by Gallie, DL
“I was in deep at that stage. I was hoping, if I split you and your Irish hottie up, you’d hide at home and be safe. I pretended to be you to save you.”
“That was a seriously dumb plan.”
She shrugs. “Hey, I’d popped a few pills beforehand. I thought it was a brilliant plan. I didn’t really know what I was doing.”
My eyes pop open at her pill use declaration but then I remember her saying she hadn’t used. “You just told me you didn’t do drugs.”
“Not the hard stuff. Pills are fine.”
Shaking my head, I’m so disappointed in her right now. “I just…Bay, why? Why? I don’t understand. You’re a smart girl but this is really dumb.”
“I don’t know,” she spits, “I was sick of living in your shadow. You’re the angel twin. Great job, sweet school teacher. Me? I’m the college dropout. Always fucking up. Jumping from one shit job to the next. When this fell into my lap and it was something I was good at. I felt amazing for the first time in a long time.”
“You’re proud ‘cause you’re a drug dealer?”
“Never said I was perfect.” She sighs deeply, “What am I going to do?”
“Tell the truth for starters. When the officers come back, you will tell them everything and suffer the consequences. It's time to grow up, Baylor Martine Evans.”
“Wow, you used my full name again, twice in one day,” she jokes and then swallows deeply. She looks at me. “I’m scared, Avie.”
“And you should be, Bay.” Pausing, I take a deep breath. “But I’ll be here for you.”
“Why?”
“You’re my twin. I’d do anything for you.” Reaching out I squeeze her hand and smile.
“You know if the shoe was on the other foot, I’d probably leave you at the mercy of the dealers, right?”
A laugh escapes me. “No, you wouldn’t. You play tough, but underneath it all, you’re just as sweet as me.”
“It’s a twin thing,” we say in unison, and we both smirk at one another.
She squeezes my hand. “I really am sorry, Avie.”
“I know.”
There’s a knock at the door and Flynn steps in with another doctor. “Ave lass, this is Clay, he just needs to check you over.” He pauses and looks awkwardly at Baylor. “And, Baylor, the officers are outside wanting to speak to you.”
She freezes next to me. “You can do this,” I say, as I squeeze her hand reassuringly. She shocks me by standing up, leaning over, and hugging me.
“I love you, Avie,” she sadly whispers.
“I love you too, BayBay,” I say, as I hug her tightly back, using the childhood nickname I had for her. She laughs into my neck and holds me tighter; she’s crushing me, and it kind of hurts but right now, she needs this. Pulling back, she looks to Flynn. “Let’s do this,” she says and I watch as my twin, for the first time in her life, faces up to her actions. I could not be more prouder of her, than I am at this moment.
My room is empty and the silence is nice. Lying back down, I stare at the ceiling and go over all that Bay told me. Sadness envelops me and I start to berate myself. I knew something was up, but I was so absorbed in my own life I didn’t help her. I need to apologize to her next time I see her for not being there for her. Had I been, I don't think she’d be in the mess she is right now.
A few minutes later, Flynn walks back in and sits on the edge of my bed. “You okay?”
Staring up at the man I’ve fallen for, I nod. “As long I have you, I will be.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He leans down and places his lips against mine, but our loving moment is interrupted when Marvin comes barging in. “Where is she? And whose ass do I need to kick?” He pauses and looks to me. “Ohh, baby girl. What did they do to you? And why are there two of you?”
“Marvin,” I say, happy to see my friend.
He walks over and takes a seat beside me. He looks me over from head to toe again. Reaching up, he cups my cheek, “What happened, baby girl?”
“It’s a long story but I promise you, I’m fine.”
“Okay, I trust you. But why am I seeing two of you? Did the quacks give me too much and I’m tripping right now?”
A laugh escapes me. “No, you’re not tripping. That’s my twin sister, Baylor. She’s in trouble but we are going to fix it.”
“Really?” Flynn questions, his voice laced with shock and apprehension.
“Yep. I’ll fill you in later.”
“Why do I always miss out on all the good stuff?” Marvin whines, but before I can reply, a nurse steps in, pauses, and crosses her arms.
At the same time, Marvin says, “Ohh oh, I’m in trouble.”
And I say, “Ohh oh, you’re in trouble.” He and I both laugh, garnering ourselves an angry glare from the nurse.
“Marvin Marshall, you are going to be the death of me.”
“You love me,” he replies.
We all laugh at his candor. And if I’m honest, seeing him just now instantly relaxes me. I hope when I get to his age, I’m still this spritely. He says goodbye to me and promises to visit again tomorrow; shocking us all, he asks the nurse if it’s okay.
Placing a kiss on my cheek, he and the nurse shuffle out and I watch as he exits. No sooner does the door close, it swings open and in walks Clay; I hadn’t even noticed he had left. “Okay, Kelly,” he points toward Flynn, “you need to get out so I can check on my patient.”
Flynn nods his head, and I watch as the man I love leaves my hospital room, and I just know that everything from here on out will be smooth sailing.
36
Flynn
While I’m waiting, I lean against the wall by Avery’s room. I’m so relieved she’s okay. When it hit me it was her in the bed and not Baylor, I thought I was going to die. Seeing the woman I love unconscious is not anything I want to ever go through again. Someone stops next to me and I look up to see Baylor.
“Flynn—”
“No. I don't have anything to say to you.”
“That’s fair.”
We stand here staring at one another. “Actually, I do have one question. Why? Why would you do that to your sister? Your flesh and blood?”
She shocks me when she starts to cry. Shaking her head from side to side, she wipes at the avalanche of tears. “I’m sorry.” She blubbers, “Avie knows everything and her forgiveness is all I care about, but I would like to be civil with you, for her. And in order to do that, I need to apologize to you.”
“I’m listening.” Crossing my arms, I lean back against the wall and wait. She doesn’t speak and when I look to her, she’s looking at her feet. “Baylor,” she looks up at me and I see remorse written all over her face.
“Flynn, I’m so sorry I deceived you the way that I did. I didn’t mean to let it go on as long as I did. When I stepped out of the elevator and saw those two guys with Avie, I panicked. Everything happened so fast and then it just snowballed from there. I wanted to come clean so many times over the last few hours but I’m scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“Them coming back.”
“What did the police say?”
“Not much. I hope when I go and see them to give my formal statement, that they’ll have more.” She steps to me and places her hand on my forearm and squeezes, for a small chick, she’s mighty strong. “You need to keep her safe.”
“With my life.” And I mean that, I would lay my life down to save Avery, in a heartbeat.
“Thank you.” She swallows deeply and removes her hand. She brushes her hair behind her ear and it reminds me so much of Ave. “You know, you really are the perfect person for Avie. You are the complete opposite to her, but they say opposites attract. You’ve brought out a side to my sister that I didn’t know existed. I kinda like her sassy, strong side. You two are clearly attracted to one another. You can feel the love radiating from you both when you’re together, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Avie this happy before.” She pauses, and sighs. “W
ith my recent antics, I’m glad she has you by her side.”
“Even though you tried to break us up.”
“Semantics but, Flynn,” we stare at each other and an understanding passes between us. “You hurt her and I will fucking kill you.”
With that, she turns around and walks away from me. Maybe I’ve misjudged Baylor, I think she’s just lost. With Ave and me on her side, we’ll help her get back on the right track.
Clay exits Avery’s room. “All good?”
“You know I can’t tell you anything.” I eyeball him. “Fine, but if I get fired I’m taking you down with me.”
“Fine, but she’s going to be my fiancée one day so…”
“Really?”
“Yep, now, how is she?”
“She’s fine, considering. No lasting damage, but she will be sore for the next few days. I’m going to keep her in for another night and she can go home tomorrow.”
“Can’t I take her home and watch over her? I am a doctor, you know.”
“No, you can’t. And don’t even think about playing the doctor card.”
“Fine,” I relent. Offering my hand, he takes it and shakes. “Thanks, man, appreciate you taking such good care of my girl.”
“Never thought I’d see the day when Flynn Kelly was smitten with a woman.”
“You’ve met her, it's hard to not fall for her.”
“I agree…just don’t tell my wife that.”
We both laugh. He walks down the corridor and I head back into Ave’s room. Pushing the door open, the room is dark, except for the night light above her bed. Avery’s eyes are closed. I take a moment to look at her. Even with a messed-up face, she really is the most beautiful woman in the world.
“Stop staring at me, you creeper,” she says with her eyes still closed.
“I’m just admiring your beauty.”
“I think you need your eyes tested. I feel like shit and I’m pretty sure I look like a zombie right now.”
“A sexy as fuck zombie,” I say, as I step toward her. “And I love you just the way you are.”
“Did you just Bruno Mars me?”
“Guess I did, but it’s the truth. Avery, you are the most stunning woman in the world, zombie look included, and I’m the luckiest man alive to have you as my girlfriend.”
“You say the sweetest things, Flynn Kelly, now come over here so I can kiss you.”
“You had me at kiss.”
Bending down, I gently grip her jaw in my fingers and press my lips to hers. It's a soft and gentle kiss, but it’s the most perfect kiss ever in the history of kisses. Against her lips I murmur, “I love you, Avery Evans.”
“I love you too, Flynn Kelly.” She pulls back, her eyes darken with desire. “Wanna quickie?”
A deep laugh breaks free, shaking my head I run my finger over her bottom lip. “Avery, I would love nothing more than to fuck you all night long, but not three hours ago you were unconscious. Your body needs rest.” She pouts. “But I promise, as soon as you are one-hundred-percent, I will eat you, suck you, and fuck you repeatedly. All.Night.Long.”
“You know, you said that to me in the alcove the night we met.”
“I did not know this but I can unequivocally say, that was the best night of my life…it led me to you.”
“I agree one-million-percent with that statement. Now get out of here, so I can sleep and heal because I can’t wait to fuck you repeatedly, all night long.”
“Fiend,” I playfully reply.
“Takes one to know one.”
After kissing her longer than necessary for a goodbye, I leave her and head home. I’m exhausted. The events of last night and today have caught up with me. Hopefully, it's all smooth sailing from here.
37
Avery
Opening my eyes this morning is much easier than when I tried to do it yesterday. Considering all that transpired, I slept quite well, even with the interruption of the nurses checking on me every few hours. My body still aches but it's a different ache than yesterday, it’s a healing ache, if that makes sense. Sitting up, I flex and roll my shoulders to stretch. My abdomen throbs from the movement. I lift my shirt and see the prong marks from the Taser. Running my hand over them, I sigh and think how much worse it could have been had Bay not arrived. A noise from over near the window startles me and when I look over, I smile. Curled up in a ball on the chair is Baylor. “Bay,” I whisper-shout. She stirs but doesn’t wake up. “Baylor,” I yell a little louder. This time her eyes open and when she sees me awake she sits up.
“You okay? Do you need anything? Do you want me to call Flynn? What can I do?” She says all of this in one breath.
Shaking my head side to side. “No, I’m all good. What are you doing here?”
“I didn’t want you to be alone so I came back. You looked so peaceful when I got here, I was going to climb in with you like we did in the past, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be welcome.” A tear breaks free. “Avie, I cannot express how sorry I am for what I’ve done recently.”
Reaching out my hand, I flick my fingers at her. She jumps up and takes my hand in hers and sits next to me. “BayBay, you are my sister and I will always be here for you…even when you do stupid shit.”
“You are the best sister ever.”
“I know. Now you know what will make you the best sister?”
“What?” She wipes her nose on her shoulder sleeve and I shudder.
“That’s gross, Bay.”
“Whatevs. Now, what will get me into the best sister book?”
“Coffee.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s go to the cafeteria and get coffee.”
“I’d like that.”
Bay helps me slip my robe on—thank you Cress for bringing me a bag—and then she bends down to assist with my Birkenstocks. Once I’m dressed, as such, we link arms and head down to the cafeteria.
Since it’s early, and we are the only ones here, we get our coffees quickly and take a seat. We each take a sip and spit it back into the cup. “Oh My God, that tastes—”
“Like shit…actually, it’s worse than shit.” We both laugh. “Ave, there’s a Starbucks across the road, feel like a walk?”
Looking down at what I’m wearing, I hesitate but I really need coffee. “Fuck it. Sure, let's go.”
Linking arms again, we head across the road and fifteen minutes later we each have a grande coffee in hand and contented looks on our faces. “Much better.”
“Much.”
We decide to head back to the hospital grounds, since I’m not really dressed for public viewing. I wave at Clay as we cross the road, he does a double take when he sees us. “Damn, I must be tired, I’m seeing two.”
“Clay, this is my twin, Bay. Bay, this is Clay.”
“We met,” he growls.
“Nice to officially meet you,” Bay offers. “I’m sorry about yesterday.”
Before this awkward encounter can get any more awkward, Clay’s pager goes off and he leaves us to race back to the hospital. I can feel Bay pulling away and retreating into herself. “Stop it, Bay.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“Do I look dumb?” She goes to say something snarky and I bump her shoulder. “Don’t let others’ opinions or feelings affect you. Yes, you made mistakes but those who matter, as in me, are the only people’s opinions you need to worry about. Now, get me back to my bed, I need to rest. This was a huge outing.”
Bay nods and we continue our walk back to the hospital. A van comes screeching into the driveway. Just before we reach the doors, a man jumps out, shoves me to the ground, grabs Bay, and drags her into the vehicle, her kicking and screaming. She’s fighting her assailant, but he’s bigger and stronger. He throws her into the car, slams the door shut, climbs back in, and they drive off.
It all happens so quickly, I don’t have a chance to call for help or do anything.
“Baylor!” I scream at the retreating van. Tears begin to well in my eye
s. “Baylor!” I shout again but it’s no use, the van is gone. Security rushes over to me and I look up at them. “My sister, they took my sister.”
38
Flynn
I’m stepping out of the shower when my phone rings. Picking it up, a joyous feeling washes over me when I see it’s Avery calling. “Good morning, beautiful.”
“Flynn,” she blubbers
“Ave lass, what’s wrong?”
“They…they took Bay,” she cries, and the heartache in her voice crushes me.
“Who took Bay?”
“The guys. They finally got her. Flynn, they…they took her.” She sniffs, “Flynn, I need you.”
“I’m on my way.”
“Thank you. Please hurry.”
“I love you, Avery. And I’m sure Bay will be fine, if she’s anything like you, which I suspect she might be, she’ll be okay.”
“I hope you’re right, Flynn.”
Me too. “I’ll be there soon.”
Hanging up, I quickly change and race to the hospital. When I arrive at Western General, the place is swarming with police. An officer is looking over my credentials when I hear my name being yelled. Looking up I see a dishelved Avery running toward me. “Flynn,” she wails as she throws herself at me. My arms wrap around her and she breaks down and cries into my neck.
“Shhhh,” I whisper, “I’m here now.”
She loosens her grip on me. “Flynn, they still haven’t found her. They took BayBay.”
“Lass, give them time. It’s only been an hour.”
“But—” Pressing my finger to her lips I shush her. “No buts, give them time. Now, let's get you back to your room. This won’t be good for your recovery; you are still fragile yourself. You need to get strong so you’re better when she gets back.”
“But Bay needs me to be out looking for her.”
“Ave lass, no. You can’t go looking for her. Those guys have already attacked you once, I won’t let them attack you again. Bay would want you to be safe.”