Tradition Comes Third

Hospital

Author's Note: It's a short update, but it's all I have time for during exam season. Next chapter is the last chapter!

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I struggled to stay with Mom when we got to the hospital. I wanted to run and go find Ava, But I knew that I had to stay with Mom. I followed them into the emergency room. The paramedics were talking to the nurses and doctors, and I couldn't follow what they were saying. I was pushed back, and watched as they worked on her. Mom cried out in pain as they cut the shirt off of her body and rolled her onto her stomach. One of the nurses injected something into the bag running into Mom's IV. A few minutes passed, and they were cleaning the blood off of her back. The doctor was stapling the wound together. Mom was unconscious, either from the pain or the medication.

I put my hand on the arm of a nurse standing in front of me. Her eyes grew wide when she saw me, like she hadn't noticed me before.

"I need to see Ava Winters," I told her.

"You'll need to clean up first," she said. "Follow me."

She walked out of the room, and left the other nurses to work with the doctor. I followed her, and was glad when we got to a back hallway. I kept my gaze down, but I was still attracting the attention of the other patients.

The nurse slipped into a small room and flicked on the lights. There was two racks full of clothes. The nurse picked a shirt and a pair of pants off of the rack. She handed them over to me.

"These are donations," she said. "The police bring in people who are high out of their minds, and eight times out of ten they don't have any clothes on."

I couldn't stop myself from chuckling. The nurse flashed me a smile.

"I'll show you the shower," she said.

I followed her down the hall. She grabbed a small bottle of shampoo and soap, and handed them to me.

I went into the tiny shower that seemed more like a closet. I thanked the nurse, and then closed the door. I peeled the clothes off, and threw them into the corner. I set my glasses down next to them. I turned on the water and jumped under the cold stream. I couldn't wait for the water to warm up. I needed to go see Ava. I had to use almost the entire bottle of soap to get rid of the blood. Pink water swirled into the drain below my feet. As soon as the water went clear, I turned off the water.

None of the clothes that the nurse gave me fit. The shirt was a faded green, and I saw a giant logo for a bowling team on the back. A few of the buttons along the front were missing. The pants were too short and ended above my ankles. I put my glasses back on and slipped my blood splattered shoes back on.

I threw my blood soaked clothes into the garbage and headed back to the room that Mom was in. I saw one of the cops from earlier on the road.

"I need to see Ava," I told him.

He let out a deep breath before looking around and leaning in a little closer to me.

"Room 318," he said. "Go."

I nodded my head and hurried through the emergency room until I found an elevator. I hit the button for the third floor. I shifted my weight from foot-to-foot.

I struggled not to take off running when the elevator doors opened. I hurried down the hall, and looked at the numbers outside the door. I followed the numbers as they grew larger. I smiled when I saw the number 318.

Her small figure was lying in the bed. Her blonde hair was braided. There was an IV pole and a heart monitor, but she was not attached to them. A wheelchair sat in the corner of the room. She was staring out of the window beside my bed, so she did not see me. It was dark outside, and there was the twinkling lights from a few buildings.A couple of pillows were piled behind her back.

I knocked on the doorframe. Ava turned her head toward me. Her lips spread into a smile. She tried to push herself up higher on the bed. I ran across the room. I cupped her face with my hands. I leaned down and kissed her. I could feel her giggle against my lips. She put her hands over mine as she kissed me back.

"I can't believe you're here," Ava said. "I missed you so much."

She glanced down at my clothes, and my eyes followed hers.

"What the hell are you wearing?" she asked.

"The nurse in the emergency room gave them to me," I said. "Mine were covered in blood."

Ava's blue eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped. I shook my head and sat down on the edge of her bed. I took my hands off of her face and intertwined my fingers with hers.

"We're all okay," I said. "Mom killed Jared and Dad."

"She did?" Ava asked. "That's how you got out?"

I nodded my head. I tightened my grip on her hands.

"What happened to you?" I asked. "I thought you were dead."

"I thought I was going to die," she told me. "I kept falling in and out of consciousness. I remember you being dragged away by Jared. I don't remember how long I was out there. It was just no longer cold and there was this girl in a white sundress leaning over me. I thought she was an angel. I was convinced that I was dead."

"People were there?"

"They were some friends that were going swimming at the lake. When I got out of surgery I told the cops everything I could about where the house was."

"It's alright. We all got out of that house. We're all okay."

Ava let out a deep breath before lying back into her stack of pillows. Her eyes glistened with tears. She pulled her hands out of mine. She wiped away a tear that escaped her eye.

"When your Dad shot me he hit my spine," she said. "I can't walk anymore."

"You're paralyzed?" I asked.

She nodded her head before wiping a few more tears off of her cheeks. I pushed myself forward on the bed so that I was closer to her. I grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away from her face.

"Have you talked to your aunt?" I asked.

"Yes," she said before taking in a sharp breath. "She said that she won't change her house for a wheelchair."

"You'll live with us," I said. "We'll go to California. I promised you that."

I let go of Ava's wrist. She wiped away the remaining tears that lingered on her cheeks.

"Where's Leah?" she asked. "Is she alright?"

"Yes," I said. "She had her baby too. It's a little girl."

"Please tell me that they didn't kill her baby."

"They didn't. She gave birth a few hours ago. Mom killed them so that they wouldn't kill her."

Ava grabbed my hand before she rolled her head to the side to back out the window.

"Do you know how your Mom's book ended?" she asked.

I raised an eyebrow. She knew that I never read Mom's book.

"I'm going to assume it ends with her getting out," I said.

"No," she said. "It ended with relentless police investigations and her being harassed by the media. Do you think that is going to happen to us?"

I ran my thumb over her knuckles.

"We'll go through it together," I said.

There was a knock on the doorframe. Ava and I turned to see two police officers.