Hell & Back || TYLER SBG

Chapter 15: Don't Go Getting Sappy on Me

The most the ER could do was label Danica with Functional Limb Weakness and a mild concussion, and call it a night with her. That was the only way they could justify giving the girl with no broken bones and no prior health conditions or leg injuries a pair of crutches and pain meds.

And although she wasn't discharged, after an hour or two, they let her sit in the waiting room with everyone else. While they had been checking her out, Ashlyn's dad pulled her outside. At least that's what Aiden said.

Aiden was the only person Danica really felt comfortable talking to right now. Logan was understandably a ball of nerves, Ben wasn't big on words, and she couldn't even look Taylor in the eye. Not when her brother was laying in a hospital bed unresponsive because he tried to save her.

So, she sat next to Aiden as they waited for Ashlyn to finish up outside. He was serious for once in his life—worried. It was a bit off putting, but better than standing with her mother who was up front chatting with one of her coworkers. She was off the clock, but Danica was pretty sure that her mom's brain never left the ER, the same way her brain never really left the phantom dimension.

"...What happened?" Aiden finally asked, turning to look at her.

It wasn't like she would have a hard time remembering. The image hadn't left her brain in the hours that they had been there. It just stayed in her head, and she blamed herself for every bit of it.

She took a deep breath, checking to make sure that Taylor wouldn't overhear them. She didn't need to be thinking about that. She'd tell her eventually, but not right now.

"Um...I was falling, and I saw him tumbling down after me," she said quietly, staring straight ahead, "and all of a sudden there was no ground anymore, and I kept on hitting branches until I hit the bottom and broke my leg. I think I hit my back too...I dunno I think I tuned it out."

"...and I couldn't find him, so I was dragging myself through a bunch of trees, and I eventually looked up and found him-," God, how was she even supposed to say this?

"He fell into a tree...and it punctured straight through him."

Aiden's eyes widened a little bit as she felt her throat closing up.

"Fuck." Was all he could say, resting his arms on his legs, staring straight ahead of him.

Luckily, there wasn't much time to ruminate on all of it before Ashlyn and her dad busted through the doors of the ER.

"Emma,"

"Guys,"

They spoke in unison.

"We need to talk."

________________

Ashlyn's parents had more than good looks. They also had a lot of faith in their kid.

Apparently, all of their parents had been seeing the phantoms as well. They had told each other around the campfire at the barbecue, so instead of thinking that they were on drugs or had gone insane, her parents believed her. They believed that the phantom dimension was real, and they believed that they needed help. That's why Mike Banner was taking his daughter into town for supplies.

Everyone else's objective? Convince the other adults that this wasn't just a load of bullshit.

"I'm sorry," Aiden's mother pinched the bridge of her nose, "you're trying to say that all of out kids have been going into another dimension every night. Full of demons and monsters?"