Heartbreaker (Ashton Irwin)

Epilogue

He dragged his feet slowly across the gray pavement, a sharp, twisting pain rising from his gut as he approached the vehicle. His eyes roamed from the damage at the front of the car, to the streetlight it had crashed into. He stood in the middle of the small square lined by yellow police tape, the eyes of the crowd glued to the back of his head. He took a step towards the two men a foot ahead of him, their heads turning to him with sympathetic eyes.
"I'm sorry," Luke said under his breath as he looked down to his feet.
"No," he shook his head, ignoring the pity stares he had been receiving from his friend.
"Ashton-" He placed his hand on his shoulder only for him to shrug it off, rendering his comfort unwanted.
"No!" He snapped, denying the thought any entrance to his head, "She didn't abandon me, okay?"
"I'm sorry sir," the police officer beside Luke said to Ashton, "but do you know whose vehicle this is?"
He shook his head, "Madison doesn't have a car. She takes a cab to and from work."
"Do you know who was driving this car, sir?" He further questioned.
"No," he answered once again, turning to his blond friend "Why do you even think Madison was involved in this? It's not her car and they didn't find a body or video or anything."
"Ashton," Luke said softly, trying to calm him down, "she works a few blocks away from here and she hasn't been to work last night."
"That's a coincidence." He said stubbornly.
Luke sighed, his eyes softening as he turned to the officer. "But this isn't," he said reluctantly as he pulled the ziplock bag, bringing it in front of his face.
For a moment, he stood still, staring at the diamond ring inside of the evidence bag. He eyed every detail of it, a tear escaping his eye as he confirmed the suspicion. He knew as his eyes roamed the design that it was the same ring he had bought weeks ago, the same ring he had placed on her finger.
"No," he said under his breath, "no."
"Ash," he laid his hands on Ashton's shoulders, "she's gone. She left. I'm sorry."
"As long as you wear this ring, I know not to give up on you."
He shook his head, "I guess it's time to let her go."

***

"What's the patient's name?" The nurse looked up to ask him.
"Danika," he responded, "Danika Anderson."
"Danika Anderson," she uttered each syllable as she wrote the name down on her clipboard.
With that, they rushed her to the emergency room leaving Andrew to wait outside, hoping she would be okay.

"When did you find out?" His friend asked in a low voice.
Andrew's blue eyes turned to his direction, worry filling inside them. "I always knew."
"I always knew, I just pretended but I couldn't forget that face of hers."

Somewhere at the other end was a girl. She had died last night only to be revived in the operating room. She layed on the hospital bed, staring at the white ceiling with a blank mind. Her eyes roamed the hospital room in confusion as she wondered where, how and why she was there. Why she had a tube connected through her body and a sack of blood running down to enter her veins, she was ignorant of.
Her eyes turned to the door where a tall, blue-eyed man stood leaning at the door frame, staring at her with tearful eyes. He stepped forward, slowly approaching her hospital bed.
"Who are you?" She asked, looking up at the man in bewilderment, "Who am I?"

She was alive and breathing somewhere on the other side, but she had no idea who she was, how she ended up there or that her heart even stopped. She was dead for a moment until she was revived in the hospital emergency room. She laid on the hospital bed unaware that someone was out there, heartbroken as he clutched onto the last thing he had left of her. She laid unaware of the cruel past she had experienced or the justice she had left to serve. She was alive.... with no identity.

"Danika Anderson," he answered, "your name is Danika Anderson"