Page 96 of Avenged

ELI: Is this still about Ava’s dad?

No. Hell, no. I’d put that behind me…hadn’t I? Maybe the rejection of the Navy and only getting into the Coast Guard because of Eli was still with me. It was probably the reason I was always working extra hard to do things right, because I needed to prove I’d earned the spot he’d helped me get. I needed to prove I was good at what I did.

I was. I was damn good. It was why they’d offered me the temporary spot at the academy. It was just a short, two-year stint, but it was something to pad my resume with on my path to getting my own boat.

ELI: If it took you this long to shoot me down, it’s gotta be true. I don’t know how many times we can say it. None of that was a reflection on you. You deserve your spot. You deserve happiness. If Jersey is that for you, go claim it. Go get her. Don’t let anything stop you. I regret every day of the four years I spent without Ava. I wouldn’t ever let anything get in the way of her and me again.

ME: Okay, okay, Dad. I get it. You’ve made your point.

ELI: Thank God. My next choice was to wake Mom and let her give you an earful.

ME: Shit. Don’t tell her anything yet. She was already pissed I married her.

ELI: She was only pissed that you did it without realizing what you both had in each other.

ME: What?

ELI: She told me it was just a matter of time before you both woke up and saw what was standing in front of you.

ME: I don’t know how to respond to that.

ELI: Don’t. Just go get your woman.

ME: Aye, aye, Captain.

I threw the phone down and stood up, pulling on my jeans and a T-shirt. First things first. Dawson. And then I stopped. It was two in the morning. What the hell was I thinking? I couldn’t go barging off to Dawson or Jersey at this time of night. I was full of desire to talk to the two people I needed to fix things with, and yet, I was helpless to start the conversation with either of them.

As if he knew I was thinking about him, my phone rang, and Dawson’s picture appeared.

“Hey,” I said.

“Truck. We’re at the hospital.” Dawson’s voice was ragged and torn as if he’d been crying.

“What?”

“Vi…there’s been an accident.” He barely got out the words as emotions choked him.

“I’m on my way. Are you okay?”

I was out the door with keys in hand. It reminded me of what seemed like years ago, when Violet had called me to come get Jersey. The dead of night. The fog having rolled in. So much the same, and yet, so much different. A few weeks had changed all of us.

“They say I have a couple busted ribs.”

“And Vi?”

“They won’t let me see her. I’m not family. She was awake...” His voice faded, and I thought maybe he was crying. My tough-as-nails brother, who never let anything get to him, was fucking crying. My fears ratcheted up a thousand degrees.

“Have you called Jersey?”

“No.”

Shit.

“I’ll go get her,” I said, trying to stay calm, trying not to swear and scream and storm at him after what I just promised myself. After what Eli had said. I needed to make amends, not make things worse.

“Truck…” Dawson’s voice broke again. “I fucked up. If anything?”

His words were an echo of the ones I’d said just minutes before to Eli. The despair there rebounded across my soul.

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