TRIGGERFINGER (ORIGINAL STORY) - SEASON ONE

S01E11 Loved Ones Lost! Tearful Goodbyes! (Part One)

"Is he waking up?"

Ash could hear voices talking as he slowly opened his eyes. The world around him was bright, and his eyes could only squint, blinking to bring about moisture. The ceiling of the room was a blinding white, the lighting above him not helping by any means. It took all of the strength his muscles could muster to sit up in the bed he found himself in, a blue blanket covering his body.

"He's awake!" He heard a girl's voice say.

He turned his head to his right, and there perched his friend Beak, a grin on her face as she got out of her seat flapping her arms. Beside her was his other friend Snout, her brother, rolling around on the floor in excitement. They both rushed over, grabbing Ash by the hand, who although happy to see them, was still delirious. He even wondered if he was just imagining things.

"Snout? Beak?" He asked, smiling. "What are you doing here? And where is here?"

"You're in a hospital bed in Corporate!" Snout answered.

"Corporate? Last I checked I was in The Frontier..."

"You were!" Beak assured him. "We missed the battle between you and the Hellhound but your friends told us all about it! Well, what they remembered anyway!"

"Where were you guys? I didn't see anyone there."

"Maximus Paige had everyone evacuated to The Caves. People from The Frontier, The Kingdom, AND Corporate so it was a really tight squeeze."

Ash could hardly believe his ears, why would Maximus have had everyone evacuated? It's not like he cared about anybody other than himself. Ash pulled back his blanket and examined his legs, they were wrapped up in bandages, as was the majority of his body. He thought back to the fight with Rian, a tear coming to his eye. He may have won the battle but truly, there were no winners. He lost two of his loved ones that day, and it was all that bastard Maximus Paige's fault. With gritted teeth, he flung his legs over the edge of his hospital bed and tried to stand. Snout and Beak tried to help him but he shook his head, he needed to do this himself.

He pushed himself out of bed and started walking towards the door, limping, his legs having seen better days. He staggered to the doorway and leaned up against it, forcing one leg in front of the other, each step taking everything he had. Snout and Beak carefully followed him, their arms out in case they needed to catch him had he fell. As he emerged into the hallway, there sat his other friends; Bolt, Meadow, and of course, Shade.

"About time you woke up slowpoke," Shade said, shaking his head.

Meadow rushed over and gave Ash a great big hug, wrapping her arms around him tightly. She started crying, apologizing to him over and over again. He knew what it was about. But it wasn't her fault, she had nothing to apologize for. The death of Marianne and Rian was not on her, it was on Maximus Paige. He was the one at fault. Ash gently nudged Meadow out of the way and continued walking down the hall.

"Where is he?" He asked the group as he passed.

Nobody said anything. Fine, I'll find him myself, Ash's thoughts echoed throughout his mind. Why would they be protecting him? Maybe he was dead. Maybe Kore had killed him after all. And in that case, Ash would have to find his grave so that he could spit on it. Using the walls around him, he navigated his way down the hall, all of his friends in tow. Scabs came around the corner holding a can of soda, sipping at it.

"Oh hey!" He grinned. "You're awake!"

"Not now Scabs," Bolt warned.

Ash stopped for a moment and started coughing, his lungs wheezing. He clasped his ribs, he was in so much pain. The most pain he'd ever been in. Physically and emotionally. Meadow rushed over and grabbed him by the side, helping to hold him up. She started guiding him down the hall, as people surrounding them watched. Is that him? An onlooker in a business suit asked the person standing beside her. The one who killed the Hellhound? I think so.