Saving Gavin (A Dismantling Evan Companion Novelette)
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What if this one was really bad? What if he couldn’t come back? What if I didn’t see him ever again? What if he had...
I don’t want to sleep the heavy sleep, but I feel it pulling on me, tugging my hand to stop writing. I want to see Dr. Larson now! I want to know where the fuck Andy is!
GF
~
March 15
The sun’s rays cast an orange aura on the walls, intersected only by the shadows of bars, caging the windows. I must have fallen asleep on Andy’s bed or, maybe, I just fell onto his bed, crashing with the medicine they gave me. It's crumpled, like it hasn’t been made. I don't make my bed either; another way we are alike.
Pushing up on my hands, the room tilts a little. I drift toward the door, each sluggish step emphasizing the synchronized pounding of my pulse and head.
I reach for the doorknob and feel like time is snatched from me.
I'm in the hallway. It scares me when I lose time like that.
I need to get to Dr. Larson’s office. Two nurses sit at their station, backs turned to me, typing on their computers. I pass the station without them noticing.
Time is taken from me again.
I'm standing in front of a door. I lean against the wall to get my bearings, when I hear Dr. Larson speak.
“I don’t recommend coming down today, Ms. Ferguson. He had a rough morning and we had to sedate him. Yes, it was a seizure. I can assure you he is safe and being monitored closely.”
A seizure? Why is she lying to Mom?
I turn the handle and push the door open, ready to confront Dr. Larson and her flat-out lie.
Her eyes meet mine, startled by my presence. I wonder if I look as bad as I feel. It would explain the look on her face.
She continues to speak as she watches me. “Ms. Ferguson, I understand your frustration. I...”
Just then, I hear yelling on the other end of the line; it’s Brody. I can’t make out the words, but I'd know that loud voice anywhere.
Dr. Larson’s eyes move from me to the surface of her desk. “Mr. Ferguson, please understand that your brother has been through a trauma... I understand that you and your mother have as well, but... No, and I am sorry this is upsetting her.”
Brody’s voice rises even louder to the point that Dr. Larson pulls her ear from the receiver. I can see that she wants to speak, but Brody isn’t giving her a chance.
With the receiver released from her ear, I hear Brody’s words. “You can’t do this! You can’t keep him from us! He has rights. We have the right to see him!”
My legs weaken and my heart pumps faster.
They want to keep me from them? No, they can’t!
I try to speak, but instead mumble wordless sounds through my swollen, dry lips.
My legs fail and I clutch the chair next to me, sliding onto the seat before I fall. The room starts to spin, so I close my eyes and count, hoping that it will steady me.
1,2,3,4,5...
Dr. Larson continues to talk. “Mr. Ferguson, we aren’t trying to keep you from him. We just need to...”
Brody doesn’t let her finish. His words pierce the room through the receiver. “My mother and I will be there tomorrow morning and we will see my brother!”
The click of the conversation being ended by Brody is as sharp and clipped as his final words.
Flustered by the conversation, Dr. Larson puts the phone back on the receiver and carefully meets my now open eyes. “I’m not going to keep you from them,” she says.
I lick my lips before trying to speak. “Then why did you say they couldn’t see me?”
She leans forward in her chair. “It is just for a few days. We need to monitor you closely after last night’s seizure.”
“But I didn’t have a seizure.”
“Yes, you did, Gavin,” she says.
“Why are you lying? Andy had the seizure. Not me!”
She closes her eyes then leans back in her chair before reopening them. “I’m not lying, Gavin.”
She keeps her eyes on me as she reaches for the phone.
Does she think I'm going to attack her? I know I am getting loud. Maybe she is scared of that. “I’m sorry for yelling,” I say quickly. “It’s just you took Andy last night and I want to know if he is okay.”
She shakes her head as she presses the call button on the receiver. “I am calling Nurse Cindy to bring you some orange juice.”
As the receiver clicks into open air, Nurse Cindy’s voice carries. “Yes, Dr. Larson?”
“Can you bring a juice for Mr. Ferguson please?”
“Yes ma’am,” the nurse replies.
I feel cold, sweaty and dizzy all at once; the juice might help. I hope she doesn’t bring more of the medicine.
Within seconds, Nurse Cindy comes in, slowly closing the door behind her. She usually looks stiff and upset, but right now she looks worried as she holds the straw to my lips.
“Here you go, boy. Can’t have you passing out on us.” Her voice is strangely soothing.
Mindlessly, I drink as she settles down in the chair next to me. I start feeling better right away; less sweaty and dizzy.
“Thank you,” I mumble.
She nods then looks at Dr. Larson, cautiously.
They still think I am going to hurt somebody. I wish they didn’t think that of me. I’m not a terrible person.
Defending myself, I say, “I’m not going to hurt anyone, I promise. I just...”
My chest hurts in a strange way suddenly. An ache that makes me feel tired, lonely and sad. My throat tightens as I plead, “I just want to know where Andy is. Just want to know that he is okay.”
“Everything is fine,” Dr. Larson says, tilting her head slightly. “You are going to be fine.”
No! That is not what I am asking! I grit my teeth with frustration and enunciate each word. “No. I am asking about Andy. Not me!”
Even though my temper is flaring again, Dr. Larson gazes at me with gentle eyes. “Gavin, Andy doesn’t have seizures because Andy was never here at the center.”
I deny what she is saying, “No, he was here... is here. He sees the doctors here for his seizures.”
I look at Nurse Cindy. “You have taken care of him.”
She doesn’t respond in any way. Instead, she looks down at the juice cupped in her hands.
She's in on this too!
Dr. Larson calmly replies, “No, she has taken care of you, Gavin.”
I search my hazy mind for some memory of Andy. Something that stands out that I can use to show them he is real, but it's too hard to get beyond my head ache. She interrupts my attempts and says softly, “Gavin, you are Andy.”
Gavin’s story will continue in “Resurrecting Gavin,” the second novelette in the Evan series. Release planned for September 8, 2015.
Acknowledgments
I have said this a million times, and I will say it a million more; It takes a village to produce a novel as well as any work of fiction. The village I have been blessed with has helped bring this novel from imagination to realization. It could not have been accomplished with the energy of so many behind the scenes.
My publishing house, Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly. Thank you for opening your minds, hearts, and arms to the Evan series. Dawn Miller; thank you for being an extraordinary friend first and a meticulous critique partner second (it is a good thing, really). Your critiques, opinions, and nudges to push the characters made Evan’s story more compelling than I originally imagined it being. My troupe of beta readers; Dahlings, your eyes were the first to see the raw and unedited version of Dismantling Evan and that initial read through from you was priceless. Thank you for your candid feedback and dedication to the spirit of the written word. The Venessa Kimball Fan Club; thank you for embracing and spreading the word about Dismantling Evan and the Evan series. I am truly blessed to have fans as great as you are! Austin Digital Darling gals; Love you and thank you for the inspiration and motivation you infuse into the atmosphere every mo
nth at our gatherings. I owe you a cheese tray. To the bloggers and community of readers that have put energy and time into posting and spreading the word about the Evan series. You have been the life line for this series as it makes its way into the sea of novels and novelettes. I have the utmost respect and appreciation for all that you do to spread the word for authors world wide.
Author Biography
Having always been passionate about the written word, Venessa Kimball embarked on writing what would become her debut novel, Piercing the Fold: Book 1; a young adult paranormal/sci-fi series. July 2, 2012, Venessa Kimball independently published the first book in the Piercing the Fold series. Book 2, Surfacing the Rim, released March 14, 2013.
In August of 2013, Venessa joined the publishing house, Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly. The Piercing the Fold series has been re-published with CHBB beginning with Piercing the Fold: Book 1 on September 3, 2013. Surfacing the Rim: Book 2 re-published on September 24, 2013 and Ascending the Veil: Book 3 released November 2013. The fourth book in the series, Transcending the Legacy: Book 4 released May 13, 2014. Kimball’s compelling teen contemporary fiction novel, Dismantling Evan, released January 13, 2015. Venessa is currently working on the Evan series, but as for the future, she is filling her Work-In-Progress folder with some world piercing characters and stories. When Venessa is not writing, she is keeping active with her husband and three children; chauffeuring said children to extracurricular activities, catching a movie with her hubby, and staying up way too late reading. You can find Venessa Kimball socially at the following:
www.VenessaKimball.net
http://www.facebook.com/venessakimballauthor
http://www.twitter.com/venessakimball
Other Novels Published by Venessa Kimball, available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback:
YA/ Teen Paranormal Sci-Fi series, Piercing the Fold:
Piercing the Fold: Book 1
Surfacing the Rim: Book 2
Ascending the Veil: Book 3
Transcending the Legacy: Book 4
YA/Teen Contemporary Fiction series, the Evan series:
Dismantling Evan