“So you think I should find out who she is?”
Julie shrugged. “If you feel the way you say, I wouldn't let her go. You owe it to yourself to at least find out,” she told him.
He nodded. He began to pace again. “Yeah, I do. I guess the first business would be finding out what she's here for?” he replied.
He stopped walking and Julie raised a brow. “She's having surgery? Right now?” she asked.
“She could be having a sex change,” I replied.
They both glared at me. “I saw that,” Liam told me. I shrugged.
“It is possible.”
“Then I guess my sexual orientation is about to change,” he said to me. I started to laugh, and Liam followed suit.
Julie raised a brow. “You both are the stupidest guys I’ve ever known,” she replied.
“That makes you stupid for hanging around us then,” Liam told her.
Shrugging, she smiled. “Probably so. But then again, I am helping you stalk a girl you don't know, and have never spoken a single word to,” she said.
“I thought you would think it's romantic.”
“It is romantic,” she said quickly. “But it's still kind of stalking.”
“Must be a family thing,” I muttered, and Julie looked to me because she knew I was referring to her and the nurse stunt. She grinned and nodded.
“Must be. Worked out in my favor though. You haven't left me much since,” she reminded me.
That was true, I realized. After meeting her, and Liam, there hadn't been too many times when I hadn't been with one of them. Every memory had them in it now, the good ones at least. I didn't tell Ava many stories without Liam or Julie somehow being involved in them.
“We're suppose to be talking about me, remember?” Liam told us both.
We both looked to him again, and I slurped on my Icee as Julie stood up. “Look, after we close today, Falon and I will help you hunt down your soul mate, okay?” she asked him.
Liam sighed and then nodded. “Okay. If we lose her, I'll never forgive either one of you though,” he pointed out, and then looked to me. I threw my hands up in defense.
“Whatever, man. It's not like she can run out after having surgery,” I told him.
“You better hope not,” he warned.
Julie and I laughed, and Liam sunk into a bittersweet world. It reminded me of an expression I had heard Ava use before, about being unhappily in love.
Liam was the epitome of unhappily in love at the moment.
♥
We did just as we promised Liam, but we couldn't seem to find her among the children's rooms, not that anyone wanted to help us. They all looked at Liam like he was a lunatic when he explained she was his true love, but he didn't know her name. It was quite a story.
“We'll ask mom, Liam. I'm sure she can help us,” Julie replied.
“Yeah, after she has me admitted in a psychiatric ward,” he told her, leaning up against the wall and sliding down. He looked defeated, and despite the cause being strange, I felt bad for the guy.
Julie knelt down in front of him, laying her hands on his knees. “We'll find her, Liam. If she's just been out of surgery though, she could be in ICU or something. I think we'd have better luck tomorrow,” she replied.
He nodded slowly, and frowned. “You're right. Don't expect me to look happy about it though,” he replied, pinching her arm playfully.
Julie smiled and they stood up. Liam shot me a look that was teasingly angry. “Don't look so smug, Falon. I will find her,” he told me.
I nodded. “I'm sure you will. You might end up in jail, but you'll definitely find her,” I told him.
He laughed and we walked out of the hospital together. Defeated, and unhappily in love, but the search would resume. That much I knew for certain.
♥
I came home to a quiet house. It wasn't unusual, but when I walked in to find Ava sitting on the couch, her legs jerking up and down, and her hands being clenched to keep from shaking, I knew something was definitely different.
She wasn't crying so that was a good sign.
When I came in, she looked to me, and she stood immediately, holding an envelope in her hands. She smiled slightly and handed it to me. I raised a brow.
“What's this?” I asked her, flipping it over.
It was from my homeschooling program. Had their dove logo on it, with the rainbow behind it and was addressed to Falon Walker.
“I haven't opened it. I thought you should. You were the one that worked for it,” she told me, and I realized why she looked so giddy. This would tell me whether I had graduated or not.
Staring at the envelope, I realized I wished Julie and Liam were here when I opened it. Especially Julie. If it wasn't for her, I might have quit altogether.
“Are you going to open it?” she asked, wrapping her arms around herself.
I smiled at Ava and nodded, ripping the side. I slipped the letter out and unfolded it. I started reading.
“Dear Mr. Walker, we would like to congratulate you on passing your final exams, and completing the-”
“Falon!” Ava cheered, quickly wrapping me in a tight hug. I choked at her grip around me, but I didn't mind. She was proud of me, and that made me feel good. Out of all the trouble I had put her through within the years following my accident, it was nice to know she was proud of me now.
When she pulled
