Chapter 79

Ethan’s words rang loudly in my head, over and over again. A sickening feeling coated the inside of my stomach, layering with fear and anxiety.

“Why would someone come after me?” I asked, my voice sounded small and weak. I hated feeling so helpless.

Ethan shook his head, “There are several reasons.” He mussed up his hair by running his hands through it multiple times.

“But why me?” I emphasized, sitting up straighter in the hospital bed and waiting for his answer. “I haven’t done anything to anyone.”

“I’ve seen this before, they’ll use you to get to me. They’ll hurt you to hurt me. They’ll-” He stopped and took a shaky breath.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I need to take you home.” He announced and left the room to, presumably, speak to a doctor about getting me released back home.

In the quiet, empty room, I was left with my thoughts again. I tried to think of anything that could be helpful in identifying who would have been driving the car. The only memory I had, though, was the view of those headlights at my eye level. It was a large car, probably an SUV, but that’s all I knew.

It wouldn’t help, thousands of people in a city drive SUVs. It was a useless hunch and I’d need to figure it out eventually.

Or else, I thought morbidly, I could end up dead before I learn the truth.

I suctioned my lips to my teeth as I thought, but Ethan came back in with a small, relieved smile on his face.

“The doctor says you’re good to go home, so let’s get you out of here.” Ethan started packing a few bandages and brought me a pair of clean pajamas to change into.

I peeled off my hospital gown, dressed in the soft pink pajama bottoms I loved, and followed Ethan back to his car to go home.

The entire ride home was near unbearable. I was tightly gripping the door handle the entire time, screwing my eyes shut so I couldn’t see the road ahead. I was terrified until the moment we pulled into the driveway of our house.

Ethan turned to me before I could open the door to go inside. His face was solemn and a little guilty looking. I thought it funny, considering I was the one who should be feeling guilty.

“I’m sorry, but I was thinking during the drive, and I don’t think you should leave the house for a while,” Ethan smiled at me, though it didn’t reach his eyes. He looked sad, “Not until we figure out who’s doing this.”

I nodded my head in agreement. Little did he know, I didn’t want to leave the house for a month after what I just went through. I didn’t want to be in a car at all, I wanted to be safe behind four walls and a roof.

“Okay,” I said, and I could see the tension roll off his body at my easy acceptance of the terms.

It was nothing, really.

“I’m really sorry, I know you loved going back to work and driving around,” Ethan rubbed my back as we walked into the house and up the stairs.

“It’s okay,” I shrugged. “I am just glad that I didn’t get more hurt.”

That was my motto for the two weeks I was stuck at home with nothing to do but relive the accident repeatedly until I remembered something new. Spoiler alert, I never remembered anything new.

It could have been worse, I tell myself.

They could have succeeded, I could have died. I repeat it as a mantra over and over again.

While the words are true, they are not much of a comfort. I hardly left my bedroom, only doing so for meals and to occasionally join Olivia, Mars, and Ethan in watching a movie. The movies were fun, Olivia and I were getting along better, but then Olivia was constantly out of the house.

She would leave at random times during the day, staying out for hours at a time, and returning giddy but silent. She never told me what she was up to. She never told me anything at all.

It felt beyond lonely.

I knew that I told Ethan that I was okay with staying at the house, that I could survive in the comfortable four walls of my bedroom, but I was so over it by the third week of that.

Ethan couldn’t miss any work. He was worried people would ask questions, and bringing attention to the accident would invite a slew of reporters to tamper with his own investigation of the wreck.

Olivia was home for the first week, as I said, but she was gone all the time. Mars too, though I didn’t bother asking why or where.

We didn’t get along that well, anyways.

I was alone in the large house. It was comfortable, warm and cozy, unlike before when it was barely decorated and felt more like a dentist’s office than a house. But it was still a prison for the time being.

I watched every movie I could get my hands on, baked dozens upon dozens of treats - Ethan had to ask me to stop because he was worried about going up a belt-size, and I even started working out in the home gym downstairs.

Nothing filled the void of loneliness in the pit of my stomach, and nothing distracted me from reliving the accident long enough to get any relief.

I was stuck.

Luckily, Ethan started noticing my sour mood, and how it was only souring more and more as the days wore on.

“Ava!” He clapped his hands together with a giddy smile one day after work. “I need you to pick out your nicest dress from your closet.”

I looked up at him from the couch, wearing the same pajamas I had been for three days, and sporting unbrushed hair and an unwashed face.

I definitely did not look my best.

“For what?” I sat up, discarding the carton of ice cream I was eating in my lap. “Am I actually allowed to leave finally?”

Ethan grinned devilishly, “I have a surprise for you. Yes, it does involve leaving the house.”

I threw my head back and let out a loud, crazy laugh.

Finally!

I jumped from the couch and ran up the stairs, taking two at a time, as I got to my bedroom. I scoured through the closet and picked out a pretty pink, floral floor-length gown and a pair of pink heels. I hoped they would match my bright pink cast.

Only four more weeks with that stinky thing on. I sort of loved it, though, since Mars, Olivia, and Ethan had all signed it with loopy letters and hearts.

That made it a little bit less of an eyesore.

I laid the clothes on my bed and ran to the bathroom to force a comb through my knotted hair.

“Ava?” Ethan knocked on the bedroom door. “Do you want any help?”

I called out a ‘yes’ from the bathroom, and he entered the room. He approached me with a tentative smile.

“Can I ask what this is all for?” I looked up at him as he took the brush from my hand and started running the bristles through my locks for me, giving my hand a break.

“I’ve just got a night full of romance waiting for us.” He smiled at my reflection in the mirror, “Trust me, this is something that has been a long time coming.”