Chapter 33-2

Declan laughed at Heath’s behavior. “You’re more irritable than usual. If it makes you feel any better, Claire was actually here last night.” He looked at Declan in surprise. “Last night? What was she doing here?” “Apparently, visiting. But from the look on Dad’s face, I wasn’t too sure.” “Why do you say that? What did he look like?” “Well…” Declan said nonchalantly as he stared out the window in thought. “He had that confused look on his face.” “From what?” “From Claire.” Heath was about to ask his brother why, but decided on another question instead. “Was he there when I called out the name Clarissa?” Declan gave his brother a flat look. “He, I, Mom, and a doctor and nurse were there. Believe me, we were a crowd of witnesses.” From that information, it didn’t surprise Heath that his father had been confused from Claire’s visit. Even Heath was confused. Why had she come to visit him after what he did to her? And it had even been in front of his family. She must’ve been utterly humiliated. Yet, she still came to visit him… Heath groaned to himself and buried his face in his hands. “Don’t be too depressed. Her visiting you should mean something, at least.” He muttered, “What if she came to break up with me? A one last visit thing?” Again, Declan laughed humorously. “Wow. We definitely need a doctor to check up on you. First you’re irritated, now you’re getting depressed all by yourself?” Slightly, Heath raised his head and glared at Declan before he dropped his hands. “Bring the doctor in. I need to get out of here.” “Fine, fine.” Declan pulled out his phone and checked the time. Heath spotted it and he was suddenly reminded of what had awoken him in the first place. It had been a buzzing sound…like a phone. His phone! That was what he had gone back to the construction site for! He wanted to find it in case Claire decided to call him. And that was when everything happened. The buzz that woke him sounded just like his phone. “Where’s my phone?” Declan looked at him in confusion. “What?” “My phone. My personal cellphone.” “How should I know?” “I heard it. It should be in the room somewhere.” The two of them stared at each other as the seconds ticked by, and finally, Declan got the message. “Wait…are you telling me to look for it?” Heath simply raised an eyebrow at him. Declan laughed incredulously. “You’re such a demanding person. I don’t know what Claire sees in you.” And I don’t know what Nora sees in you, Heath thought, but he decided not to voice those thoughts aloud. Heath watched as his older brother dialed a number in his cellphone before simply holding it in the palm of his hand while the two remained silent to listen for any noise in the room. After a couple of seconds, there was a vibrating sound coming from the couch by the wall near the TV. Declan got up and went to it before he searched for the phone. Heath saw his hand disappear into the couch between the cushion before he pulled out the familiar silver cellphone. What was it doing in there? “Here.” Declan said before he tossed it towards Heath. It landed in his lap and Heath picked it up and looked to see if there were any missed calls or text messages. There weren’t any missed calls, which had slightly disappointed him since that meant Claire hadn’t called him since the last time they spoke. However, there was one new message. And it was from Julia. Heath contemplated whether or not to open the file since it would most likely be just like last time. He would get angry, he would get jealous, and he would confront Claire about it. But he wanted to believe that he knew better. That even if he did see the photo, he wouldn’t be affected by it. He was just curious. What had she been up to while he was in the hospital? In the end, Heath opened the message and saw that there was a photo attached to it. So he opened that as well. And saw the picture. And stared. Declan saw the look on his face. “What?” Without answering, Heath immediately tore off all the tubes that were on him before he stood up from the hospital bed. The quick movement caused his vision to blur for a few seconds, but he quickly got used to it and was able to stand in balance. “Get me some clothes.” Heath demanded. “Whoa, Heath. Calm down. I haven’t even called a doctor yet.” Declan cautiously said. Heath glared at his brother. “Get me some damn clothes right now.” Declan blinked at his sudden behavior, and knew that whatever he had seen on his cellphone had caused it. Heath was being serious, and would walk out bare naked, even if Declan didn’t listen. So he went to the nightstand and picked up a bag of clothes on the other side which Heath wouldn’t have seen otherwise. “Mom brought these just in case.” He said. Immediately, Heath snatched the bag out of his hand and took off the hospital gown. Declan watched with raised brows at how calmly Heath was putting on the clothes. And yet at the same time, he looked frantic. “What’s going on?” Declan asked as Heath pulled down the shirt over his body. “Where the hell are you going in such a rush?” “Back to the hotel.” Heath answered swiftly. “Work can wait.” Heath finished dressing and stood in the room wearing a gray dress shirt, tucked into black slacks.