Echoes (Dance with My Demons #2)

27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Avery

The next morning I'm woken up by a new guard—a quiet, older man in his late forties, who looks like he'd rather be anywhere but here. He barely speaks to me, not even manhandling me like the other guards usually do.

It's not too early thankfully, and surprisingly, I'm not taken to Mr. Whittingham's office.

"Good morning, Ms. White!"

I blink three times at Dr. Markel before I finally repeat the words back at him. Of course he's this chirpy in the mornings—when is he not?

"You've been assigned to my room this morning. It's not too strenuous, just some light cleaning and organizing."

"Fab."

"And you'll share the task with another patient. I don't like leaving it all to one person—it can be a little overwhelming."

"Right…"

Humming happily, he leads me through the side door in his office. I'm surprised to see his other room for the first time. In the corner is an old wooden desk, filed with paperwork and files. There's no sign of technology in sight, except for an old fax machine that's gathering dust in the adjacent corner.

Along the side wall is a medicine cabinet with the key dangling out, and immediately, my face twitches.

Maybe he takes the key with him when he's not in the rooms…

Seriously though—what is with these medical professionals? Did they hire from a catalog or something?

There's ruffling from underneath Dr. Markel's desk and when a head pops up to look at us, my mouth falls open.

"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.

I don't respond, letting us fall into silence as I start wiping the medicine cabinet. Eventually, Dr. Markel opens the door to check on us, seemingly thrilled to find us still working.

"How are you ladies going?"

"Fine," we both say in unison, not glancing over.

"Fantastic! I'll come back soon," he replies, humming Mary Had A Little Lamb as he hobbles away.

I walk into the hall for breakfast, frowning when I notice Theo isn't at our usual table. Instinctively, I start searching for Grey, mouth falling open when I spot him sitting next to Theo at the other end of the hall.

My feet carry me to the table, still gaping at them like a goldfish.

"Morning, babe!" Grey greets with a grin, smacking the seat next to him. "You're just in time for breakfast."

My eyes dart over to Theo who, except for his company, looks exactly like he normally does at meal times. He glances up at me, shrugging.

"I was summoned to sit at the Assholes-R-Us table."

I snort, quickly covering my mouth as I gaze over to Damon, a disgruntled look on his face.

"Grey put the puppy dog eyes on," he scowls.

"That's so sweet," I taunt, giving Grey a smile. "You wanted my company."

"Yep," he answers without hesitation. "And it's a package deal now."

Laughing, I nod toward the line of food. "I'll go grab something to eat and come back."

I opt for some toast, fruit, and gray-ish looking eggs, motioning for the men to separate when I get back to the table so I can sit between Grey and Theo.

Munching on a slice of apple, I watch as Vivian heads past us to the food. "We had shared duty this morning," I tell the guys, nodding towards her.

"Capello?" Damon asks, starting sounding interested.

"And what did she have to say?" Grey interjects, cutting his best friend off.

I shrug. "Not much. She seems really chill now. Just keeping to herself."

"Fuck her," Grey scowls under his breath, reaching for my thigh under the table. "I'm not done with her yet."

"Leave her be," I order softly. "She's paid her dues."

Damon puts his fork down, folding his arms on the table. "Since when do you give out orders?"

"Since the whole mess started because of me," I retort. "You said you would consider my input about her actions. I say she's suffered enough now. Time to move on and focus on other matters."

He observes me carefully, picking up his fork. I pause, wondering if he's about to fling it at my face.

"I don't think she's suffered enough, but you're right, we have other matters to deal with," Damon replies, returning to his food.

I beam at Grey, excited at my little victory. His eyes flash, hand squeezing my thigh. I can see it in his eyes…

I want to fuck you so bad.

Remembering back to when I first stood up to Damon, Grey had told me how turned on he was. And by the way he's staring at me now, he'd throw me onto the table and eat me for breakfast if he could.

"I have an appointment with Dr. Smith after breakfast," he whispers excitedly.

Lifting an eyebrow, I put my hand over his. "Play nicely, please."

"Theo," Grey says, not looking away from me. "I need Avery at free time today."

Damon makes a sound of disgust. "Could you not discuss your sex life while I am eating my pancakes?"

My eyes fall to his plate in amusement. "I expected more from you, Damon. Something more savory or spicy—like eggs benedict or the souls of your enemies. Pancakes, really?"

"What the fuck is wrong with pancakes?" he snaps.

"Nothing," I mutter, shaking my head. "Nothing at all."

Theo puts his hand on my other leg, making me look down. My gaze shifts between the two hands, both squeezing my thighs.

I look up at him, puzzled when he smirks at me. "What?"

"Nothing at all," I repeat, feeling flustered.

Grey stills for a moment, deep in thought. Slowly, he looks over my head at Theo, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe you can join us."

My neck lets out a small crack as I whip my head to the side, eyes-wide at Grey. "What?"

He grins at me, lowering his voice.

"What's wrong, little killer? Scared of the two big bad men?"