19. The Volunteer
THE VOLUNTEER
I was getting ready to go for a walk when my phone started ringing.
I rolled my eyes and picked up my burner.
It took me about five seconds to realize that the burner wasn’t vibrating in my hand.
It was my real phone… No one called me on my actual cell.
These days, only those weird ass texts have lit up my phone screen.
“Hello?”
“V, I’m so sorry to call—”
“Who is it?”
Maddy was sniffling and there was only one reason she would call me on my day off in tears. One of the kids was going to die. Today more than likely.
“Scarlett.”
I was off the phone and running out my door before my brain had fully registered the name.
Scarlett had been battling lung cancer for a year and a half now.
Even though I worked in a hospital, I wasn’t going to pretend to know what I was talking about in regard to her treatment, but she had been doing better the last couple of months.
Ever since Avalanche’s visit it was almost like she was fighting harder.
But she was still losing.
I ran ten blocks to the hospital and was severely out of breath by the time I made it to the lobby. Maddy was waiting at the reception desk, eyes slightly puffy and red. “Thanks for coming so fast. She was asking for you.”
I gulped down several breaths before responding. “Of course. Can I see her now?”
“Yes. Her parents are up there now.”
By the time I made it to her room, I’d had a couple minutes to collect myself. I knocked quietly before I heard a soft voice invite me in.
I propped the door open to find Mr. and Mrs. O’Reilly. She was sitting on the bed, holding Scarlett’s hand—very obviously trying not to cry—while he paced the far wall with the window.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. I can come back later.”
“No, Violet, please come in.” Her mother waved me over. “We’re just going to step outside for a second. We’ll be right back.”
I nodded. She stood, ushering her husband out of the room. The door closed as I sat down next to Scarlett. She looked so small, so weak. Her face had lost all its colouring, a tube stuck in her nose, but her smile wasn’t any less bright.
“Miss Violet, thank you so much for coming.”
“Of course, kiddo. You know I’m always here for you.” Damn it, my stupid voice cracked. I was ten seconds away from bursting into tears but I couldn’t, not yet. I never let myself break in front of the kids.
“Can I ask you for something?”
“Anything.”
“I know I already had my wish, but would you try to get Avalanche to visit again?”
Anything but that.
“I’ll get him here.”
“Selfish asshole!” I screamed into my phone as I got his voicemail for the fifth time. I was pacing a hole through my office floor like it was my job and hung up aggressively before I nearly chucked my phone out the window.
He lied. He said if I needed him he’d be there and now he was nowhere to be found. It had been four days since he saved me from that creep and it had been radio silence since. That was fine, he made a choice.
But this? This was not fucking fine.
Did he really think I’d call five times because I wanted to talk to him? I could take a fucking hint, unlike him. This time I called Eva’s number. Maybe she could talk some sense into him.
“Hey!” She chirped, picking up on the first ring.
“Are you with him?”
“Um…”
“Eva, please.” My voice cracked. “It’s Scarlett, she’s—” I broke off in a sob. It all hit me like a freight train and I couldn’t stop.
I’d lost two dozen kids since I started working here six years ago.
I was twenty, walking into the hospital like I could save the world all by myself.
But I couldn’t. The first loss took me out for a week.
Amber—being the seasoned doctor in training—sat me down and told me I needed to compartmentalize or I was going to ruin my mental health.
That didn’t work for me. Most of the kids I worked with were told they were going to die the moment they walked through those doors. I needed to smile and laugh and treat them like normal kids. I needed to give them hope. So, every loss hurt, but this one—Scarlett—would hit me just like the first.
She was the happiest, brightest, most beautiful soul. She didn’t deserve this. Even now she was sitting in her room, talking to her parents with the biggest smile, trying to make them feel better when she was the one that was dying.
Her last wish was a visit from Avalanche and I would make that happen even if I had to drag him here by his hair.
“I’ll get him there. I promise,” Eva said softly.
“Thank you.”
I hung up and let myself cry for a few more minutes.
Twenty minutes later, I had collected myself and was standing outside Scarlett’s room.
Someone had spotted Avalanche on the roof a minute ago.
I was waiting for him to do my whole speech.
I knew he didn’t need to hear it but everyone in the hospital had seen me give it a half dozen times, it would be suspicious if I didn’t.
Ten seconds later he was strolling into the ward.
Every eye followed his costumed frame. He looked calm, cool, and collected—anyone who didn’t know him might believe he was.
As he got closer, I could see he was a bit dishevelled.
Hair messier than usual—and blond, if I was in a better mood I might have teased him about it—eyes bloodshot, a little more purpose in his step.
“Good morning,” I started off before he could pass me to head into the room.
“I apologize for the short notice but thank you for coming. As you’ve probably heard, we’re all about making sure the kids are safe.
We’ve been put on lockdown so the only place to enter is through the emergency room—for your safety and ours.
I’ll be down there for the majority of your visit in case the police make an appearance.
As long as no one is harmed, I will keep any attempted raids from happening.
Do you understand and agree to our terms? ”
“I do.”
“Wait here.” I ducked into Scarlett’s room. “Hey, kiddo. I have someone here that really wants to see you, can I let him in?”
She grinned. “You got him here so quick! Yes!”
I smiled. “Come on, you know me. I’ve never taken no for an answer, I wasn’t about to start now.” I cracked the door open. “You can come in.”
Avalanche slipped into the room and headed straight over to sit on Scarlett’s bed. He put on his usual carefree persona as he plopped down next to her.
“Hey, kid. Just couldn’t get enough of me?” He flashed his signature grin.
Scarlett giggled. “I need a new bear! My brother broke it last visit.”
“A new bear? Hm. I think I’m beared out. Can I offer you a fish?” He made the ice fish behind his back and pulled it out. She burst into a fit of giggles.
Fuck me. You are mad at him. This is super cute, but you absolutely do not want his babies. You. Are. Mad. At. Him.
I went to slip out of the room.
“Wait! Miss Violet, thank you. You’re the best honourary big sister anyone could ask for.”
Tear stung my eyes.
“Any time, kiddo. You’re the best little sister ever.” I gave her a big smile. “Now, I have a job to do. I’ll come by when it’s time for Avalanche to leave.”
She nodded excitedly as I closed the door.
“You know the drill. Turn around and walk away, this really doesn’t have to be ugly.”
“Step out of my way, Miss Hayes.” The captain of the ERT stood a foot taller than me, his ego suffocating the emergency room waiting area. He was trying to look intimidating, but he just looked like an asshole.
“Or what?” I taunted. “Or nothing. So tuck tail and run while you still can, Captain.”
I’d dealt with him seven times at this point—still didn’t know his name. I guess he assumed he was important enough that I should know who he was and he didn’t have to introduce himself. I didn’t and he should have.
“You’re really going to stand there and defend a murderer? Your mother must be so proud.”
A wave of unrelenting rage washed over me. I’d let it go the last time he brought up my mum, but today I couldn’t.
“She’s dead. Killed by your police force as collateral damage in your war against the villains.
You don’t know shit about me but maybe you should do some research before you open your dumbass mouth.
Get lost, before you piss me off even more.
” I didn’t recognize the sound of my own voice, it sounded so cold, so detached.
“You’re sure it wasn’t one of your precious villains?”
“None of my precious villains need bullets to kill. She was riddled with them. One of your men emptied a full clip into her. Get out of my face and out of my fucking hospital.”
It was almost four years ago when I went to the morgue to identify her body.
The coroner wouldn’t pull the sheet lower than her chin.
I’d demanded to know why. Two holes in her neck, four in her collarbone, six in her chest, seven throughout her abdomen.
Seventeen bullets total. The only consolation was that the officer was killed.
Later, I went back and watched the footage from the news.
It was a fight against Avalanche; he went after a member of city council right after a council meeting.
Mum worked as a clerk and was trying to get to cover when the officer freaked out and emptied his mag into her.
Avalanche had stopped his attack to try and save her but he didn’t make it in time. Instead, he killed the officer.
That was when my crush on him started. Knowing he’d gone out of his way to try and save my mum, then not even hesitating to avenge her.
Some people might blame Avalanche for attacking in the first place, but the councillor he was after was a grade A asshole.
Multiple sexual harassment accusations that were swept under the rug—women being paid off or fired—insider trading investigations, domestic abuse charges, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.
“Miss Hayes—”
“Shut up. Get out of my fucking hospital before you make me lose my temper. My favourite patient is probably going to die today and I’m not letting you ruin one of her final memories because you need to prove you have the biggest penis.
I promise you that you do not want to test me I will make your life miserable. ”
“Did you just threaten me?”
“No I promised you. Get. Out.”
The captain turned an unnatural shade of red—as he usually did during his little visits—spun on his heels and stormed out. He paused at the door.
“One day, Miss Hayes, you won’t be able to hide behind this hospital or your villains and I’ll be there to take you down.”
“I don’t hide. I never have. I never will. Take your bravado and shove it up your ass, Dickhead. You’ll never get to me.”