Ashley's POV
I awake to find Mitch staring at me thoughtfully. He'd fallen asleep at my beside on a chair the nurses brought in for him.
"Morning." he chimes, taking my hand. I rub my eyes with my other one, and give him a squeeze.
"You feel up for some company?" he asks, sitting up to stretch. I'm confused for a second, but then I think about the people I haven't thought of in a while. Jerome, Alesa, Adam, Ryan. I feel bad for not thinking about them, but I haven't exactly been in my right mind lately. Even now it feels a little funny, but I know that's because of all the medication I'm on.
My family dropped in earlier and cried over me, treating me like a fragile doll that would break from too hard of a touch or tap. We all sobbed together in utter relief and happiness of being reunited.
"Yeah. Have you seen them yet?" I answer finally. He nods.
"They came to see me after my family did. We were all waiting to see you." he says. I smile at the thought.
"Oh, and-" Mitch is cut off by a knock on the door.
"Come in!" I call after clearing my thoat. The door cracks open, and I see...Alesa's face in the doorway? Her eyes are red and puffy, and she's wearing oversized clothes that I assume are Adam's.
"Alesa?" I say, shocked she came all this way.
"Ashley." she whispers, then starts slowly walking towards me. Adam follows close behind, as well as Jerome, Louise and Ryan, who are all in terrible conditions. Almost as bad as Mitch and I.
Alesa reaches my bed side, tears in her eyes, as well as mine. Then I reach out and hug her, and she hesitantly hugs me back, handling me with care.
"Oh my god, Ashley. Oh my god." she sobs into my shoulder. I stroke her hair, and let my own tears fall down as well. You think I'd have run out by now, but they just kept on coming.
She pulls back to look at me, then smiles and kisses my cheek, and laughs a little. I manage a smile with my cracked lips. Adam puts a hand on her back, and then leans over to hug me, being just as gentle. When he pulls away, I'm able to glance down for but a moment and realize how thin I am. Brad and Jeff allowed us to drink and go to the bathroom, but they fed us nothing, leaving both Mitch and i bonier than usual. Some color has also seemed to have been drained from our bodies, like the hope that left us when we thought we were both going to die.
When Adam pulls away, Ryan takes his place, and after him, Jerome does, along with Louise. Mitch stands by my side the entire time, looking quite exhausted. After all the hugs are given, there's another knock at my door.
"Come in!" I call, yet again. A short, plump nurse peeps in before swinging the door open to reveal her full self.
"Mitchell Hughes and Ashley Surcombe?" she asks.
"Yes." We both answer at the same time.
"You can both go home now." she says. Mitch takes my hand instinctively. Home? My home was in England, while Mitch's was in Canada. I definitely wasn't ready to part with him. He was the only one who understood what I went through, and I just found out he loved me. I was not about to leave so quickly. Mitch seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"Well, we'll let you two get ready to go." Jerome says, straightening. Ryan does the same, and Adam takes Alesa's hand, who looks hesitant to leave.
"Okay. Bye." she says, hugging me before she goes. Once they all leave, Mitch and I are left to look at each other, and wonder what's next.
"So...are you going back to Canada?" I ask tentatively, just in case he doesn't feel the same way I do.
"Ashley, if you think I'm prepared to leave you here, you're dead wrong." he says, taking both my hands now.
"Then what are we going to do?" I ask, a little scared. "My parents are never going to let me leave the country. I doubt they'll even let me leave my house ever again." Mitch presses his lips in a straight line, contemplating our options.
"What if I stayed here with you?" he suggests. "I could rent a hotel long enough for us to sort this out." I nod. That was probably our best bet right now anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About 10 minutes later, I'm wearing some clothes the hospital gave me that aren't covered in blood or made of paper. It's a pair of saggy, gray sweatpants and a black, tight-fitting v-neck. Mitch has changed as well, now wearing a pair of loose-fitting jeans and a white t-shirt.
We walk out of the hospital room, hand in hand. Our families are sitting down in the lobby, the parents talking among themselves, in a seemingly deep conversation. Mitch's sister's are talking to mine, and Connor is clinging to his mother. I can't imagine how hard it must've been for a kid his age to find out your brother was abducted.
When Mitch and I walk into the room, they all look over and stand up, almost in sync.
"We're uh, we're ready to go." I say. Our parent's glance down at our intertwined hands. The message we were sending was clear. We were ready to go, and we were leaving together.
"About that..." my mom starts, glancing at Mitch's mom. That must've been what they were talking about.
"We're not exactly sure where it is you two plan on going." Mitch's mother continues. "Since you obviously plan on being together, wherever that is." She glances down yet again at our joined hands. I look at Mitch briefly, and he looks back.
"Well, we uh, we're not entirely sure either..." I start.
"But for now, I was planning on staying in the UK until we figure it out." Mitch finishes for me. His mother looks a little devastated, but nods. The rest of them look very uncertain, but don't say anything. What would they say anyway? Mitch and I were both adults, so they didn't have any power over us anymore. No matter how much they wanted to right now, they just didn't.
Mitch's POV
Well that went better than expected. I feel bad for hurting my mom, who obviously wanted me to come home with her so she could keep a close eye on me. But what I really needed now was to stay with Ashley, where we could be together. As much as I loved my family, they didn't understand the pain I went through, physically and emotionally.
After some awkward silence and nodding, we all go outside to where our friends are waiting. I jump a little when Ashley's mom comes from behind and gently taps my shoulder.
"Ashley, why don't you update your friends." she says. Ashley nods reluctantly and lets go of my hand. I feel extremely nervous as I turn to the mother of the girl I love.
"Mitchell, I just wanted to thank you. I-I know that while you...you were..." her voice breaks, and she has to take a breath. "You saved my daughter. You could've left her to fend for yourself, but you didn't. And I am so grateful for that..." she pauses yet again, as if deciding whether or not to say what she's going to say next.
"And I trust you...with her. I-If you two wish to be together, I trust you to protect her, because I know you can." She squeezes my shoulder, and then moves past me. I'm frozen for a second, realizing she just gave me her blessing...to take Ashley away, with me.
"Are you okay Mitch?" I hear Ashley's voice behind me. I turn around to face her.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I say. Then I can't help but break into a smile. "Great, actually." She cocks her head at me, but before she can ask any questions, I put my arm around her waist and lead her towards everyone else.
I can't help but feel a little excited. Ashley and I could get out of England, a place I knew neither of us wanted to be.
"What did my mom say to you?" she whispers to me.
"I'll tell you later." I say.
When we can get far, far away.
