Chapter Two: The Stranger

Hestia snapped back to reality as she heard the voice behind her. It gave her chills, and it wasn't familiar to her. It wasn't one of nurses, perhaps a cop then? She turned towards the voice to find a man she had never met. He obviously wasn't a police officer either, and he had a very confident and strict demeanor about him. She stepped towards him, but stopped with enough distance for her to attempt to get away if she had to. This man looked exhausted, but his eyes were alert and observant. He was probably close to her age, and he was dressed in an expensive suit. Mobster?

He had been adjusting his leather gloves as she looked him over. "I am Dr. Zaqar." She calmly answered as his hands lowered to his side. "How may I help you?"

He took one step towards her, a crooked smile splaying across his features. "I am Victor Zsasz and I work for Don Falcone. He asked me to stop by to see how our friend is doing. To make sure your diagnosis was correct, especially since you contacted the police, I assume."

Hestia looked in the direction of the operation room. "You can check if you'd like, Mr. Zsasz, but I assure you that he is clinically dead. There are no further ways to attempt to resuscitate him." She closed a little more of the space between them and held out her hand. "I should probably officially introduce myself, especially if you will be stopping by more often for Mr. Falcone. He usually sends a gentleman named Vincent. I am Dr. Hestia Zaqar, and should you ever need treatment you are more than welcome to come here."

Zsasz stared down at her hand for a moment before taking it in his own. People typically avoided any sense of contact with him, and he wasn't sure of her intentions. Their hands lingered in an awkward handshake before she retracted her hand. She calmly walked past him and as she made her way out the door he turned to face her. "It is this way to the operation room Mr. Zsasz."

She walked steadily ahead of him until they got to the metallic scented room. She stopped in the doorway to wait for him. He slowly stepped to stand next to her and he looked into the room. Without even entering the room his trained eyes knew that the man was dead. He looked down towards the doctor to see her eyes looking towards the tile. She had a look upon her face that he wasn't quite sure of the meaning of. Regret? Sadness? Her arms were crossed over her chest, her head tilted lightly to the side as if she was in deep thought. "I will relay the news to Mr. Falcone." He finally broke the silence before heading off towards the exit. " Re—"

She cleared her throat to interrupt him. "Remember that you were never here." He didn't acknowledge her statement, but instead continued to leave the building. She watched his back, the strange feeling exiting from her as the door finally closed behind him. She sighed quietly before heading back towards the break room.

-{X}-

After the ordeal over the past night, Hestia was rather tired. She was out for her afternoon jog, her heart pounding in her ears. She was running off the blood and the gasping of the man last night. She was running off the sleep that she didn't get. She was running off the stale coffee that she left sitting in the coffee pot over night. She was running off the questions from the detective and the appointments she would be dealing with later. While she loved her work field, she often questioned if she was cut out to work in Gotham. Her music beat into her eardrums in rhythm with the competing heartbeats.

She stopped to jog in place at a traffic light, but was off as soon as her crosswalk was cleared. She avoided making eye contact with many of those on the sidewalk, but she was careful not to run into anyone. She finished up the last of her run and headed into her facility in order to shower and prepare for her appointments. Her custodial staff and nurses had been working since early in the morning in order to make the building smell like a friendly doctor's office. The metal smell from last night no longer lingered anywhere, and she almost thought that maybe last night's activities were simply a dream.

Her first appointment went by rather quickly. It was simply a single mother getting her children's shots updated. She gave each of the children a fancy cartoon bandage for their shots, and at the end of the appointment she gave them each their choice of a lollipop or small toy. The mother had her children sit in the waiting room in order to speak to Hestia. She explained that her hours had been cut at her restaurant and that she wasn't going to be able to afford all of the shots. Hestia simply nodded as the mother explained. "Don't worry about it Gina. You always pay me back later, so we'll worry about the payment at your next appointment, okay?"

Gina smiled at her, and gently pat her doctor's arm. "Thank you. I just wish for once I could get ahead of all my bills you know?" With that, that mother herded her children back out of the office. Hestia sighed lightly. She wished there was more she could for a vast majority of her patients, but what she could offer them was enough for her for now. Her next appointment was another simple one. She only had to check some stitches from a dog bite. Her third appointment was a no show, as was her fourth appointment. She waited through her walk in hours before locking up the main part of her office.

Her cellphone rang in her jacket pocket, and she pulled it out. "Hey Stephi, what's up?" She waited for her friend to answer her on the other end before she nodded to herself. "Yeah I guess I can go out tonight. Let me get ready. How about we say ten?" They talked for a few moments longer before she hung up the phone. They were planning on going to Fish Mooney's club for her monthly dance set. It was the one night a month where all of the tables were packed up to clear the floor for a more club like atmosphere. She and her friends went every month since Fish had started doing it.

Hestia could use a break night, and she instructed her nurses to page her only if there was a dire emergency. Once she finished instructing her night staff she went off to get ready. She let her wavy hair down and began to adjust her make up. She settled with a classic smoky eye and red lip. She also settled with a simple black dress. The skirt of the dress was cut asymmetrically so that one side was slightly above her knee while the other was just past her knee. It was a halter top that tied with a deep red ribbon around her neck. She placed on a few simple bracelets and a couple of rings before slipping on a pair of stilettoes. To complete her look she spritzed on her favorite perfume.

She glanced at her wall clock and decided that she could leave now and be about fifteen minutes early. She began walking until she could hail down a taxi. When she got there her friends were already waiting for her. They were pretty close to the front of the line, they must have left even before she did. She joined them, a bright smile across her lips. "Hey guys, sorry I am late." She greeted.

Stephi looked at her through her blonde bangs. "What are you talking about, the club doesn't open for another fifteen minutes, you weirdo." Hestia simply faux rolled her eyes at her friend before scooting in closer to move out of the way. "It is going to be pretty packed tonight. I am glad we got here early."

Hestia looked her friends over. They were all dressed in black tonight, however they had various outfits. She had grown up with these girls, however, their upbringings had been much different than her own. They were born into money, and she was the only one to attend college from her friends. While she knew she was close to them, she was still the slight outsider to their group since she had left for school for six years before coming back. They had a few different topics of discussion before the doors opened. Stephi paid the door fee for them as they entered.

Fish had really outdone herself this month. Hestia had to double check to make sure they had even entered the correct club. There was a smoke machine fogging over the floor, and the club had taken on a darker theme. It reminded Hestia of a darker Alice's Wonderland with the way the waiters were dressed. The lights were dimmer and the music played loudly through the speakers. The red head made her way towards the bar to get her night started. While she enjoyed dancing, she often needed some liquid courage before she could even think about taking the dance floor with her friends.

After she finished her first drink she decided to go back onto the floor to find her friends. Two of them, Liza and Kira, had found themselves some dance partners leaving Hestia, Stephi, and Amy to keep each other company. Hestia jokingly began to dance against Amy, but Amy took it seriously and began to dance right along with her friend. She began to relax and just get into the music while she dance with her friends. The bass from the music pumped through her chest and into her veins, and her senses dwindled into the lights and fog as she just decided to have one night to herself.