Threads of Fate: An Asa Butterfield FanFiction

10- Abulence Sirens

Alice's POV

"Hey, authorized personnel only!" A burly policeman with a mustache the size of Arkansas grabbed Asa's wrist and yanked him on the other side of the police tapes like a rag doll. Asa stumbled over onto the sidewalk and the man kept a firm grip as well as a grim expression on his face. As tall as Asa was, he seemed like a little shrimp compared to the officer standing next to him.

"Hey, what was that for?" Asa snapped angrily, squirming out of the policeman's iron grip on his wrists.

"You're not permitted to enter the crime scene!" The officer cracked his comically large knuckles as a way to seem intimidating. "If we let you in we run the risk of you tampering with the evidence!"

Okay, he was taking this far too seriously.

Before anyone could object, a ironically scrawny and weak-looking policeman shouted from the ambulance:

"We've got 'er on a stretcher, let's move, Albert!"

"What's wrong?" I asked before I could even fully process what the man had just said. "Is my aunt alright?"

"'The heart can't take the shock, we've gotta hook 'er up and go!"

All in one smooth motion, the brawny officer grabbed our collars, shoved us in the ambulance, wheeled Aunt Bea in the back, and slammed the doors shut before taking the wheel. Meanwhile, the officer who was all skin-and-bones jumped in the squad car and trailed the ambulance as it sped off towards North Oaks Hospital.

"Keep her steady!" A doctor rushed into the scene from the front of the truck and brushed his way past Asa and I, not even acknowledging our presence. She and another doctor began to pore over my aunt, as if she was the poor slob in the game Operation. I half expected for her nose to buzz as the female doctor reached over to shove an IV in he arm.

"Is she going to live?" I dared to ask, finally beginning to settle down after the sharp turn of events.

"As long as she doesn't have a heart attack." The woman said flatly, taking a seat next to my aunt on the stretcher. From her bleak expression and her stony glare it was hard to tell if she was joking.

"Asa, I'm scared," I mumbled, bringing my knees to my chest on the tiny ambulance seat. I didn't even realize the tear tricking down my cheek until I felt the salty taste in my mouth.

"Why are you crying?" Asa asked in a low whisper, keeping his eyes fixated on Aunt Bea. "Is it because of your aunt?"

"Well...it's just that everything in the past two days has been so sudden."

"What do you mean?"

"First, my parents and my aunt get into a huge argument over stupid crap, and my parents and I end up in a filthy motel until Aunt Bea cools down. Then, on our way home we walk inside her house to find it completely trashed and to see her laying lifelessly on the couch with the phone still in her hand from an earlier call and-"

I began to sob silently and cut myself off before I went too in depth into the situation. I sniffled and rubbed my nose dry as the oncoming tears smeared my mascara and dripped down to my chin. I knew I was making a mess of myself in front of Asa but as hard as I tried to pull myself together and stop myself from crying like a baby, I would start sobbing once more and fall apart again.

"Alice, everything is going to be fine," Asa assured me in his most soothing tone. Suddenly, I felt his hand reaching for mine, and on an impulse I pulled away from his touch. Asa was blushing from embarrassment and he awkwardly turned his head around, pretending to be distracted by Aunt Bea.I silently scolded myself for rejecting Asa and I nervously put my right hand on top of his, hoping he wasn't upset at my withdrawal.

"I'm sorry," I whispered weakly.

"It's fine," Asa replied, offering a friendly and inviting smile. "I know you've been going through a lot of surreal events lately, and it's perfectly fine to cry. If I were you I think I'd do the same thing,"

Silence filled the next few moments as Asa entwined his fingers around mine and I gently laid my head against his bony shoulder. All the while my sniffles were obnoxious and my shoulders heaved up and down as the waterworks continued to flow. I felt like a disheveled, sticky, tear-streaked mess, but Asa didn't seem to mind. He just sat there next to me with his arm around my shoulder as I bawled myself ballistic.

All the bottled up emotions from the past two days came pouring out in one inclement storm, and I couldn't make myself stop no matter how hard I tried. The anger, frustration, nerves, fear, and melancholy were all being washed away by my endless river of tears, and in a way it was slightly relieving to get everything out there.

It was like I was watching the last 48 hours of my life on a widescreen in my brain; my own personal movie theater. As I continued to retrogress into the sea of events, each one brought a pang of regret into my mind. It was as if I relived everything that had happened, except I could not change any of the decisions I had previously made.

When the well ran dry I sat up and wiped my face with my sleeves, pushing away all the dried tears and remnants of mascara. Asa straightened up and adjusted his glasses as I proceeded to clean myself up.

"Are you alright now?" He asked, half-jokingly. I nodded in consent and a smile twitched on the edge of my lips.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm glad you decided to come with in the ambulance, or else I might've still been a hysterical hot mess."

"Probably," Asa said sarcastically. He was about to say something else when an overwhelming long beep emitted from the corner of the ambulance.

I looked over to see horrified looks on the doctors faces as they scurried around searching for defibrillators.

Panic erupted in my mind and my vision began to blur as my eyes wandered to Aunt Bea's heartline sitting next to her. To my dismay, it was flat.

"Her heart stopped!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I began to see doubled and triples as I continued to glance around the ambulance for help. The unprepared doctors were racing back towards my Aunt with proper supplies. "Damn it somebody DO SOMETHING!"

One of the doctors prepared the plates and shouted clear, and before I could get out another work the other doctor pressed down the defibrillators and sent my aunt's body lurching upward from the shock.

Paralyzing fear kept me glued to the spot as the heartline continued to stay flat. The doctor shouted clear again and before I could see what happened I involuntarily leapt for Aunt Bea.

"NO!"

Asa was holding me back as I kicked, screamed, and cussed at him as I demanded to be let go.

"GET OFF ME!"

With all my strength, I yanked free from Asa's grasp and tumbled to the ground, tripping over my own feet. The last thing I saw before blacking out was the cold, hard floor of the ambulance.