Not Over You

You Can Let Go Now

*Thanks for the reads and votes guys!*

At this point, Ava was getting sick of seeing the inside of this hospital. She had called her mom on the way over and told her to meet her at the hospital. When they walked in, Margaret, Gemma, Juice and Clay were sitting in the waiting area, but jumped up at the sight of the women. Juice engulfed Courtney in a hug as Tara runs off to make herself useful. Margaret, with tears in her eyes, takes her baby girl in her arms as Courtney comes over and joins the embrace. “They say he doesn’t have long. Baby, I’m so sorry,” her mother says sobbing.

“How does this happen? He was fine just the other day,” Ava says.

“His doctor said the cancer spread far more quickly than anybody anticipated,” Margaret explains. Ava didn’t know what to think or do. She hadn’t felt this way since Henry died, but now, it felt like her heart was being ripped out all over again. The young woman hadn’t even noticed that every club member had walked in, including her Opie. He was by her side in an instant, holding her. She just stood there in his arms, which had become a habit these past few months. She couldn’t even cry anymore. Her eyes were all dried out. Everyone stood in complete silence, not knowing what to say to comfort one another as one by one, they all went in to say their goodbyes to a man who had become important to them all. As Opie comes out from the room, Ava realizes she is next to go in. Opie kisses her on the head as she begins to go in the ICU room that held her dad. When she walked in, he was awake and just stared at her. “Hey sweetie,” he began,” I was wondering when you were gonna grace me with your presence.” He smiled, despite the fact Ava could see right through it, and she knew he was in a lot of pain, but refused to show it in front of her. She didn’t really say anything, just got in the bed and laid there in her dad’s arms. When she was younger this was where she used to feel the safest, and even as a twenty-seven year old college graduate, the safe feeling was still there. “He’s a keeper, Avey. I think you made the right decision, staying here, I mean,” her dad begins obviously referring to Opie. “He’s gonna take care of you, and that’s all I could ever ask.” Ava found the tears she had been lacking earlier as she realized this was her dad telling her goodbye. He held her tighter as the sobs became more violent. “Shhh, baby,” he starts with tears in his own eyes,” Things are gonna be just fine.”

“I love you daddy,” Ava tells him.

“I love you too, baby. More than you will ever know,” her dad responded as his eyes begin to close.