kissed him lightly on the lips. His eyes fluttered awake and he shot me his smile that once again made everything seem possible. Touching my face, he pulled me in for a much deeper kiss and this time I was able to give him back all he was giving to me. The more I responded, the tighter he held me and more fiercely he continued to kiss me. Desire started to turn in my stomach and I pulled back, knowing that he would any minute if I didn’t.
He looked at me lovingly and said, “I could definitely get used to being woken up like that.”
I smiled and then looked down at my fidgeting hands, feeling a little embarrassed. “I wanted to tell you goodbye before I headed back. Issy’s made some progress, so I wanted to go see her.”
“Just give me ten minutes, and I’ll go with you,” he offered sitting up and stretching.
“Oh, you don’t have to. It’s really ok,” I stammered, not sure why I didn’t want him there.
“Avery, I want to go,” he assured me, stroking my cheek before he stood up. “Ten minutes, I promise. Hey, you can print out your syllabus while you wait.”
He headed off to the bathroom and I didn’t argue, knowing I really didn’t have a good reason for not wanting him to go anyway.
I looked at his computer and scowled. I didn’t want to think about school. I just wanted everything to be back to how it was on Christmas break. I looked up my classes anyway and was pleased to see Thermo was the only one that posted anything yet. I had a different professor this semester and I could already tell the class load would be lighter. Relief flooded me as I noted that I was still well ahead of the class. I had already done the reading assignment and problem set due the first week and felt pretty comfortable with the material. My “back to the basics” strategy from last semester was definitely going to pay off. Work-study started up again next week as well, and Dr. Davis’ grad student had actually requested me by name to work the final phase of his thesis. I should have been glad, but the idea of another hundred and fifty hours in the lab made me kind of want to scream. Oh well, it was better than being known as the class flake.
I heard Parker’s door shut and looked up to see him walking my way. He looked more like himself, clean shaven with jeans and a black t-shirt.
He noticed me at the computer and raised his eyebrows. “Everything ok?”
“Yep,” I said standing up. “So far, so good. Hopefully I can keep it that way.”
“Are you kidding me?” he replied wrapping his arms around me. “You’ve got me this semester and you know what a good study partner I am.”
I started laughing as I thought about how distracting he was in the library, but he was right. I always did better with him, than without him, in every sense. I gave him a big hug, feeling the comfort return. He really was the best thing that had ever happened to me.
Parker and I reached Issy’s floor and could hear the shouting before we even got off the elevator. My stomach dropped as I immediately thought the worse. Parker grabbed my hand for reassurance as we walked toward the chaos.
The scene was out of a movie. Issy’s dad was shouting demands to nurses and doctors, while Jake stood toe to toe with him arguing about everything he was saying. Issy’s dad was the most intimidating person I had ever met, and even though Jake was only a couple inches shorter than him, I still felt as if her dad significantly had the upper hand.
“Mr. Summers,” Jake stated adamantly. “Moving her now is ridiculous. She’s already made great progress in the last twelve hours, and all of her friends are here…I’m here.”
Issy’s dad ignored him as he barked at the nurse to get the transfer paperwork going. She practically ran out of the room and finally he turned and acknowledged Jake. His voice was calm, but cold and condescending and the undertone of hatred was enough to give me chills.
“Friends? Really? The same friends who put her in this place to begin with? And you? Where were you when all this was happening, huh?”
I could tell his comment got to Jake because his face immediately became stiff and vacant.
“Don’t you dare lecture me