Having A Great Time With Sage

Chapter 5: Ezekiel

Ashley's cries followed me as I jumped from my seat and ran to the other side of the car cursing. I flung the door open and Josh, who had previously been out cold propped up against it, woke with a startle.

"Josh, c'mon man get up!" I grabbed him by the back of his jacket and half yanked him out of his seat, introducing him to the pouring rain that had us soaked to the skin almost instantly.

"Wait what's going on?" Josh held his head for a moment, disoriented.

Ashley let out a fresh sob that got his attention.

I struggled to move the seat out of the way, my hands shaking. In a quick movement, Josh pulled it forwards and I grabbed Sage out of the back seat. Josh made it seem much easier than it was, he was a lot heavier than I thought he would be.

"Ash, help Josh inside." I somewhat commanded her, remembering how he staggered to the car earlier. So we made our way inside as quickly as we could.

A nurses station sat just past the threshold of the emergency room doors. As soon as I saw it, I yelled to gather their attention, "Somebody please help! My friend got stabbed and he isn't breathing anymore!"

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Josh's face drain as white as a sheet at my statement. He stammered a small "Wh-what?" under his breath. There wasn't any time to explain further before we were swarmed by a mob of doctors and nurses.

Someone took Sage from my arms suddenly and whisked him off. The second Josh saw Sage unmoving on a gurney and realized my statement was true, his knees buckled and hit the ground.

"Josh? Hey!" Ashley, who was supporting him physically until that moment, shouted and caused the remnants of the mob to consequently take Josh off in a different direction as well.

Another nurse walked out from behind the station, directing the two of us down a hallway to a small waiting room packed with chairs and end tables littered with out of date magazines.

We sat down on one of the benchlike chairs in a short lived silence. I sank back, trying to find a way to get comfortable, Ashley pulled her legs up beneath her. I turned to look at her and ask a question, but before I could get anything out she broke down. Her arms latched around me and she sobbed, her face buried in my shoulder. After taking a moment to recover from my initial shock, I awkwardly patted her on the back.

Her dark orange sweater was waterlogged and cooling in the chilly air of the hospital. I wanted to say something to her about it, but I knew that the last thing she would have on her mind right now would be her own health and safety.

I wasn't sure how long we stayed like that, but eventually Ashley pulled back and sat up. She took a shaky breath and looked at me through her tears and said, "I told him that I love him, Zeke. I told him and then he died."

Her words were like an ice cold punch in the gut. I didn't know how on earth to respond. Her voice shook as she spoke, "Sage woke up for a bit in the car. I'd been talkin' to him, and he woke up and looked at me. He looked so scared, he kept trying to talk, but he couldn't." She started crying again, so she took a moment to compose herself.

I felt sick to my stomach listening to her, knowing that I was a cause of her grief. My thoughts were racing: I should've stopped Chase, I should've let Sage go, I shouldn't have run away when Chase pulled out that switchblade. Ashley was just trying to make sense of what had happened, completely ignorant of the fact that the person she was venting to had hurt the guy she loves.

"Ash—" I was about to explain the situation to her, but she spoke over me.

She held onto me a little tighter and sniffled a bit. "And when I told him that, he tried to say something back, then there was this look of just," She paused, searching for the proper word, "agony in his eyes."