Page 54 of Atlas
Seeing Atlas in a hospital bed, was a shock, and I gasped at the sight of his face.
“It’s that bad, huh?”
Diane let go of me as I moved to sit on the edge of his bed. My eyes teared up when I raised my hand to his face. “What did he do to you?”
“I’m sure he’s done much worse to other people. If not for the Uber driver, he would have kept going, and we’d both be dead.
“I’m so sorry.” My voice was thick. “If not for me, this would have never happened.” A few fat tears ran down my face.
“Hey, it’s not your fault.” Atlas took my hand and tried to smile, but his cracked lip pained him too much.
“Don’t worry, our boss will soon be handsome again, and in the meantime, he can comfort himself that he’s a local hero.” Brian held up his phone for Diane to see. “Check it out. They called C.M. Research, and since I was the only one there, I made sure Atlas got the praise he deserves.”
Diane narrowed her eyes and brought the phone closer as she read aloud,
Prominent businessman saves female employee from gunman.
In the early morning hours, a drama unfolded in downtown Chicago where director of Research and Development at Solver Industries, Atlas Robertson, went head to head with an unnamed stalker of one of his employees, psychologist, Jolene Fisher.
Chicago police say that the attacker is in custody but have no further comment. Solver Industries expressed shock and sadness about the situation but offered no additional information.
Brian Schmidt, who works at Mr. Robertson’s research company C.M. Research, described himself as a colleague and close friend of Mr. Robertson and Miss Fisher. He was well informed and outspoken about the situation and said, “Atlas is a true hero and modern-day vigilante for stepping between the attacker and his victim.”
According to Brian Schmidt, Miss Fisher was kidnapped by her attacker and knocked unconscious. When Mr. Robertson arrived to save her, the unnamed male attacker was pointing a gun at his victim. Without any thought for his own safety, Mr. Robertson fought off the criminal like a real-life Batman. A spokesperson for the local hospital where both Mr. Robertson and Miss Fisher are recovering didn’t wish to comment on the state of their patients, but according to Brian, they suffered minor injuries, and both are expected to heal fast.
We all stared at Brian in silence.
“I know, right? You should frame that interview, boss.”
Atlas closed his eyes, and his nostrils flared. “Real-life Batman. What were you thinking?”
Brian’s laugh sounded a bit unsure. “I was thinking about my Christmas bonus. That article paints you in an amazing light. You’ll be Chicago’s hottest bachelor after this, and when you have women rolling in, you’ll have me to thank for it.”
Atlas’s tone was low, like he was controlling himself. “Thank you, Brian. I can see that you had good intentions. From now on, please don’t speak to the press. Should anyone approach you or call you, tell them you have no comments.”
“All right.”
There was a moment of silence as Diane gave Brian his phone back.
“Maybe I should head back to the office then.” Brian walked to the bed and tapped the end of it. “Unless Batman needs his Robin.”
“I wouldn’t know. I’m not Batman.”
“Just, call if you need me to smuggle something in here. Chocolate, ice-cream, or a stripper.” Brian laughed at his joke. To be polite, I smiled.
When he left, Diane moved closer to the bed and looked down on us. “How long are they keeping you for?”
“You mean, how long am I staying? The doctor was here earlier, and we didn’t see eye to eye, no pun intended.”
“Why?” I asked.
“One of the specialists that came by worried that I might have a hyphema because of all the bleeding in my eye. But then another optician came to give his opinion, and he felt it was a simple subconjunctival hemorrhage.”
“Okay, I have no idea what either of those things are, but is it serious?”
“One is, the other isn’t. All I’m waiting for is for the first doctor to agree with the second so that I can go home. I’m sure that if I hadn’t been a Robertson, I could have left right away. That’s the downside to having money. They’re afraid I’ll sue them for everything they’ve got if they make a mistake.”
“Can you still go to Europe?” I asked.
