Crossing Center Ice

by Kimberly Rae Jordan

  One of the cops came over to where she sat with an EMT and asked a few questions before nodding at the woman to let her know it was okay for them to take her to the hospital. Avery wanted to protest the EMTs’ insistence that she go to be checked out, but she couldn’t find the strength to do so.

  “I’ll come see you as soon as I deal with all of this here,” Mary said, gesturing to where the police had handcuffed the man who had attacked Avery. The man was still raving like a lunatic, only this time his abuse was directed at the police.

  By the time she arrived at the hospital, her mind was focusing better, and she knew she had to phone and let the Callaghans know that she wasn’t going to be able to make it to their place for therapy that day. She hated not being able to do her job, but she was in no condition to work with Kenton or Emily.

  The ER wasn’t too busy, but she still had to wait to see a doctor once she was assigned a bed. Though she didn’t like being alone, she knew that was how it had to be at the moment. If only her mom would leave the house, she’d be able to be there with her, but Avery wouldn’t ask that of her.

  Taking out her phone, she scrolled through until she found Steve Callaghan’s information. She tapped the screen to call then pressed the phone to her ear.

  “Hello, Steve, this is Avery,” she said when he answered.

  “Hi, Avery. Is everything okay?”

  “Actually, no. I’ve kind of been involved in an incident, and I’m not going to be able to make it to work with Emily today.”

  “An incident? Are you okay?”

  The concern in his voice was touching. “I’ll be fine. It was nothing too serious.”

  Or at least she didn’t think it was. Compared to her last attack, this one seemed mild. Her life wasn’t in the balance, so she’d consider that a win.

  “Well, you take as much time as you need,” he said. “We’ll be fine.”

  “I don’t have Kenton’s number, so could you please let him know that I won’t be able to work with him today either?”

  “Actually, he’s right here. You can let him know yourself.”

  Before Avery could protest, Kenton came on the line.

  “Avery? What’s happened? Are you okay?”

  This time the concern she heard on her behalf made her blink back tears. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

  There was a beat of silence then he said, “You don’t really sound okay. What’s happened?”

  She paused before answering, not sure how much she wanted to tell him. “I volunteer at a clinic in the inner city and had a bit of a run-in with a disorderly patient this morning.”

  “Don’t they have security at a place like that?”

  “They do, but he managed to land a few blows before other staff arrived to pull him off of me.”

  “Pull him off?” Kenton’s voice rose. “How badly are you hurt, Avery?”

  “I don’t know for sure. I’m at the ER at the moment. He got me on the face and the shoulder, I think.”

  “Which hospital?”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?” Kenton asked, impatience clear in his voice.

  Avery lowered the ice pack she’d been holding over her eye. She blinked once, wincing at the pain. “Why do you want to know which hospital?”

  “I’ll get someone to drive me there.”

  “You don’t need to do that.” Avery found she was more touched than she should be at his determination to come to her, but she still wouldn’t allow it. “It’s really not necessary.”

  “So you have someone there with you?” Kenton asked.

  “Not at the moment, but by the time you’d get here, I’ll be with the doctor anyway. It’s not that busy.”

  Kenton didn’t say anything right away, but Avery could hear muffled conversation in the background. “Maybe. But maybe not. Just let me know where you are.”

  The pain in Avery’s head increased. She couldn’t deal with this right now. There was no reason for Kenton to come to her. There was no reason for him to be the one to wait with her. Why didn’t he understand that? They were therapist and patient, first and foremost.

  “Kenton, please, I’m fine. I’ll be out soon. And no worries, I’ll be there tomorrow.”

  “You think I’m worried about missing therapy?” Kenton asked. “I’m not worried about that. I’m concerned that someone I know has been attacked and is now in the hospital alone.”

  “I’m fine.” Avery put the ice pack on the bed beside her and pressed her fingers against her temple, wishing the pain would stop thundering through her head. “I’ve been through worse and survived.”

  “What?” There was shock in Kenton’s voice. “You’ve been through worse?”

  The pain was clouding her judgment and loosening her tongue. She needed to get off the phone. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Before Kenton could say anything more, Avery hung up and dropped her phone into her purse. She was lucky that Mary had had the presence of mind to grab it before she’d left the clinic. Somehow, she’d have to get back there to pick up her car. As she sat on the bed, waiting for the doctor, she knew that she needed to let her mom know what was going on. All she had to do was look at the app she used to track Avery to see she wasn’t where she was supposed to be.

  Retrieving her phone again, she held it in her hand for a moment, praying that her mom would be in a good frame of mind to hear what Avery had to tell her. There was no way to lie, and she couldn’t allow her mom to discover her location on her own. That would make things so much worse.

  She opened her eyes, sighing when she realized that her one eye was almost swollen shut. Why did this have to happen to her, especially when all she’d been doing was trying to give back, to pass on the generosity that had been given to her? Now she had to worry about upsetting her son in addition to her mom and brother.

  She glanced at the nursing station, but no one was paying any attention to her. Unable to put it off any longer, Avery placed the call to her mom.

  “Avery?” Her mom’s voice already held concern, obviously aware that there was no reason for her to be calling in the middle of the morning when she should be at the clinic. “Is something wrong?”

  “We had a little incident at the clinic this morning,” Avery said, trying to choose her words in such a way so as to not alarm her mom unnecessarily. “But I’m fine.”

  “Why are you calling me if you’re fine? Obviously, you’re not fine. What happened?”

  “I had a patient attack me,” she said, a tremor running through her at the memory.

  “What?” The alarm in her mom’s voice was high. “How badly are you hurt?”

  “I’ve got a swollen eye and cheek. And I’m probably gonna have some bruises on my shoulder and arm. Nothing’s broken.”

  “Are you at the hospital?”

  “Yeah. Just waiting at the ER to make sure everything is okay.”

  “Is there a chance something isn’t?”

  Having experienced when something wasn’t okay, Avery was pretty sure that it was all superficial. She’d only gone to the ER because when she went home, she wanted to be able to reassure her mom and the boys that she’d been checked out and was okay. They most likely wouldn’t have just taken her word for it, and she would have ended up at the ER anyway. This way, when she left here and went home, she could stay there.

  “I think it’s fine, Mama. Just want to be safe.”

  “Of course. Is someone there with you?”

  She knew that her mom would feel helpless, and her anxiety would increase if she thought Avery was there alone, but she also didn’t want to outright lie. “Mary is going to be here in a bit.”

  “That’s good. I hope you’re not stuck there too long.”

  Avery glanced around. “There doesn’t appear to be too many people here. Hopefully no more serious emergencies come in.”

  “Let me know when you’re through.”

  “I will. I’ll still have to go back to the cli
nic and get my car since I came in by ambulance. They came when the clinic staff called 911.”

  “Okay. I’ll be praying for you. Love you, sweetie.”

  Part of her did wish that this event was enough to pull her mom out of her paranoia about leaving the house, but even though it didn’t, she knew in her heart that her mom loved her. And she believed that if she’d broken down and pleaded for her mom to come, she would have. But the reality was that she wasn’t sure her mom would have been able to handle coming to the ER and seeing her like that. Especially if they didn’t know yet that everything was going to be okay.

  After she’d hung up, Avery lifted the ice pack back up to her face, but it was already losing the cold that had helped to numb the pain and reduce the swelling. She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat, hating the emotion that was beginning to take over now that she was left with the knowledge that she was there on her own. If she’d had a boyfriend or a husband, they would have dropped everything to be there with her. At least she hoped they would.

  Kenton’s offer didn’t count. She wasn’t sure why he’d made it, but she was not going to attach any significance to it. She couldn’t let herself do that. After seeing how well he’d gotten along with Benjie and Elliot the night before, his appeal to her had increased. And then his desire to be with her at the ER when he realized she was alone…yeah, that had only made things worse.

  “Avery Walker?”

  At the sound of her name, Avery looked up to see a doctor and a nurse standing beside her bed. Grateful for a reprieve from her thoughts and emotions, Avery was almost glad to recount the details of what she remembered from the assault.

  By the time the doctor was finished with her, Avery was glad she’d be able to tell her mom that there was nothing more serious wrong than some bumps and bruises. That didn’t mean she had less pain, though they did give her medication for it, but at least nothing was broken.

  Back in the waiting room, she used her phone to call for a taxi. Once it came, the driver gave her a sympathetic look before driving her to the clinic. She took advantage of the ride to call her mom and update her.

  As soon as Mary saw her when she walked in the door, she got up from the reception desk and came to her. “I’m so sorry I didn’t make it to the hospital. The police just left, and Liz left for the day, so I’m kind of stuck here.”

  “It’s fine,” Avery said. “The wait wasn’t too bad.”

  “How are you doing? Is everything okay?” Her brow furrowed as her gaze moved across Avery’s face. “You look…it looks…”

  “Bad. Yeah, I figured. I’m gonna go home and put some more ice on it. Nothing is broken though, so I’m grateful for that.” She hesitated then said, “I think it’s going to be a little while before I can come back. This kind of triggered some things for me.”

  “I understand completely. I’m so sorry for what happened. I mean, I don’t even know why Liz let the guy in for an appointment. It was pretty apparent he was on something. The incident will be evaluated, and changes will be made.”

  “Thanks, Mary. I’ll give you a call when I’m ready to come back.”

  “We really do appreciate all you’ve done to help out, but I’ll understand if you decide not to return.”

  “I’m not going to make that decision today. It’s too soon.” If she was forced to make a decision right at that moment, she’d never come back. “I’ll let you know.”

  Mary gave her a gentle hug. “Take care of yourself.”

  Once she was in the car, Avery texted her mom that she was on her way home then pulled out of the small parking lot behind the clinic. It was a bit challenging driving with one eye almost swollen shut, so she breathed a sigh of relief when she finally pulled the car into the garage at home and turned it off.

  Thankfully, the boys weren’t due home for another couple of hours. It meant she could deal with her mom’s freak out before having to handle Benjie and Elliot’s. Her phone chirped with a text message as she walked into the house. She looked at the screen, expecting it to be from her mom.

  Unknown: I talked my dad into giving me your number. Hope you don’t mind. Just wanted you to have my number if you needed to get hold of me. This is Kenton, BTW.

  Avery stared at it for a moment before shoving her phone into her pocket. She’d deal with that later, but first…her mom.

  “Sit down.”

  Kenton looked over at his dad, frowning as he came to a stop.

  “You’re driving me crazy with your pacing—such as it is,” his dad said, waving a hand in his direction. “Sit down.”

  Kenton let out a sigh as he made his way over to the couch, utilizing the crutches to let his injured leg bear a bit more of his weight. If he’d been at home and fully healed, he’d be in the gym working off his frustration. Unfortunately, his workouts were still limited to the upper body, and that just didn’t do it for him the way a good run on the treadmill would.

  “You need to just let it go,” his dad said. “She has no obligation to tell you anything, and she has every right to keep you away if that’s what she prefers.”

  He knew his dad was right, but for some reason, he’d gotten attached to Avery. Was it because he had nothing else to focus on? Even the phone call he’d had with the coaches and trainers earlier that afternoon hadn’t managed to distract him from wondering how Avery was doing.

  Thankfully, the team was happy with his progress so far. The video chat he’d had with them had included showing them how he was moving and giving them a look at his knee now that the bandages were off. The swelling was completely gone, and he had no need for painkillers. He knew that they were having Avery take things a little slower with him and track his knee extension and flex more intensely because of the level of fitness he needed to return to. That was a bit aggravating as he wanted to be further along. Walking without the crutches. Driving.

  “I just want to know that she’s okay. It’s pretty bad that that clinic doesn’t have things in place to make sure their staff doesn’t get injured.”

  “Yes, it is concerning,” his dad agreed. “But hopefully they’ll make changes after this incident.”

  Kenton rubbed his thigh, flexing his quad as he sat there. Though all of it had been rather shocking, what stuck out in his mind was the comment Avery had made about having endured worse. Had she been attacked before? Or did she just mean she’d been injured previously? Like in a car accident?

  Something told him that if he asked her what she’d meant, she’d brush him off. With any other woman, he’d think she was playing hard to get. Not that he was trying to get her, but he’d like to at least have a friendship with her. He was only there temporarily, so anything more was out of the question, even if he was beginning to consider a return to Winnipeg at some point in the future. The time between now and then was too long to try and pursue anything more than friendship with Avery.

  That didn’t mean he couldn’t be concerned about her. She was helping him out, after all. He wanted to fix this situation for her, but he knew she wouldn’t let him. She hadn’t even responded to the text he’d sent earlier. Not that he was surprised at that. He would just have to wait to see her the next day.

  The doorbell went, and his dad got up to answer it. He reappeared a couple of minutes later with a tall, distinguished-looking man. Though he was dressed casually, the man carried himself in a commanding way. He’d only met Max Zevardi once, but there was no mistaking that the man was powerful.

  Kenton got to his feet, careful to keep his weight on his uninjured leg, and held out his hand. “Good to see you again, Mr. Zevardi.”

  “Please, call me Max.” The man took his hand in a firm grip.

  Kenton wondered if he should leave but chose instead to sit back down on the couch. His dad could dismiss him if he wanted him gone. Part of his reason for staying was Avery. Max was the one who’d arranged for her to help his mom and then him. Maybe he knew more about her past and what had happened to her.


  “Did you talk with Avery today?” his dad asked the man.

  “Not today, no. Why?”

  Kenton watched the man closely, seeing the shock that registered for just a moment when his dad relayed what had happened earlier that day.

  “Have you talked to her since she was at the hospital?” Max asked.

  “No. Kenton offered to go be with her at the ER since it sounded like she was there on her own, but she told him no.”

  Max sighed. “That’s not too surprising. I’ll have to give her a call later to check on her.”

  “Did something happen to her father?” Kenton asked. It wasn’t the question he wanted to ask, but he figured that would be the one question that Max might answer.

  Max tilted his head, a wary expression on his face. “Why do you ask?”

  “Just curious, I guess. When Tristan and I went to her house the other night, we met her mom but not her dad.”

  Once again shock made a brief appearance on the man’s face. “She invited you to her home?”

  Now Kenton was curious about Max’s surprise at that. It seemed like maybe that wasn’t something Avery did. “Yes. She invited me to meet her son, Benjie, and her brother, Elliot. Tristan and I went and spent some time with them. It was really great to meet the kids, but I noticed her dad wasn’t there.”

  Sorrow shadowed Max’s face, and Kenton was surprised at how expressive the man was being. He would have thought that a man of his power and influence would be better at hiding his emotions.

  “Her dad, Kurt, was a doctor. He was actually one of the physicians who treated Maya when she was diagnosed with cancer. We became friends during that time, he and I, but about three years ago, he and his wife were in a horrible car accident. He died before they even got him to the hospital.”

  “Was Avery in the car as well?” Kenton asked.

  Max shook his head. “She was at university, and the boys were at school when it happened.”