Page 84 of Echoes

"Vivian?"

My former nemesis glares back at me, rising to her feet. "What?!"

Dr. Markel is unfazed at our awkward exchange, walking over to put a hand on Vivian's shoulder. "Ms. Capello, you'll be working with Ms. White this morning. If you want to continue the filing, I'll have her start on the cleaning."

Sharp green eyes glare back at me and I quickly realize maybe I was too hasty at referring to our poor relationship as former. She's still hurt—not that I blame her—but on the plus side, she's not crying like last time I saw her.

Remembering, my eyes shift to her wrist and I'm happy to find the bandage is gone. There's a faint pink scar traveling up her veins and when she notices me staring, turns it away.

"Whatever. She can clean."

"Splendid!" Dr. Markel exclaims, picking up a bucket from the floor and holding it out to me. "Ms. White, you'll find gloves in there. Please be careful of the bleach. You can start in the office here if you like. Just give everything a little wipey-down. Not with the bleach though… just the spray in here. Once you're finished, you can clean the examination room with some hot water and a dash of bleach. Just wear the gloves."

I glare at him. "I didn't purposely do that—never mind," I grumble, grabbing the yellow spray bottle out along with an old cloth.

There's a knock from the corridor, Dr. Markel jumping in excitement. "I'm just going to close this door while I see this patient. Give me a shout if you need."

He disappears, closing the rickety wooden door behind him. Surprisingly, it blocks out all the noise from the examination room.

Tension fills the air immediately, and I turn, giving Vivian a tight smile as I try to pacify our shit morning.

"I'm glad to see you're doing better," I say softly. "I hope you're okay."

"Don't pretend like you care," she whispers angrily, grabbing a file and shoving some papers back inside.

As she jams them back in, I notice her cheeks become flustered. She's a shell of her former self—not the mean bully I knew when I started.

Before Sam's death she would have spat insults at me or clawed my face again. Now, she looks like she's struggling to hold it together.

I know that she leaked my file… I know that she hurt me… I know that her boyfriend assaulted me. But still…I pity her.

"I shouldn't care," I answer, spraying the front of the medicine cabinet. "You did some horrible shit to me."

I hear her pause behind me. Shit—is she going to attack me? Why on earth did I think it was a good idea to turn my back to her?

"Yeah," she finally replies. "I know."

Slowly, I turn around, watching as she leans against the wall behind the desk. Her mask drops, leaving her face blank. The green in her eyes appear more faded than usual, skin pale, washed out against her blonde hair.

"I'm not going to ask you why," I say. "I can already assume. But it doesn't matter. It's in the past now."

Vivian looks at me expressionless. "You indirectly did bad shit to me too, Avery. I lost someone because of you."

"I'm sorry, Vivian, but I'm not going to give you my condolences. If that makes me a bitch, then whatever. But your boyfriend was an absolute asshole. I just hope he was nicer to you than he was to everyone else."

"We all have battles. Sam had his."

I roll my eyes, unable to help it. "There's a difference between fighting to survive, and fighting just to make others suffer. Like fuck, Vivian—he tried to assault me. Your boyfriend was actually talking about raping me."

"I know," she sighs sadly. "And he paid the price for it."

My eyes shift to her wrist again, nodding my head toward it. "You deserve better. You still have a chance to redeem yourself. Don't do shit like that."

Vivian shifts uncomfortably but doesn't move her wrist out of sight. "It was a moment of weakness. I'm fine now."

"Good," I tell her. "Because one day we're going to get out of here."

"Doubtful," she mutters, turning back to the paperwork.

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