He drew in a loud breath, having it essentially roll in his lungs before he responded.
“I see… I had a mother; I lost my father while very young; I do not remember much about him. I also had a younger sister, born of our mother but her father was unaware.” Avie’s head picked back up at hearing him explain,
“My mother could not defend me; I was betrayed by her in every sense of the word. It is… difficult to explain, but I needed her good word, pleaded for it, yet my words fell on deaf ears. She would not protect me, her own son. My sister, however, was only a child, she could not help. I cannot forgive my mother, but I miss my sibling dearly… I suppose we are similar in escaping them.”
Her hand placed on his, “I’m sorry, that sounds terrible.”
A lock of her hair fell from its place, Rhulle reached with his other hand and gently placed it behind her ear, “Sentiments are the same for you, how could those who should raise you not treasure the sunshine you bring?”
Avie felt her eyes water, a swell in her throat as her breath hitched. She didn’t even tell Owen about her parents, trying not to think about them as Rhulle had with his. Rhulle made her feel special, they shared parallel events in their life and for the first time, she had someone tell her that her parents were not right.
His hand lingered there at the side of her face for a pause longer than normal while they sat, the truxen finally breaking the silence.
“I want to give you a gift.”
“But I,” she looked down at the portrait, then back up at him, “I just got one?”
“Then it is not a gift.” He moved upstairs in a flash to retrieve it, coming back with her violet coat draped over an arm.
“My jacket! You kept it safe this whole time? I owe you a huge thank you, you really helped me,” she laughed in a staccato, previous emotions threatening to break through with her elation.
“I did?”
“I could have been in trouble when those policemen were lurking around here. If they found my jacket so close to Garret, it could have tied me to the circumstances… Thank you, Rhulle.”
He would not admit aloud that he didn’t think he could befriend another human ever in his lifetime.
Avie was special, the first of her kind. No one else in the town would dare do what she did. Rhulle found himself enjoying her company immensely, she was the incandescent rays beaming through catastrophic clouds—brought with her each and every interaction.
He found a bond with her that was completely unexpected, them sharing much of the same wavelengths, even calamity through parental figures were understood. Rhulle could see that she had not talked about her own to anyone else, he had been the only one.
Even now as she smiled holding the purple coat, thanking him over a simple decision that caused him so much strife earlier, it led to an opposite reaction upon seeing the gratitude.
Something stirred in him that he couldn’t place. His eyes washed over her and felt… different, unlike the usual feelings of inquisitiveness and joy, it had felt almost—sad? He mentally shook his head, that couldn’t have been right.
How could he feel sadness when he sat across her, enjoying her company?
Rhulle could be reading it wrong, she did after all, bring out a plethora of new questions and emotions since the first time they unofficially met.
It would just take some time to sort out officially.
CHAPTER 11
The prick of the needle nestled itself in Avie’s arm, drawing vial after vial of blood.
She wanted a little more than a simple blood test if her type didn’t match up on a standard placard, if she had rare blood, Avie wanted to donate just in case. It was peculiar that she didn’t fall into the standard blood groups, and while she understood that it was far more complicated than antigens measured and reacting with substances, there shouldn’t be anything alarming just because it didn’t show up with a main blood group, right?
The nurse placed a cotton ball on the puncture mark, taking only four containers of her blood, fixating labels on all the tubes.
“You’re all done, Miss. Conrad. Now, these can go out asap, but the results may take a few weeks.”
“That sounds fine, do I need to do anything?”
The nurse wrote down a quick script on a clipboard, not looking up, “No, we will call you. You’re all done.”
The woman excused herself, deciding on grabbing something sweet to eat from J&K’s. Even if she didn’t have that much blood drawn, having something with sugar couldn’t hurt.
Sandra was working again, Avie caught her eyes as soon as she entered, giving a little wave to the waitress in the quieter transition between bustling times. Her cleaning rag stopped mid swipe, coming up to the young woman with a grin.
“Avie! You’re never gonna guess what, sugar!”
“What? What’s going on?” she laughed, joining in on Sandra’s excitement with a hug from the taller of the two.
“They approved me for a promotion! I’m going to be making way more and working less!”
The pair split apart, Avie’s jaw dropping in awe over the waitress’ good news, “That’s incredible, congratulations, Sandy! You’re the only one that deserved it, I’m so happy for you!”
They hugged again, caught in the moment, “C’mon, I’ve got the best seat in the house for you.” She was led towards the back, sitting in the baby blue seat, taking in that herself and only one other patron occupied the diner. “Sugar, you want the usual?”
She reached for the dessert menu instead, “No thank you, I’m trying to stay away from poultry. How did you get the job, anyway?”
Sandra sat on the other side of the booth with her, leaning forward, “Elaine left. I think she was one of
