The Guy Next Door

26

Alex's POV

Ava's heart monitor steadily beeped in front of me as I sat beside her hospital bed, watching her as she breathed slowly in and out. My hand was holding onto hers as I silently willed her to wake up.

It had been almost a week since Ava wound up in hospital and I hadn't left her side. I've hardly slept and barely eaten anything all week, instead, just replaying what had happened in my head over and over again.

If only I'd been there 5 minutes earlier, I could have stopped all of this.

I looked down at my hand holding onto hers. There was a million things I wanted to say to her right now, if only she'd just wake up.

Fuck it.

"Hey sugar." I said, my eyes flickering to her face. She looked so peaceful as she slept, her lips slightly parted and her cheeks rosy as her face slowly began to regain its colour.

"I'm so sorry that I wasn't there earlier. I should have been there. I'm so angry at myself for letting you get hurt but I'll promise you now, I'll never let anything happen to you again. If you can hear me, just please wake up. Please Sugar." I paused, looking at Ava but there was still no movement.

I looked down, scraping at the floor with my shoe before I looked back up at her.

"I came to your house on Friday because I wanted to apologise. I should never have slept with Britney, I know that and I regret it." I took a deep breath before the words that I had been thinking for so long left my mouth and I finally admitted something that I hadn't even admitted to myself, to Ava.

"I did it because I was scared. Scared of how quickly I'm falling for you. I've never felt like this about anyone before. Not the way I feel about you and honestly, it scares me. So I turned to Britney, I guess to try and get over you or to try and convince myself that I was just being stupid. But I wasn't - sleeping with Britney didn't change the way I felt about you at all and that's why I kissed you. The one thing I didn't want to do was mess anything up or ruin things between us but that's exactly what I've done and I'm so sorry for that." I explained everything to Ava, despite her not being able to hear me.

I shook my head as I thought about it even more. How could I have been so stupid?

"I'm so sorry Ava. Everything I said to you before - the kiss - everything. It was real. The day you moved in next door to me was the happiest day of my life." I said, meaning every word as my eyes flickered over every detail of her face before I looked to the ground, scraping my foot against the floor once again.

Why did it have to be her?

Suddenly, I felt Ava squeeze my hand and my head shot up to face her.

"Ava?" I said aloud. No response. "If you can hear me, do that again."

I waited silently in apprehension of what was about to follow. Thirty seconds passed and then a minute.

Nothing.

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. Maybe that was a good thing - it means she didn't hear what I was saying.

I sighed, leaning back in my chair and rubbing at my eyes with the palms of my hands.

God, I needed to sleep.

Just as the thought crossed my mind, the door to the room was pushed open and I turned my head to see Ava's mum entering the room.

She didn't look surprised to see me here as she walked in and stood beside me. "Sorry, I tried to get here as quick as possible. I got caught up at work."