Page 10

CHAPTER 10

March 4 th

10:28 A.M.

Ava felt like, at any second, she was going to jump right out of her skin.

Being in the hospital was making her lose her mind.

It smelled too much like the boat, and the plain white walls reminded her of all she’d had to stare at in those long days when she was bound to the bed. The soft beep of the machines around her bed and the nurses that whooshed into her room without a care in the world like they didn't make her flinch in terror as her mind played tricks on her, convincing her they were the harsh nurses who had tended to her on the boat.

Chelsea and Teresa had been waiting for her when she got to the hospital and seeing her two best friends in the entire world had helped a lot. While she would have loved for them to hang around indefinitely, she couldn’t be selfish. They had to go to work, more than she needed to be coddled, she needed this organ trafficking ring to be taken down, and Prey would now be working to make that happen.

Which is what she should be doing too.

She’d been debriefed, and it was a relief to know that everything she knew she’d told multiple people who would be able to take that information and run with it.

But it didn't help with her anxiety.

Not one little bit.

There was still a red mark on the inside of her elbow from where she had ripped the IV out when she first fled her room on the boat. Running through the jungle, well being carried through it was more accurate, the lack of hygiene had made the small wound get infected.

Now it was bright red but was responding to the antibiotics that were dealing with the bigger, more serious infection in the wound on her stomach. Because it was healing, it was itchy, and as she sat there with nothing else to do, Ava scratched at it.

Gently at first, but the slight sting felt good. Something she had control over. This wasn't someone else playing with her body, this was her deciding what she did to it. Digging her nails in a little harder she watched, almost pleased when the small wound bled.

Pressing deeper still, for some reason not content with the slight sting, she looked up, startled when someone knocked on her door.

Who could it be?

Not a nurse, they never knocked. And Chelsea and Teresa weren't coming back until later in the evening. Was it someone coming to ask more questions? She’d already told everything she knew both to Nathaniel and to the agency that had first started the investigation and sent in Nathaniel to tag the boat.

“Come in,” she called out, somewhat apprehensively.

That apprehension quickly melted away when the door opened and Nathaniel came through it.

Her heart soared and she grinned when she saw him standing awkwardly like he wasn't sure he should be there. She’d missed him these last hours. After spending days together in Mexico, just the two of them, she’d grown accustomed to his presence. The last time she saw him was when they finally touched down at a private airfield in New York and she’d been transported to the hospital in an ambulance.

They hadn't had a chance to say a proper goodbye, but Ava hadn't been sure if that was because Nathaniel had to go and account for his actions, or because he was just happy to be done with her and hand her off to someone else.

“You came,” she said, probably a little more enthusiastically than she needed to, but she was genuinely happy to see him.

“Uh … yeah. Is that okay?”

He hadn't moved from right by the door and she wanted him closer. Needed him closer even. If Nathaniel was there, she was safe. That she knew for certain. It wasn't the only reason she liked him though. There was that vulnerability that he tried so hard to hide, it called out to her and made her want to know what had made him that way and if she could fix it.

“Of course it’s okay. Why wouldn't it be?” she asked, confused. She’d thought she made herself clear in Mexico, embarrassed herself in the process, but definitely made it clear that she wanted to see him again when they got home. For some unwrapping, and just to get to know one another.

“No reason.” Nathaniel shrugged, but the way he did it made it seem like there was a reason he just didn't want to share it with her.

“Good, because I'm thrilled to see you,” she enthused.

“Really?”

“Nathaniel,” she groaned. “Yes. Really. Of course I am. I don’t know why you’d think otherwise. I’m going out of my mind sitting here alone, with nothing to do and no one to talk to. There is no one I’d rather have seen walk through the door than you. I missed you.”

Okay, so she was rambling, and Nathaniel was still over by the door. He was also staring at her like she was crazy, but he should know by now that she rambled when she was nervous, or embarrassed, or to fill a silence that had dragged on a little too long.

“You were serious.” The way he said it made it sound like he’d just made a revelation of some sort, only she had no idea what that could possibly be.

“I usually am. Well, I mean, I'm a little weird, and goofy, and I definitely talk way too much, usually put my foot in my mouth and wind up mortified. But yeah, usually serious.”

Slowly, some tension melted out of him and he relaxed a little. “Your unwrapping comment. You weren't just rambling.”

“Well, I was rambling,” she teased with a big grin. “But I meant it. I like you, Nathaniel. Yeah, it was crazy out there and you saved my life but?—”

“You're bleeding.” His brows bounced down as he quickly crossed the room to her bed and very gently grasped her wrist, lifting her arm and examining the small wound she’d been scratching before he came in.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said, trying to pull her arm free. She was embarrassed by her desire to pick at her skin until it hurt. It was silly, and she knew no one else would get it, but she’d needed to be in control of her body and what happened to it. When Nathaniel didn't let go of her arm, she added, “Just got itchy as it’s healing.”

“Looks like you were really going at it,” Nathaniel said as he reached over to grab some tissues from the small table by her bed and held them pressed firmly against the little cut. While he held them there his dark eyes met hers. “Were you trying to hurt yourself?”

How did he know that?

Did she have some sign on her forehead that read self-harm issue unlocked?

Still, she couldn’t lie to him. Not when he’d asked her outright like that. “I’m going out of my mind here. It’s like being back there. I know I'm safe but it’s like I don’t all at the same time. Does that make any sense? There I had no control, they did whatever they wanted to me and I couldn’t stop them. Here I'm in control.”

Since their gazes were still locked, she didn't need to ask again if Nathaniel got it. She knew he did. She could see it written on his very soul. He’d been hurt before and now understood the need to be in control, to claim it in whatever small ways you could.

Was it her imagination or was his face drifting closer to hers?

An invitation to kiss?

She hoped so because it felt like her lips were on fire and the only thing that would put them out was to feel Nathaniel’s brushing against them.

“Oh, Ava, they didn't tell us a doctor was in here with you,” her mother’s voice said, and unfortunately, the spell was broken, and Nathaniel moved back, although he maintained his hold on her arm.

“Doesn’t look like a doctor from the way he’s dressed,” her mother added as both her parents came wandering into her hospital room.

What were they even doing here?

She hadn't asked anyone to call them, and Chelsea and Teresa knew she didn't have the best relationship with them so she couldn’t imagine them letting anyone contact them.

“Mother, Father, this is Nathaniel. He’s not a doctor, he’s the Navy SEAL who saved my life,” she said, hoping against hope her parents wouldn't have the reaction to the man she could see herself falling for but knowing that they would.

Her parents thought they were better than everyone else because they had money. They looked down on people who weren't as financially blessed as they were, and it drove them absolutely crazy that she had forged her own path in life instead of following the plan they had for her.

For once in her life, she wanted them to be actual parents, see her as a real person and not a piece on a chess board to be utilized to the best of its ability. Especially when it involved the special man standing beside her. He had put his life on the line for her when he didn't have to, and the least her parents owed him was their gratitude.

But she doubted they would see it that way.

* * *

March 4 th

10:37 A.M.

The parents.

Great.

Not only was Nathaniel not meet the parents material, but it was pretty obvious from the looks on the older couple standing by the door, that the moment they heard he wasn't a doctor they lost all interest in him.

“What's he still doing here then?” Mrs. Hendricks asked as she strode into the room like she owned the place. “If you're in the hospital, shouldn’t he be off playing in the water or whatever it is his kind do?”

“Mother,” Ava gasped, clearly aghast at her mom’s disrespectful words and tone. “That’s a terrible thing to say. What Nathaniel does isn’t playing. It helps keep our country safe and he literally saved my life. What about that aren't you getting? You owe him a massive thank you, not rude words.”

Mrs. Hendricks shrugged, she couldn’t look less apologetic if she tried.

Mr. Hendricks just looked plain bored.

Neither of them looked like they were all that worried about their daughter who had just been through a traumatic ordeal and was currently sitting in a hospital bed minus one organ which had been stolen from her.

What kind of parents were these?

They were dressed impeccably in brand names Nathaniel had heard of before but never seen in person. Ava’s mother had her hair and makeup done like she was heading out to a formal event instead of a hospital visit, and she was dripping in diamonds that probably cost more than he made in an entire year.

If it wasn't for her smarmy, I'm better than everyone else expression, Mrs. Hendricks would be a beautiful woman. She was short, slim, and delicate, with no wrinkles on her face despite the fact she had to be in her fifties. It was obvious Ava took after her mother, at least in looks, but thankfully not in personality.

“Did you at least meet any nice doctors?” Mrs. Hendricks continued her own train of thought, ignoring her daughter’s rebuke and refusing to acknowledge him.

“Mother, I was just snatched off the streets and held by organ traffickers, right now I'm just happy to be alive and trying to believe I'm safe. Looking for eligible doctors is not even on my radar,” Ava said through clenched teeth.

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to keep your eyes open,” Mrs. Hendricks spoke as though she were completely oblivious to her daughter’s anger. “You're not getting any younger you know.”

“I'm twenty-eight,” Ava seethed.

“Right, the wrong end of twenty, almost thirty, and look at you, still single.” The way Mrs. Hendricks said it made it sound both like an insult and a tragedy.

“I’m not going to get married until I meet someone I fall in love with,” Ava said, a weariness to her tone now like this was a conversation she’d already had over and over again.

As she spoke, Ava’s blue eyes shifted to him, drifting from his face to her arm, where he realized he was still holding tissues pressed against the small wound in the crook of her elbow.

Since her attention had been drawn to his hands on her, it seemed to draw her parents’ attention there as well. Or at least her mother’s.

“Why is he touching you?” Mrs. Hendricks snapped. “Do I need to call security? Is he pressuring you to offer your body to him because he saved your life?”

“Mother,” Ava rebuked. “That’s a terrible thing to say. Nathaniel isn’t like that, and I don’t know why you would imply that he is.”

“You can never tell with his kind,” Mrs. Hendricks said, once again completely unapologetically. The look she gave him made it abundantly clear what kind she thought he was. Her nose turned up as she gave him a scrutinizing once over, making him feel like he was dirt on the bottom of her shoe.

“Stop it, Mother. I was scratching at my arm because it was itchy and took off the scab, it was bleeding. Nathaniel noticed and grabbed some tissues to stop it bleeding.”

“Then why is he still touching you?” Mrs. Hendricks snapped.

Why was he?

It was obvious he shouldn’t be here. That he didn't belong.

While he liked Ava, might even have allowed himself to be persuaded to see her again, learn more about her, stick his toe in the water, and trial trusting someone, they could all see that it would never work out. She might like him, but her parents did not.

If he’d realized she came from a well-off family who wore diamonds and thousand-dollar suits for hospital visits, he never would have come here today.

They were from two different worlds. Ava had likely grown up with a private school education, swimming pools, ponies, brand new phones every year, and expensive clothes, and he’d had none of that. More often than not, he’d gone to bed hungry, his clothes had holes and stains on them. They lived in a two-bedroom apartment with twelve kids and two adults all living in it. He hadn't owned a phone until he joined the military, and school was a torturous experience where he’d been bullied because he was dirty and smelled in filthy clothes, and everyone knew his father beat on him and his siblings.

What had he been thinking believing there could be anything between him and Ava?

Obviously he hadn't.

That was the only explanation.

Slowly, Nathaniel removed his fingers from where they were wrapped around Ava’s arm. A quick glance at her wound showed that it had stopped bleeding, so there was really no need for him to be touching her any longer.

No need for him to be there at all.

“I think I’ll head out,” he said stiffly. Any ease between him and Ava when he walked into her room and she was actually happy to see him evaporated. They were too different, nothing could ever work between them. They came from different worlds, she would always be the rich girl, and he would always be the poor kid from the abusive home.

“You don’t need to leave, Nathaniel,” Ava said, her eyes pleading with him not to go.

“Your parents are here now.” Wasn't like he would be leaving her all alone with her fears of being in a hospital again. While her parents might not be nice people, surely they loved her and would support her throughout her recovery.

“I didn't call them and ask them to come,” Ava said, desperation in her tone.

“Ava,” Mrs. Hendricks scolded.

“Come on, Mother, you know I didn't call, and you know why I wouldn't. I don’t know who told you what happened and where I was, nor do I know why you bothered to come to see me, but it wasn't necessary.”

“Don’t talk to your mother like that,” Mr. Hendricks spoke up for the first time, although he still looked mostly bored by this whole situation, like he would rather be anywhere else.

Maybe it wasn't just poor families that were dysfunctional, because these people weren't what he would have expected.

Still, it didn't change anything.

Ava deserved someone who could give her the things she was accustomed to, and he wasn't that guy.

“I have to go, I have things I need to attend to,” he said to Ava, blocking out her obnoxious parents. It wasn't true, he was on leave and had nothing to do for the rest of the day, but he couldn’t stay in this room a second longer looking at what he could never have.

“I think that’s for the best,” Mrs. Hendricks said with mock care.

“It’s not for the best, Mother,” Ava snapped. “Please don’t leave yet, Nathaniel. I had questions I wanted to ask about what happened and the ship, about you and if you're okay, and I was happy that you came to visit.”

Yeah, stupidly he’d been happy, too. Until reality slapped him in the face anyway.

Whether they liked it or not they both had to face reality. Maybe Ava thought she could be happy with someone like him, but sooner or later, she would want things he couldn’t provide for her and whatever they were building would crumble.

“You're only leaving because of them. They always do this, but they don’t know what's best for me. Please stay,” Ava begged.

“We’re only looking out for you, darling,” Mrs. Hendricks said, but there wasn't a drop of sincerity in her tone.

The thing was, while her parents weren't really looking out for their daughter, they were looking out for themselves, Nathaniel really was trying to look out for Ava. She’d been through so much, and she wasn't thinking clearly, if she was, she would see that they were just too different.

“Prey should be able to answer any questions you have, and I’m fine,” he assured her, hesitating. He wanted to leave but needed to touch her one last time before walking away. One last touch to hold onto.

Leaning down, he touched his lips to her forehead.

Let them linger there for longer than he should.

Long enough for him to feel her mother’s irritation growing.

When he knew he couldn’t drag it out any longer, Nathaniel straightened. “Goodbye, Aves. I’m glad I was there that night. You have your whole life ahead of you and deserve the world.”

Unfortunately, he just couldn’t give that to her.

As he walked out her door, he could have sworn he heard her whisper, “I deserve to live my life the way I choose not someone else.”

She wasn't wrong.

But in this he wasn't either.

One day she’d see that.

He hoped, he prayed, because if not, he might have made the biggest mistake of his life.