A compassionate nurse lifted her into his arms and carried her to a secluded room while another nurse injected her with a sedative. The medication must have been strong because Avery soon found herself drifting off into nothingness.
Avery woke hours later to numbness she had never felt before; a hollowness encompassed her entire being. The same officer, Officer Stewart she recalled, returned with forms and Avery scratched a non-legible signature across the marked spaces. Within the blankness she heard him speaking to her, telling her about the accident… how an overly tired truck driver was rushing through a turn at an intersection and overturned his vehicle that was carrying heavy concrete highway material. It crushed Nick’s and another’s cars. Both sets of passengers were killed instantly by the heavy load. In Avery’s world of despair, she murmured a silent and fevered prayer that they didn’t suffer.
Her sweet sister - she had so much life to live, so much to learn and experience since being whisked away from that hellhole called the Poindexter Estate.
And Nick. He was more than the man Avery loved, he was her best friend. Thinking of her remarkable fiancé brought forth a new level of emptiness. No tears remained, her emotions completely drained.
Avery thought back to his words from this morning and wondered why her happiness continued to get stripped away.
“Holy cow,” Melanie whispers behind her shaking hand. “And then you met Declan.”
“I thought Declan was going to be my happy ending, you know?”
The pain still emanating from her chest, she has to rub at the heated spot before she closes her eyes and loses herself in more memories as Melanie cries softly on her shoulder.
Walking into the breakroom of the small medical practice where she worked, Avery dumped her bag into the locker with her affixed name, shutting the door and exiting quickly, making sure to avoid the looks from her co-workers.
For the past two years, Avery worked at this office and she made sure to avoid conversation with everyone. They know something tragic happened, of that she’s sure. There is no point in denying it, but her life ceased to exist the day Aria and Nick died. After a few weeks of one-word answers and a lack of enthusiasm for getting to know the other employees, most of them just gave up interacting with her.
Avery came into the office to do her job and do it well, then she would go home and hide in the apartment she had once shared with her family. Only one person attempted to break through to her. Melanie was a medical assistant for another physician in the practice. She pestered and pestered her until eventually, Avery conceded to eating lunch with her every day. Mainly, Avery would sit there and listen to Melanie ramble on about her escapades the night before.
Avery still blamed herself for Nick and Aria’s death. She was supposed to be the one driving Aria to her appointment that day. But, as the saying goes, the past is the past and nothing can change it. It reminded Avery that she needed to start living her life as a memento to the people she had lost.
As Avery headed toward the receptionist desk to see who they had as patients that day, she stopped short at the sight of a tall, lean-muscled man hovering above an employee with a sexy smirk on his face. The older receptionist blushed furiously as she pages another nurse, Max, to the front desk. Avery assumed that's who the handsome man was here to meet.
Then her body’s appreciation of the mysterious man sent Avery’s heart into overdrive. No one, not a soul since Nick had caught her eye; not that she was ever looking.
When Max came to the desk, they did the typical male handshake-hug combination and the two made quick conversation about meeting up for lunch.
Sneaking up from behind, Melanie whispered in her ear, "What are we staring at? Oh, look at him. Yum."
Turning her head, hoping to shush Melanie, Avery turned back just in time for this sexy guy's eyes to meet hers. She released a gasp from between her parted lips as he continued to stare in her direction. Turning quickly, she headed back toward the breakroom and decided to wait a few minutes before heading back up front to see the daily patient log, unable to control the fluttering in her belly that arose from the stranger’s gaze.
Willing the clock to move faster, Avery let out a heavy breath when five minutes have passed. Walking down the deserted hallway she ran into Melanie with a smack. Melanie smiled as Avery apologized, then handed her a note and
sauntered away with an extra sway in her hips.
With shaky hands, Avery opened the note and read the manly scribble.
Hello Gorgeous. I know you felt the spark between us but you ran off so quickly I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself. I’m going to call you later and take you out to dinner tonight. I’ll pick you up at 7. You can thank your friend for giving me your number. I’m looking forward to it.
Declan
“Melanie!” Avery shouted before exploding simultaneously into nervous giggles. “What am I going to wear?”
Avery anxiously sat on the ratty couch in the apartment she had shared with Nick, Aria, and Mila as she waits for Declan to pick her up. He called while she was on lunch and they chatted for a bit before he asked for her address, mentioning as a side-note for her to dress casually.
Avery’s nerves were so high she continued to feel the urge to vomit. Needing a distraction, she turned on the television, but it did little to calm her nerves.
A loud knock on the door startled her from her reverie and she let out a small yelp. Taking a few deep breaths, she walked to the door and hesitantly reached for the handle before opening it wide. The sight that greeted her was nothing short of amazing.
In front of Avery, Declan stood in faded denim that hugged his muscular thighs, a tight black t-shirt pulled tight across his lean muscles, light brown hair styled back into a ponytail.
Images of Jared Leto when he won his best-supporting-actor award the year before flooded her mind. That’s who Declan resembled as he stood at her door.
“You look beautiful, Avery,” Declan said as he stepped forward and handed her a bouquet of pink Gerbera daisies.
Running her hands down the pale yellow sundress she had chosen to wear that evening, she nervously thanked him before inviting him inside while she placed the daises in a vase.