearing a doctor’s smock with a lot of ballpoint pens tucked in a breast pocket.

"Steve Paxton’s family?" He asked.

That simple, normal question chilled Martin’s blood in his veins. Why does the doctor’s voice sound so cruelly ominous?

"I am his guardian," Karl announced without going into detail.

"The operation was successful. We managed to stop the bleeding and the knife did not damage any internal organs. The patient has lost a lot of blood so I cannot guarantee his safety yet, but the prognosis is good. "

Did Martin hear well? Didn’t he misheard something? The operation was successful? It was really successful?

The boy looked at the faces of the gathered men. There was a slight anxiety on all of them, but also a clear relief.

So Martin didn’t hear wrong? The bleeding was really stopped, and the blade didn’t damage any organs? Thank God!

Martin felt his eyes wet. His knees felt oddly soft, but he was still able to stay on his feet. He had to listen carefully because Karl was asking a question that everyone would like to know the answer to.

"When will we be able to see him?" Walton asked.

"Tomorrow, no..." corrected the doctor, looking at his watch. "At the moment, the patient is still under the care of the anesthesiologist. We’ll transport him from the recovery room to the ICU in the morning. I think that short visits will be possible around noon. It all depends on the general condition of the patient, but we won’t find out about it until tomorrow... that is, in a few hours. You can safely go home. Sitting in the corridor won’t change anything. "

At that moment, Martin’s legs could not bear his weight and the boy sat down heavily on the plastic chair he had occupied before. The doctor’s tone was serious, to the point, a little dry, but not as sinister as he had thought before.

"You see" Alston reassuringly patted him on the shoulder. "I told you everything would be fine."

"Thank you," smiled Martin faintly. Don’s support was a very positive experience for him. He was the one who called the ambulance when a panicked Martin, all he could do was beg Steve not to die.

Suddenly, he was struck by the words of the doctor, or rather his question about family members. Where is Steve’s family? Has Karl already informed them? Did Steve even have a family? They had seen each other for so long, and Martin didn’t even know that basic knowledge about his partner!

The boy wanted to ask Karl, but Walton was gone. Martin had obviously lost track of reality for a while, but was now coming back to it. It was as if the information that the operation was successful opened his eyes, waking him from some unimaginable nightmare.

Don Alston was right next to Martin. Martin looked at him gratefully, appreciating that the driver had been with him all this time and possibly even saved Steve’s life by calling an ambulance so quickly. Don must have been shocked too to see the attack on his older colleague, but he didn’t lose his head. At this point, Martin was really very grateful to him.

"Martin, come on, I’ll drive you home," Alston suggested. "It makes no sense for you to sit here and wait for nothing. You should rest and regain strength to see Steve tomorrow. "

His words were very prudent, and although Martin did not want to leave the man he loved, he understood that there was no point in sitting in the hallway. The boy got to his feet, but his legs were so sure that his knees gave way under him.

"Sorry, Don," Jack objected with a smile. He swiftly appeared from Martin’s other side. "This time I will take Martin. There are a few questions I want to ask him. "

"You’re joking right?" Alston was indignant. "Do you want to question him when he is like this?"

"Certain questions cannot wait. But don’t worry, I will feed him and put him to bed safely ... "

"Jack, you ..."

"Please stop," Martin growled. He really didn’t want to hear such an idiotic argument. "I am not a child in need of care. Thank you both, but I’ll catch a cab. "

"It’s true that some questions have to be asked sooner rather than later," said Kevin Moore, who appeared suddenly out of nowhere. At this point, Moore turned to Alston. "I’m with the police. Kevin Moore. You have already spoken to my friend. Martin is a friend of mine, so I took the liberty of asking for the privilege of a less formal interrogation. Martin, the sooner we hear your side of the story, the more information we have to catch these bastards. We don’t need to talk at the station. We can do this in a more private place. So how, Martin? Will you come with me and Jack? "

"Are you working on this case?" the mechanic was surprised but he also felt joy. He had confidence in Kevin’s intelligence and knowledge, so he knew that if he handled the case, the chances of a positive outcome would increase significantly.

"Yes," the young professor smiled kindly. "I thought you might find it easier to talk to someone you know."

"Yes thank you. Don... thank you, but I’ll go with Kevin and Jack. Don’t worry, I know Kevin. And I really want to tell the police what I saw in order to catch these bastards ASAP. "

Alston looked disappointed but had to quit. He had no choice when the police interfered.

"All right," Don conceded. "But promise you will rest. Okay?"

"Okay," agreed Martin. "Don, thank you so much really."

Martin was sitting in the living room, on a beautiful and old leather sofa, holding a mug of hot, strong, and sweet tea in his hand. There was an old Persian carpet under his feet that probably cost a fortune.

"Thank you for what you are doing for me, but I can really be alone now," he announced to the two men around him (as long as two men can surround anyone).

Next to him on the couch sat Jack, who was now acting more like an older sister than an older brother. He seemed to be moved by the whole thing no less than Martin. The boy didn’t know if Lambert was more worried about Steve in the hospital or about Martin. In the chair on the other side was Kevin, who was completely cool.

"You wouldn’t be able to fall asleep right now and you would be wandering around worrying," remarked Moore, "and being here you can at least tell me what happened. The house is big, we have guest rooms, so you can safely use them. It will save us time, don’t you think? "

"I guess so," agreed resignedly.

"If you get emotional, you don’t need to be embarrassed of us either," added Jack. "We are gay, we are not ashamed to cry."

The professor gave him a glare at which Lambert replied with a voiceless "What?"

"It doesn’t matter if we’re gay or not," said Moore. "You had experienced something very shocking today, so it’s only natural that you can be very emotional. I have worked with victims, perpetrators and witnesses of many crimes and believe me, the toughest men cry. It has nothing to do with being gay. "

"It was just a joke," Jack defended himself sulkily.

"Anyone here laughing?" Kevin asked sternly.

"Actually, it’s me ..." Martin chimed in, his mouth curving up into a smile. But at the same time, tears appeared in his eyes. When he thought Steve ...

Steve really was an unfortunate man. When Hannah had an accident before his eyes three years ago, he was so shocked that he had been plagued by anxiety attacks until now. He blamed himself for her misfortune so much that he closed his heart for years, living a life full of sorrow and guilt. He had barely begun to wish for a little happiness for himself when the bad luck on the track started happening to him, even the accident, and today ... Steve was just too pitiful.

"Why does all this happen to him?" Martin asked bitterly and sniffled. Why do so many misfortunes fall on one man? What did Steve do so wrong in this pub, in that life, that he has to suffer like that? "

"Why do you think of it as a punishment?" Kevin Moore asked gently. Maybe this is a trial? Maybe these bad experiences are so that later Steve can experience happiness more and more fully? "

"Why later? Why not now? What did Steve do to these people so much that they wanted to kill him? "

"This is what my colleagues and I are trying to figure out," Moore assured him mildly. "I’ll do everything in my power to catch these bastards and make sure they go behind bars for a long time."

Martin believed Kevin’s words and nodded, rubbing his eyes.