❝Kid, don't do that!❞ It was as if I could almost feel him smile-Hear it in his voice, let the warmth of it deluge my heart.
❝Why not?❞
❝It tickles, Allan.❞ I looked into his eyes as he chuckled. Just then i noticed a strange spark of uncertainty a...
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Ashley sat on the benches in the waiting room. Her eyes searched for Gavin. Across her sat Emily, Jace's mother as Nishi wrapped her arm around her. A glimpse of emotions laced her eyes as she pulled onto the sleeves of her black sweatshirt.
The bland walls and torn magazines on a cold white rack in the corner suddenly seemed much more appealing to Ashley. Looking at Mrs. Gray twisted her guts. Something inside her moved every time someone new came around. Hospitals, according to Ashley, were the worst places to be in.
She looked at Cole who sat next to her. He was the only one that was allowed to stay other than Gavin, Nishi, Emily, and Mr. and Mrs. Colebrooks. He looked tired. His head relied upon the wall as his eyes were shut.
Ashley moved in her seat and straightened her back. She had no clue what was going on in the emergency room. Allan's parents had gone down to fill in the details required and Ashley assumed Gavin joined them.
Everything around her was a chaotic mess but what she found menacing was the serene silence. There were questions she couldn't ask and answers she'd rather not hear. She ducked her head into her knees as sleep deluged into her eyes and they fell shut.
---❁---
She stood outside her bedroom—white linens spread over her bed as she looked in. Crimson wallpaper remained torn from the ends around the door unveiling the white walls. She had suddenly entered her bedroom from years ago.
As Ashley walked around, her curiosity built up. She walked to her table to find crayons scattered across it. She noticed one roll and fall onto the ground. She bent down to pick it up but another hand reached for it first. She traced the hand to a little girl—hair the color of honey and skin that of porcelain.
Ashley recognized her younger self in an instant, as she smiled.
For a minute Ashley thought her younger self could see her. But there was only so much a dream could be.
The little girl lined the crayons on her table and went to bed. She tucked herself into the blanket. Just then Ashley heard a voice.
The door opened and there stood a man. "Are you still awake, Ashley?" The man asked the little girl in bed.
Ashley shook as realization took over. The man that stood by the door, who had moved across the room and was now sitting on the bed next to her younger self, was her father.
Ashley stood transfixed—incapable of any movement, eyes stuck on the little girl.
The man caressed the little girl to sleep. He fondled her head once... twice... thrice... as Ashley stood there paralyzed.
Relief began to ease into her chest, as Ashley saw the man get off the bed when the little girl fell asleep. He stood up and stood there looking at the little girl.
In an instant, the man's hand slid onto the little girl's neck.
Ashley shuddered as her muscles convulsed and she fell onto the ground. The man had her hands gripped around the little girl's neck as he squeezed her out of breath.
Ashley sat there, on the floor against her knees, unable to move, unable to scream. Tears gushed down as the grave voices of the little girl screaming found their way to Ashley's ears. She wished to cry out and beg the man to stop. But she could barely even part her lips.
Suddenly the screaming stopped. Silence invaded the room. Ashley could suddenly move.
She got off the floor, weak on her knees, and she rushed toward the bed.
She tapped her skin. "Wake up!" Ashley cried. She shook her once... twice... thrice...
The little girl had gone quiet and her body had grown cold in no time as she lay there breathless.
Just then, she felt a cold tinge on her hand. She looked down on the bed. The white linens had turned the darkest of merlot as blood spread across the bed below the dead little girl.
Everything after faded into a blur as tears concealed her eyes of any vision. She sat there with blood all over her hands as she screeched and cried out loud.
Suddenly the lights flickered and the brightness deluged everything.
---❁---
Her eyes opened and she looked down at her hands, afraid and trembling. She had fallen asleep. Cole's hand reached for her back and she flinched. She looked at him, eyes sealed with tears trickling onto her face.
A man walked out of the emergency room. He held a notepad with sheets tacked onto it. Everyone, including Ashley, stood up abruptly.
The doctor hesitated as he looked at the notepad. "Mr. Gray is suffering through excessive internal bleeding that has resulted in an epidural hematoma." Emily stood stupefied as Nishi gasped at the news. "As for Mr. Colebrooks—He has sustained mild head injuries with a severe rib injury that has caused his left lung to be punctured. That has caused pneumothorax which is a condition where the air gets collected under the pleural cavity."
Ashley turned away from the doctor. She pressed her head onto Cole's chest.
"They'll be fine. Alright?" Cole tried assuring Ashley, her head against Cole's arm as she whimpered in what one would mistake for fear.
He sighed. "They'll be alright." He assured her again, but himself more this time. She shuddered as she heard the uncertainty in his voice. "It's going to be okay."
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