Chapter 18
Chapter
Eighteen
A va peeled off her sweat-dampened gown, tossing it into the bin with a tired flick of her wrist. She rolled her shoulders, trying to work out the tension coiled beneath her skin. The last four hours had been relentless—one crisis after another, a constant barrage of demands that left her nerves frayed. But now, finally, a brief reprieve.
She checked the board. Miraculously, all patients were stable. Even the waiting room was quiet, a rarity in the ER. She wasn’t about to question the gods of medicine for their mercy. She’d take it.
Pushing open the break room door, Ava expected the usual: the hum of the vending machine, the stale scent of coffee gone bitter in the pot. Instead, she found Rachel sitting at one of the round tables, her head buried in her hands, shoulders hunched in defeat.
Alarm cut through Ava’s exhaustion. She grabbed a Diet Coke from the fridge, snagged a yogurt, and crossed the room, her movements quick with concern.
“Rachel?” She set her drink down and slid into the chair beside her friend. “Hey, what’s going on?”
Rachel startled at the sound of her voice. She lifted her head, revealing red-rimmed, swollen eyes.
Ava’s chest squeezed. “Oh my, God. What happened?”
Rachel shook her head, a rough laugh escaping her lips. “It’s stupid.” She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “Everything is just…falling apart. I thought eloping would solve all our problems. Avoid the family drama, the pressure, all of it. Instead, it just made everything worse.”
Guilt stabbed at Ava. How had she missed this? She’d been so wrapped up in her own whirlwind of a life that she hadn’t noticed her best friend drowning. “Rachel, I’m so sorry. Talk to me. What’s going on?”
Rachel scoffed, her fingers tightening around the napkin in front of her. “Kyle’s mother never liked me. That much I knew. But I thought, you know, once we were married, she’d have to accept it. Instead, she’s doubled down.” Rachel’s voice turned mocking. “‘Poor Kyle, falling into the clutches of a woman like me. Corrupting him with my loose ways.’” She let out a bitter laugh. “She even asked if I was pregnant—like it was some scandalous disease.”
Ava clenched her jaw. Kyle’s mother had never been subtle about her disapproval. A devout woman with a narrow view of morality, she’d always treated Rachel like she was some kind of contamination rather than a person.
Rachel exhaled sharply. “Like his family is so perfect. His dad’s been screwing one of the salespeople at his dealership for years, but I’m the bad influence?” She shook her head.
Ava reached for her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. “She just doesn’t want to lose her son. She’ll come around.”
Rachel arched a brow. “You really believe that?”
Ava hesitated, the words catching in her throat. Because the truth was, she wasn’t sure. Her mind drifted to the night she met Reed’s parents, the way they’d danced around awkward questions, their not-so-subtle attempts to figure out if she’d trapped their son into a marriage with a baby. It had stung more than she cared to admit.
Rachel sighed, rubbing her temples. “And then there’s my own family. My mom’s furious that my half-siblings didn’t get to walk down the aisle, as if that’s the entire point of a wedding. My dad is pissed he didn’t get to ‘give me away’—which, by the way, he did years ago when he left after the divorce.” She looked at Ava, her expression tired and raw. “When did my wedding stop being about me and Kyle?”
Ava rubbed soothing circles on her friend’s back, but the weight of Rachel’s pain was one she couldn’t lift. “Do you regret it? The elopement?”
Rachel chewed on her lip. “No. I don’t regret marrying Kyle. I love him. I just don’t know if running off was the right move. Maybe we should have fought through the mess instead of running from it.” She paused, then shot Ava a curious look. “Did your elopement work out like you hoped?”
Ava let out a slow breath. “Considering it wasn’t exactly planned? I guess it’s going as well as it could.”
Rachel studied her. “That doesn’t sound like a yes.”
Ava hesitated, then admitted, “Noah hasn’t totally forgiven me yet. Half the nursing staff barely listens to me, which, you know, isn’t great for patient care. And Ciponelli hasn’t offered me the position yet, even though I’ve worked my ass off for it.” She exhaled. “So, no. It hasn’t worked out quite like I hoped.”
Rachel’s expression softened. She reached for Ava’s hand. “But you and Reed? How’s that going?”
How was it going?
Since the gala, they’d fallen into an unexpected rhythm. They weren’t just roommates anymore. They shared a bed, made love like newlyweds, went out to dinner, shopped for groceries together. It was domestic, in a way that felt both surreal and dangerously comforting.
Ava loved curling up beside him after a long shift, the quiet weight of his presence soothing in a way she hadn’t expected. He understood her job, understood the exhaustion, the emotional toll, because he lived it too. She loved waking up in his arms, the steady beat of his heart against her cheek, the warmth of his body wrapped around hers.
It scared her.
Because even though they decided to stop pretending and let things happen, what if it ended? What if it wasn’t real and was all just a fantasy?
Rachel gave her a knowing smile. “Do you love him?”
Heat rushed to Ava’s face. “I think so. At least I told him I did.”
Rachel chuckled, shaking her head. “I knew the minute I met Kyle. Everyone told me it was a high school crush, but we both knew it was something special.”
Ava studied her, then asked, “Knowing everything you do now—his family, yours—would you ever trade it for something easier?”
Rachel didn’t hesitate. “Love isn’t easy. But he’s worth it. He’s worth everything. Would I have handled things differently? Maybe. But I don’t regret marrying him.” She tilted her head. “Do you regret marrying Reed?”
Ava swallowed hard. Regret? No. But fear?
That was another story.
Because if this all ended, she wasn’t sure how much of her heart she’d be able to keep.
T he ambulance jolted violently as they hit a pothole, the suspension groaning in protest. Reed shot out a hand, gripping the dashboard to steady himself.
Three hours into their twelve-hour shift, and the day had been, for once, mercifully quiet. A fender bender. An elderly woman with chest pains that turned out to be indigestion. No major trauma, no chaos. Just the steady hum of the town and the occasional crackle of the radio.
He glanced sideways at Kyle, who was gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles had turned white, his jaw clenched hard enough to crack a tooth.
“You good?” Reed asked, keeping his voice casual.
Kyle exhaled sharply, his grip on the wheel flexing before tightening again. “Yeah. Just...home stuff.”
Reed nodded, letting the silence stretch for a beat. He knew Kyle well enough to recognize that tone. It was an invitation—one that required patience.
“Want to grab a coffee?” Reed suggested. “We could use the break.”
Five minutes later, they were parked in their usual spot behind the diner, engine off, the world around them still. The air outside was damp with the humidity of early summer, the scent of rain and asphalt thick in the day. Steam curled from their paper cups, spiraling into faint sunlight.
Kyle stared at the brick wall in front of them, his silence heavy. Then, finally, he spoke.
“So, how are things with Ava?” he asked, his voice edged with something unreadable. “After the elopement and all?”
Reed took a slow sip of coffee, buying himself a moment. “Fine,” he said eventually. “Good, actually.”
Kyle shot him a look. “Yeah? How’d your family take the news?”
Reed shifted in his seat, the cheap vinyl creaking beneath him. “Well,” he said, drawing the word out, “they were surprised. As they should be, since they didn’t even know I was dating anyone.” A pause. “Because I wasn’t.”
Kyle’s head snapped around. “Yeah, that must have been a shock to them.”
Reed huffed a laugh. “That’s putting it mildly. My dad flat-out asked if Ava was pregnant.”
Kyle grimaced. “Jesus. My mom asked me the same thing. Actually, she accused Rachel of it. Like she thinks she’d trick me into marriage after being together since high school.” He let out a short, humorless laugh and leaned back against the headrest. “We thought eloping would make everything easier, but instead, it’s like we hit a damned landmine.”
Reed frowned. “Whoa.”
Kyle ran a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up in odd angles. “Rachel’s not pregnant, by the way,” he clarified. “Not that my mom believes that. And now Rachel’s family is pissed at her for ‘denying them the spectacle.’” He made air quotes with his fingers, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Her sisters haven’t spoken to her in several weeks.”
Reed studied his friend. He’d known Kyle for years—through the insanity of the pandemic, through brutal shifts where they barely caught their breath. They’d seen the worst of humanity together, had each other’s backs through it all. But this? This was the first time he’d ever seen Kyle look this wrecked.
“That’s rough,” Reed said, feeling wholly inadequate.
Kyle let out a breath that was almost a laugh. “Yeah. We thought we’d be smart about it, just get it done. The whole wedding planning thing was turning into a nightmare. Rachel’s mom wanted a five-hundred-person circus. We just wanted to be married. Now I’m wondering if we should’ve just suffered through it.”
Reed shook his head. “I’m sorry, man.” And he meant it.
Kyle and Rachel had always been the couple. Steady. Solid. The kind of love story people envied. Reed had wanted that for himself—even if he hadn’t realized it until recently.
His thoughts drifted to that morning, to Ava standing in his kitchen wearing one of his old T-shirts, her hair a mess, making coffee like she’d been doing it for years instead of several weeks. The sight of her had sent something deep and dangerous spiraling in his chest.
He wasn’t supposed to get attached. And yet.
“Noah’s still hurt,” Reed admitted, the words slipping out before he could stop them. “But we had dinner with him the other night. Admitted the truth. He deserved to know.”
Kyle arched an eyebrow. He was also friends with Noah, knew how stubborn the other man could be. “How did he take it?”
Reed grunted. “About as well as you would think. We told him the truth, then said we’d gotten close, intended to see the marriage through. He was surprised and cautious, concerned that it would backfire.”
Kyle shot him a sharp glance. “A valid concern.” He paused, his brow furrowing. “Close, how?”
Reed exhaled. “Like…actually living like a married couple. And it’s…” He trailed off, searching for the right word.
Kyle waited; brows raised.
“It’s great, actually,” Reed admitted. The surprise in his own voice was genuine. “Better than I expected.”
Kyle didn’t say anything right away. Just watched him, studying him like a puzzle he was trying to solve. Then?—
“Does this mean there isn’t an end date?”
The question landed like a weight, settling in Reed’s gut.
He looked down at his coffee, swirling the liquid in slow circles. The timer counting down to their end date had been there from the start, ticking in the back of his mind like a bomb with a set detonation. One year. No attachments. No expectations.
But that was before Ava had become the first person he wanted to see in the morning. Before waking up with her head on his chest had started to feel like the most natural thing in the world.
“I don’t know,” Reed admitted finally. And it was the truth.
The radio crackled before Kyle could respond.
“Unit 17, we’ve got a possible cardiac arrest at 4382 Lakeview Drive, apartment 3B.”
Kyle muttered a curse under his breath, already reaching for the keys as he tossed his half-full coffee out the window.
Reed grabbed the radio. “Unit 17 responding. ETA six minutes.”
As the sirens wailed and buildings blurred past them, Reed pushed his thoughts aside. Right now, someone else’s life was on the line. That was the only countdown that mattered.
For now.