[ AVERY ]

AVERY STARTED TO QUESTION A LOT OF THINGS at a young age. Why had her mother died? Why only Harry would play his chess games with her and her sister? Why did Tobias Hawthorne give everything to them?

Why did she have the most selfless, impulsive, amazing, and completely stupid older sister?
Now that— that she questioned as she watched the steady rise and fall of Arlene's chest, her gentle breathing, and the occasional beeps of the heart monitor were the only sounds in the room.

Avery's entire week had been crazy but these past few hours? They had been unbelievable.
Arlene had been out for over a day, Grayson was MIA, and Jameson and Avery managed to solve the puzzle in Blackwood and Westbrook but it just didn't sit right with Avery while her dear sister was here, lying on a bed. Very nearly dead before.

The media was going wild with the stories just pouring and pouring. 

Youngest billionaire shot for almost revealing the truth.
The Doll protects her Hawthorne.
The girl with a hitman's aim: What brought such gun mastery in a once average girl?
Arlene Grambs took a bullet for the Heir Apparent; What romance are we missing here?

All these articles, made Avery's blood boil. Why were they focussing on everything but the fact that Arlene had been shot? That she was almost killed. But that was the world, and the media gave the world what it wanted. Not what mattered.

Avery gently placed her hand on her sister's now-paling ones. Arlene had always joked about how rough her hands were compared to Avery's. How Avery wished Arlene would just get up and give her that lazy smile, shitty jokes, and loving gaze again.

Avery's fingers curled around the other's. Arlene had undergone intensive surgery for hours. By some miracle, the bullet managed to dodge her vitals, but it got stuck in a very critical manner. The doctors almost couldn't get it out but one guy managed.

Oren was fuming and Alisa was bombarded with calls and scandals.

Libby was heartbroken. Guilty beyond words. And Avery knew, that would pain Arlene more than a thousand gunshots all over again. Also, the amount of guilty brownies she had to eat soon. Maybe that would help a little.

The door swung open and Alisa walked in. Oren, who had been standing in the shadows, pushed himself off the wall and made his way over to Avery. 

"How is she?" Alisa asked, her voice carefully balanced and her face professional.

"Passed out," Oren broke his character and stroked a stray piece of hair away from Arlene's face. Avery started to see Oren care about her sister more than just for the sake of a job. " Dr. Kirugo managed to stabilize her. The man is a wizard."

The man Oren was talking about had been scrawny. He had an old man's face, but the energy in his hands made him feel his early twenties. There was this weird giddy smile under his mask, Avery could only guess because of the crinkling of his eyes. And the weirdest part? No other surgeon was allowed in the theater when he was in. Oren didn't like that, but it was either that or the risk of Arlene having a bullet permanently in her body.

"About that," Alisa's tone was not something Avery was used to. It was balanced, her face. But her voice broke when she said the next few words.

"Doctor Kirugo...doesn't exist."

——————

"Back the hell up, Lee-Lee," Nash glared from against a wall. The three brothers—excluding Grayson, Avery, Oren,  Libby, and Alisa were gathered in the hall outside Arlene's bedroom which she got transferred to a few hours ago, "You're telling me that the man who saved Leena's life doesn't exist?"

"Exactly," Alisa looked away.

"That's not possible!" Libby snapped. And this time, she wasn't a gothic ball of sunshine and fury. There was nothing but fury, "You're lying."

"Lying to kill my only client?" Alisa had a staring match with Libby, then she chose to address Avery and the others, "Doctor Vita Kirugo, according to staff files in the hospital, has no employment. According to the staff? There is no Doctor Vita Kirugo."

"So some ghost doctor," Jameson, who had been dead quiet until now, "managed to do god knows what on Leena and we were all sitting here like ducks?" 

The silence weighed more than the world. We couldn't speak or look at each other. Even Xander was so quiet I could barely hear his breathing. And then he broke the silence, "Did you check if everything with Leena is okay?" his voice was small as he fiddled with his hands.

"Medically?" Alisa glanced at her door, "Everything is normal. But mentally after she knows this... I wouldn't call it okay."

"You shouldn't call it anything," Libby snarled, "You had one job," she glanced at Oren, her glare blunting a bit, but still daggers at him, "You were supposed to protect her."

"From who?" Alisa shot back, "Your psycho ex-boyfriend? Do you think it's our fault your terrible relationship choices have come to bite back your family? Libby Grambs, your sister threw herself at that bullet, the sniper wouldn't have been stationed there," and in came the finishing blow, "If you had just rejected your ex the moment he texted you."

Avery couldn't believe it. Oh, she really really couldn't believe it. Alisa went there.

The Ortega seemed to have come to the same revelation, her eyes widened for a moment before she coughed into her fists, "Forgive me, I stepped over a line."

"Few thousand," It shattered Avery's heart, the broken voice that left a tearing Libby, "Few thousand lines of truth."

Libby turned and walked away, wiping her tears. Avery tried following her but Nash beat her to it. Avery really was having the worst week of her life. Choosing not to even glance at Alisa, she walked into the room.

Expecting her dear sister, sleeping peacefully, oblivious to the mayhem outside. 
Expecting the light shining on her resting face.
Expecting the soft breaths and gentle movement of her chest.

And yet the world gave her something else. 

The door yanked open loudly, Avery's eyes were wild. She looked at her company and then said in a low and terrified voice,

"Where is Arlene?"

·······•✦•······