Along came Kirstin

Horrible days to a happy ending

A few weeks after Kirstie left Avi, they both haven't been doing very well. Avi did start drinking more and all he did was eat and sleep. Scott tried to get him moving but he refused. Avi was so disappointed in himself for hurting Kirstie. At least he was eating and occasionally showering thanks to Scott. But Kirstie... She wasn't doing well at all. She was scared to leave her house anymore. She felt like if she went outside she'd just get hurt by something again. She didn't eat, she didn't shower, she barely got off her couch. When she did get off her couch it was go to the bathroom. After sitting around for a few days, she decided to be brave and walk around the block. It seemed like a nice day but cloudy. It wasn't as cold as usual and she actually felt a little better. When she finally felt like walking somewhere else besides her block, of course something happened. She was close to the Starbucks she used to always visit and she fell. She scraped her knees and hands pretty badly and sat on the side walk crying. A few minutes later a stranger walked by.
"Miss... Do you need help?"
Kirstie just nodded. The stranger held out his hand and Kirstie took it.
"I'm glad we're close to my house. I'll get you some bandaids."
They started walking toward the strangers house and Kirstie was close to passing out. She sat on the porch and waited for the stranger.
"I brought some rubbing alcohol to clean you up... It's going to burn a little so I'm sorry."
Kirstie nodded again and let the stranger start cleaning. As soon as the burning sensation hit her, she passed out. The stranger didn't notice until he finished.
"Miss... Oh no..."
He ran into his house and called the paramedics. They can ad brought Kirstie to the hospital. Her blood sugar was low, she was dehydrated, and her body was slowly losing very important nutrients. The doctor managed to wake Kirstie up and the first thing she said was, " Avi Kaplan." The workers found Avi and called him and he got there quickly. They led him into the room and he saw Kirstie hooked up to a lot of machines.
"She asked for you as soon as she woke up and hasn't said anything else."
"Thank you Doctor."
Avi walked to Kirstie and took her hand.
"Kirstie... Are you awake?"
"Yeah..."
"What happened?"
"I fell."
"This looks a lot more than just falling."
"I didn't eat, or drink."
"For how long?"
"... A week."
Avi sighed. He felt guilty for not trying to find her. He could've prevented her being in the hospital right now.
"Why did you ask for me? I thought you didn't like me."
"You're the only person that's ever been my real friend. You're the first person I thought of."
"I'm sorry I didn't come find you, I'm sorry I hit you..."
"Are you going to do it again?"
"NO, absolutely not, I can't live with myself knowing I hurt you once, I can't stop thinking about you. I've never loved something more in my entire life. You're my world Kirstin. Not having you around makes me something I'm not. I'm not a good person without you. You make me complete. You make me happy and I feel like I have a purpose in life... And that's to love and cherish you. I love you so much, I never want to lose you again. I know you don't know much, but I promise you I will help you learn, I'll be there every step of the way. I want to marry you some day and have you forever. I want you by my side through everything."
"Avi... I love you too. I think I actually know what real love is now. I used to think it was hurt and pain, but now... You showed me it's something completely opposite. It's making me feel warm inside and happy. No one has ever given me this feeling before besides you."
She looked up at Avi who was listening very closely. He bent down to her height and held her face.
"Kirstie... I'll love you forever and ever, as long as you promise me to love me back because you not loving me makes me hate myself. I need you to survive..."
He gently kissed her and rubbed their noses together.
"I promise I'll never ever hurt you again."
Kirstie was silently crying and smiling.
"I promise I'll love you forever."
She let more tears fall.
"I promise you'll always be my everything."
She leaned back in and kissed him stopping his words. When they pulled away the doctor came in.
"Kirstin is free to go."
"Let's go home baby."
.
2 years later, Kirstie and Avi were married and living together. Kirstie never ran away again and Avi never hit her again. He stopped his drinking and fully cared for Kirstie. He helped her get a job at the little coffee shop where they first met and things could never be better. Although the kid situation... They have been talking about adoption and of course Kirstie didn't know what that was. Avi explained and Kirstie was on board 100%. But they agreed to wait a few more years. Avi had never been so happy in his life. He was a different man and it was all because of Kirstie. He always thought of the day they first met and how he thought she was so weird. No shoes,  raggedy clothes, not knowing almost anything, and having a strange way of thinking. He would never forget the day when Kirstin came along and changed his life forever.