CHAPTER 26:

~~It'll last longer~~

INTRO:

"I know you can't hear me because you're asleep, but I really want you to know that I am sorry, and I have lost the most important thing to me"

he continues his voice cracking and I feel something wet drop onto my hand, I slightly opened my eyes and he's crying his shoulders hunched over.

"I hope you can forgive you one day, and I uh just wanted to say that I love you, Avery, I lo- uh like you," he says to me and I almost choke on my spit,

he loves me?

what does that even mean?

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I'LL BE BACK SOON and we can get started," the nurse says having finished processing and looking at the damage done to my feet

"Alright, thank you," I say to her and she pulls the sheet over making it more private, I turn to Billie, and she smiles at me, but I look at her concerned

"What's wrong?" she asks immediately and Grayson snaps his hand up looking at me

"I'm not going to be able to walk?" I start "what's going to happen to my girls" I reply

"I'll take them," Grayson says again

"No" I reply snapping at him and he shuts his mouth and returns to his phone

"Relax Aves you're staying with us, we can help"

"I know, but I feel really bad," she says, but we don't continue because Jake facetime Billie with the girls, she picks up the phone and it hands it to me

"Mummy!!" Saskia and Ava yell into the phone

"Hi my loves," I say to them smiling, feeling better

"How was school?" I ask and Saskia goes on about drawing her pictures today, then she heads off to get them from her backpack, whilst Ava starts telling me about eating strawberries or lunch.

"That really pretty Sass," I say

I can see Ally in the background holding Lola and Ellie at the same time

"You look like supermum Allison," I say and she turns laughing at me, coming over to stand next to Jake who is holding the phone for the girls

"Nice touch on the Allison, Avery" she replies before she gets interrupted by Saskia

"Where are you mama," she asks me curiously, the one thing I didn't when I started this project was how nosy little kids can be, I knew that they had some personal questions from babysitting my little cousins but I never anticipated the angst.

"I'm at the doctor's sweetie," I say to her and her tiny eyebrows shoot up

"Why mummy," Ava says and I almost curse myself Ava is at the why stage, where she answers everything with why

"Because mummy hurt her feet, I have an ouchie"

"An ouchie," Saskia says, "Are you okay?" she asks before getting disrupted by the tv whilst Ava keeps asking me why I continue to answer her wy questions before, I get slightly annoyed, so I turn the phone to Grayson

"Say hello to daddy" I reply swallowing the lump in my throat when I say this

"DADDY" Ava squeals, she's a big daddy's girl

"Hey baby" he replies and I hand him the phone, they babble on for a while, before the Nurse comes in to do my procedure.

...

"I'll be back with some more pain medication in a second okay?" The Nurse says taking the last of my scraps "In the meantime try to drink some water alright" she replies

"Thank you," I say wincing, I now have some glass-free feet.

"You did amazing Aves," Billie says trying my hair back up for me, I had numbing cream and injections but that shit hurt like hell.

I felt her pull every piece of glass out and then stitch the whole back together, who knew a glass cup could do that.

"Thanks, Bill, but never again" Isay wiping the sweat off of my eyebrow, my feet are still throbbing,

"Um Avie, could you let go of my hand," Grayson says and I turn to him and I turn red in embarrassment, I must have grabbed onto his hand, thinking it was the rail on the side of my hospital bed

"Sorry," I say and turn my head

"Your welcome" he replies smirking sitting down

"Fuck off," I say jokingly and he chuckles turning on the little tv hanging fro the hospital ceiling, I turn to Billie and I shrug, she silently laughs.

...

"I'll be back in the morning," Billie says to me zipping up her bag, she has to go home to look after her family and my girls, since it has us been Michael, Jake and Ally so far and they need a break.

Billie, I didn't want me to be alone so Grayson offered to stay, which I am not too sure how I feel about this because he broke my heart, and I don't think that I am ready to forgive him yet.

"Alright, call me when you get home," I say to her and hug her

"I will," she says and goes to pull the sheet over to walkout

"Billie," I say and she stops turning to me

"Thank You so much," I say and she smiles

"No problem" she replies before saying "what are friends for"

I watch Billie leave and I listen for her footsteps until she has left the emergency room ward, I look at Grayson who is immersed in his phone, I look at him, he doesn't seem to notice me or so I think

"Take a picture it'll last longer," he says not looking up from his phone, then starting to laugh

"Excuse me" I reply

"What!, It's funny" he replies looking up turning is phone off smirking

"No, it not, Grayson," I say back "You know you have said that to me countless times before" I reply as well and he looks at me smiling

"Yeah, because you stare a lot, first at my abs, then my face, my hair"

"Shut up," I say

"You know you love me" he replies and I stop looking at him, I feel my heart sink, I look down my eyes filling with tears, I wipe them away sniffling, Grayson gets up and comes up to the bed closer to me

"Look, Avery, I'm sorry-" he says

"I don't want to hear it,Grayson," I say to him "I appreciate you staying here, but you don't have to if you don't want to" I say to him drying my eyes with my t-shirt before laying back in the hospital bed, flicking through the channels, I look at Grayson from the corner of my eye and he has his head in his hands.

Grayson and I don't speak for the rest of the night, I facetime the girls to say goodnight, and he says goodnight, but other than that we don't speak, we ate in silence.

Just before I snuggled closer into the bed for my overnights stay, I sneak a peek at him and he's watching his phone, earplugs, plugged in, so I close my eyes trying to fall asleep.

I can't sleep even though I'm used to sleeping next to my girls and tonight I'm not whilst I'm in pain and conflicted. Just as I was going to open them and turn the tv on, I hear Grayson move and come over to the bed. I pretend to be asleep, and he grabs my head and opened his mouth

"Hi Avie, remember when I came up with that? You go to so mad at me to this day you still hate it" he says and chuckled to himself before continuing

"I know that you don't want to talk to me, but I just wanted to say that I'm so so sorry for what I did, I was drunk and I didn't know what I was doing. This last week without you and the girls has killed me, I need you guys, I don't know what to without you,

"I know you can't hear me, because your asleep, but I really want you to know that I am sorry, and I have lost the most important thing to me" he continues his voice cracking and I feel something wet drop onto my hand, I slightly opened my eyes and he's crying his shoulders hunched over.

"I hope you can forgive you one day, and I uh just wanted to say that I love you, Avery, I lo- uh like you," he says to me and I almost choke on my spit,

he lo-likes me?

what does that even mean?

...

WARNING:

this story will contain:

---- Swearing (which may cause offense)

---- Sexual content (in dialogue ya nasties)

----Moments that you will either laugh or scream

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TO THE OWNER (ME)

2019 @ehardwick04