by S. J. Bishop
I couldn’t hold back a laugh.
"What the hell is so funny?" Olivia demanded.
"You," I said. "I can’t believe after all the jealous tirades you’ve been on about Ava... after insisting on wearing that stupid engagement ring I gave you... and all this time you were screwing Erik?"
Olivia’s cheeks flushed. "Well you haven’t exactly been attentive to my needs," she said. "Besides, Erik’s twice the man you are. Literally."
Hannah laughed. "Please. I’ve seen mice with more down there than Erik has."
Erik’s cheeks turned bright red.
"I don’t have to listen to this anymore. We’re through," he said to Hannah, huffing towards the door.
"No shit," Hannah yelled after him.
He paused at the door and looked at Olivia. "Are you coming or what? ‘Cause I’m not sticking around here to wait."
Olivia shot one last look at me and for the first time it struck me that she looked remarkably like a horse. I wondered how I’d never noticed that before. Then she ran after Erik. He opened the door and tossed one last insult over his shoulder before stepping outside.
"You did me a favor," he said to Hannah. "Now I don’t have to cast you in my next picture. Your acting sucks."
Hannah’s face grew red. But I thought she should be thankful to get out of acting in his B movies.
I watched as Erik walked outside, Olivia just behind him. Before she could slam the door shut, a man dressed all in black and wearing a ski mask jumped out of the bushes. I saw the flash of metal and gasped as I realized the man wielded a knife. Erik was so startled that he had no time to react. The man drove the knife deep into Erik’s chest. Erik made a small gasping sound, like he couldn’t breathe, then slouched forward.
My eyes darted to Olivia who stood frozen. Then I looked over at Hannah. Her mouth hung open. I felt like I was stuck in a dream. What was going on? Erik’s eyes bulged out of his head. Blood immediately began to swallow his shirt. The attacker pulled the knife back out, ready to plunge it into Erik one more time and finish the job. Olivia screamed.
Her scream cut through the night and seemed to wake the attacker from out of a trance. He looked over at me and his eyes widened. He dropped the knife and ran.
It wasn’t until I heard the clink of the knife as it hit the cement walkway that I snapped out of it. I ran to Erik, who was still alive, barely, and turned back to Hannah. "Call 911!" I shouted.
Hannah nodded and drew her phone from her pocket. I got up and ran after the killer.
"Wait!" Olivia shouted. "Carter, don’t!"
I chased after the attacker. It was hard to distinguish him in the night sky. All I could see was a dark figure weaving between cars and houses. He was ahead of me by fifty feet or so. I was gaining on him though. My heart hammered in my chest as I increased my speed, running like I was heading for the end zone. The man ran around a corner, and by the time I got there he was gone.
"Dammit," I mumbled, searching the houses around me. I could feel the killer’s eyes on me. There was a crunch from someone’s backyard. I stepped towards it, but just then a line of police cars, chased by an ambulance, rounded the corner. I decided not to push my luck and went back to see if Erik was still breathing.
38
Ava
"Ava, call for you." My boss at Y-Mart, Mr. Turner, smiled as he waved me over to the office. Mr. Turner was by far a better a boss than Mr. Brewster, who was still in the hospital, though recovering from his recent injuries. Mr. Turner would never have propositioned me the way Mr. Brewster had.
"I think it’s your mom," Mr. Turner said, handing me the phone and stepping casually to the side to give me some privacy.
"Hello?" I asked. My heart started to hammer before my mother even spoke. If my mom was calling me at work, it was bad news.
"Ava?" my mother sobbed. "Lily..." I felt the blood drain from my face. My hand reached for the desk to steady myself as my knees began to buckle. I had never heard such dire sadness in my mother’s voice. Mr. Turner came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder.
"Oh my God," I said, tears welling in my eyes. "Is she... is Lily dead?" I could barely get the words out. My whole body began to shake.
"No," my mother managed to say. I felt myself relax for just the tiniest second before my mother spoke again. "But it’s bad. She collapsed. Oh, Ava I couldn’t wake her up." My mother sobbed into the phone and I stood still, unable to breathe. My father came on the phone now.
"Ava," he said. "Honey, you better get down here. I’m not sure how long you’ve got." I didn’t hesitate. I dropped the phone and flew out of the building. Luckily, Mr. Turner knew all about Lily and I knew he was sympathetic. He had kids of his own and wouldn’t need any further explanation than knowing Lily was sick.
My car had made it to Y-Mart. I prayed it would work for me now as I cranked the ignition. It turned over on the first kick and I said a silent "thank you." I stepped on the gas and made it to Dover Medical in record time.
When I first stepped inside, I was confused by all the police. They weren’t normally present in such abundance at the hospital. I dismissed it, thinking that perhaps someone on the force had been in an accident and the others had come out to see him.
I didn’t even have to ask where Lily was. The trips to the hospital had become so frequent that I knew my way around the building like the back of my hand. I made my way to the emergency waiting area and saw my parents already seated. I stopped and stared at them. My mother was stark white. I had never seen her look so bad. My father looked just as bad. His lips were drawn together in a thin, hard line. I could tell he was trying to be strong for Mom.
"Mom? Dad?" I said, going up to them.
They looked up at the sound of my voice. "Oh Ava," my mom cried, embracing me "I’m so sorry."
For a second, I thought I was too late. My face contorted and my mouth twisted up into a hysterical grin.
My mom, seeing my face, realized what she’d said and immediately corrected herself. "Oh no, baby, I didn’t mean that Lily... she’s okay. Well, I mean, she’s not okay, but she’s alive. They’ve got her in ICU." I breathed a sigh of relief.
My mom was blathering away, apologizing and explaining at the same time. For some reason, she seemed to be blaming herself for Lily’s condition. "Mom, this isn’t your fault," I said. "It’s no one’s really, except maybe mine. Maybe if I’d taken better vitamins when I was pregnant, or taken her to the doctor more often when she was a baby..."
Tears flowed over my cheeks and my dad reached over and took my hand, holding it tightly as he helped me into a chair. "This is no one’s fault. Lily’s strong. She’s a fighter, just like her mother. She’ll get through this."
Dr. Martin came out just then. "Ava," he said, greeting me like an old friend. "I’m sorry. I have bad news and there’s no easy way to say it. Lily’s taken a turn for the worse. I’m afraid that unless something is done within the next forty-eight hours, she won’t survive beyond that."
I almost fell out of my chair. The tears kept streaming down my cheeks. I’d given up on trying to hold them in.
"Listen," Dr. Martin said, kneeling down so he could talk to me. "I’ve spoken with the anaesthesiologist on staff, as well as several surgical nurses, who are all willing to waive their normal fees. I’m willing to waive mine as well." I looked up, my eyes hopeful for the first time since learning of Lily’s illness.
"The main problem is the hospital board. There are certain rules they refuse to bend, even in situations like this. Even cutting our personal fees, the hospital won’t cut the fees for her other expenses—the recovery room, the operating room, medicine, the implant we’re going to have to give Lily to prevent her heart from behaving so erratically in the future."
"How much?" my father asked. The lines on his face sunk deeper.
"Half," Dr. Martin said. "Fifty thousand. Can you come up with it?"
I looked at my parents. My mother and father looked at each other. "We ha
ve twenty in the bank," Mom said. "Maybe if we refinance we could get a loan. We can always go back to work."
Dad nodded. "The bank won’t open till morning, but I know the manager, Owen Williams. Good man. I’ll call him now. Maybe we can get this rolling tonight."
I swept away the tears now which were permanently etched on my face. I couldn’t let my parents refinance their house. They’d just retired. Go back to work? At this point in their lives? But what could I say? Lily needed the surgery and I didn’t have insurance. That meant we needed to pay out of pocket and this was the only way.
"Thank you, doctor," I said. A group of policemen ran past us, their walkie talkies bursting with noise. "What’s going on here?" I asked, momentarily forgetting my own problems.
"Haven’t you heard?" Dr. Martin asked. My parents and I stared at him. "A couple was attacked outside their home." He looked at Ava. "Your friend Carter’s home, actually."
My mouth dropped open. "Is Carter alright?"
Dr. Martin nodded. "Yes, he wasn’t the one who was attacked. It was his sister’s fiancé."
"Doctor Martin," a nurse called.
He turned around and gave a quick wave. "Excuse me. I’ll come back to check on things in a little while."
"Well, I’m going outside to call Owen," my dad said.
"I’m going to get us some coffee," Mom said. "Do you want anything else? Candy? Ice cream?" I smiled in spite of it all. For once, I felt like my mother wasn’t judging me. All she wanted to do was make me feel better.
"A Snickers," I said. Mom patted my back and told me she’d be back soon. My dad rose to go with her. Left alone, my mind wandered between Lily and Erik. Who would have wanted to hurt Erik? No one here even knew him. I remembered the dead flowers and eerie poem Myron had left for me. Could Myron have been behind it?
First Carter’s brakes, then Mr. Brewster’s, now Erik was attacked? I had to talk to the police, even if it meant looking like a fool in front of my parents. Even if it meant that later they used it to try and get Lily. Though now, with them here beside me in the hospital, working as one unit to save Lily, I thought it unlikely my parents would really do something so horrible as taking my daughter away.
A cop sat down next to me, a cup of coffee in his hand. It was now or never.
"Excuse me," I said. "Who do I talk to you about the attack that happened tonight?"
39
Carter
I paced the floor inside Erik’s room. He was stable. He would be fine. The knife had missed his heart and lungs. The doctors all said how lucky he was, only I was sure that when he woke up he wouldn’t feel so lucky.
"Why don’t you get some air?" Hannah asked. "You don’t need to stay here."
"You really want me to leave you alone with her?" I asked, nodding towards Olivia. She shot me a look that said she’d rather I was the one lying in this hospital bed than Erik.
"It’s fine. I’m not sure how much longer I’m gonna stay anyways, now that I know he’s alright. I hate the jerk, but at the same time... I really did care about him... once."
"I get it," I said. It was weird, seeing Olivia holding Erik’s right hand while Hannah held his left. I didn’t blame Hannah for her feelings. If it had been Olivia in here I would’ve wanted to stay too, despite everything that had happened between us. You can’t spend three years with a person and not care what happens to them, at least a little.
A couple of nurses came in to check on things. They began checking Erik’s heart monitor and his IV. They talked quietly between themselves. I thought I heard Lily’s name and looked over at them.
"Excuse me," I said. "Did I just hear you say that Lily Hart is here?" The nurses exchanged a look.
"Yes," one of them finally said. "She’s in ICU."
I gave Hannah a quick hug and whispered, "Don’t let what happened change your mind. A jerk is still a jerk. If you have any doubts, just picture him and Olivia together in bed, then picture me and Olivia in bed."
"Ew," she said, yanking her hand away from Erik’s.
"Exactly. I’m going to find Ava. If Lily’s here, she is too."
"Good luck," Hannah said. "I’ll come find you later."
Two policemen stepped into the room just as I was exiting. I heard them start to say, "We’ve just been informed of a possible suspect," but I didn’t stop to finish listening. I wanted to find Ava.
I found the waiting room in the emergency wing, where Hannah, Olivia, and I had started off before getting moved to a private room. Ava was sitting there alone, her head buried in her hands.
"Ava."
She looked up at the sound of my voice. "Carter." Her whole face lit up. She fell into my arms and I held her tightly against me. "I can’t believe you’re here."
"I was with Hannah and Erik when I found out about Lily."
"I heard he was attacked," Ava said. "What happened? Is he okay?"
"Yeah, he’s gonna be fine. The knife missed any major arteries or vital organs."
Ava’s eyes widened. "He was stabbed?"
"Yeah, but how’s Lily?"
"Fine." She laughed and shook her head. "No. Not fine at all. I don’t know why I said that. Wishful thinking, I guess. She’s... she might not make it out of here this time."
A detective walked over to us just then. "Excuse me, Miss Hart," he said, holding up a picture of Myron. "Is this the man you were speaking of earlier?"
"Yes," Ava said. "That’s him." She glanced at me and I grabbed her hand. "This is Detective Collins," she said. "I’ve told him all about Myron. Everything, including why you were fighting with him the other day." I squeezed her hand and her pulse quickened.
"You say you know this man?" Detective Collins asked, pointing at the picture.
"Yes. I work with him."
The detective put the picture down. "This man has been in and out of institutions his whole life. His real name is Mark Grayson. He’s currently wanted in connection with several murders in Washington."
Ava and I looked at each other.
"If you see him again, do not approach him. Find me or any other officer and tell us immediately."
Dr. Martin came up behind the detective and cleared his throat. Detective Collins turned around. "I’m done here, Doc," he said.
"Hello, Mr. Stone," Dr. Martin said. "Glad to see you’re recovering so well from your accident." He turned to Ava then. "Any word from your parents?"
"Not yet," Ava said. "My father’s probably still on the phone trying to raise the money."
Dr. Martin sighed. "Alright, I’ll assume we shall have good news coming to us soon. I’ll get things ready, just in case."
Ava smiled gratefully at him.
"What money are your parents trying to raise?" I asked when Dr. Martin was gone.
"It’s for Lily. She needs surgery. Tonight. Or she probably won’t make it out of here alive." Her voice cracked but the tears still did not fall. She looked so spent and I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to fear for your own child’s life.
"Well how much is it?" I asked. "Maybe I can help."
"Fifty thousand dollars."
I let out a long, low whistle. "That’s a lot." Ava nodded. "Can I ask you something?" My cheeks burned. "Where’s Lily’s father?"
Ava took a deep breath and licked her lips. I looked in her eyes, at once afraid and excited by what she might say next. Her words choked in her throat at first, then found their way out. "He’s sitting right beside me."
I couldn’t believe what she was saying. My eyes widened and my face grew even hotter. Ava started crying. "He’s sitting right beside me, Carter," she said again, gripping my hand. Instinctively I pulled my hand away.
40
Ava
"What the hell are you talking about, Ava?" Carter asked me. He wasn’t shouting. His tone was quiet and soft. It bothered me more than if he had been yelling.
"I’m sorry," I whispered. "I should have told you."
"What are you saying? Are you really
saying that Lily’s my daughter?"
I nodded. I tried to read Carter’s face as he took everything in. Surely it must have occurred to him at some point that he could have been Lily’s father. You didn’t have to be a genius to do the math or to notice the resemblance. Still no one else had put it together and she couldn’t blame him for not figuring it out. He probably thought she would have told him. "How could you have kept something like this from me?" he asked, his eyes were filling with tears now and that made everything worse somehow.
"I just... when I first found out I was pregnant, I wanted to tell you. But you’d just been drafted. I lost my scholarship. I was afraid that if I told you, you might not go to San Francisco. I didn’t want to ruin your life."
"Fine, and what about any time, oh, say, in the last three years? Why couldn’t you have told me then? Was it never a good time?"
Anger and grief spilled out of me. "I was going to tell you. I tried to tell you several times these last few days, but Olivia was always around, or you were getting arrested. How can I tell you something like that when you’re sitting in a jail cell?"
"I can’t believe this," Carter said. "I thought I knew you. I thought that, of all the people in my life, you were the one person I could trust. Now I find out that was all bullshit."
"It wasn’t!" I said, my voice rising. A few people in the waiting room were watching us now, and I tried to lower my voice. Carter, however, was just getting started.
"How do I know this isn’t some game? Some trick?" he asked, rising from his seat.
"What are you saying?" I screamed, rising up with him. "Are you saying I’m lying to you now? That Lily’s not your daughter?"
"How am I supposed to believe anything that you tell me ever again? You just said you’ve been lying to me for the last three years."
"All you have to do is look at her, Carter. For crying out loud she looks exactly like you. Have you really not noticed that?"