What Happened After

Chapter 9

"Here, happy eighteenth. Have a baby." 

Chapter 9.

          “So, about that Van Avery kid,” Anna drawled to me later that night, in our room. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me he was literally the most attractive person to ever walk the earth?” After seeing my grimace, she went on, “Not to mention the fact that you LIED to me about his disability to walk. You told me he couldn’t! I expected—if I were ever to meet him—to see some cripple in a wheelchair, maybe missing a leg or two. He’s perfect!” I had to stop her there.

          “Alright, alright, you’re right. He can walk, and I didn’t tell you that, but that’s because I didn’t know. I mean—I did know, but only since the day after Thanksgiving, when I saw him at the mall. And even then, I didn’t see him walk. He was just standing there. He never moved. For all I knew, maybe he couldn’t walk. He could have been just standing there for a week straight! The last time I saw him, before that, was from my seat in the back of my ambulance. Ruesso was in the front seat of his car, unconscious. I thought he was dead. When I got to the hospital, they told me he wasn’t, that he would be fine, but that he probably wouldn’t walk again. I took that to mean he would never walk again.”

          Anna blinked at me a couple times, then nodded, seemingly accepting my answer/unwillingness to talk about the issue.

          After talking with Ruesso and being interrupted by Anna, he decided to leave the campus and pick up the conversation again later. We made arrangements to meet the next morning, at my work. I had given him the address and called Taryn to make sure he wasn’t on the schedule for that day. The last thing I needed was another interruption.

          My best friend was pregnant when she died, and she hadn’t told me. This was a conversation that would require my full attention.

          “Seriously though, if you’re not gonna date him, I will. He’s the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen, and I’m not even kidding you. Did you see his face?”

          “Yes, Anna, I’ve seen his face. Many times,” I sighed, running a hand down my own face.

          “But have you ever really looked at it? At him? He looked so sad. Tortured, even. Hey, what was he talking to you about? Looked kind of important.”

          “Yeah, it was nothing. Just wanted to catch up, is all. We’re meeting again tomorrow morning.” Upon noticing the hopeful look on Anna’s face, I had to add, “No, you’re not coming.”

          She glared. “Killjoy.”

~~~~~~~~~~

          I was opening the shop the next day, so there was no one there when I arrived.

          No one except Ruesso, who was waiting in his car, parked right outside. He was nothing if not punctual. Before I got out of my car, I took in his. Instead of his now-totaled mint green Bronco, he was now driving around in a black one. The same exact car, but a different color. If that wasn’t morbid, I couldn’t even tell you what was. I got out of the car and knocked on his window softly. His eyes were closed, but as soon as he heard my knock, they shot open and he stared at me. I nodded my head slightly toward the shop and, when he acknowledged the nod and began to open his door to get out, I moved away toward the shop.

          “Shit,” Ruesso breathed as soon as we were both inside. “This is where you work?”

          “What did you expect?” I had to ask.