Episode 1091: Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Ava watched her father rise to his feet.

“Do not make this situation even more miserable for her than you can plainly already see that it is for her.” Cal pointed a finger at Phillip in a stabbing motion. “Do not come at Avalon with both barrels. She’s every bit as distressed as you are and if you are incapable of treating her with compassion right now then I suggest that you leave or I’ll see that you do.”

“Threatening me is rarely advisable,” Phillip said. He held up his hands. “But I’d react the same way if I felt someone was coming at my child in a vulnerable moment. I’m sorry, Avalon. I didn’t mean for it to seem like I’m on the attack. As your father said, this is upsetting for all of us, my tone of voice when I walked in here, well, it’s understandable that it could be misconstrued. You must be rattled by all this to say the least.”

Avalon nodded, then stood. “Has Dr. Marques called you with any kind of update? So far I haven’t really been told anything.”

“I haven’t heard from Katherine since that initial call and even then she didn’t give me much. I don’t even know why Sebastian is here, what happened to him, which is why I suppose I came on a bit strong when I walked in here.”

“A bit,” Calvin muttered.

“It was so awful,” Ava said. Tears welled as she spoke. “Sebastian, he walked out of the bookstore. I, it was hardly anytime at all before I went out there to talk to him, but, but by then it was already too late. There was this terrifying screech and an even more terrifying thump. And this smell, I guess like burnt rubber or something. He was just lying there motionless and bloody where the car hit him. I couldn’t – I – He-”

“That’s enough. You don’t need to say anything more, sweetheart. You’ve filled in your father-in-law, job done, time for some self-care while we wait.” Her dad put an arm around her trembling shoulders. “Let’s go find you something to eat and drink. We’ll let the nurse know to find us in the cafeteria.”

“Wait,” Phillip said, “so was this a hit and run? Reckless driver? Drunk driver? I need to know what I’m dealing with you and who.”

Knowing how Phillip Marques dealt with things, Ava gathered herself together enough to say, “the woman who, who hit him, she was very concerned and remorseful and likely not at fault. Sebastian, he just, I think he stepped out without looking.”

“Why would he do that? Only an idiot would cross the street without looking. That doesn’t make sense.”

“He was distracted,” Ava volunteered. If anyone was going to take the brunt of Phillip’s wrath it should be her, not the driver of the car who really had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Episode 1092: Cruel Summer