002.
“Ava! It’s me, Zoe!” exclaimed the ailing girl in her arms, causing quite a bit of alarm to everyone present in the room with them. Then, without much forewarning, the incensed woman sat up slightly, grabbing Ava by the collar and leaning in close to her face. From the corner of her eye, she saw Damion flinch and upon meeting his gaze, received a silent offer of help via mouthed words and explanatory gestures. She shook her head, ‘no,’ in response—more concerned than worried at this point. “I have to tell you something—something important,” her sister finished through ragged breathing and the frantic darting of her eyes around the room. Ava frowned; of course, there was. Who had died this time? Did she really want to know?
“What? What is it?” she asked anyway, secretly dreading the answer. To her surprise, and mild disturbance—Zoe said nothing at first, a cheerful, if not slightly delirious smile spreading across her lips—a short laugh escaping them thereafter.
“It’s so good to see you again…” she said at last, conking out almost directly after. There was an air of pervasive silence that prevailed following this odd exchange, Damion being the one to break it with a question no doubt everyone had on their mind.
“What in the world was that?”
~
Leaning in the doorframe of the private room she’d requested Zoe be transported to, Ava stared at her still unconscious sister—wondering how their next interaction would go and what she had wanted so desperately to tell her earlier could be. Eleven years apart and she just suddenly decides to come stumbling back into her life. That was another thing—what had she been getting into that had made her so weak? Ava knew she’d always had a tendency to get a little woozy every now and then but never had she seen her this frail before.
“Hey, Aves,” the voice of Angie, a friendly colleague of hers broke her out of the unknowing amount of concentration she’d allocated to watching Zoe. Turning to face her, Ava put on the most convincing smile she could in her current state.
“Hey, Ange,” she mimicked, a subdued version of her usual playfulness going along with it.
“Oh, stop it—I’m mad at you right now—when were you going to tell me you have an identical twin sister?!” the nurse demanded, her tone thankfully remaining lighthearted in nature. Ava shrugged, letting out a sigh of dejectedness.
“I dunno—I never really think to anymore, we’re not exactly close, you know?” she confessed, hoping Angie would leave it at that.
“Oh, I’m sorry—did something happen? D-do you wanna talk about it?” she proposed, sounding regretful and subtly hesitant about the prospect to come if Ava accepted.
“Yeah, but it’s okay—thanks for the offer, though,” Ava replied, happy to give her coworker the easy way out. What had gone on between them was a can of worms she would not wish anyone to be forced to listen to.
“Alright, well—let me know if you change your mind.” said Angie kindly, leaving her with a gentle pat on the shoulder as she went on her way. Glancing down at the floor, Ava mentally prepared herself preceding her entrance into the space where the person she had up until today, spent so long trying to forget about. Approaching the bed where Zoe lay motionless in, she paused before quietly pulling up a chair to sit beside her. Looking her over, Ava couldn’t help but frown at the sight of bandages on various spots on her face. One at the bottom right of her lower lip, a few above her left eyebrow and one on her right cheek. She would have some explaining to do when she woke up, that was for sure. Yet even with all of these minor injuries, the dyed hair, and the manner in which she chose to reenter her life, Ava could truly see only one thing. Someone in need. And that someone happened to be her sister, no less. Talk of the past could wait until she was up and about again, at least.
Even so, that couldn’t stop Ava’s mind from going there, back over a decade ago…
~
November 5th, 2008.
“Ava—it’s time to get up! C’mon!” Zoe called to her from the kitchen of their small one-bedroom apartment. Ava groaned, the pep in her sister’s voice causing her to cover her ears with her pillow.
“Does she ever sleep?” she cursed under her breath, climbing begrudgingly out of bed. Standing immobile for a moment, her eyes first went to the clock on her nightstand—which read 9:30 am—and then to the tearaway calendar pinned to the wall closest to the window. November 5th. Her heart lurched in her chest. She knew it had been coming but supposed she hadn’t expected it to come so soon. Turning her head to the ceiling, she uttered these few words, “Has it been two years already, Benny?”
Pushing away the tears she could feel threatening to spill, Ava quickly made her way over to her closet—throwing on whatever was convenient but pausing when it caught her eye. His jacket. She wavered in her movement to take it—as if it would burn her the second she touched it.
“Ava!” startled, she took hold of it, and without another thought, put it on. It had been a while since she’d worn it—convinced if she did so too often, it would stop smelling like him altogether. She felt strange admitting it, but it was the truth. Ava sighed as she gave herself a brief onceover in the hallway mirror. If there was any day to wear it, she knew it was today.
“Ah, there you are! ‘Swore you were going to sleep through half the day! We have so much to—” Zoe greeted her cheerfully, delaying to place a plate of waffles in front of her when she noticed the jacket. “—What are you wearing?” Ava was slow to react—too tired to get angry at her sister’s tactless behavior.
“I can’t do anything today, Zo—I’m sorry,” she told her outright, aware her despondency tended to make her twin uncomfortable and stiff.
“Why not? I booked your favorite spot at the theatre—I was really looking forward to—” Zoe whined, either not picking up on this or deliberately ignoring it. Ava narrowed her eyes in disbelief, gritting her teeth as the sluggishness she had before rapidly fell away, being replaced with fervent frustration.
“’Why not?’ Do you seriously not know what day it is?” she implored, voice trembling with every emotion that was whirling through her mind. How on earth could she so easily forget what Ava had been begging to every day since? Eye-contact unbreaking, she scoffed when Zoe gasped, memory finally catching up with hers.
“Oh goodness, Ava, I am so sorry—it completely slipped my mind—I thought that was tomorrow!” Ava heard Zoe try to express but it was too late—she was already on her way to the door. “C’mon, you can’t be mad at me for this! Where are you going?!”
Ava spared her one last glance—cold and disappointed.
“Out.”
~
“Ava?” said Damion, pulling her out of the memory. He was waiting at the door for her, his expression solemn and serious.
“Hi, Damion—what is it?” she asked, getting up from her chair, and meeting him where he stood. Giving her look of sympathy, the nurse reached for something in his scrubs’ pocket and produced a white, medium-sized envelope sealed with a familiar-looking umbrella stamp. Ava froze—could this hold what Zoe had been meaning to tell her?
“Found this putting all your sister’s belongings together—no name on it or anything but thought you might wanna have it,” his explanation hardly registering to the shell-shocked woman across from him. Extending the envelope out towards her, Ava quickly thanked him and took it—excusing herself back into Zoe’s room. Flipping over the newfound card, she paused, eyes flitting to her sleeping sister. Should she wait until she’s awake? No, she had to see what was in it—she had to have something to go off of as to her unexpected presence. Whatever consequences that came with that, Ava would deal with later. Proceeding in her original motion, she peeled back the purple wax seal but what she saw on the paper inside seemed to only lead to more questions.
“What’s she need a map of the Umbrella Academy for?”