Chapter 2

Sienna 

The hospital's sterile walls and antiseptic scent enveloped me in a familiar environment. The soft beeps of machines and hushed whispers of patients could be heard everywhere. I rounded the quiet halls to the changing room. I could see the sun setting outside, causing a red light through the windows. Working as a nurse is so hectic many days, but I chose this as my profession so I could help people in some way. I don’t regret it at all. Today was one of those days where my shift ended early as there weren’t many patients here. This hospital, where I worked, was located near the highway, so it got crowded almost everyday due to accidents happening.

      I need to get home before Adrian throws a tantrum. It took a lot of convincing him to even let me work here without constantly being hovered by the guards. So naturally, if I’m late, even by a minute, he acts up. 

    As soon as I enter the room, I spot Ava sleeping on the couch. 

    sh*t.

    Last night I ditched her plans to go out. Today she was occupied the whole day with work so didn’t get to go off on me. 

     I try to change out of scrubs and into my regular clothes quietly so she doesn’t wake up. When I'm done, I close my locker, but I realize my mistake too late. My locker door was jammed before, so when I closed it, the metal creaked loudly. I winced with the sound. 

      I turned just in time to see Ava jerking up from her sleep and frantically looking around until her eyes landed on me. Her eyes narrow; I guess she can see the sorry expression on my face.

       “I see what you’re trying to do here, trying to sneak out before I can catch you,” she openly glares at me.

       “Someone's grumpy today,” I murmured  “I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” I said with a sheepish smile on my face.

       “Oh no, you’re not getting out of this. You ditched me yesterday. I was waiting for you to come, but you never did,” she hissed. 

      “See, that’s where you’re wrong. I said I'd try to come, I didn't say I would.” 

     “D*mn you, Si, okay, let's hear your excuse then,” she asked, rubbing her eyes and crossing her hand over her chest.

     “Uhh, I was watching this art documentary and fell asleep,” I told her, keeping the other part of the information to myself. 

      When I asked Adrian, he downright refused to let me go out. Saying something about his warehouse burning and how it’s not safe, the usual, but I don’t tell her that because I know she’ll definitely have her opinions. I wasn't too worried about her going alone. She's a chatterbox, and she could make friends with anyone she met.

     She squints her eyes at me. “You’re lying, I bet it’s that annoying brother of yours who won’t allow you to go out,” she said, brushing her blonde hair out of her face. 

     I once made the mistake of telling her my brother doesn’t let me take night shifts. Since then, every time I cancel a plan, she blames Adrian. I don't need Adrian's permission for anything, but when he tells me something to do, I know it’s because he wants me safe, so I oblige.

     “My brother doesn’t have to ‘allow me’ or anything, things are tense with his work right now. So I simply listen to him.”

      She knows to some extent about my family situation. The Moretti family’s name is pretty big here in Chicago, so even if I try to hide, everyone knows who I am. It's one of the reasons I only have Ava as my friend. Anyone who finds out about my family, they distance themselves right away. But Ava understands my situation in a way since her uncle is the head of the Russian mafia in New York. 

      Ava sighs, “Fine, I’ll forgive you this time, but don’t you ditch me again.”

     “I won't, I promise,” I said, hoping I can keep this promise.

     Ava’s expression changes right away from grumpy to excited, which would look creepy if I didn’t know how Ava is.

    “You know my birthday is this weekend, and I got the voucher for the newest and most expensive restaurant that opened last month,” she exclaimed excitedly. “And you’re going with me,” she rattled off the name of the restaurant that opened in the area.

     “Or we could stay home and have a nice quiet birthday,” I urged.

     She scrunched up her pretty face. “No, why would I want that? We’re going out. That’s final. You have to make it up to me.”

     “How did you even manage to get the invites to that place?” I asked her because I was curious too about how she got them.

      “I simply got them emailed to me.” She said, excitedly.

      “And that didn’t seem odd to you? They’re most probably scamming Ava.” I told her.

“No, they’re not. I even called their restaurant to confirm, and they said they sent out random invites to food enthusiasts. They probably saw my i***a account with pics of all the new places we tried.” she beamed.

       A sigh of resignation escaped me. "Alright, I'll go," I said, before suddenly remembering, "Wait, I have shifts this weekend."

      A big smile took over Ava’s face. “Who do you take me for? I already got someone to cover your shifts.” 

      I groaned while she laughed happily.