How to Kill a Man in Thirty Seconds

Chapter 19: Caleb Roman

The following day, I slipped out of school early. It was nearly evening and the sun was already dipping below the horizon as I hurried up the marble steps of Beaufort Private Hospital and through its sliding glass doors, into the main hall. The chilly air hit me instantly and my hairs rose suddenly on end. The hospital was busy as I had expected, swarming with stone-faced patients going about their business with nervous energy.

I was here to meet Caleb Roman; he had been a general practitioner here for nearly ten years, and had once been the doctor my family always referred to. Importantly, he had been my father's doctor before dad passed away.

It wasn't long before I found my way into the ER and I wandered down its long halls with my eyes open for Caleb Roman's familiar face. I halted when I found him.

He was as tall as I remembered him to be, perhaps even more. In his rumpled, frayed lab coat, his blonde hair swept to the side and built arms crossed confidently over his chest, he stood leaning against the wall casually. Pen scratched against paper as he scribbled down the relevant details and handed his notepad to the nurse, who was awaiting his instructions beside him.

"Thanks," I heard him murmur with a curt nod.

I nearly chuckled at the sight of him. Roman, with his Latino origin, looked as good as he had three years ago. In fact, as a kid, I had embarrassingly enough been quite smitten by the young doctor and had begged my parents on countless occasions to take me to another. Because let's face it, the only hot Latino doctor you know is the last person you want to be talking to about that strange scratch between your butt cheeks.

I groaned inwardly at the memory. Dad hadn't helped either; in fact he had been utterly clueless.

"Roman's good at what he does, sweetheart," he'd informed me with wide eyes when I had complained, "All you need to do is let him see that rash of yours."

He had truly believed that health had been by biggest concern.

Parents.

Five minutes later, I found myself sitting opposite Roman in silence. We were at the cluster of tables behind the hospital and he was staring back at me in amazement.

"Damn, Charley, you've aged," he suddenly muttered in astonishment. My eyes rolled.

Roman's complete lack of professionalism around me was another thing that had bugged me.

"Oh, your personality hasn't changed at all, Roman," I muttered in mock annoyance, before I laughed.

"What happened, kid?" he muttered, an easy grin crossing his face, "The last time I saw you, you were little. Don't get me wrong, you're still as short as a pencil stub, but you've grown so much!" He cocked his ear in my direction, "My, even your voice sounds deeper!" He feigned mock wonder, "The things puberty can do."

I chuckled amicably.

"You've aged too, Roman. Good to know at least your sense of humour isn't dead yet."

He laughed.

"How have you been?" I asked.

"Still young. Still good looking. It's a good life," he replied, and I groaned. He grinned again, "What about you, kid?"

"Doing by," I replied with a smile, before getting down to business, "I'm going to be real here, Caleb. I came to ask you some things about my father."

His face sobered up instantly and he nodded, "Go ahead."

"Before he died, did he visit you often?"

He swallowed, "More times than I'd like to admit. He last visited me about... two days before he died. "

"Why? What did he want?"

The doctor shrugged, "Sometimes, it was because he wanted advice. Most times, it was because he wasn't feeling great."

My eyebrows shot up into my forehead, "Meaning?"

Caleb stared at me for a moment, as if struggling to decide the right answer. Finally, he sighed, "There seemed to be a lot of things happening in your father's life that were troubling him, Charley. He told me he was having constant headaches and was feeling exhausted. He had trouble remembering things too."

I swallowed, "Do you know why?"

Caleb shrugged, "I asked him if there was anything worrying him and that was when he told me his business was struggling. It was obvious to me then what was happening." Caleb's blue eyes never left me as he added in resignation, "Charley, your father was depressed."

The air rushed out me. Shock overcoming me, all I could do was stare in silence as he continued, "Obviously, clinical depression can be pretty serious so I advised him to visit a psychiatrist I knew, and I gave him what medicines I was supposed to." He shrugged, "I don't think he ever took my advice. After he passed away, it was clear he had been taking more than twice the dosage I'd prescribed."

I felt my heart stutter in my chest. The thought of my father, alone in such an experience terrified me.

"Why didn't you tell us?" I asked in sudden indignation, feeling a sudden surge of anger, "We had no idea!"

"I couldn't, Charley," Caleb replied, his face solemn, "If I broke doctor-patient confidentiality, I could lose my license for it. It's against the law."

Screw law. Screw the politics of it all, I thought furiously.

"Well, what about after he died? Why not tell us then?"

Caleb's brows knitted in bewilderment, "I did, of course. The cops know, Charley. So does your mother."

I froze. A knot formed in my throat. Mum knew? And she didn't tell me?

My mouth opened and shut in silence. Caleb was watching me, his face sullen and full of empathy.

"I'm sure she just didn't want to upset you, kiddo," he said.

Liar. I felt tears sting my eyes. Swallowing hard, I asked, "Did he mention anything else that could have been making him upset?"

Caleb furrowed his brows and thought hard, "Now that I think about it, he did. He was very vague about it but during one particular visit, I remember he told me... that his friends were giving him a hard time?"

Bingo.

My ears perked up immediately, "Did he mention any details?"

"Nothing in particular," the doctor replied, "But he did mention two names. I think they were..." his brows furrowed as he struggled to remember.

Instantly reaching into my pocket, I retrieved the picture, where on the blank side I had jotted each of dad's friend's names in order, "Take a look at this. It might ring a bell."

Caleb glanced at it momentarily, a smile forming on his lips as he pointed at the two names right at the bottom.

"There they are," he said, "Isaac and Sam. The troublemakers."

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A/N- I know I haven't updated in so long and I'm sooooo sorry! I was unbelievably busy and wasn't at home at all last weekend in addition to SO MUCH drama at school.

I'm truly sorry. Double update today though!