Resurrection

Selfishness

"Ow!" Alex yelled out painfully as I stitched her cut back together.

"This is what you get for not listening to me," I shot her a 'I told you so' look.

"Shut up," she mumbled and grind her teeth together to keep another scream from exiting her mouth.

I stood up.

"I'm done," I told her and put away the scissor and needle. She rolled her shirt back down and let out a huge breath.

"Has Max contacted you?" I asked her.

She sat up on the sofa, careful not to ruin the stitches in any other way.

"No," she answered while watching for my reaction, "He changed his phone."

"Of course he changed his phone," I muttered to myself, "He's using a burner."

"I really think you should stop trying to find him," Alex said softly.

I looked her in the eye, "What?"

"Look, you know he doesn't want you looking for him and that's probably for a good reason. You should let him come to you when he's ready," she explained it further.

I looked away from her and let my eyes concentrate on the table in front of me.

"Instead of finding someone who doesn't want to be found, you should find the people who are looking for you."

I hated to admit it, but she was right.

I felt an tightening feeling in my chest and my attention went to the front door. Then there was a knock at the door.

Alex tensed up, but I didn't. I already knew who it was. I can smell his cologne. I just didn't know how he knew where I was.

"Ava, it's Louis," he knocked on the door again.

Alex relaxed and let out a relieved sigh.

"For a second, I thought that was Nick," she laughed, "That was close."

She stood up to open the door, but I grabbed her arm to prevent her from doing so. She shot me a confuse look.

"He's not supposed to know I live here," I glanced at the door and back at her, "Did you tell him?"

Alex frowned and shook her head.

Louis knocked louder this time, "Ava, I can hear you talking in there."

His voice showed that what he was here for was urgent. I just didn't trust him.

"This is very important. It's about your brother, Max."

Alex looked at me, waiting for my decision.

I ushered Alex behind the couch and I stood beside the door with a gun in my hand.

"What about him?" I asked, confirming to him that I was in here.

"You need to stop looking for him."

I unlocked the door and gripped the gun tightly in my hands. He opened the door slowly and stepped in. I stood behind the door.

"Ava?" he asked, walking further into the apartment. I didn't see any earpiece or weapon on him, yet.

Then Alex appeared from behind the couch.

"Hey Louis," she greeted before looking at me, "Ava, put the gun away. He's not with them."

Louis whirled around and his eyes widened when he saw me with the gun.

"How do you know?" I asked her while pointing the gun at Louis.

"Because I'm a psychologist," she rolled her eyes.

My finger lingered on the trigger and I kept my eyes on him. He stayed silent and stared at the gun.

I slowly put the gun away but my hand stayed near the holster, just in case he does something he'll regret.

"Now what is it you wanted to tell me about Max?" I asked.

He swallowed hard, "I-I think you should stop looking for him."

"W-"

"Let me rephrase that," Louis interrupted with a confident voice, "You need to stop looking for him. This is not just going to affect you, Ava."

"I don't take orders from you. I'm not just gonna stop because you told me to," I clenched my teeth, anger rising up in my chest.

"I'm not ordering you. I'm as-no, I'm begging you to stop."

I frowned, "Why do you care? This doesn't concern you, so you should take a plane back to wherever you came from."

He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. He closed his mouth.

"He doesn't care," Alex said, disrupting the silence, "I mean, he cares but not to the extent of taking a plane here. Plus, he didn't even know where you were hiding out at."

"So someone must have told you to come here," I concluded and Alex nodded. She took a step away from Louis.

"So who was it, Louis?" I took a threatening step towards him.

He gulped.

"Was it the CIA?" I asked but he remained silent. Then I thought hard, "Of course it wasn't the CIA. They don't care if I look for Max. They're only interested in me and I wouldn't be here right now if they knew my location."

"Isn't that right Alex?" I turned to her and she nodded.

I turned my attention back to Louis, "So the only person this leads to is Max."

He kept his gaze on his shoe, but I noticed how he stopped fiddling with his fingers. He just confirmed my suspicion without realizing it.

"Where is Max, Louis?"

He continued to stay silent, and my patience was running low. I'm surprised I've contained myself so long. I was on the verge of having my hands wrapped around his neck.

"What did he threaten you with?" Alex asked him. His head rose up slowly until he was looking at me.

"I can't tell you," he answered quietly.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Louis, we'll be able to protect you if you tell us," Alex jumped in when she saw that I was about to lose it, "You need to trust us on this."

He shook his head and stared me right in the eye, "I don't know what's going on. What I do know though is that you need to stop with this obsession of finding your brother. It is not safe for you, him, Alex, or for anyone else. You need to start thinking about the safety of those around you other than yourself. Just for once Ava, stop being so selfish!"

He let out a huge breath after finishing his speech. Alex was glancing between me and him, but her eyes lingered on me. I was surprised with everything he said. My feet was frozen to the ground as I stared at him blankly.

He scoffed to himself and bumped into my shoulder as he walked past me and out the door. I stayed rooted in place, not moving or blinking.

"You're no-"

"No," I answered her unfinished question. I wasn't going to go after him.

"Okay," she replied softly.

I sat down on the couch and stared blankly at the opened door.

Have I really been that selfish?