Survivor ~ Until Dawn

Chapter 4. Examination

Days after Until Dawn: 1

"Hello Miss Brown. My name is Doctor Lanfield, I'm just here to examine you. I've been told you and one of the other survivors had suffered the least amount of injuries."

Ashley nodded. She hadn't uncrossed her arms since they had all been picked up on the helicopter. It was almost a way to keep herself from screaming. Holding herself when they pulled Chris away from her for questioning. She hadn't seen him since then.

"We noticed you had quite a bit of blood on your shorts when you arrived but it wasn't your own. We tested it and it wasn't human blood either."

Ashley shut her eyes, remembering how Josh had been split in half. But it wasn't actually him. Explaining it to the rangers must have made her look and sound crazy.

"Pig blood. Chris and I found the intestines had been ripped out and used as a decoy in the fake body." She said it in such a calm voice that anyone that heard her would have been unnerved.

The doctor looked as if she had gotten a chill and shivered. "I know you and your friends went through a lot. A lot of trauma. It may take a while to get over it but-."

"I just want to see Chris." Ashley said.

It was the first time that Ashley had made eye contact with the doctor since she walked in.

"Chris is undergoing a scan currently. He had a puncture wound in his head. Part of a blank he had shot at himself made it into his skin. Not far, but we need to remove it. Blanks do cause severe damage from point blank range and your friend shot himself right to the head. He's lucky to have survived it." The doctor said.

"I'll see what I can do about arrangements of you going to see him but for now I need to complete this examination to clear you."

Ashley nodded and then waited for the instructions of the doctor. Reflexes were checked, knees and elbows. She had been checked for a concussion and was found to have one. She needed rest and medicine according to the doctor. Apart from her concussion and her black eye, it seemed she was relatively unharmed.

"You're very lucky to get out of there as unscathed as you did. All of you are actually. Your friend Jessica would have died if we hadn't gotten to her when we did."

The two continued the examination for ears mouth and eyes but nothing seemed to be wrong. "You do have a slight fever from the concussion. You should be nauseous and dizzy. The best thing for you now, is resting." Ashley tried to protest but the doctor was already headed out the door before Ashley could get her point across.

She thought back to how the pig blood had gotten into her shorts. Josh. His lifeless body. How the saw kept spinning well after it had chopped him in two. It moved the upper half along with it.

Sure, he was still alive but the way he looked made her blood turn cold. He really did look dead.

Chris had even chosen her to live. Then again when he had chosen to shoot himself to keep her alive. That's how it was always going to be for her. She would be put first with Chris. Whatever the situation.

She wanted to see him. But the doctor was right. The best thing she could do for him was rest. She didn't need to prolong her stay at the hospital. She had already been there two days more than she wanted to.

She wrapped herself in the blankets and even after that it felt like she was freezing. She made several trips to the bathroom that night. In an almost drunken state she stumbled into the bathroom, throwing up whatever was left in her.

Most of the time it was just vile but it did feel good once she was done. Until the next time she would have to get up again. After the third trip, she dragged a blanket off of her bed and slouched next to the toilet, falling asleep next to it.