Gabriella nodded. “Makes sense,” she repeated. “And I’m sorry,” she added. “It’s just that sometimes you don’t react to things that I think you might, and other times you react to stuff I’m not expecting you to.”
I nodded, focusing on the road. “I understand. I think it was the surprise more than anything. I wasn’t aroused. Just embarrassed.”
Gabriella spoke up again. “But I guess that explains why I was so arousing to you.” She turned in her seat slightly to look more fully at me. “Because, just from being near me, you could probably imagine pretty easily all the things a normal person shouldn’t know without actually experiencing it.”
I sighed, leaning back in my seat more, feeling thankful we could have this kind of discussion now without it affecting me a ton — at least, when the subject was her.
“Yeah, pretty much. I could imagine what you felt like, what you tasted like, and even had a pretty good idea of what you looked like underneath your clothing. Granted, experiencing the real thing was far more amazing than I would have ever anticipated, but I still wasn’t really surprised by anything.”
She frowned. “So then, how did you manage to sit next to Avery day-after-day for so long without transforming? Because it’s pretty obvious she’s extremely hot. Like, it’s to the point that I was sincerely shocked when I saw her in person. The way you talked about her made it seem like she might be a little above average, not freaking to the moon.”
I shrugged, knowing that her assessment wasn’t just her opinion. Avery really was that hot, enough that it would be difficult to find someone who disagreed.
“Well, for one, I have a different mindset at school. I’m more guarded with my thoughts, and I’m much more restrictive with my focus.” I glanced at her with a small smile. “Granted, if you had walked into one of my classes, I still would have found it hard to ignore you. Your scent alone would have been enough to demand my attention. And yeah, being completely honest, Avery is really hot, but her scent is only average to me. Different than most people, but still average in its potency.”
“Well, not so average to me,” Gabriella mumbled, only to laugh, seeming to change subjects slightly. “You know, I never thought my natural scent would be how I’d get a guy’s attention.” She chuckled some more. “And that would be a funny introduction too. ‘So, how did you two meet? Oh, well Kai fell in love with my scent, and the rest is history.’” She laughed even more, seeming to really find it hilarious. “I’m kidding of course,” she added, a big grin on her face.
I gave her a small smile in response, focused more on the road now.
We were turning on the street to the hospital, and I needed to figure out where to park.
Thankfully, there were clear signs for the nearest parking garage, and getting inside was pretty straightforward.
However, it became obvious right away that noon on a Saturday wasn’t a great time to find a decent spot. Granted, I supposed that made sense, considering the weekend was likely when most people visited their loved ones.
And once I did find a spot, and I’d put the black chest in the trunk, we found that there was a ton of activity inside the building, with people coming and going, and the occasional nurse pushing a patient around in a wheelchair.
Pulling out my phone, I called Serenity to find out if they were in a room yet, discovering that they just moved Avery to a bed after doing a series of scans on her head and neck. She also told me that the doctors weren’t considering surgery at this point, and that she would explain more when we got there.
Now that I had Avery’s room number, I used the hospital signs for directions and we began making our way through the maze of hallways, getting on an elevator and then making our way to the appropriate room. I would have had no problem asking someone for directions if needed, but it was all pretty straightforward thanks to the signs.
When we walked in, I was thankful to see that it was a single-bed room, instead of one with two beds, since that would have only complicated everything. I hadn’t even considered that being a problem, but now realized it would have made it difficult to talk to Avery about the decision she would be making.
The curtain hanging from the wall was partially closed when I laid eyes on Serenity, with Avery’s head hidden from my view.
Serenity met my gaze with a frown, currently in a chair and leaning forward against the bed, her left hand on Avery’s stomach over the hospital gown while the other was higher, seeming as if she might be touching Avery’s face.
There were wires all over the place coming out of Avery’s gown, with a monitor in the corner displaying all her vitals, a soft beeping coming from her pulse.
For half a second, I was surprised Serenity was being so handsy with her, only to recall that my classmate seemed to only be able to feel in certain spots. No doubt Serenity was cupping her face and touching her stomach to help Avery cope with having no feeling almost anywhere else.
Obviously, holding her hand would be pointless if she couldn’t even feel it.
Avery must have noticed Serenity’s look, because her heartrate picked up on the monitor after a second, and then even more so when I finally stepped into sight, with her bright blue eyes focusing on me while her head remained stationary from the neck brace — not that she could have moved it anyway.
I tried to give her a small reassuring smile, but ended up giving Serenity my attention again when she began explaining the situation.
“The doctors said her spinal cord doesn’t appear to be permanently damaged, and that her condition might just be this bad, due to inflammation. They think that she might even begin to recover from her paralysis in the next three to six months. Apparently, the initial trauma and subsequent inflammatory response is likely the source of her lack of feeling now, but there’s a good chance she’ll make a full recovery in the next year or so.”
Part of me was actually glad to hear that, since it technically gave Avery more of a choice. However, it was obvious the reminder of that news didn’t thrill her in the slightest.
Avery’s heartbeat raced faster as she began to panic. “Please don’t leave me like this,” she begged, tears reappearing in her eyes. “Please. Please fix me. I’ll do anything.”
Serenity quickly began stroking her cheek again, trying to calm her down. “Hey, it’s okay. Just relax. Calm down. Everything is going to be alright.”
Avery wasn’t calming down though, her pulse triggering an alarm on the monitor that also echoed somewhere down the hall.
Within a matter of seconds, a male nurse rushed into the room to check on her, seeming to quickly assess the situation.
“She needs to rest,” he said firmly to me and Gabriella. “I think it might be best if you come back at a later time.”
“No!” Avery blurted out, her breathing even more escalated. “No, please! I want them to stay!”
The guy stepped closer and pulled the curtain back more to focus on her, his expression becoming sympathetic as he used her name like she was a good friend, even though I was sure they’d never met before. “Okay, Avery, then I need you to try to take a deep breath for me, and calm down, okay? We need your heartrate under a hundred-twenty.”