6. Ava
Chapter Six
Ava
Ankles and emotional avalanches
I eyed my offending foot, where it rested in the little sling thing that held it up and kept it in traction. “I can’t believe you,” I muttered, glaring at my ankle. It had betrayed me.
“Can’t believe who?” a voice called from the doorway.
I looked over to see Holly walking in. I liked Holly. She wasn’t technically my nurse since she worked in the ER, but she checked in on me every day.
“My ankle,” I said, pointing at the traitor. “It failed me.”
Holly grinned. “You’re gonna be all healed up before you know it. You just landed wrong.”
“No shit. I can’t believe I managed to break my ankle all the way through just by slipping.”
She stopped beside my bed. “How are you feeling?”
“Honestly, I’m fine. A little pain. They’re easing me off the pain meds. It’s for the best. I’m afraid of them.”
“Afraid?”
I shrugged. “You know, they’re really addictive.”
“They’re very addictive,” she said with a sigh. “We’re still dealing with the damage from pharmaceutical companies pushing them. Anyway, how are your spirits?”
“My spirits are bored,” I groaned.
Holly chuckled. “Hospitals are kind of boring. What’s your plan after you’re cleared for discharge?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I should go home, but I don’t want to.”
Her brows hitched up, curiosity flickering in her gaze. “Where’s home?”
“Outside of Seattle. I’m a city girl through and through. I was aiming for the picket fence and two-point-five kids when I got married.”
“I heard,” she said gently.
“You heard?”
“Your friends told me about your divorce trips.”
“Yup, this is trip two. Divorce trip one was awesome, but it was short, and our flight home got delayed for so long that they gave us free return tickets. So we came back—for the snow. And now I’m here. Fuck my life.”
“You’re gonna come out of this stronger than ever. You’ve got pins in that ankle now. You can call yourself bionic.”
I snorted. Holly always made me feel better, but this was day four, and the repetition was setting in. Holly’s pager beeped.
“All right, I gotta roll. But one of these nights, I could bring you some takeout. If you want.”
“Any night. Please. I know I look like shit, but I’m good company.”
“You do not look like shit. You look good.”
“I showered today,” I offered with a grin.
She glanced at the whiteboard across from my bed. “Three more days and then you can be discharged.”
“I have to figure out where I’m staying for physical therapy.”
“I’m on it,” she said.
“You don’t have to—”
“Ava,” she warned, narrowing her eyes. “I’ll find a place for you.” With a wave, she was off in a flash.
I turned on the TV and selected a cooking competition to watch. Just as the contestants started plating their meals, my phone vibrated, and my mother’s name flashed on the screen.
With a sigh, I answered, “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, sweetheart. How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
“So what’s your plan when you’re discharged?”
“I have to stay here for physical therapy.”
“Can’t you come back for that?”
“It’s a long flight. I’d need a medical ticket, and it’s stupid expensive. None of us can afford that.”
She fell quiet for a few beats. “Okay. Well, we miss you.”
“I miss you too, Mom.”
“Brad’s been by.”
Tension zipped across my shoulders. “Why?”
My parents were still disappointed I’d filed for divorce immediately after I caught Brad cheating.
“He was just saying hi. I wish—”
I cut in. “We’re divorced, Mom. Get over it.”
“He regrets—”
“Oh, I’m sure he regrets it,” I snapped. “Mom. Please.”
Her sigh filtered through the call. “Okay.”
I missed my parents. But I’d been busy holding everything together for everyone for so long, I didn’t know how to stop.
Growing up, I’d learned to be “the easy one.” My younger sister Danielle had a head injury that led to severe seizures that required constant monitoring.
She’d passed from complications after a seizure when she was seventeen. I’d been twenty-three at the time.
I’d always felt like I had to be extra—extra good, extra dependable, extra quiet. There wasn’t room for me to need anything. I became the helper. When I married Brad, I poured that same energy into him—into us. I snapped when I found out about the cheating. The humiliation still stung.
“I need to go, Mom,” I said. “One of the nurses is here.”
There wasn’t a nurse, but one could walk in at any second. I said a quick goodbye and dropped the phone on the table beside me. My mother’s hopefulness around my ex was the tiniest trigger. Brad had been the boy next door. Our parents were friends. It had all felt inevitable.
“Fuck my life,” I muttered.