Chapter 15 Niccolò
Miraculously, Harper has no internal bleeding or brain damage.
I stayed with her while Vin went to break the news to Ava.
Harper has been asleep for the past few hours.
Normally, I would have gone with Vin to be there for Ava, but I couldn’t leave Harper alone again.
I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever be able to leave her alone again.
The last two times she’s been alone, she’s either been attacked or kidnapped, so she’s just going to have to suck it up and deal with me being her personal stalker for a while.
I look up when the door pushes in softly. Vin walks in, followed shortly after by Ava. Her eyes are red and puffy, but there aren’t any tears currently. When she sees Harper lying in the bed, bruised and with stitches across her brow, she gasps, holding her hand to her mouth.
“Oh my god. Mom did this?” She looks horrified.
Vin gives her a nod. “Yes. She wasn’t very happy about how close Harper was to me.”
Ava shakes her head as a tear trails down her cheek. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t told Mom about her, this would have never happened. I was just so excited because Harper is so nice, and you’ve been so much happier since she moved in.”
“No, no, sweetie, this isn’t your fault. Nobody could have known she would have gone this far.” Vin pulls her into a hug.
Harper stirs in the bed. When her eyes open and she sees Ava standing there, tears immediately spring to her eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she says as her body shakes with sobs.
Ava pushes away from her dad to rush over to Harper’s side. She carefully holds Harper in her arms. Ava cries with her. “It’s going to be okay.”
Harper keeps whispering that she’s sorry over and over again like it’s a mantra. I look down at my feet, hating that there’s nothing I can do to make things better for the both of them. They cry together until they exhaust themselves and fall asleep still clinging to each other.
Vin turns to me, and I can see the same pain and helplessness smeared across his face that I feel deep in my gut. “It’s all going to be okay.” He repeats Ava’s earlier words.
I nod my head. “We’ll be sure of it.”
Things settle down in the next few days. Harper gets released, and we bring her back home. Ava is struggling, but she tries to hide it from us. We can all see the vacant expression that takes over her face when she doesn’t think anyone is looking.
Vin found her a therapist to talk to, and she starts next week.
Harper is already back to classes, even though the doctor told her to take at least two weeks off.
Being so close to graduation, she didn’t want to chance not graduating on time.
I can’t blame her, especially when I realized that most of the money we’ve been giving her for expenses has gone to her mother’s care.
I don’t even know how a college student was managing to pay for classes, an apartment, and medical care for an intensely mentally ill mother on top of everything else.
No wonder she jumped at the idea of having free rent to the point she skipped right into the arms of kidnappers.
Harper seems to be doing fine mentally, though I find her giving Ava guilty looks every once in a while.
They still get along well, though now there’s a tension between them that wasn’t there before.
There’s nothing we can really do to change that.
It’s just something they will have to come to terms with on their own.
Ava is standing in the entryway with a suitcase at her feet. “You sure you want to do this?” Vin asks her.
Ava nods. “Yeah. It’s only going to be for a week or two. I want to help Grandma and Grandpa with all of the arrangements.”
Vin nods. “Okay, if you need anything, feel free to call. I’ve talked to the school, so you’re excused for the rest of the month. Don’t forget about your appointment on Thursday.”
Ava smiles at him. “I won’t. See you soon.”
She gives him a hug before she comes over and gives one to me too. “You guys are acting like I’m leaving for war. I’ll be back before you know it.”
When she turns to Harper, she smiles at her before giving her a hug too. She says something to her, but I’m not close enough to hear her. Harper’s shoulders relax, and a smile turns up her lips.
“See you all later!” Ava calls out as she heads out through the door.
“Now what?” Vin asks, looking at both of us with a devilish smirk.
Harper holds her hands up. “Not today, Casanova. I’ve got an essay to finish, and it’s worth twenty percent of my grade, so back it up.”
Vin frowns but lets her pass to go back upstairs, though if he grabs her ass with his good hand, none of us say anything about it.
Vin turns to me once we’re alone. “Sooo… Rock, paper, scissors to decide who gets to marry her?”
My eyes narrow. “That is the most immature thing you have ever suggested. To leave her future up to a children’s game. I can’t even believe you suggested that… Two out of three, or three out of five?”
He grins, and we both hold up our fists. We really should have more supervision.