Page 45 of Assassin

He was destroyed, and that wasn’t an exaggeration—not in the least.

For now, though, Poe would give him time to adjust, and then, he’d do his job. Today was for breaking through that wall.

If he could make a connection with him, he’d have an easier time helping him get through this.

“Want to talk about it?” Poe asked.

Slowly, Gamble turned his head and stared into Poe’s eyes.

“I don’t know what there is to talk about. I came home to find my wife dead, and my child drowned in the bathtub, Doctor. What’s to discuss? I had to fish my dead child out of the tub as my wife’s brains were on the wall. If you have any sense of mercy, you’ll just let me die. That’s when I’ll finally have peace.”

Jesus.

That was brutal.

Gently, he put his hand on Gamble’s knee, and it was boney. There was no doubt that he was starving to death, and likely by his own choice.

He’d have to stop that too.

This wasn’t going to be a normal patient doctor relationship, and Poe knew it. He was going to have to lose the title, ditch the white coat, and help Gamble find himself again.

He was going to have to meet him on a different battlefield.

This one was for his life.

“You need a friend. I’m that person now.”

At his words, there was a response.

A tear slipped down Gamble’s cheek, and Poe wiped it away with his silk pocket square. Gently, he turned his head, so he was staring at him.

“I will save you. I’ll get you through this, Gamble. I promise.”

He stared into Poe’s blue eyes.

“No one understands. I’m completely empty and alone now. She damned me to this. She cursed me to never feel anything again.”

He reassured him.

“I do understand. You hate her. You hate her more than anything in the world, and you don’t like that because you love her too.”

That was all he had to say.

He began crying.

Sobs wracked his body, as Gamble broke down there in that room.

Immediately, Poe stood up and did the only thing he could.

He held the man.

Gamble was frail, damaged, and needed a friend. Already, in his head, he was thinking of a way to make sure that he did this the best way to help Gamble.

He had to approach this differently than he normally did.

It looked like for the next few months, he had a best friend to look after. Gamble was going to need a special kind of rehab.

Hands on.

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