Pieces of Time

25

Michael's POV

"It's been over an hour and nothing!" I shouted.

"We didn't-" Emma started still in shock. "I thought she was yelling because she doesn't like being carried not because of the water."

"She's always screamed like that whenever we tried to pick her up." Patty added as I tried to comfort her.

"It was my fault." Calum sighed. "Hey mate, she didn't blame you." Luke said.

"It doesn't matter if she blamed me or forgave me, it was my bright idea to throw her into the water." Calum yelled. Emma wrapped her arm around Calum's but he pushed her aside.

"Look, Luke and I even encouraged you, we are all to fucking blame." I shouted.

"No one could have known that, that would happen." Luke yelled.

"Ashton knew." Emma said shyly. "What?" Luke questioned.

"No no, she's right. Ashton ran after them like he knew like-" I started. "-like he remembered?" Calum added.

"Remembered what?" Patty said confused.

I had forgotten that they didn't know about any of the situation.

"Nothing," I shrugged, "We'll explain later."

"No one is to blame here." Luke said. "We need to focus on Winter."

"And stop blaming yourself Calum, you complained the entire ride here and even security was getting annoyed." I snapped.

"I almost killed her!" Calum yelled. "She's one of my best friends."

"We all love her and none of us could do anything." Emma said softly.

"We just have to wait for Ashton to come out-" I started. "-and tell us everything is okay." Patty finished my sentence.

"Do you think John has found out yet?" Luke asked.

We all sat down in the hallway, leaned against the wall, waiting for any news.

---

Ashton's POV

"Winter is okay, for now." The doctor warned. "Do you have a cardiologist in Australia?"

Winter squeezed my hand tightly. "No, should I?" Her voice was shaky.

"What's wrong with her doctor? You've done all the tests and checks." I demanded.

"Winter has heart conditions." The doctor said. "Heart conditions? But I've been healthy." Winter said shocked.

"What type of heart conditions?" I asked. Winter was in utter shock and I needed to be her anchor here.

"To start, Winter has arrhythmia, or an in-normal heart rhythm , which is not uncommon. Most kids are born with this and grow out of it. But judging by Winter's age and the severity of it, it's here to stay."

"Severity? How bad is it?" Winter shouted.

"It has gone untreated Winter, for all this time." The doctor tried to explain to Winter but she was in shock and I knew it.