Tuesday, August 29th – 8:32 am
Avery sat in the waiting room of the police station. Glancing at her phone told her she’d been here a good 30 minutes. If she had to wait any longer, she’d have to leave. Her doctor’s appointment was later in the morning. It was something she couldn’t miss. She had a CT scan with contrast and blood work. It had been three months since the last scan. The scan would reveal how far her cancer had progressed. Last time, the images had been devastating, revealing several tumors forming throughout her body. If these scans showed progression, she suspected the doctor would admit he had no other options available.
The crazy part was that she wasn’t feeling any symptoms of tumor growth or enlarged lymph nodes. The targeted therapy she’d been on months before had wiped her out, caused temperature spikes, elevated liver enzymes, fatigue, and extreme itching in the worse places to where the symptoms were so severe, they’d forced her to stop treatment.
The idea of what the doctor would find twisted her gut into knots. It shouldn’t, though. She’d known her time was running out. Unless…what Luys had told her was the truth and that Mayor had cured her cancer. It could be a complete fabrication. Still, she didn’t know why he would lie about something like that. Or he truly believed he was telling the truth.
The sigh of the door opening drew her thoughts back to the police station. Ben Atkins stepped into the waiting room. At seeing his familiar face, she found herself filled with a mix of emotions. She knew Ben cared about his job and would treat her with the respect that he probably did with everyone, but still, it would be nice to be completely anonymous. She’d have to face Ben later around the complex, and he would also continually remind her of her previous assault and now Stephen’s threats.
She’d thought of calling the police and reporting Stephen’s attack last night after she’d stumbled into her condo, but thoughts of Cristina kept her from reaching for her cell phone. She considered Cristina a friend, and she knew the other woman would feel betrayed if Avery contacted the police. But the thought of not doing anything felt like she was condoning Stephen’s behavior, not just at what he did to her but also Cristina. She’d gone back and forth on what to do and had tried to sleep on it, but she hadn’t gotten a minute of rest. The idea of Stephen coming after her in the future sure didn’t help. He was a bully, and she realized by morning that he needed to be stopped, even if it meant losing Cristina’s friendship.
“Avery. Sorry I kept you waiting.” He nodded to the door. “If you could follow me.”
“Of course.”
When they entered a small cubicle of a room, he waved an arm at a metal chair across from a desk. He sank down in a matching chair across from her. “So why are you here? You wanted to file a report on someone?” He frowned. “It’s not about Luys Martinez, is it?”
“No, no.” When she realized she was fiddling with her phone, she slipped it into the back of her jeans pocket.
“I’ve never filed a report before.” She frowned, searching for the right words. “A neighbor of mine. The husband of a friend of mine, well…”
He waited, his expression unreadable.
“He threatened me, grabbed me by the arms, and shoved me against the wall of a building by the fitness center.”
“Did he hit you?”
“No. But I have bruises where his hands were.” She shrugged out of a light summer jacket to reveal several blue and green marks on her upper arms. “From the way he was acting, I thought he might do more than hit me.” She shifted uncomfortably and wrinkled her nose. “He also licked me.”
Both of Ben’s brows shot skyward. “How so?”
“Like I said, he had me against the wall of a building near the gym. I couldn’t go anywhere. He was too strong. He must have thought in some sick way licking me was a form of a threat. He ran his tongue up my cheek. Maybe he has some type of communicable disease, and he wanted to use it to get back at me.” Her skin crawled at the thought. She could be running around right now with some sickness that she wasn’t aware of.
“I wouldn’t be able to guess the reason. God knows what runs through some people’s heads.” It was his turn to frown. “And why would he want to get back at you?”
She sighed, hating to delve into the reason. “His wife, Cristina, has her own bruises. She had a terrible one on her face. Not to mention the ones I’ve seen on her arms.”
“Because of him?”
“It’s the only logical reason I can think of.”
“And has she reported it?”
“No.”
“And why is that?”
“I’m not sure.” She slipped her jacket back on. “Well, anyway. He must have found out that I was talking to her and trying to convince her to get help or leave him. It ticked him off because I was putting my ‘nose’ into their business.”
“What else did he do other than lick you?”
“He threatened me that if I didn’t keep out of Cristina’s and his business, he’d be happy to show me what abuse really was. From there, that’s when he licked me and shoved me against the wall.” She touched the back of her head. The area still stung. “I have a pretty good-sized lump to my head where I hit the wall.”
“Anything else, other than the bruising and bump to your head?”
“No.”
“Did you go to your doctor’s office or the hospital? Would they happen to have a report?”
“No…” She frowned, not liking what he was implying with the question. “The doctor’s office has regular hours, and the hospital seemed a bit much for the injuries I had.”
“I see.” He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. “And why did you wait until now to file a report?”
“I was worried about Cristina finding out and being hurt by me going to the police because of her husband. I was also afraid to lose her friendship.” She straightened in her chair. It felt like she was the one being questioned instead of Stephen. “I would think there was something you could do. I see all these stupid shows where the women always end up as victims, and no one does anything, but this isn’t television.”
“No, it isn’t television. It’s far more complex than a movie. I’m sorry, Avery. You can file an assault report causing injury, but it’s pretty much he said, she said, and there’s nothing we can do on our side. Filing a restraining order isn’t possible with what you’ve given me. I need proof.”
“But…” She slapped the flat of her hand against the table. She was feeling foolish and naïve. God, she wanted to scream.
He reached over and patted her hand. “You can be proactive by making sure you keep a log of anything he does here on out.”
She pulled her hand away. She found his touch condescending even though there was unmistakable sympathy in his eyes. Still, she was frustrated with him, her, and the whole situation. And what if Stephen did a number on her to where she ended up in the hospital or worse? A stupid log wasn’t going to help her then. “That’s just great. It feels like I wasted my time by coming here.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way. I wish I could do more,” Ben admitted. “But by filing a report, you at least have a record if he does anything else. Remember, we need proof. Have your phone’s camera running if he shows up near you.”
Like she’d have time to get the app working and filming to capture Stephen before he attacked her. Pretty sad to think she had no options in defending herself. She’d thought going to the police this morning was her only recourse to protect herself. It would seem she had it all wrong. If only she could travel through time and space at will. Maybe she’d be able to figure it out soon. But she couldn’t wait until then. She was going to have to protect herself the normal way. A gun she couldn’t do, but a mace or taser. Now that she could do with confidence.
She could imagine Cristina’s reaction once she found out that Avery had gone to the police about her husband. Forget any friendship. That was now down the toilet. They hadn’t been that close, though.
After filing the report with the help from Ben, she left the station feeling like she’d wasted most of her morning. But in the car to the hospital, her irritation quickly dissolved into unease. Her morning wasn’t done yet and could get far worse.
First on the list was a CT scan on the second floor of the hospital. The contrast injection into her vein always burned like a swarm of bees. Feeling like she deserved a treat after her scan, she grabbed a chocolate chip scone and water at the cafeteria before walking into the oncologist department on the 3rd floor. After checking in, she sat down in the waiting room and couldn’t help but notice a guy and a girl around her age. It was sad enough to see older people late in life having to deal with cancer but seeing someone as young as herself sucked even more. While the idea of children, well, she didn’t even want to think of their pain. It broke her heart.
She washed down her scone with water. It tasted not nearly as good as she thought it would. She’d barely brushed off the crumbs from her lips or had time to get more nervous than she already was when a nurse from the doorway called out, “Avery F.”
She jumped up and strode over, muttering trivial greetings with the nurse as she followed her into the lab. After the nurse performed a blood test, another one quickly replaced her and led her to a private room.
Once alone, Avery found the silence inside the four walls suffocating. Tension crawled up her back and along her shoulders. She felt fine, but that didn’t mean anything. Any minute the doctor would come in with the scan results. She swore she was about to heave up the chocolate chip scone she’d scarfed down earlier.
Luys’ words kept on reverberating inside her head about being completely healed. She wanted to believe. She was scared to believe. She was flat-out crazy to trust such nonsense from him, especially since he was just arrested for murder.
The door opened, and Dr. Melwarren stepped through the threshold. Wisps of black hair like the down of a baby chick covered the sides of his head and circled his bald pallet. He sat down by the chair stationed at a monitor and clicked on the computer. “Well…”
When he drifted off into silence, she nudged with, “And…?”
“I’m completely baffled.” He turned away from the computer and stared at her. The silence between them lengthened.
Her chest tightened. “About what?”
“Your scan. It shows no evidence of disease.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re in remission. There is no sign of cancer in your body.”
Her heart leaped in her chest, and excitement thrummed through her body.
He shook his head. “I’ve never seen a recovery like yours. The change is dramatic.” He glanced over at the screen and blinked. “Yes, targeted therapy, even during such a short time span, turned your case around. I can sincerely say I’ve never seen the likes of it before. If miracles do happen, I would call it that.” He returned his gaze back to her. “I’ll want to see you in three months and do another scan, just in case. But from there, if the results show the same thing, then we’ll do six-month scans and then yearly from there.”
“That’s wonderful,” she breathed.
The doctor grinned back, his blue eyes sparkling, looking excited as she felt. “You young lady, you’ve managed to get to remission. It’s a huge step. How does that make you feel?”
“Like I’ve got a new life.”
So, it was true. She didn’t have less than a year. No more infusions, no more pills, needles, injections, infections. “Wow.”
“I’ll second that.”
Avery let him believe it was a miracle cure because of the targeted therapy, but she’d been barely on the drugs. He wouldn’t believe something more than science had healed her if she started ranting about her body’s sudden super immunity.
She thought of the others in the waiting room and wished a better fate for all of them.
She left the hospital and walked toward her car in a daze, feeling like she’d entered the Twilight Zone or something similar.
All this time Luys had been telling her the truth. No sign of cancer in her body. No tumor cells growing anywhere! She had more time to live, to breathe, to share her life with that someone special.
Then she thought of Luys. He’d kind of ruined the idea of finding her other half. One night with him, and she suspected it would take a good year to get over him and what he’d done to her. She wished he hadn’t been so damn good in bed to where memories of his body and touch still curled her toes. Thank God it hadn’t been more than the once. She would have been ruined then.
Okay, enough of Luys. She needed to focus on the good stuff. She’d received a miracle. She should be ecstatic, beyond happy. So why, when looking ahead at the coming years, did she feel like her life was dull, meaningless, and without value?
There was also one big headache still in her life. Nothing good would come of her life if that problem didn’t disappear.
Mayor.
She suspected Luys’ sister wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.