Kyle held a finger in the air as he backed from the room, returning with two cups of jello, one red, one blue.
“You’re the best, Doc,” Alex answered as he tore one up, the energy he used zapping his strength.
Ava wandered into the room, sidling next to Kyle. “You got him to eat. You must be an excellent doctor, Doc.”
“I am,” he answered with a grin.
Alex scooped more of the wobbly half-liquid, half-solid from the cup before he poked the spoon at Ava. “You didn’t get me jello.”
“Sorry, babe, I got whatever the SmartMart had.”
“Which was?” Kyle asked.
“Spray cheese and crackers. Also got him to eat a protein bar, but he complained the whole time,” she answered.
Sebastian entered the room a second later. “Jet’s fueled and waiting.”
Alex’s stomach lurched at the words. He had known they were going to be leaving soon, but he wanted more time with Ava.
Actually, he didn’t want her to go at all, but having her leave only a few minutes after he’d been settled in the hospital was a bitter pill to swallow.
“Right,” Ava said with a nod. “I guess that’s our cue.”
Avs…” Alex’s voice was barely a whisper, heavy with fear. His heart felt like it was being crushed under the weight of what was happening—her leaving, his sickness. The panic was overwhelming.
She crossed the room quickly, setting aside the Jello, and took his hand, her fingers warm and reassuring in his.
“I know you’re scared,” she whispered, her voice steady, though her eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “But it’s going to be okay. I’ll go with Doc, we’ll get the cure, and I’ll be back before you know it.” She leaned down and kissed his cheek, and for a moment, Alex could almost believe her. Almost.
He bobbed his head, loving how simple it sounded when she said it, but knowing it wasn’t going to be that simple.
“Hey, I won’t be long, okay?”
“Yeah,” he answered, tears forming in his eyes. He tried to blame the emotion on the sickness–he was weak, feverish, but the truth was that Ava was leaving, and he may never see her again.
This flu moved quickly. He wasn’t certain she’d make it back in time to save him.
“I’m serious, babe,” she said as she leaned closer to kiss his cheek. “You literally won’t even know I’m gone. You’re going to be hanging out with Shadow, enjoying the jello, and then bam! I’ll be right back with your life-saving medicine.” She grinned at him.
“Yep. I hope they have enough jello, but since you won’t be long, I shouldn’t need much.” He glanced around the room. “Oh, please tell me you brought my laptop. I want to monitor this entire operation.”
She chuckled at him as she crossed to her bag and pulled it out. “I did. And…”
She rummaged through her bag again before she pulled out the brooch he’d wired with a camera. “Pearl cam!”
“Yay,” he cheered with a weak smile as he opened hislaptop and toggled open the monitoring software for his little device while Ava pinned it onto her hoodie.
“Can you read me, Ace?”
His own image bounced onto his screen causing him to frown. He looked really sick. “I can. Wow, I look awful.”
“Soon, you won’t,” she said with a squeeze of his hand. “Now, I’d love to stay with you some more, but we should get going. The faster we get this and get back, the better.”
“Good luck,” Sebastian said as he shifted to stand next to Alex’s bed. “If you need anything, call.”
Ava nodded before she and Kyle disappeared from the room, leaving only Sebastian and the should of his heart monitor behind. Alex shifted in the bed, stared at his laptop screen to follow Ava out of the hospital and into the car.
As the engine roared to life, and Kyle backed from the space, Alex settled back into his pillows to watch the ride to the airport.
