Tangled
192

192 Ava: Mom's Legacy (V)

The hospital is eerily quiet, our steps echoing through the halls. Visiting hours are long over, and night shift reigns.

Vanessa is unfazed by the creepy quality of the place at a late hour, but I jump when the elevator dings, signalling its arrival in front of

1. us.

"You okay?" she asks, concern knitting her brows.

Selene-who's finally out from beneath my bed, though she refuses to talk about why she avoided me for the rest of the day- leans against my leg in silent comfort. "It's just so quiet. I'm not used to hospitals without people bustling around."

There's a giant machine coming down the hall in our direction, cleaning the floor with whatever algorithm powers its movement.

I always wondered how hospitals kept their floors so clean. I guess everything's automated these days.

Vanessa nudges me onto the elevator, pressing the button for my mom's floor before we've all even made it in.

Four bodyguards flank us. Massive overkill, considering that there isn't much we're expecting to happen on this visit.

Still, Lucas-and Jericho-are taking no chances on my safety.

Marcus, at least, is getting a break, and a new guy seems to be the one to shadow me for the night. He's a little short, but his eyes are black and intense, and I wouldn't want to be found in an alley with him in the dark.

•

10:27

log Ave Mom's Legacy (V)

He smells like death, Selene says. To me, such words are atrocious, like I should avoid the person. To her? She speaks as though she

admires him.

And that's a good thing?

Selene's ears flick toward me, and I can feel her side-eye even without her eyes moving. He is a capable guard. This is a good thing. Right. I guess that's true.

"You seem on edge," Vanessa murmurs, looking straight forward as the elevator numbers change from floor to floor.

"Just a little." I've been avoiding thinking about my mom, or her wolf. Avoidance has always been my specialty.

Healthy? No. But habits are really, really hard to break.

The walk to my mother's room feels longer than it should, each step heavy with dread. Selene presses close to my side, her warmth a small comfort in the sterile hallway. After a few turns, I realize that nothing seems familiar.

Each corridor is the same as the last, and yet it feels as though we're going in the wrong direction.

"Vanessa, did they move her?" I ask, confusion lacing my voice.

She glances back at me, a strange smile playing on her lips. "They had to make some adjustments for her care."

Her cryptic response does little to ease my apprehension as we enter the room. Two of our guards take up positions outside, whil the other two follow us in their presence both reassuring and 102 Ava Mom's Legacy (V)

suffocating.

The room is dim, the steady beep of machines filling the silence. Vanessa makes her way to the bed where my mother lies,

seemingly asleep. She checks the IV bags hanging beside the bed, her movements practiced and efficient.

I hover near the foot of the bed, my eyes drawn to the frail figure beneath the sheets. The sight of her steals my breath. It's only been a few

days, and yet she looks so much smaller, her cheeks hollow and skin pale.

She's not long for this world.

“The wolfsbane is taking its toll," Vanessa murmurs, her voice tinged with something I can't quite place. Pity, perhaps, or

resignation.

As if sensing our presence, my mother's eyes flutter open. They're dull, lacking the fire I've always associated with her. But when they land on me, they sharpen, a glare that pins me in place. "You must have come to curse me into the afterlife," she rasps, her

voice thin and brittle.

The accusation hits me like a physical blow, but I stand firm, saying

nothing.

"Why else would you be here?" She struggles to sit up, her arms trembling with the effort, before finally giving up. The vitriol in her eyes never fades, though. "To gloat? To see me wither away?" "I'm not here for you."My honesty cuts through the air between us, and she coughs.

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102 Ava: Mom's Legacy (V)

Even that sound is vile, coming out of her.

How can someone despise their daughter so much that even the sound of her cough is filled with hatred?

"And yet you're here, aren't you?"

"Calm down, Mrs. Grey." Vanessa finishes checking her medicine as a nurse steps in, holding a syringe and an impossibly tiny vial filled with clear liquid. "We're about to give you something for your agitation." "I wouldn't be agitated if you would remove that filth from my presence."

As much as I'm trying not to flinch at the words she throws my way, that one hurts.

Selene's gentle nudge against my hand keeps me grounded. Don't let her bait you, she whispers in my mind.

Vanessa accepts the vial and syringe from the nurse, whose eyes dart around the room like a cornered animal. She scurries out, leaving an unsettling silence in her wake, broken only by the beeping machines Questions burn on my tongue, but I swallow them back. Now's not the time to satisfy my curiosity.

As Vanessa carefully draws the clear liquid into the syringe, Selene's voice whispers through my mind, She'll be quiet soon.

A hollow comfort, but, I'll take what I can get.

I focus on my mother's face, trying to block out the vitriol spilling from her lips. Her features, once soft and warm, are now sharp

192 Ava: Mom's Legacy (V)

and twisted with loathing. It's hard to reconcile this

bitter shell of a woman with the mother I remember from my earliest years. Back then, her smile could light up a room, and her laughter was infectious. She'd pull me into her lap, tickling me until I was breathles The memory rises unbidden, a bitersweet pang in my chest. I latch onto it, desperate for any shred of the mother I once knew.

"Do you remember?" I ask suddenly, my voice cutting through her tirade. "When I was little, you used to tell me I was blessed before birth, that I'd live a happy life."

Her eyes narrow into slits. "Why are you dredging up such old, rotten memories?" Her words drip with disdain, each syllable a poison-tipped dart aimed at my heart. This time, I don't flinch.

I already know this woman is not the mother of my memories.

That woman never existed.

"I wanted to know if you remembered. If any part of you still cares

about those times."

A harsh, grating laugh fills the void between us. "There's no blessing, no happiness. Just the cruel reality of a world that chews you up and spits you out."

Vanessa, who's been quietly preparing the injection, steps forward.

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192 Ava Mony's Lerity (V)

"That's enough, Mrs. Grey. It's time for your medicine."

My mother's gaze snaps to Vanessa, her lip curling in a sneer, "You think that will silence me? You're just as deluded as she is."

But even as she speaks, Vanessa deftly inserts the needle into her IV line, depressing the plunger halfway. The clear liquid disappears into the tube, snaking its way towards my mother's arm. Within moments, Mom's eyelids droop, her words slurring

together. "You'll see..." she mumbles, her head lolling to the side. "No happiness... No blessing..."

Vanessa checks the clock before injecting the rest of the medicine. "There we go."

Mom's quiet, her chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. The sudden silence is heavy, the beeping machines almost welcome in the tense atmosphere.

It's not your fault, Selene says, and I latch onto the neutral tone of her mental voice. She lost herself a long time ago.

I know, logically, that my mother's hatred isn't a reflection of my worth. And the distance I feel now might not be there forever.

But at least I know I have several people to lean on. People in my corner, trying to help me. Making sure I'm safe. Wanting me to grow stronger.

My found family.

So much better than the ones who brought me into the world.