Chapter Fourteen: Boys in Blue
Hestia's body healed over the next few days, and her practice continued as normal. It had been full of rather mundane patients until Liza finally graced her with a visit. She waited until just before lunch before she appeared, and the pair ordered a pizza before relaxing into Hestia's living room. The conversation was staggered and awkward at first, but soon Hestia lost her patience. "Why are you with Falcone?"
Liza lowered her gaze before looking back up at her friend. "I just work for him. I clean his house, I cook, and I spend time with him."
Hestia tilted her head to the side. "If I can tell you are lying, I assure you that he will find out as well. He'll kill you, Liza. Whatever it is that you are actually doing, it isn't worth it."
"You work for him too."
"My circumstances are much different. Don Falcone saved me, and he gave me a chance to achieve things that I didn't believe that I could do prior. I owe him a great amount of my talents, Liza. You, on the other hand, should leave Gotham. You are a bad liar, and you should really reconsider your actions. I just worry about you. You are my friend, and if he ever finds out that we knew each other longer than I said we did, he'll probably kill me too."
Liza rung her hands together as she looked at Hestia. "But he's so kind to me, and I don't mean him any harm."
"How did you two meet?"
"Through a mutual friend."
Hestia blinked at her before standing. "You cannot trust her Liza. Now, I suggest you leave before your ride comes in to check on you. You've been here for an hour." She walked her friend to the front check in desk and had her sign out as usual. As soon as she unlocked the door, two men walked in. Her friend exited past them carefully, and Hestia felt uneasy with letting her friend go so soon. "Oh, how may I help you?"
She eyed them over, one much younger than other. He was clean cut and well-dressed while the other man looked as if he had slept in his suit and had simply just rolled out of bed. The younger gentleman removed something from his jacket pocket. A notepad. "I am Detective James Gordon, and this is my partner, Harvey Bullock. We need to ask you a few questions, ma'am."
"You know that it happened almost a week ago, right? I thought you would have been at the hospital to ask questions. Besides, I heard it has already been taking care of."
The two gentlemen exchanged a look before the ragged detective took a step closer to her. "What happened?"
"Some guy that was hyped up on Viper came here and attacked me when I tried to provide care to him." She turned her head so that they could get a better look at her stitches and the light bruising still upon her neck. "He was insane…Luckily Vi—my security guard showed up and took him down, but he kind of crumbled into dust, if you can believe it."
"Oh, we saw some of the Viper users… We aren't here for that though. We are investigating a different case." Gordon frowned at the thought of them missing a call like this. "Did you place a call with us?"
Hestia nodded slowly as she thought back. "I pulled my alarm, and the alarm company contacted you. They said an officer would meet me at the hospital. However, that is all water under the bridge. What could I possibly help you with?"
"We are looking for a man, he would've been in last night, possibly earlier this morning. He would be missing a finger."
She shook her head and made eye contact with the younger detective. "No, I didn't have any patients like that. I had two gunshot victims that I already called in, and they have already been transported to the general hospital. Other than that, I had a mother bring her child in because he was having difficulty breathing due to a flu, and I also had an older gentleman come in that was mugged. I also contacted police for that crime as well. I have the officer names for those calls, if you need them."
Bullock scrunched his eyebrows together. "Does Falcone know you call his boys in?"
"You treat the mob?" Gordon asked, his eyebrows mocking Bullock's.
She once again nodded slowly. "Just as you believe in finding justice for everyone, I believe in giving care to everyone. I don't turn patients away if I can help it, and unfortunately some of those patients may have less than credible means of income. I also treat patients who are trying to keep treatment as a secret, such as domestic abuse victims. However, Falcone and Maroni are both aware that I do contact police in crime related injuries. They understand that it is part of my duty as a doctor, and they respect this."
"So you have contact with both Dons?" Gordon asked as he took a step towards her.
She eyed him carefully. "I only did when I first opened my practice. I had to make sure that all of my patients knew that they had a safe place to receive treatment. I have a very strict no violence policy that they respect. In fact, I have had one of Maroni's men and one of Falcone's men sit in the same waiting room. They weren't happy about it, but it is my wishes. I treat some police officers as well, and what a lot of people refer to as 'street kids' as well."
"What was your name, again?" The younger officer asked as he placed his pen against the paper of his notepad.
Hestia laughed politely before looking at him. "Doctor Hestia Zaqar. The name of my clinic is on the front door, if you need that as well."
"I am going to need a list of your mob patients."
"Then get a warrant, Detective Gordon. I have been more than kind enough to answer your questions, but I do have doctor-patient confidentiality. I do my part by contacting the GCPD to come pick up my patients once I am finished administering treatment. It isn't my fault if you don't arrive in time, but I have limited space to treat patients in, and so they have to be discharged at some point. I am sure you can understand why they don't stick around. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some work to attend to. You gentlemen have a nice day, and try not to ruffle anymore feathers while you're at it."
"Is that a threat?" Gordon had stepped within Hestia's comfort zone.
She squared him up before glaring up at him. "It isn't a threat, but, I may forget to call in some of my patients, given your ungrateful attitude. Bullock, I will talk to you later. Get your mutt out of my face." She smiled coyly up at the young detective as Bullock carefully grabbed his shoulder.
"Let's go Jimbo. She didn't treat the guy, and we still have a few more places to stop at." He began to pull Gordon towards the door. Once they were outside, Harvey looked him over. "Are you crazy? You know that she has personal ties to Falcone directly? Don't start a fight with her, because you'll regret it. She calls in a crazy amount of the bums you go chasing in the dark. I suggest you send her an apology card or something. You make enemies in all the wrong places in Gotham."
As soon as the two detectives left Hestia turned to head back down her hall, instead she walked face first into a solid object, and soon she was on the floor. The solid object knelt down in front of her and helped her up. She winced from the soreness still in her body before she made eye contact with Victor. "I really need to buy you a bell or something. I can usually smell you first now, but you aren't wearing cologne today."
He gave her a toothy smile before kissing her forehead. "I've been working, Hestia. I actually need your help with something."
Her hands moved over his chest and arms as she looked for any wounds before her hand touched a wet patch of blood near his left elbow. She sighed sharply before carefully taking his hand and leading him towards the operational room. "Take off your clothes." She said in a scolding manner before washing her hands and getting a tray ready with different instruments. He plopped down on the table in the center of the room before shrugging out of his suit jacket. He slowly unbuttoned his next shirt as he watched her slowly. Once he finished the final button, he let the shirt fall off his shoulders.
"Did you want me to pay those detectives a visit? They didn't seem very polite."
She shook her head as she examined his wound. It wasn't a bullet wound, but looked more like a knife slash. She picked up his jacket and shirt to examine the sleeve. "How did they cut you through your clothes without actually cutting through the fabric?"
"I was at the gym. I had to change before I could come here. The other guy is much worse."
She worked to get it clean and soon he was patched up and she cleaned up the work area before removing her gloves. She paged for one of her assistants to do a sterile cleaning of the OR table and then she picked up his clothes. "I think I have some of your shirts here. I can take care of these for you." Her eyes scanned over his new tally marks upon his right arm.
"Three of those are from the guards. The other two are from other incidences." He was nonchalant in his answer and they walked down the clinic hallway towards her living quarters. She opened the front door and allowed him in first. She hadn't spoken to him since her secret reveal, and she wasn't sure if she should bring it up as she walked towards her laundry room. She ran the sleeve of his clothes under some cold water to rinse out some of the blood before placing them in her washer to wash them on a gentle cycle.
When she found him, he was laying on her bed with her newest book in his hands. He was skimming over the back cover. Another murder mystery. He placed the book on her bedside table before resting his arms behind his head. "Did you think I would ever end up like this? I know we took history and math together. You had braces then."
She blinked at him. She wasn't sure if he remembered the freckled nerd from high school. She was still growing into her body, and she was so awkward then. She had a crush on him even back then, but he was a much different person in high school. He was so quiet and observant, versus the sometimes playful Victor Zsasz she knew now. She had secretly purchased him a glass Valentine's Day rose with a simple smiling face on the notecard that accompanied it. She sat at the edge of the bed and looked him over. He had filled into his body, but back then he was lanky and seemed so undernourished. "I didn't even think you remembered that."
"You were the only one that was actually concerned if I missed class though. You used to recopy your notes and leave them in my locker. I wasn't sure it was you until I read some of the notes you've written on the notice board in the break room. I should have talked to you more then."
She suddenly felt very small as she looked over his muscled body. She had often wondered if he would have kissed her when she had braces. "I sound like such a loser when I hear it out loud now." She laughed quietly before she climbed up closer to him. She rested on her stomach and propped herself up on her forearms before looking into his eyes. "I actually thought you'd become a police officer, as funny as that sounds. You always had that authoritative persona about you. You could just give people these looks, and most of the time, they would stop what they were doing."
His closest hand reached up to play with a loose curl from her pony tail. He seemed troubled by something as he played with the bouncy flames between his fingers, his dark orbs looking over her features. She still had her freckles, while they weren't as predominant as they were back then, they still kissed her cheeks and waved across her nose. Her lips still had the stiches from the Viper incident, and he could tell the crook her nose now. He hadn't noticed it before. It had been broken prior though, he could tell. He had broken plenty of noses himself, and he knew what the healed product looked like.
She had tired bags under her eyes, and she had a small scar in between her eyebrows. She had another scar towards her lower left jaw, and her lips had a natural gentle pout to them. Her eyes never left his face as he continued to memorize each feature upon her face, and then he finally noticed the way she was looking at him. It made him shudder inside, and he felt a strange movement in his chest and stomach. Her gaze held something unconditional and demanding. Her form slowly raised and fell as she breathed, and a small smile was starting to play at the corners of her mouth. "Hestia…" He simply muttered.
She smiled then, her eyes reflecting back into his dark orbs. "I love you too, Victor." She scooted closer to him and kissed his cheek. "I had pizza for lunch, but are you hungry? I could make you something. Maybe something to drink?"
He let go of her curl, his chest still toying lightly at his rib cage from her statement. He would probably never actually say it, but it was enough that she could tell. He was more a man of action rather than being verbally prowess anyways. "I am not hungry. I came by to get cleaned up, and to see how you were feeling."
She sat up to slip off her doctor coat before tossing it towards the chair in the corner of her room. "Well, I am feeling much better than I was the other night."
"Why didn't you tell me about your parents before?"
His gaze seemed to darken as he looked over her features again. "Because I wasn't ready to."
"The way you shot the guard the other night…I noticed it in you. You always know a killer when you see them."
Hestia rubbed her shoulders before scooting close to him again. "I just have never considered myself a murderer. I felt like I was serving justice. I was getting one of Maroni's men off the street, and I was freeing myself from abuse." She laughed at herself then before resting a hand on his chest. "Who am I kidding? I shot my family and fiancé in premeditated murder. I probably should have been more a part of their conversation before I did though."
Victor sat up and placed his hands on either side of her face. "They deserved it, Hestia. They treated you like an animal. They were the real animals though. You did them a favor by freeing them from being that. You redeemed them."
She leaned in and gently kissed his lips to change the subject. She didn't expect the demanding, aggressive kiss he had for her in return. He pushed against her body and she laid down on her back as he moved over her. His kiss was bruising, and she winced slightly as he kissed the stiches upon her lips. His hands moved up her pencil skirt as he moved his hips in between her own. She kicked off her heels and they fell to the carpet below. He worked quickly to undress her, and beginning at her left ankle, he kissed up her bruised side. He made sure that his lips caressed every single one as he moved closer towards her neck. He paused from his trail only to kiss over her breast, and his hand reached up to cup her other one. She squirmed underneath him, and he continued to trail kisses to her neck.
She bit her lower lip gently as his face moved towards her, but he let his lips simply tease her own before moving to her right ankle. He followed the same pattern up the right side of her body, this time his lips ending up against her own. His belt buckle jingled as he slipped off his pants. The flesh from his torso connected with her own, and they joined in another demanding kiss. His teeth left fire down her neck as he pushed slowly into her. She moaned through the ache in her body and his hands rested on her hips as he worked his way in and out of her. Soon she was ignoring the pain in her body as his fire engulfed her, their bodies moving in a systematic rhythm.
Although Victor Zsasz was not the man to tell her that he loved her, he was going to show her that he did. Their hands traveled over expanse valleys, their mouths drinking each other in as they moved across her bed. A few pillows fell to the floor, and her sheets began to twist under their activity. The bed whined quietly beneath them and the room seemed to close them off from the rest of the world. There were no mob hits or patients here, only them. Their noses brushed roughly against each other as they joined for another kiss, and he moved quicker with her. Her hands slipped nail marks down his back with each thrust, and soon they were writhing against each other.
He rested on top of her as their breathing came down with their pleasure ending. He moved slowly out of her and left another kiss upon her lips as he rolled over to lay on his back. She moved quickly to rest her tired head against his chest, and her fingers trailed shapes over his heart. He kissed her forehead, and she returned this by kissing over his heart. They slipped under her covers and fell asleep, a tangled mess of tired hitman and exhausted doctor. They fell asleep with each other, and they had their separate dreams.