Don't you remember?

August 14th five years past: emergency

The day after our night on the water, we did not meet in the forest as we usually did. I slept in, and I'm sure the others did as well. Or at least that's what I thought. It was noon when the house phone rang. My mother went to the phone thinking it was just another business call. I was sitting next to the phone my Nancy Drew book in my lap.
"Hello,"she asked in her ever so polite manner.
The other line responded, but I couldn't hear word for word. My mother gasped covering her mouth with her now shaking hand.
"I'm so  sorry, we'll be there as soon as we can..." "...." "Let's pray it's not that." She turned to me, tears in her eyes and panic in her erratic breathing. She grabbed her car keys off of the counter and pulled at my wrist causing my book to fall to the floor. I followed her to the car silently. I didn't know what was happening, but I could feel mass panic hitting me in waves. I knew something terrible had happened. The sky was nearly black with an oncoming summer storm and the air was heavy; it was as if nature itself was sending out a warning cry. Maybe I should have listened. She started our old VW with its sputtering engine roaring to life. My mother shakily drove down our street.

"Mom, where are we going?"I asked looking out the window. We took a sharp turn on Cherry road, and in that moment, I knew exactly where we were going. The hospital. She rested a shaking hand on my leg giving me a not so reassuring squeeze. I could feel my heart start to raise faster. Maybe Lacey fell and broke her arm? Maybe Jake went over a cliff on his bike? Maybe Bellamy was stung by tons of bees and he's allergic to them? Maybe Eliza fell off the ladder at the library? All of these thoughts scared me, but in the back of my mind, I knew who's face I would see lying in a hospital bed. We entered the glaring white front office of the small town hospital emergency room; my mother still had her hand tightly wrapped around my wrist. The moment we walked in I knew my worst fear was about to come true. Ashland's father was sitting in one of the old gray waiting chairs his hair a mess and his eyes bloodshot.
"Delilah," He said standing up to see my mother. He walked swiftly over to us hugging her tightly. He was never one for hugs, but he had always had a fondness for my mother.
"Forrest, I'm so sorry. Where is he?"she said keeping a hand on his shoulder. He looked down at me with his tired emerald eyes. The way he looked at me made tears well in my eyes. This wasn't just a broken arm or an allergic reaction. This was far worse and far more serious.
"Um, may I speak with Lyra, alone?" He asked. He stood well over a foot taller than me, and looked so much like Ashland that my heart ached.
"Sure,"she released my wrist and walked over to one of the seats.
"Lyra, I need you to stay strong. When you see him, this may not be the boy you've seen every day since you were young. Please, always remember what you two meant to one another. Okay?"he said this with a broken hurt tone. Everything felt like it was shattering before me. All I could do was nod silently. The days to come would be the worst I could possibly experience. He took my hand in his and brought me to room 402 where Ashland was. I entered the room, and just like the others, it was a pristine white with a large window looking out into a slowly dying garden. A shiver ran down my spine as I stare at the weak looking body in the hospital bed. Tulips and roses surrounded his bed along with get well cards from relatives and townspeople who I doubt knew much of him other than who his father was. The boy was not Ashland, not really anyway. There was an IV in his wrist, and I could hear his every breath. Heavy and cold.
"Ashland,"I choked out. I felt as if every muscle in my body stopped working in a single instant.  His eyes fluttered open and his head slowly turned to me. His eyes looked sad and his skin pale, but a ghost of a smile adorned his pale lips.
"Lyra,"He said his voice cracked and weak. He propped himself, but a terrifying guttural cough came from him. I flinched, and I saw it in his eyes. He knew I was afraid. "I'm fine."he reassured, but I could hear the lie in his voice. He knew he wasn't fine. I ran to his side landing on my knees. The cold tile stung, but all I could think about was how this boy was a ghost of Ashland.
"What's wrong with you?!"I blurted out my voice anxious.
"They haven't told me yet, but I think I'm going to get it out of them as soon as I can."he chuckled weakly. He was trying to be him. I didn't want to cry in front of him or scare him, but I knew something terrible had happened even if I didn't know what it was. 

"Do the others know?"Was all I could say. My eyes were transfixed on the machine that he was hooked up to. Beeping and monitoring everything in his body. 

"Probably, my mother is informing the masses."He sighed brushing his messy black hair out of his face. He grabbed my hand."Hey, I'm fine, okay? I'm a king. Kings don't get hurt too badly ever."

"I hope you're right,"I said with a small smile. He was still there. Still stubborn. He stared at me with his intense emerald eyes. The rest of him seemed so weak, but his eyes looked like an adventure still waiting to happen. Like an entire universe captured in two orbs. I wanted to stare into his eyes for all eternity. They were so sure and so strong. 

"I always will be."He said his voice suddenly cracked and weak. He began to cough. Not a normal cough. It was violent, and I saw blood stain his arm. In a single moment, he looked so small and frail. The monitor began to beat erratically and I fell back hitting the cold floor. Fear coursed through my veins. What was happening?! Several adults dressed in white ran in pulling me to my feet and shielding him from sight. Their voices felt distant and muffled as their large arms wrapped around me. I tried to fight back. I'm not sure why. I remember screaming and trying to get to him, but to no avail. They put me in the waiting room where I sat in a chair with my legs pulled to my chest. I buried my face in my knees for hours not letting anyone disturb me. I stopped crying after two hours, but I continually felt as if my world was being burned to the ground. I wanted to tell myself everything was okay and that he was okay, but I could not convince myself. People came and went wrapped up in their own universes. Our lives would pass by one another, but they never would interact. They had their own issues, and they too had reasons to be sitting in the waiting room of a general hospital in a small town in the middle of nowhere. 

"L-Lyra?"Asked a small voice. A shaky hand was rested on my shoulder. I recognized the voice and lifted my head. Bellamy was sat beside me his eyes red from crying."T-they're n-not letting-g me see h-him."

"I know,"I said my voice just barely a whisper. I stared at Bellamy for a long time. His forest green eyes were clouded and sad. He stared down at his small hands. 

"w-what's wrong with h-him?"Asked Bellamy hesitantly.

"I'm not sure,"I said staring towards the two double doors that conceal the patients hallway from the waiting room. 

"We're going to lose him. I know it."He said staring forward into nothingness. I wanted to argue, but a voice in the back of my mind knew. Our universe was going to change.