home (halsey)

17

Ashley

I woke up in a cold sweat, a damp washcloth placed upon my forehead and bunch of quiet voices mumbling around me.

Peeling my eyes opened, I groaned when the light met my pupils and I felt everyone place their attention on me. I didn't know where I was or why I was there, but I looked around in a daze and through my blurry vision I saw Brian, my manager Tracy, Maya, and an unknown man in doctor-attire.

The room was so white that it was blinding, the dark blue curtains being the only things to contrast with the walls. Chairs were lines up against the wall and a TV that was mounted up on the wall chattered relentlessly.

"W-what's going on?" I rasped, swallowing quickly after I spoke to soothe my parched throat.

"Ashley," the unknown man spoke, smiling politely at me. "You're awake."

"Maya," I choked out, my eyes growing wide to see that she wasn't in the room anymore.

The man laughed, his pearly white teeth displaying themselves. He was a handsome man with dark hair, golden skin, and blue eyes.

"It's okay, Miss Frangipane. Your guests are outside. They just left the room. I can't have them in here when I'm examining you," He explained, pulling out glasses from his front pocket and placing them upon his eyes.

"Examining me?" I questioned, furrowing my eyebrows.

"You fainted, miss. From the information I gathered when you were first brought here, the cause of your unconsciousness was hyperventilation. Your intense panic resulted in irregular breathing, thus causing too much oxygen at a quick rate for your body to handle," He explained like it was nothing as he adjusted the bed I was on.

He said way too many fancy words in one sentence, I thought. I just fainted, give me a chance to warm up my brain.

He laughed, apologizing. Fuck, that means I said everything I was thinking.

Pulling the towel off my forehead, he placed it on the bedside table. He took the stethoscope off from around his neck, putting in the earpieces and placing the cold, stainless steel chest piece directly above my heart.

He listened for a minute, moving the chest piece off and recording something on the notepad he held.

"Heartbeat is slightly irregular, but that's something we can easily fix. For your arrhythmia, I'll be injecting Adenosine into your bloodstream," He said, explaining that he was going to get the medication from the pharmacy and return shortly after.

In the mean time, Maya walked in, instantly coming over to me and crashing her lips into mine. As she held the sides of my face, I saw that her wrists were bruising from the ropes.

I frowned, pulling her hands away and placing light kisses on her wrists.

"I'm so sorry," I breathed out, now kissing the back of her hand. "I'm sorry I couldn't keep you safe."

She shushed me, placing a finger to my lips. I frowned against her finger, looking up at her childishly.

"I love you. I'm glad you're okay," She smiled, rubbing my cheeks with her thumbs. Maya kissed my forehead and lowered her lips to leave a lingering kiss before someone clearing their throat at the doorway interrupted us.

We pulled away awkwardly, Maya tugging her sleeves over her hands and biting her lip in embarrassment. She muttered a quick "sorry" and stumbled out of the room.

The doctor laughed, shaking his head as he walked toward me with the box that contained my medicine.

"Girlfriend, I'm guessing?" He smiled, trying to rid the environment of awkwardness and silence.