Page 24 of Substitute for Love

“Patricia fell pretty badly at home. We’re going to need to take some x-rays to make sure nothing is broken. We have her at Palm Valley Hospital. She was asking for you at first, but she isn’t able to talk right now. Can you come?”

“Of course, I’ll be right there.”

Tears already heated behind her eyes. “I’m so sorry, but it’s my mom. She’s at the hospital. Can you….”

“Don’t worry about a thing. Go. I’ll take care of it,” Doreen said, handing Avery her purse.

Avery couldn’t drive to the hospital fast enough. It must be serious for Mom to be in the hospital. If she had fallen, that meant Mom was doing too much. Guilt swept through her as she navigated the roads, tears falling down her cheeks. She had moved home to help Mom, then this?

With a buzzing in her chest, Avery rushed through the double doors of the ER and was ushered back to Mom’s room. She lay in a hospital bed, her foot propped up. Mom’s eyes were closed tightly, as if holding back pain. Avery’s chin trembled as she tried to keep her composure.

“Mom?” Avery softly rested her hand on Mom’s on her lap. Slowly she opened her eyes, her eyebrows cinched.

“Hi. I’m so sorry, dear. I thought I could at least clean up around the house.”

Avery set her other hand on Mom’s cheek. “Shh, Mom. It’s okay. I should have been there for you.” A tear fell from the side of her eye as Avery offered a distraught half smile.

Mom shook her head. “You always take care of me, dear.”

The doctor came in and explained that her earlier injury at work, followed by a foot surgery, was still healing so Mom was definitely a fall risk. The x-ray showed a small stress fracture, and after an hour or so they let Avery take her home with strict instructions to stay off her feet as much as possible.

A nurse wheeled Mom out to Avery’s car, and they both helped her get into the front seat. As they pulled out onto the main road home, Mom let out a big sigh. “Good heavens. You’d think I’d learn my lesson. I should have been more careful.”

That reminded her of PE earlier in the day. Gabe not being careful around the kids and Lily getting hurt. Thankfully she was fine, but she’d check in with her next time she subbed. Wait, next time? Avery raised her eyebrows. Substitute teaching hadn’t been what she expected, but still she wanted to go back.

Avery set her hand on Mom’s knee. “We all make mistakes, Mom. It’s how we move past them that matters.” Saying the words out loud confirmed her belief. Avery had regretted being with Marshall for so long, but now she was moving past it. That was good. So she’d give Gabe the benefit of the doubt. See how he handled it next time she saw him. Then she’d know his true character.

Now what mattered was helping Mom recover and heal. Avery owed her that much.

Chapter 8: Gabe

Wednesday August 27, 8:30 AM

Avery was gone. And it was my fault. When she comes back, she’ll probably be super mad at me. And I totally deserve it.

He sighed as he held a basketball in his hands, telling the kids to play less rambunctious this time. Now he’d be the protector between the different groups of kids instead of being a kid himself. If he had done that to begin with, Lila wouldn’t have been injured.

He was always doing dumb stuff like that. Acting all fun and crazy, then messing stuff up. PE class. Jobs. Relationships.

That’s why subbing was such a good gig. It was very forgiving. But maybe it was time for him to grow up.

He wanted to pursue Avery. The more time he spent near her, the more he couldn’t think of anything else. But it was only a matter of time before he messed it up. Team teaching was a bad idea. Maybe the Fall Fling on Saturday was a bad idea.

No email had come in from his former professor about funding for the archeological project, but Gabe still hoped it would. He needed a fresh start where he could get down to business and be serious for once.

He excused the students to the locker rooms and finally the bell rang. Still no Avery. He had prep second period, which he had hoped to spend with her again.Nice going, Gabe.

He made his mandatory visit to Doreen, and popped in to see if Lila was okay.

“Hey, sorry about what happened earlier. We should have been more careful,” Gabe said.

Lila replied, “It’s okay. I’m feeling better.” She waved to Doreen and headed down the hall.

Gabe shook his head and let out a big sigh.

Doreen leaned onto the counter. “Trouble in paradise, Mr. Gabe?”

He pulled his fingers through his hair. “Well, I wasn’t paying attention and got a little rambunctious.”

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