by S. J. Bishop
I ran into the hospital and searched the waiting room for Ava, but she wasn’t there.
"Lily Hart," I said, running up to the nurse’s station. "What room is she in?"
"Are you family?" the nurse asked, eyeing me suspiciously.
"Yes," I said, "I’m her father."
I saw the shock on the nurse’s face. Clearly, she knew who I was and was surprised to find out this new information. "Lily’s in ICU right now. You can go in, but make sure you’re not too loud. There’s a lot of sick people in there."
I followed the nurse’s directions to Lily’s bed in ICU. There were a dozen beds in the intensive care unit, each separated by thin cubicle walls and curtains. There were no doors. In ICU, there wasn’t time for doors. You had to be able to get to someone as quickly as possible if they started to crash.
I approached Lily’s bed, my heart pounding. The curtain was pulled back and Lily’s grandparents sat on a couple of chairs; they were both wearing masks. Martha was reading Lily a book. Lily’s eyes were closed. She was surrounded by machines that beeped and chimed. Some sort of breathing apparatus was attached to her small nose and a tube went down her throat. Martha and David turned to me when they heard my footsteps.
"Carter," Martha said; I could tell she was surprised to see me.
David rose from his chair and shook my hand. "Nice of you to come," he said.
"I..." I forgot how to talk for a moment. Seeing Lily like this, with the new knowledge that she was my daughter, overwhelmed me to the point that the room began to spin. I quickly sat down, my head between my hands. "Is she awake?" I asked.
"No," Martha said. "She’s been asleep since we brought her in."
"I don’t understand. Why don’t the doctors do something?" I asked desperately. It did not go unnoticed by Martha or David.
"Money," Martha told me. "The world revolves around it. We’re still trying to raise it though. There’s still time. Not much, but some."
I stood, my mind made up. "I need to see the doctor. I need to find Ava."
"Ava went for a walk a little while ago," Martha said.
"A walk?" I turned to her, full of fright. Martha and David stared back at me with alarm.
"Yes, a walk. Why? Is something wrong?"
I shook my head. There was no time to explain. If I was right, and it had been Myron that he’d seen outside when I was leaving, then Ava was in danger.
"I have to find her. She’s not safe."
Martha laughed. "There are police everywhere. If you’re worried about that Myron person the police spoke to us about, I’m sure he’s long gone by now."
David put a hand on Martha’s arm. "What makes you think she’s in danger?" he asked.
I hesitated. David and Martha both looked so tired. I didn’t want to worry them anymore than necessary.
"I just need to find her."
"I think she was headed for the park," David said.
"Thanks," I replied, taking off. I shot one last look at Lily, whose poor body already seemed so withered and dead. But I wouldn’t let myself think like that. I’d find Ava then talk to the doctors about the surgery. I’d pay for everything. Whatever the costs were, they wouldn’t matter if only the surgery worked. If only Lily could be saved.
I ran through the emergency room doors, searching for the park I knew I had passed by on my way in. The photographers had all left. They must have gotten a tip that the police were about to bust Erik’s attacker and had gone to document the whole thing for their papers or internet sites.
My eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness as I moved towards the playground. A loud scream pierced the night air. Everyone near me turned and looked towards it. Ava. I ran towards the park, praying I wasn’t too late.
46
Ava
I let out a long, loud scream to rival anything you might’ve heard in a good horror film. Myron pushed me to the ground. My head hit the dirt but I snapped back up just as fast as I’d fallen. I couldn’t let him pin me.
"Myron, stop it!" I screamed.
Myron ran towards me again, pulling at my hair. I pushed his hands away and he fell back onto a swing. The chain caught his hand, snagging his skin, and he yelped and dropped the knife. I dove for it.
I had the knife in my hands when Myron’s fist met my lower back bone. It crunched against me and I fell to the ground once more, my breath catching in my chest. Pain coursed through me. I couldn’t believe that a fist was enough to send me back into spasms. I rolled over as Myron took the knife back.
"Now then," he said, smirking. He climbed on top of me. I felt the hard mass in his pants as he straddled me. "This is an interesting situation, isn’t it?" he said.
"Myron, please don’t," I pleaded. I squirmed under him, trying to free myself. Myron leaned towards me, his tongue sliding out and licking my neck. His hand reached up and under my shirt, pawing at me like I was a dog toy.
"Myron, please..." I cried, tears flowing down my cheeks. But Myron had no interest in stopping. His hand reached down between my legs, searching. A new thought struck me.
"Please Myron," I said. "Harder. Much harder. I’ve always liked the rough stuff," I told him, batting my eyes.
Myron blinked. His face turned a shade paler. His cheeks grew pink. "You... you have?" he asked. He suddenly seemed uncertain of himself. I think he had expected me to put up more of a struggle.
"Sure," I said. "I’m not nearly as easy as they say. I like a man who works for my attention. The way you have. And tackling me in the park, where anyone could see us, it really turns me on."
Myron’s eyes were wide and receptive. I could see he wanted so desperately to believe everything I said that he overlooked any warning signals.
"You know I love you, right Ava?" he asked.
"I know. I love you too." I leaned up and kissed him. I had to resist the urge to pull back as soon as our lips touched, but it seemed to be working.He dropped the knife and reached around my back, pulling me closer to him.
In the kiss, I could feel his passion. I felt the love he had for me and did not doubt that it was genuine. At least, as genuine as obsession can be. I almost felt bad for what I was about to do, but I didn’t know any other way out of this. With my lips pressed against Myron’s, I reached for the knife that he’d dropped.
I almost had it. My fingers were just touching the knife’s grip, when Myron opened his eyes. He pushed me away and took the knife back. His eyes watered. "I trusted you," he said.
"Well that was a mistake," I told him. I kicked him in the balls as hard as I could, the way my father had taught me when I was a kid, in case I ever needed to defend myself.
Myron’s face went red then white. His eyes bulged out of his head. I scooted out from under him, pushing him off me with my foot. He fell back, staring at the sky as he lay writhing on the ground. I ran towards the parking lot.
My foot caught in a hidden hole in the grass that some animal had dug out for its home. I fell forward, my face smacking into the dirt once again. I pushed myself up and that was when I felt it. The blade of the knife dug into my leg, sliding right through my skin like a knife through butter. I screamed.
Myron pulled the knife from me, sliding himself up and over my back, pinning me to the ground with his weight. He kissed the back of my neck as I whimpered under him. He should have known better than to let his guard down around me. As he lifted my shirt, I kicked my feet under him, trying to flip him off me. The blade glistened against my skin.
Myron lifted his hand to dig his knife into my back. This time, there would be no escape. There was a rustling at the bushes. And we both looked up to see Carter come running into the park. His face was a mask of rage.
47
Carter
I ran through the bushes and into the opening of the playground. The sight horrified me. Amongst the slide and swings and joy-filled structures for children of all ages, Ava lay with her face in the dirt. Myron sat on top of her back, a knife in his hand. I couldn’t
tell whether or not Ava had already been stabbed, but dark red splotches were scattered all around her shirt and over her face. She turned her head to face me and I saw both fear and fierceness in her eyes. She was afraid, but she wasn’t about to give up.
Myron looked surprised when he spotted me. He paused with his knife in the air, the hand that held it only a few inches from Ava’s skin. I didn’t waste the opportunity. I slammed into Myron, knocking him off Ava and giving her a chance to get away.
"Run, Ava! Run!" I shouted. For a second, that’s what I thought she was doing. It didn’t matter that my face already hurt from where Myron had buried his elbow in retaliation, as long as Ava was safe. But instead of running away as I’d thought she was doing, she ran towards us. Myron was on top of me, beating at my chest with his fists. Ava was standing over Myron now and she hit the back of his head with her hand. Myron turned for a second, distracted. His leg kicked out, sending her sprawling onto her back.
"Ava, get out of here!" I yelled again, furious that she wasn’t listening. Had she always been this stubborn? Myron’s fist connected with my jaw and my head flew back. Myron’s weight lifted off of me and I managed to stand up, my head dizzy.The world around me swam in circles for a moment before setting itself right again. I saw Ava clinging to Myron’s back, her nails scratching at his face. The sight would almost have been funny if it hadn’t been so dangerous. I got in one good lick before Myron flung her off his back like she weighed less than a cotton ball.
Myron stood two feet away from me, watching me, a snarl on his face. "You’re pathetic," Myron said. "And you don’t appreciate Ava. Not like I do."
I laughed. "How much do you appreciate her? You just flung her to the ground like she was a bug you’re trying to squish." Myron looked at Ava and his face softened.
"What I do with her is none of your business. You’re in no position to judge me. You’ve done nothing but hurt her since you got here. She’s special, and you’ve treated her like she was any other woman. Like she didn’t matter to you any more than the thousands of girls you’ve already had. Another notch on your bedpost."
Myron’s words stung me. I looked at Ava, whose face was bleeding and eyes were wet. The moonlight created a strange, soft glow behind Ava that made her look like an angel. "Maybe you’re right. Maybe I didn’t appreciate her before, but I do now. And now is all that matters, because the present is the only thing that you have control over."
My sane and rational words seemed to irritate Myron more than anything previously had. He lunged at me. I struck back, my fist flying out and finding Myron’s right eye. He was knocked to the ground, but not before he had twisted his arms around my neck, yanking me to the ground with him.. Myron managed to get a firm hold on me, cutting off my oxygen supply. My face started turning red.
"No!" Ava screamed. She grabbed a stick that was lying on the ground and swung it at Myron, striking his face and dazing him long enough for me to catch my breath. I kicked Myron in the stomach. Myron kicked me back. We wrestled on the ground a minute before Myron managed to get his knife out and slip it deep into my shoulder. I screamed and pushed my hand into Myron’s face, taking my thumb and poking Myron’s eye, ready to gouge it out if that’s what it took.
Myron screamed and let go of the knife, falling to the side. I pulled it out of my shoulder and took a deep breath. Myron’s hand was busy with his face, feeling it to make sure his eyeball was still intact.
"Myron," I said. Myron blinked and looked towards me. His eye was bleeding but it was still there.
"You asshole," Myron said. "You could have blinded me. You could have—" But I didn’t want to wait to hear what Myron had to say. I slammed my fist into his jaw. Myron’s eyes went wide and then he staggered back and fell to the ground.
Ava stood still, breathing deeply. She looked down at Myron, and I saw a shiver run through her. When I came to her and took her hand, I felt her relax. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me tightly to her. "Are you okay?" she asked, touching my shoulder where Myron’s blade had dug into me.
"I’m fine," I told her, leaning down to kiss her. "It barely hurts." Her lips were warm and tasted like cherries. She kissed me back, pressing herself harder against me.
"You saved me," she said. "You came back."
"I was always going to come back. It just took me a little time to realize that."
There were sounds behind the bushes. Several cops emerged at once, their guns drawn. They saw Myron on the ground and one of them shouted, "It’s him!" They turned Myron over and handcuffed him before taking him back to the hospital. Ava and I followed right behind them.
48
Ava
Carter and I stood just inside the hospital entrance, locked in each other’s arms. We didn’t want to let go for even a second. Carter’s lips were the only thing holding me up right now. I tasted them over and over, replenishing myself with their sweetness.
"Ava! Carter!" Hannah called. We looked to see her running towards us. "They got him! They got Myron!" she shouted, then her eyes went wide. "Oh my God! What happened to you two?"
"Myron," Carter said.
Hannah looked from Carter to me. "Myron did this to you?" she screamed. "Are you alright? You need to get checked out by a doctor. Both of you. You’re bleeding."
"We’re fine," Carter said.
"But the blood. Carter, your shoulder." She pointed where a patch of blood had settled into Carter’s clothing. "It’s already stopped bleeding," he said.
"Yeah, we’ll get checked out later. We need to see Lily first," I said. I had only intended to come out and get some fresh air and now that I wasn’t battling for my own life, my thoughts immediately returned to Lily. Carter and I brushed past Hannah, who stood staring at us with her mouth open.
In Lily’s room, we found my parents glued together against the wall, watching helplessly as Dr. Martin and his nurses worked to revive Lily.
"We’re losing her," one of the nurses shouted.
"I know, I know!" Dr. Martin screamed, scrambling for some sort of needle. He placed it against Lily’s chest and injected her with something before slapping the paddles on her and beginning the desperate attempts to shock her heart into beating again.
"Mom! Dad" I screamed. "What’s happening?" I ran to them and my mom put her arms around me, holding me tight. But the motion was an instinct. My parents were so frantic that they didn’t even seem to register Carter and I next to them
"Lily stopped breathing. Her heart..." My mom choked on the words. "It stopped beating." I collapsed into a chair. Carter ran to me, putting his arm around me and pulling me close.
"It’s gonna be okay," he whispered.
Suddenly, the heart monitor started to beep again. My mom and I let out cries of relief. The nurses relaxed for the moment, watching and listening.
Dr. Martin turned to us. "There’s no more time," he said. "Not one more minute. We operate now or we lose her forever."
Martha and David turned to each other, their eyes full of shame and grief. "We couldn’t get the money," David said.
"Do the surgery," Carter said, standing up. "Whatever it takes. I’ll pay for it. All of it. Just save her." Tears fell over his cheeks. I met his eyes and saw the look of pain and compassion in them. He might have just learned that Lily was his, but in his face I saw the unconditional love and the need to protect that comes only from parenthood
"You’ll sign the paperwork?" Dr. Martin asked him, already prepping Lily.
"Anything you need."
"That’s all I needed to hear," Dr. Martin said. "We’re taking her in now then." He turned to one of the nurses. "Call the OR. Tell them we’re coming up."
The nurses brought a stretcher and they moved Lily carefully onto it, wheeling her out of the room. I followed with my parents until we reached the doors to the surgical area forbidding them access.
"We’ll take good care of her," Dr. Martin said. "The next time you see her, she’ll be all better."
"Wait!" I shouted. "I need to tell her something."
"She can’t hear you," one of the nurses said.
I ignored her and Dr. Martin told them to stop a minute. I took Carter’s hand and led him to the stretcher where Lily laid with her eyes closed, her breathing fast and irregular.
"Lily, honey, I just wanted to tell you that I love you. And..." I looked at Carter, who nodded. "And your father loves you too." I heard my parents gasp behind me and thought I saw Dr. Martin smile ever so slightly. "We’ll be right here waiting for you when you get out. Your father and I." I leaned forward and kissed Lily’s head.
"I love you, Lily," Carter said. "And I can’t wait to get to know you better." He kissed her head too and then Dr. Martin wheeled her through the doors. Carter and I turned around. Mom and Dad stared back at us. I could feel myself blush but I was also relieved for all of this to finally be out in the open. Maybe now they would understand why I had never told anyone who Lily’s father was. Carter put his arm around my shoulders.
"I guess you guys have a few questions for us," Carter said, laughing.
Somehow, despite the seriousness of the situation, I felt like everything was going to be okay. A new door had just opened. One for me and one for Lily. And a new connection had been made between Carter and I. A new understanding between me and my parents. It was a day of new beginnings, and that meant that anything was possible.
49
Carter
Ava and I sat in the waiting room with our hands clasped together. It had been almost two hours already. A nurse had come out to tell us that things were going well, but there were another five to six hours of surgery remaining. Ava looked like she was going to faint when she heard that, and I squeezed her hand.