Avery: Sensual Desire: New Adult College Romance (Coral Gables Series Book 2) (9 page)

Trudy puts an arm around me, and I gratefully lay my head on her shoulder. “They’re going to help him,” she tells me. “I’ve been coming here for years, and I’m happy with the doctors.”

I struggle not to cry and simply nod silently.

“
Don’t fight it, Dahlia.”

I sniff, and the first teardrops find their way down my cheeks. “This is so unfair. He’s the only one I have.” I sniffle. “He can’t die on me now.”

“
He’s not going to die, child,” she soothes.

“
But what if he does?” I cry.

“
You mustn’t think like that.” She rubs my arm. “Let’s talk about something else, something nicer, to get your mind off things … Why did you stop coming to see me?”

Sniffling, I confess, “I was fired for going home with that migraine and forgetting to call the agency.”

“
Oh, dear.” She puts a hand to my cheek. “Well then you must simply start coming over again. We’ll figure out payment privately. You’re the first caretaker I actually liked having over, and I would be really glad if you came back,” she says in her warm voice.

I sit up straight. “Really?”

She nods, smiling at me. “Yes. I would like to be your employer, Dahlia.”

I’m touched that she’s offering me a job. No one else would waste another thought on me after I’ve been fired, but she seems to care. “Thank you, Trudy.”

“
Give me a phone number so I can call you.”

“
Okay, but I-I can’t call you back. We, uh, we have some problems with our provider at the moment,” I stammer. It’s not exactly a lie, but it’s not the whole truth.

She hands me a pen and a scrap of paper, and I write down our number. “Thank you,” she says as I hand both back to her.

“
Don’t you have to go?” I ask.

“
Nonsense,” she says. “Avery can wait for me, though I don’t believe he’s downstairs already anyway. Besides, once he gets bored, he’ll come up here looking for me. Then he’ll keep glaring at all the doctors.” She smirks. “You and Avery, you two would get along swell.”

This time I’m the one who nods. “Maybe.”

We sit together in silence, which isn’t awkward at all, but whenever a doctor emerges from the elevator, I jump up and ask after Grandpa. But nobody can tell me anything.

It feels like walking through hell.

I’m standing with my back to Trudy, staring at the elevator doors once again, when I hear, “Granny, why didn’t you come down?”

The sound of Avery’s voice sends strange sensations coursing through me.

“
Because I wanted to stay with Dahlia,” Trudy says.

I slowly turn and look at him. My swollen eyes must have startled him, because he asks, “What the hell happened?”

I can’t produce the words to tell him as he steps closer and looks at me with a worried face.

“
What happened, Dale?” he repeats, pulling me into his embrace.

“
My grandfather, h-he had … had … ”

“
Her grandfather had a heart attack,” Trudy helps out. “He’s currently in surgery.”

I bury my face against Avery’s chest, and he strokes the back of my head.

“
You stay with her, Avery,” Trudy says softly. “I’m going to take a taxi home.”

“
Okay,” he agrees.

“
Miss Walker?” someone says.

I immediately pull away from Avery and face the doctor. The pity in his expression is clear. “No,” I gasp, shaking my head wildly. “No! You’re not telling me he’s—”

“
Listen to him first,” Avery whispers.

“
Miss Walker, I’m so sorry, but your grandfather had another heart attack while he was in surgery. We tried to reanimate him after the cardiac arrest, but we couldn’t help him anymore,” the doctor explains. “My sincere condolences.”

I stare at him. “No, he is not … He is not dead. He is not dead,” I repeat like a mantra. I can’t see anything through my tears. “He is not dead. You’re
lying
!” I suddenly scream at the doctor, feeling an uncontrollable urge to hit him. But Avery wraps his arms around me and holds me back. “He can’t be dead!” I screech.

“
Calm down, Dale.”

“
Oh God,” Trudy breathes.

“
If I can do anything for you, don’t hesitate to call,” the doctor says.

“
Thanks,” Avery says, still holding me tight. Without him, I would break down and faint. “I’m going to take her home with me so she can get some sleep and calm down.” I don’t know who he’s talking to, and I don’t care.

“
All right. We will prepare the necessary paperwork and inform the mortician, and he will be in touch with you then, Miss Walker.”

I don’t acknowledge the doctor's words. It isn’t true. None of this is real. I’m only dreaming. It can’t be real. “I want to see him,” I whisper.

“
Pardon?” Avery asks.

“
I … I want to see him. I need to see him,” I repeat.

“
Miss Walker, you will be able to see him once he is at the mortician’s,” the doctor informs me.

I shake my head. “I want to see him now. I’m not going to leave.”

“
Dale, come home with me. You look tired and devastated. You need some rest,” Avery whispers.

“
Don’t you understand? I want to see my grandfather!” I scream, starting to fight with all my might against Avery’s embrace.

“
Dale, please calm down,” Avery begs, but I don’t stop. I can’t stop. I need to be with Grandpa.

“
No! I want to see him! I have to say goodbye, don’t you see? I … I still have to tell him so many things still!”

It feels like I’ve been struggling against Avery for a long time when I suddenly feel something prick the skin on my right arm.

“
Miss Walker, this is a mild sedative,” the doctor speaks soothingly to me. “I need you to go home now and get some rest.”

Only a few seconds later I feel a soothing sensation spread through my body. It’s probably the effect of the drug. But I still don’t want to leave. I keep shaking my head. “I have to see him.”

Avery picks me up and cradles me in his arms. “I’m going to take you to my place, and you can stay with me as long as you need,” he whispers.

I put my head on his shoulder and close my eyes. He excuses us to Grandpa’s doctor and carries me to the elevator.

***

“
Hey, you’re awake.” Avery smiles and gets up.

As I walk into his kitchen, I look up at him and nod. My eyes feel puffy and sore. As he approaches me, I take a few steps backward. “Did it really happen?”

Avery stops. “What?” he asks gently.

I close my eyes, because the tears are already blinding me again. “Everything I remember from last night,” I whisper hoarsely.

Avery sighs. “Yes, it really happened, Dale.”

“
Okay,” I murmur. My knees buckle and I collapse heavily on the floor. The pain reminds me that I’m still alive, contrary to my grandfather. Where’s the button I can push to rewind my life? So I can change something and create a different outcome?

“
Dale, I know how awful you feel,” Avery says, kneeling in front of me, “but I will always be there for you, especially now.”

“
He’s gone,” I whisper. “I will never talk to him again.” The realization tears my heart in two.

“
He’ll live on in your heart,” Avery says soothingly.

“
I don’t know how many times I heard that after my mother died … I hate that empty statement. It’s not true. I can’t talk to him or see him anymore. He can never take me in his arms again or tell me he loves me and is proud of me. I disappointed him. The last thing I did was disappoint him.”

“
How did you disappoint him?” Avery asks gently.

“
I lost the job with the senior care agency. He didn’t know that yet, but this morning I told him and then went to take a shower. And when I came back, he was lying on the floor,” I explain flatly.

“
He loved you, Dale.”

“
Yes. And he is the only person who ever loved me,” I say softly, staring down at my hands in my lap.

There’s a knock on the door, and Avery raises his eyes. “That must be Sweet Thing. She and Delsin went to get a few things for you, so you can stay here for the time being.” With that, he stands and walks over to open the door.

Camille comes in. “How is she doing?”

“
I would say ‘shitty’ doesn’t even begin to cover it,” he answers in a hushed voice.

Then I hear steps approaching me. “Hey, Dahlia.” Camille sits down on the floor next to me. “Do you want to talk?”

I shake my head. “No, I don’t. Thanks, though, Camille.”

She puts an arm around me and strokes me softly. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but whenever you feel like talking, just come see me and I’ll listen.”

I lean my head against her shoulder briefly. “Thank you. That’s very kind of you.”

“
I’m going to put these things in the bedroom, and then I’ll make some food,” Avery announces before disappearing.

“
Why is everyone suddenly being so nice to me?” I ask.

“
Because we like you, even though we don’t know you that well,” Cami says. “Delsin said you can have one of the guest rooms, if you don’t want to go home on your own. And of course we’re here to help, if you need help with all the … arrangements.”

“
You mean the funeral?” I clarify.

“
Yeah,” she says softly.

“
I think I can manage that on my own,” I breathe.

“
I just want you to know we’re here for you, Dahlia. We’re happy to help.”

I shake my head. “That’s nice of you, but I think I should go home now. I have to look for all the records and documents I’ll need to sell the house. I won’t be able to keep it.” Then I try to stand.

“
I want you to stay, Dale,” Avery says. I didn’t notice he’d come back into the room.

“
At least stay until you’ve rested a little,” Cami agrees. “You’ve had such a horrible day.”

I utter a sigh. “I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”

“
Fine, then how about helping me cook dinner?” Avery suggest. “I would order in, but if it distracts you, we’ll cook.”

“
I don’t want to cook,” I say. I get up from the floor and go back into the bedroom I woke up in a few minutes earlier. I don’t even want to eat or drink; I only want to hide and be left alone.

“
Did the doctor tell you when you’re supposed to give them to her?” I hear Cami ask.

“
Yeah, only if she has another breakdown or if she can’t fall asleep,” Avery explains. “But I don’t want to give them to her—I want to let her grieve. I know it’s the only thing that helped me when my grandfather died.”

“
Ave, she’s exhausted, and she—”

“
What? Do you think I don’t know how horrible she feels?” he says insistently. “She was probably confused, too, waking up here instead of at home, but I don’t know where she lives. She only had a set of keys and a few cents on her. Not even enough for the bus to Liberty City. But that isn’t important right now. The only thing that’s important is that she is helped to cope with it, and until then I’m going to be there for her.”

I pull a pillow over my head so I won’t hear what else they say.

***

I flinch when someone touches me.

“
Are you awake?” Avery asks softly.

“
Yes, I am.” I pull the pillow away from my head.

“
Cami made a lot of food, in case you’re hungry.”

“
I’m not, but thank you, Avery.” I turn around and look at him wearily.

“
Do you want to talk?” he asks.

I shake my head. “I’d rather … ” I’m embarrassed to admit what I need right now, but I press on. “Could you hold me?”

He smiles at me tenderly, then lies down beside me, and holds opens his arms. “Come here. I'll stay with you until you send me away.”

I snuggle into his arms, and for the first time today, I feel protected, safe. He places a hand on my shoulder and leaves it there. We lie together in silence, and I’m thankful that he’s willing to be there for me during the hardest time of my life.

Avery hardly knows me, and yet he has taken me in so I won’t be alone. I think maybe my hysterics in the hospital are responsible for that. I can’t imagine I’d be here without them. Fortunately, he and Trudy were there, otherwise I would have broken down even more thoroughly, and they probably would have kept me in the hospital. I’ve detested hospitals ever since I was a small child. My first experience with them was when I hit my head on the edge of the table, and the gash needed stitches. Thankfully it happened when my mother was mostly sober, but it’s still an awful memory. It taught me to be extremely careful that no other accident would happen.

While I’m lost in my memories, my head gets heavier and my stomach starts to rumble.

“
Are you sure you aren’t hungry?” Avery asks softly.

“
Maybe a little.”

“
You want me to make you a plate? Cami made chili.”

“
No, thank you. I should get up and … and do something. Anything.”