Rainbows after Hurricane

18. |p r e s e n t|

>>c h a p t e r   e i g h t e e n<<

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The night is windy as always, rains pattering onto the ground with a force, trees are making noises as strong breeze passes through it, churning Asher stomach into tight knots. He tries to blink back to consciousness, but for the life of him, he just can't find the energy to even move a finger. Whimpering at the back of his throat, he struggles to open his eyes only to see a bloody Ashley, lying beside him—only this time instead of being in the car, they are in a field.

Suddenly, all the air is sucked out of his lungs, as he fights to move his hand which seems to be paralyzed. "Ashley!" he shouts, hoping desperately for her to open her eyes, but to his great dismay, she doesn't. "Ashley, can you listen to me? Ashley, open your eyes."

Slowly, with agonizing pain searing through his every limb, he moves his hand closer to Ashley's unconscious body.

As he raises his hand to touch her to his astonishment, she is pulled away from him. He scoots closer to her, but again, she is drawn away. The more he tries to get closer to her, the more distant she becomes, leaving Asher with a completely boggled mind. It seemed like an unknown force was pulling her away, away from him.

He tries to stand to his feet, but the sharp pain in his leg stops him from standing. He hisses in pain, clutching onto his leg, but when he turns to the side to look at Ashley, he finds her slipping away into wilderness.

He cannot fathom what's happening around him and how the heck in the word did he arrive in the middle of nowhere. He remembered distinctly he was celebrating Ashley's victory over winning that dance tournament. How did he end up here? Where was Zach? And, why couldn't he reach Ashley?

               "No! Ashley!" He shouts, trying to crawl as fast as he can to reach her. "Ashley, hold on." He cries. He tries to get a hold of her hand, but she slips away. He crawls further, dragging his body to move, ignoring the stab of thorns and stones in his body, while he desperately shouts for his sister to come back to consciousness.

Just as he manages to grab a hold of her hand, the wind blows harder, rains hitting him in the face, making him lose his hold on her. Before he can even blink his eye, Ashley slips into the darkness leaving the blood from her hand to Asher's.

               "Ashley!" Asher shouts.

**

With a jolt, Asher wakes up, startling a few other people that were sitting in the waiting room, some of which even throws dirty looks his way. Asher, obviously unaware about the dirty looks thrown at him, pants heavily. His chest heaves up and down, as he tries to calm down his breathing to a regular pace whilst his heart thuds at an abnormally fast speed.

Seconds later, he feels a warm hand rubbing his back in a soothing circle, whispering him to calm down softly. In instant, he finds himself calming down, his breathing coming back to its regular pace and his heart, once again starts beating normally.

                   "Thanks Jason..." Asher turns his head to the side, and the sight of the person sitting next to him leaves him shocked, and awestruck, his words getting stuck in his throat. "Z—Zach?"

If the disbelief offended Zach, he let it pass, as he scrutinizes Asher with his calculating gaze mixed with an emotion which Asher hadn't seen for him for nearly two years......concern. There's a concern in Zach's eyes and Asher cannot mistaken it for anything else.