“Ugh, it’s soooo gross,” Alex said, letting his head fall back against the back of the chair.
Ava squeezed his hand. “You’re doing great, Alex.”
“I hope he appreciates the lengths we’re going to to save his stupid life.” Alex slid his eyes closed, trying not to think about the blood pouring from his body. It was a small price to pay, he supposed, to help the man who had made certain Ava didn’t perish in a fiery plane explosion.
Kyle’s phone jangled as he rose, allowing the blood bag to continue to slowly fill. He dug into his pocket before he groaned. “Oh, great.”
“What is it?” Ava asked.
“Julia.”
Alex lifted his head. “What? Are you joking?”
“Nope. What should I do? I can’t answer it.”
“Is that going to work?” Ava said. “The last time you disappeared, Julia moved heaven and earth to track you down.”
“Yeah, but she needed Mav’s help, so we should be safe. I’ll just ignore it.”
“Answer it,” Ava insisted.
“And tell her what? Sorry, Julia, Alex and I snuck out to save someone’s life because Ava is actually alive and found him?”
“Leave off the last bit,” Ava said.
Alex shifted in his seat, wincing as the needle pinched in his arm. “She’s right. Answer her and tell her…we…went to meet Raven. And Raven was shot.”
Kyle’s hands trembled as he shook his head, swiping to accept the call. “Julia, hey.”
“Where are you?” her voice asked over speakerphone. “You were going upstairs with Alex, and now both of you are gone.”
“Oh, yeah, right. Umm, well, the thing is…we, umm…”
Alex nodded at him, his eyes wide, encouraging him to stick to the story they’d hastily discussed.
“Umm, we got a text from that weird guy, Raven. And we went to meet him. And he was…shot. And so I’m just…you know, removing the bullet and stuff. Being a good doctor.”
Ava patted his shoulder.
“Seriously? You got a text from Raven and didn’t think to tell anyone? After everything that’s happened? Kyle, this could have been a setup.”
“Lucky that it wasn’t,” Kyle said with a nervous chuckle. “Anyway, I’m pretty busy here, so I really need to go. Bye, Julia.”
He ended the call, tossing the phone down on the table ashe shook his head. “That was way too much. This night keeps getting worse.”
“Are you sweating?” Ava asked.
“Yep,” Kyle said with a bob of his head. “Julia has that effect on me. She’s such a do-gooder. She makes me feel guilty with just a word.”
“My dude, you are an adult. You don’t need Sunshine’s permission to leave the house.”
Kyle scoffed. “Says the guy who suggested we sneak out to begin with because he was terrified of SierraandJulia.”
“Fair enough, but I just didn’t want to be detained. Also, I’m a terrible liar. I’m literally awful at it. And I’m worried Julia is going to see right through me and realize that I’m not sad anymore, and then just magically know Ava is alive.”
Ava rubbed his shoulder as he scrubbed his face after speaking.
“Same.
