𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐖𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞⁽ʰᵃʳʳʸᵖᵒᵗᵗᵉʳ ˣ ᵒᶜ⁾

- 31 -

The waiting game. The game was pretty self explanatory. You just had to wait. And wait. And wait and wait and wait until you couldn't wait any longer. That the dread of not knowing was completely over bearing and dreadful that ate away at you until there was nothing left.

That's how the Fox family, Ashlynn, Harry, and Mark felt.

The large group of people were waiting in and outside the hospital room for the return of Amelia Du Pont. Nora was siting in the same chair she was sitting, pretending that Amelia was in the bed right beside her with her hand in her own. Veronica and her husband had gone off to retrieve drinks and snacks for the rest of the group, but everyone knew it was so Veronica could relax her mind after running to do everything.

Ashlynn sat outside with her hands placed properly on her lap and her back straight up against the wall behind her. Thoughts swarming through her mind about the two men that were beside her.

Mark was on her left side, his hands on his knees and his eyes down casted to the floor below him. He was dying to talk to the girl beside him, but he couldn't think of any words to say to her. There were simply too much to say in such a bad time.

Harry sat on her right side, his back slouched against the wall with his legs slightly parted in front of him. He was tired and wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, but his mind was racing with thoughts about the girl and the womb beside him.

The three all had things to say with the wrong idea of how to say it.

"Why did you leave?" Mark asked quietly that Ashlynn wasn't even sure she heard it correctly.

For a moment, Mark didn't think she heard him, so he asked again. "Why did you -"

"I heard you the first time you asked me, Mark." She said softly, her head still facing the wall in front of her. Both men were surprised with how quiet and delicate her voice sounded. It was foreign to their ears and despised it immediately. "I couldn't stay any longer."

"What do you mean you couldn't stay longer?" Mark shouted out loudly, turning in his seat to face her. Her eyes still didn't face him as they stayed trained on the wall in front of her. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

"If she doesn't want to look at you, she doesn't have to!" Harry raised his voice and turned to look at Mark dead in the eye. The same look that Mark had on his face back at Amelia's penthouse was the same.

"I wasn't talking to you, asshole." Mark shot back.

"Yeah, well it didn't really seem to process towards Ashlynn, now did it?" Harry retorted.

"Stop it, now." Both men's eyes stayed on each other as Ashlynn continued to speak. "We are in a hospital. There are sick and dying people in here and I'm sure they would want to die in peace. So, act like gentlemen or leave."

Harry and Mark continued to stare at each other before Mark broke his gaze to look at the Ashlynn. He repeated his earlier question once more. "Why did you leave?"

"What the fuck, Mark?" Harry shouted loudly.

"Stay out of this," Mark directed towards Harry. "I treated you how I should've been treating you our entire marriage, how you wanted me to treat you and you decided to leave."

"You wouldn't let me leave, Mark!" Ashlynn stated, now raising her voice as well. Her head whipped to the man beside her and a pain struck look was on her beautiful face. "You didn't let me speak out, you didn't let me do what I wanted to do, you denied me the freedom to live. So, yes, I left. I took my bags and left and that was the most free I've ever felt in my whole lifetime. The most happiness I've experienced. I experienced all of this when I was away from you." She finished quietly, looking at her husband dead in the eye.