Falling for Dr. Kelly: A Falling novel

by Gallie, DL

  “Yeah, she did. That woman can fly or something. She’s really worried about Baylor but at the same time, she’s mothering Avery, sending me to get her water.”

  “Well, she is a great mom. That instinct carries over in everything she does. How’s Avery doing now?”

  “Still the same. Still out of sorts.”

  “Can you blame her? Her sister was attacked outside their apartment. Any news from the police yet?”

  “None yet. Until Bay regains consciousness, we won’t know anything further.”

  From behind the door, I just exited I hear yelling. Preston and I eye each other and then we race over and open the door. Stepping into the room, I’m not prepared for what I hear.

  33

  Avery

  I’m floating, well, it feels like I’m floating. My body is light yet heavy at the same time. There are raised voices nearby. I can’t quite make out who they are, this fog in my head is making everything fuzzy and confusing. Add in the ache all over my body, and I can’t make much sense of anything right now.

  Fluttering my eyes, they open briefly before drooping closed again, but this time they don’t feel like lead. I will them open and this time success, I blink rapidly. The room is blurry but it’s starting to come into focus. My throat is dry and scratchy and when I try to speak, nothing comes out.

  The fog clears and now everything is bright and my hearing is back, I don’t understand what they are saying, it’s like they are speaking a foreign language right now. I think it’s Cress and she’s angry, like momma bear angry. Then her words finally register. They play on repeat over and over in my head, “You’re pretending to be her.”

  “Am not,” someone who sounds like Baylor scoffs in reply.

  “Please, you lying bitch.” Yep, that’s Cress. “The person lying in that bed is Avery Evans. Standing before me is bitchy Baylor Evans.”

  She’s pretending to be me? Why? I’m confused right now.

  “Baylor, why?” I scream but it’s my mind because my eyes droop closed and once again, I begin to drift away from reality. No! No! No! I plead with my body but once again, it wins.

  This time rather than drifting into darkness, it’s gray and hazy and I feel like I’m floating.

  You’re pretending to be her. Am not.

  You’re pretending to be her. Am not.

  You’re pretending to be her. Am not.

  This repeats over and over in my mind. What the fuck, Baylor? I’m so confused right now, surely what I’m hearing isn’t what’s happening. Panic begins to fester and in my mind I shout, She’s not me over and over.

  I’m pleading, she’s not me.

  My mind is crying. Pleading. Begging.

  She’s not me.

  She’s not me.

  She’s not me.

  I keep chanting this as I will my eyes to open.

  I will myself to speak.

  I will myself to move, even a fraction, but my body won’t cooperate. Anything, I just want my body to do something, but all I can do is lie here and listen to them bicker and argue.

  “You are not her,” Cress scoffs.

  “Yes, I am!” Baylor yells back.

  She’s not me.

  She’s not me.

  She’s not me.

  She’s not me.

  Come on body, do something.

  I shout over and over in my mind.

  She’s not me.

  She’s not me.

  She’s not me.

  She’s not me.

  Please body, do something. Anything. Please.

  The door opens and Flynn snarls, “Enough!”

  He’s here, I think to myself. The atmosphere in the room freezes when he speaks. My eyes flicker open but no one is paying attention to me. Rage is enveloping the room and I’m forgotten about.

  Please Flynn, look at me, I beg. Hoping he knows, hoping he feels my presence. Hoping our love is enough for him to see through her lies and deceit.

  Flynn is talking.

  The girls are yelling.

  The voices begin to fade away and the last memory I have before I drift into the darkness is Flynn fighting for me.

  34

  Flynn

  I’m looking between Cress and Avery/Baylor/whomever arguing like children. My mind is racing to process what’s playing out right now. My eyes drop to the person in the bed and then flick back to the doppelgänger standing next to me. I’m so confused , I don’t know what’s the truth or who to believe.

  “You are not her,” Cress scoffs, stepping toward Avery/Baylor, poking her in the chest.

  My eyes look back and forth between the two of them as they continue to throw barbs at one another.

  “Yes, I am!” Baylor/Avery yells back.

  “You are not Avery Evans, I bet my life on it.” Cress points at Baylor/Avery and she smacks her hand viciously away.

  I’ve had it and I explode. “Enough!” I yell, they both jump at the loudness of my voice. Even I’m surprised at the forcefulness behind it. “Just stop it,” I plead. “Whoever is in this bed needs rest. You two fighting like this isn’t going to help.” I shake my head and stare at the body lying in the bed. “Regardless of who this is,” pointing to the bed, I go on, “you both need to show some respect. She was attacked, she doesn’t need this in her recovery.”

  “Yeah, Cressida,” Avery scoffs, and with that one comment, I start believing Cress that Baylor is parading around as Avery right now.

  Stepping over to Avery/Baylor, Cress, reaches out and stops to me. “Flynn, that there Baylor Evans.” I stare at her, then look to Avery/Baylor. I’m so fucking confused right now. “Flynn, the person in that bed is Avery. My best friend. Your girlfriend. I know it without an ounce of doubt.” She pauses. “Flynn, I swear to you on my life. On Lexi’s life, the person in that bed is Avery.”

  “Prove it,” Baylor/Avery snarls, just as the door to the room slams open, hitting the wall with a thud. Security is here, probably from the yelling and commotion echoing out in the corridor.

  “With pleasure,” Cress snaps. “Yesterday morning, Avery and I got tattoos.” My eyes scrunch in confusion, I knew they had brunch but this I did not know. Cress grabs the hem of her shirt and lifts it up. On her left hip is what looks like Lexi’s handwriting, spelling out her name within a pink and blue inkblot. “I got this yesterday. Avery, the real Avery, got one on her wrist.”

  The woman beside me quickly hides her arms behind her back and her face drains of all color.

  “Is this true?” I hesitantly ask, my voice laced with confusion and hurt.

  “Flynn, babe, she’s lying,” Baylor/Avery whines.

  “Show me your wrist!” I demand, my voice a few confused octaves higher than usual.

  “No, I don’t have to prove anything. I’m Avery. I’m your girlfriend. Flynn, please…” she pleads, but I don’t believe her this time.

  “Uhh, yeah, you do,” Cress says, stepping toward Baylor but Preston, who I’ve just noticed is here, wraps his arms around her and pulls her back into him. He whispers something into her ear and she instantly deflates.

  Walking to the bed, I pull back the blanket and lift Baylor/Avery’s arm up. Sure enough, on her left wrist is a fresh tattoo. Holding Avery’s hand, I squeeze and kiss her knuckles. Then the most amazing thing happens, her eyes flicker open and this time, after blinking rapidly, they stay open and focus on me. I’d recognize those gorgeous green orbs anywhere. When she realizes it’s me, she smiles and it lights up her pale bruised face. “It’s okay, lass, I’m here,” I say, kissing her knuckles repeatedly. Relief floods through my body that she’s regained consciousness.

  “What’s…what’s going on?” she asks, her voice raspy and dry sounding.

  “What do you remember?” I ask, doctor me takes over even though I want to wrap my arms around her and hug her dearly.

  “It’s all hazy.” She pauses and thinks. “There were two men and then,” a tear escapes, “one of them zapped me and then�
��and then…” She’s a sobbing mess now and can’t talk. Sitting on the bed, I lie down next to her and pull her into my arms. Her body is shaking. She flinches at my touch.

  “I’m sorry, lass.” Gently I place a kiss on her temple.

  She nods. “I was so scared.” She burrows into my chest and blubbers.

  “Shhhh, you’re safe now, lass. I won’t let anything else happen to you,” I say, running my fingers gently though her locks. “No one will hurt you again.”

  Turning my head, I look to Baylor, her face is ashen with fear and shock at being caught. Avery lifts her head from my chest and looks to her sister. “Why, Bay, why?” Avery sadly asks, her voice broken.

  “I’m so sorry, Avie,” Baylor says, stepping to the bed she reaches across me, offering her hand to her sister. In my arms Avery tenses, she hesitates to take her sister’s hand.

  The room falls quiet, until Cress breaks the silence. “Are you shitting us right now, Bay. Sorry, really? That’s all you’ve got?” Cress scoffs, her disdain for Baylor shining brightly at this moment. “You better start talking now, bitch, and don’t even think about lying to us.”

  “Shut it, Cressida,” Baylor snaps, “No one asked for your opinion. No one wants you here. Go home to your bastard child. You aren’t needed here.”

  Cress lunges for Bay but Preston pulls her back and stops her.

  “That’s enough!” I roar, jumping out of the bed I step to Baylor. I’m fuming right now. She freezes at my words and stares blankly at me. “Preston, can you please ask the officers to come into Avery’s room? They need to speak to Baylor here.”

  “Sure, no worries,” he says. “Glad you’re awake, Avery.” He turns to Cress. “Come on, Cress.”

  She rolls her eyes at him but when he stares her down, she relents. “Fine.” Walking to the bed, she reaches out and squeezes Ave’s hands. “I’ll be right outside. I’m so mad at you right now, but I’m also glad you’re okay.” She bends down and kisses her on the cheek. She shoots a glare at Baylor and turns to face Preston. He places his hand low on her back and guides a reluctant Cress out of the room with him. The two of them walking precariously close together.

  After the door closes, I look to Baylor sitting in the corner. “Baylor, you need to start talking and you need to tell us the truth. Do not think about leaving anything out or lying.” She huffs, crosses her arms over her chest, and continues to sulk like a petulant child.

  Avery and I look at one another. She winks at me and flinches as she does. I wink and she grins back at me. Taking a seat next to her, I lean over and kiss on her forehead, I whisper, “I’m so glad you’re okay. I love you.”

  “Thanks. I love you too.” Her gaze drifts over to Baylor. “Flynn, can you please leave me with my sister for a moment?”

  “I’m not leaving you alone with her. She pretended to be you. Hell, she’s probably the one who did this and she’s blaming it on two innocent guys.”

  “Fuck you, Flynn,” Baylor angrily shouts at me. “I’d never hurt my sister like that. Never.”

  “Not physically you wouldn’t, but you did pretend to be her on several occasions. I don’t trust you, the only reason I haven’t kicked you out is because I want answers.”

  Avery cups my cheek in her palm. “Please, Flynn? I’ll be fine. Bay won’t hurt me.”

  “I don’t like this but okay.” I place another kiss on her forehead. “I’ll be right outside this door.”

  Walking away from her is harder than I expected. Stepping into the hall, Cress and Preston walk over to me, his arm around her waist. “Everything all right?” Preston asks.

  “Yeah. Ave wants to speak to Baylor.”

  “And you left her alone with that psycho bitch? I don’t trust her,” Cress says through gritted teeth. “One word and I’ll take her skanky ho ass down.”

  “You’ve got a live one there, dude,” I say, then they step apart and pretend like nothing is going on between them.

  “Flynn, are you sure it's okay to leave them alone together?” Cress asks me again

  Nodding my head, “Yeah, they’ll be fine. I trust that Ave can handle her sister.”

  Cress nods and agrees. “If anyone can handle Bay, it’s Avery. Look, I’m going to head to her place and grab a few things for her, I’ll be back soon.”

  “Thanks, Cress.”

  My gaze drifts to the door that I just exited, and I hope with everything I have, I didn’t just make a mistake leaving Ave alone with Baylor.

  35

  Avery

  The door closes behind Flynn and before the door clicks shut I turn to Bay, and for the first time ever, I let loose on her. “Baylor Martine Evans, you are going to be straight with me and you are not going to lie.” She tries to interrupt me, but I raise my hand and glare. She must sense that I’m more than pissed because she closes her mouth and stares at me. “For months now, you have not been yourself. You have turned into a big meanie head twatwaffle.” This causes her lip to lift, mine too if I’m honest. “You have been horrible, absolutely horrible, to me and I want to know why?”

  “Why what?” she snaps, crossing her arms defensively, like she always does when she knows she’s in the wrong but doesn’t want to admit it. She stares out the window at the darkening evening sky. I stare over at my sister and notice her shoulders are tight and high, she’s hiding something. It frustrates me that she won’t talk to me. Even though we’re fighting right now, we’ve always talked to each other, and her not talking to me right now hurts more than the things she’s done recently. “Why, Bay, why?” I plead again, but she continues to stare out the window. “Really, Bay, you’re just going to ignore me?” Slapping my hand on the bed, I scoff in frustration when the silence becomes deafening. “What the fuck is going on, Bay?” I shout. Her head snaps to me and I just know the next thing out of her mouth will be more lies. Raising my hand, I stop her before she begins, “And don't you dare say nothing. Bay, you’ve been on a downward spiral for weeks now. You’ve become a horrible human being, I want my twinsie back. Hell, you pretended to be me—”

  “We’ve done it before,” she snaps.

  “We were kids, Bay, AND if I remember correctly, Mom and Dad generally busted us.” She eyes me. “Okay, they didn’t always bust us, but we were kids. We did it for fun. This time, you tried to seduce my boyfriend AND when I was attacked, you pretended to be me.” Pausing, I take a deep breath. I’m absolutely exhausted but I want the truth from her. “Please, Bay,” I plead, “please talk to me.”

  She ignores me and I start to think she’ll never open up and then she turns to face me; she lifts her gaze to mine and my heart breaks for my sister. Her eyes are full of despair and brimming with tears. She bites her lip worriedly. “Avie, I’m in trouble, big trouble and I don’t know how to get out.”

  “Maybe I can help get you out. Please, Bay, just talk to me.”

  She shakes her head. “No, Avie, no one can. I…I’ve…I got mixed up with these people and I started dealing for them.” My eyes pop wide open at this revelation, my sister is a drug dealer. What the hell?

  “Are you using?”

  She vehemently shakes her head. “Nope. Never, you know I’d never touch them.”

  “But you’ll sell them.”

  She sadly nods her head. “The high of doing a deal is exhilarating. It's the best, most euphoric feeling in the world. I became addicted to the high of doing deals. I’d never felt power, or euphoria like this before. I knew it was wrong…” There’s the Bay I know and love, I think to myself. “…but I just couldn’t stop, and then I got in way over my head. Kye—”

  “That name seems familiar.”

  “He was another dealer and we became close. When he tried to get out…” She drifts off but I can guess what she’s alluding to.

  “He was killed,” I answer for her. She sadly nods her head, a lone tear falls down her cheek, which she quickly wipes away.

  “Ave, all this…” She flicks her hand around at me. �
��This happened,” she sniffles, “because of me. You’re in here because they thought you were me. This is all my fault.” She drops to her knees and cries. She shuffles toward the bed and rests her head on the mattress and continues to cry. I sit here and watch my sister falls apart. The grief of what happened to me and losing her friend, Kye, is crushing her right now. And seeing her like this, it’s crushing me too.

  She lifts her head and looks at me. “I’m sorry, Avie,” she sobs, she reaches out and squeezes my hands. “I’m so so sorry.” Her body shudders as she lets it all out.

  “Ohh, Bay,” I say. Trying to sit up so I can console her, I flinch in pain. “Arrrgh,” I moan, holding my ribs.

  Bays head snaps up and when she sees me holding my side, she begins to cry again, harder this time. “Ohh, Avie, I’m so so sorry. Please don’t hate me. I was so scared when I came home and saw what was happening. I didn’t want them to hurt me too. I didn’t know what to do. I panicked and pretended to be you to save my ass, but then it kinda spiraled. I was confused. I was scared. I was emotional. Once we got to the hospital, I kept up the facade. I don’t know why I did that. Please forgive me.”

  “Bay, come here.” I beckon her to me with my fingers. She takes my hand and sits on the edge of my bed. “I get why you pretended to be me while at the apartment, but I don’t get why you did it here? Or why you pretended with Flynn the other week. I don’t understand that.”

  “I don’t know why I kept it up once we got here, but it was nice to feel wanted again. I’d pushed you away and after losing Kye, I was all alone and suddenly there were people everywhere and I was hugged, and I liked that. Had you not got a tattoo, totally badass by the way, I would have eventually been found out when you woke but for those few hours, it was nice being you. You really do have a great life and boyfriend.”

  “You can have it too, you just need to make a few changes. What about the other week when you went to Flynn’s and pretended to be me? That wasn’t to save your ass, that was to hurt me.”