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“I bet someone is ready to go homeeee,” Nurse Ratchet singsongs as she comes into Avery’s hospital room, discharge papers in hand. I grunt in response.
“Stop,” Avery hisses as she smiles at the nurse, thanking her for taking care of her over the last four days.
Four. Fucking. Days. She still doesn’t remember everything, but I’ll never forget the moment Leaf’s voice came over the phone I answered the call. I broke every speed limit to get to the hospital. I’ve never felt fear like I felt on Sunday. Fear and fucking rage, when Zander pulled the street cam and saw Weller nonchalantly walk out of that back alley and down the street, climbing into an old Bronco.
“This prescription is for your pain pills, this one is for prescription strength ibuprofen, and this one is for constipation,” she hands me the folder and Avery’s cheeks turn pink at the word constipation. “Oh, don’t worry dear, it’s absolutely normal to be constipated when you’re taking pain medication.” The nurse pats her hand and leaves the room, wishing us luck. I chuckle.
“Well, that’s embarrassing.” Avery says gingerly sliding out of her hospital bed and taking my extended arm. I help her into the waiting wheelchair.
“Honey, I carried you to and from the bathroom last night. I can handle the word constipation.” She rolls her eyes as the attendant wheels her to the elevator and out the main doors of the lobby.
My truck is waiting in the little cul de sac where I parked it ten minutes ago. It’s also lifted so with the pain she’s in, it’s damn near impossible for her to get in. The male nurse helps her out of the wheelchair, and I scoop her up, picking her up carefully and placing her in the passenger seat.
Once she’s situated, we make the drive back to my place, where Whitley and Dean are watching the kids. I couldn’t exactly lie to them about where Avery was, especially since she still has a black eye and a busted lip and they’d have to see her eventually, so I was honest with them about what happened. They had questions that I tried my best to answer and have been anxiously awaiting her coming home.
Pulling in my driveway, I park the truck in front of the porch. Dean’s truck is here, along with mom’s car and Lex’s jeep. I help her out of the truck and get her inside, doubling back for her bags. When I get back in the house, Lex is helping her to the couch and Genevieve and Blake are right there, giving her hugs and some tears.
“We misseded you so much,” Blake says, carefully crawling into her lap and wrapping his arms around her neck. I leave the three of them and head to the kitchen, where mom is cooking at the stove and Dean is unloading groceries.
“What are you doing here?” I ask ma, dropping a kiss on her cheek and grabbing a beer from the fridge.
“I wanted to make you guys some meals that you could just heat up. You’re going to be busy with the kids and helping Avery, you shouldn’t have to worry about cooking.”
“I ran to the store while Whit sat with the kids. You’re all stocked up on beer, wine, and juice.” Dean adds, shutting the fridge door and popping the top on his beer.
“Can’t thank y’all enough,” I say, because I can’t. It really does take a village.I nod my head towards the patio and Dean follows me, sliding the door shut behind him.
“Any word on Weller?” He asks, propping himself up against the railing. I shake my head.
“None. They found the Bronco abandoned in a parking lot in Mobile,” I say, cursing the fact that he was able to get his hands on Avery and then vanish into fucking thin air. The door slides open and Zander appears, beer in hand.
“Gentlemen,” he says, tipping his beer towards us. “How’s our patient?”
“Battered and bruised, but otherwise okay. She still doesn’t remember much, but the doctor said that’s typical with the type of concussion she has.”
“She took a couple good hits. I just came to deliver some news. There was activity on Dana’s checking account three days ago, in Daphne. Hoyt is on his way there now to review the security footage and see who used her debit card.”
“Fuck, no shit? It was ballsy of Weller to attack Avery in broad daylight so he may start making mistakes.” Mistakes that I hope result in us catching the son of a bitch. I want three minutes alone with him before the cops come.
“The case my men were working is over, so I’ll be able to put more men on Weller. Hopefully we can scare him out of hiding.”
Zander takes another swig of his beer, his eyes pointed at my backyard.
“Is Lainey coming?” He asks, glancing at my face and noting the surprise written all over it. He rolls his eyes. “Answer the question, Callaway.”
“I mean, I think so, but I didn’t make the guest list.” Dean snorts at my comment and shakes his head, slapping Zander on the back.
“Whitley said she’d be late, but she’d be here. With both kids.” He says and we both look to Zander for any reactionbut he doesn't show any.
Mom pokes her head out to say she’s leaving, and I leave the patio to walk her to her car. I’ve just shut the front door behind me when my landline rings from in the dining room. I furrow my brow and jog towards it. No one ever calls the landline phone, only my cell. I only keep the damn thing because my security system requires an active phone line and it’s just in case of an emergency.
“Hello?” I say into the receiver, but I’m met with silence on the other end. “Hellooo?” I ask but no one responds. I hang it up and start to walk away when it rings again. “Hello?” I grit out, annoyed.
“Jaxson.” My entire body locks up at the sound of Dana’s voice before it clicks into motion. I’m moving my feet towards the living room where everyone is gathered, storming in and grabbing the television remote, clicking the T.V. off.
“Dana, is that you?” I ask and Avery gasps, moving to sit up quickly but wincing in pain. I narrow my eyes at her.
“Listen to me,” she whispers hurriedly, and I motion at Zander for a pen and paper.
