Ava Wakes
Chapter 05 - Ava Wakes
Ava woke eighteen hours later at St. Catherine Medical Center.
Her first clear memory was the railing pressing behind her knees.
Her second was Tyler’s face.
Naomi waited beside the bed with detective Serena Ortiz and Ava’s physician.
“You survived,” Naomi said.
Ava tried to sit up.
Pain stopped her.
“Tyler?”
“In custody.”
“My father?”
“Under investigation.”
Ava closed her eyes.
Eleanor had warned her.
Not directly enough, Ava once thought.
During her final week, the old woman gave Ava a silver bracelet and said, “Wear this until the first month after I am gone.”
The bracelet was registered with Ashcroft’s emergency system. It helped the railing identify Ava and send the highest-priority alert.
“Grandma knew,” Ava whispered.
“She suspected,” Naomi corrected. “She created safeguards because suspicion is not the same as certainty.”
Ava touched the bracelet around her uninjured wrist.
May you like
Her grandmother had not predicted the exact push.
She had recognized a pattern of entitlement becoming more dangerous when money changed hands.
