Fries Before Guys (SWAT Generation 2.0 2)

Her breath caught.

“I have my head in a halo right now. I’m fairly sure that I can feel mascara crusting my eyelashes, and you just said words to me I’ve been dreaming you’d say. I think it’s ‘cause I have to pee so bad.” She swallowed hard. “Pinch me.”

I didn’t get the chance to pinch her because Sierra, her nurse, did it for her.

“All right, you two lovebirds,” she said as she pinched Avery on the arm. “Time to get her up. The doctor wants her up and moving. So stop crying and let’s get this done. I don’t want you to hate me, I’m just the messenger.” She paused. “You have a catheter in. Just pee.”

Avery swallowed hard, her eyes wide.

“I have no earthly idea how to get out of this bed,” she admitted. “And I can’t just pee. The hottest guy I’ve ever laid eyes on is in the room. What if he can hear me go?”

Sierra started to giggle.

Then pointed at me.

“Go while I take her catheter out. There’s a door to the left of the nurses’ station that has ‘lounge’ written on it. Go get her some more ice and water. Also, a small snack of Jell-O or fruit if you think she might like it. Come back in ten minutes,” Sierra ordered.

I did as instructed, and when I came back, it was to find Avery sitting on the edge of the bed looking nauseous.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, holding out the Jell-O to her.

She took it with a weary sigh and closed her eyes.

If she could have, I was sure that her head would be hanging.

“I just got a look at myself in the mirror,” she muttered.

My lips twitched. “I don’t know. I think it’s kind of cute.”

I touched the metal tip of the thing that was surrounding her head.

“Are you hurting?” I asked.

She grimaced. “A bit. But not enough that I can’t handle it.” She paused. “How the hell am I supposed to get dressed?”

“Oh, honey.” Sierra sighed. “You’re not going to be doing shit for a while by yourself.”

Avery froze, as did I.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re going to need your parents or a friend to help,” she said. “You won’t be able to wash yourself in the shower. You’ll have to do this all by sponge bath until then.” She tilted her head. “Your clothes are going to be tough. Some patients just cut the arms of their shirts and attach them with pins underneath the vest.”

She rattled on, and I saw the moment that Avery just about gave up.

“Sierra,” I said. “What are you even doing here? I thought you worked in NICU.”

“Today I don’t,” she mumbled darkly. “They were overstaffed today, so they floated me down here. I’m not happy. Can you tell?”

I didn’t say anything to that, instead looking at Avery.

“Would you mind giving us a minute alone?” I asked.

Sierra looked from me to Avery and back, then winced. “Yeah. All the time you need. If you need anything, let me know, okay?”

With that parting comment, she was gone, leaving me with a defeated looking Avery.

“You’ll move in with me,” I said. “I have two weeks of vacation I can take.”

She looked at me with eyes so dead that I felt a chill run down my spine.

“No,” she muttered.

“Avery…” I started.

“I’m not burdening you,” she said again. “I’m sorry, Derek, but this is my decision. I’m a grown adult, and if I don’t want you to take care of me like an invalid, then I won’t.”

I tried to argue, but she shut down.

Completely.

Fucking great.

“Avery…”

She looked at me again, eyes once again devoid of emotion, and said, “Please leave.”

After attempting to get her to talk to me for another five minutes, I chose to give her the space that she wanted.

For now.

I’d be back.

***

I arrived at the police station with anger burning through my veins.

One of the first people I saw was Ford.

He looked at me with surprise and tilted his head sideways.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, noticing that I wasn’t happy.

Obviously.

I walked up to my dad’s office and slammed inside.

I didn’t care that he was in a meeting with whoever the fuck it was.

What I cared about was that I was tired of seeing Avery get kicked when she was down.

It was time for her luck to change.

My father’s eyes showed annoyance as he watched me walk in.

“Do you mind giving us a minute?” I asked crisply.

The man in front of my dad’s desk raised an eyebrow at me.

“Now?” I ordered.

The man’s lips twitched, and he looked at my dad with a grin tugging at his lips. “I can see he takes after you.”

Dad rolled his eyes.

I wasn’t finding anything as amusing as these two were, though.

After the man left, he turned to me with exasperation. “You realize that was the mayor, right?”

I didn’t bother closing the door as I crossed my arms over my chest and said, “I don’t give a fuck if he was the mayor. I wouldn’t care if he was the goddamn Pope. What I care about is that I just watched the girl that I have some intense feelings for kick me out of her room when she needs me the most.”