A New Chapter

Chapter 29

E T H A N

My eyes stay glued onto Ashley's fragile frame, lying unmoving on the cheap linen sheets of the hospital bed.

My gaze follows the different paths of the array of wires hooked up to various machines, displaying her vitals and each one beeping repeatedly.

I take ahold of her delicate hand in my own. My gut clenches at her unmoving fingers, my eyes stinging with unshed tears.

"I'm sorry. I should have gotten there earlier. I just-the storm was so bad and..I'm so sorry." My voice cracks and I gently lay my head onto our joined hands, warm tears trailing down my face; dropping onto the white sheets.

My head snaps up at the sound of the door opening, my eyes feel heavy as I realise I fell asleep. A young nurse gives me a friendly smile; "Good morning Mr Spencer." She greets, flipping through Ashley's chart with her manicured hands.

"How is she?" I question after a moment, observing as she changes Ashley's fluids and takes notes, her long clumpy lashes flicking up and down from the page.

"I can't discuss that with non family members I'm afraid. Her mother should be present when the doctor comes by, he'll tell her everything he knows." She gives me one last smile before exiting the room; leaving me alone to watch as my girlfriend lies still, a tube down her throat so a machine can breathe for her.

~~

An hour after the nurse came by the door swings open and a dishevelled Colette bursts in with two coffee cups in hand.

"Any news?" She frantically questions as she blindly hands me a cup while staring at Ashley in distress.

"She's stable." The doctor answers from the open door before I get the chance to.

"May I speak with you alone Ms Merritt?" He directs his gaze to me.

"Ethan can stay." She gives me a soft smile before giving the doctor her full attention.

"As you wish." He begins before opening Ashley's file. "I just received her x-ray results. She has three broken ribs on her left side, but luckily her skull looks fine. There was no damage besides a concussion. Which is good." He concludes, flipping through the pages; scanning the paragraphs with his narrow eyes.

"Then why isn't she awake?" I cut in. It's clearly not good if she isn't awake.

"She suffered severe head trauma, and with her history of stress induced fainting and being a victim of rape; she's been through a lot." He mumbles before looking up at Colette.

"I'll come by later to check up on everything. For now all we can do is wait for her to come back to us." He gives her a sympathetic smile before excusing himself from the small room.

"She told you." Colette mumbles after a moment of us sipping quietly on our beverages.

"What?" I murmur, my eyes not leaving Ashley.

"You didn't react when he mentioned the rape. She must have told you." She sighs before our eyes meet and I decipher a whirlwind of worry and stress swimming in the blue orbs.

"She did." I state, no need for anything more.

A hard knock echoes through the room twice before I stand to answer the door.

I'm met by two police officers. "Ethan Spencer?" The older one questions with a thick southern accent, his wrinkled face the result of years of stress being on the force.

"Yes. Can I help you?" I respond with a confident tone.

"You're needed for questioning for the death of Jason Reed." The younger one announces with a stiff nod.

"We'd like you to come with us, son." The older man grumbles.

I nod goodbye to an anxious Colette and follow the two officers out of the hospital and towards their squad car.

~~

I take a deep breath, the freezing winter air filling my lungs and sending a furious shiver down my spine as I hail a taxi for a ride back to the hospital.

After a few hours of repeating myself to a detective and a senior officer I let out a sigh of relief as I think of Officer Newton's words; "The death of Jason Reed is being ruled as self defence, you're free to go kid." His gruff voice gave me a spark of happiness, knowing that he's gone once and for all and can never hurt Ashley again.

I pull up outside the brick building and pay my fee before climbing the many floors to get to Ashley's room.

When I arrive I slowly open the door to find Jake and Sebastian sitting on the sofa with tired expressions. My eyes travel to the bed to see Sophie sitting on a chair, clutching onto Ashley's hand in fear of letting her go.

"Hey." Jake murmurs as I close the door, his eyes trained on his girlfriend. I give both guys a nod before pulling up a chair beside Soph, who turns her head to reveal two bloodshot eyes; dry tears staining her olive tone cheeks.

"Hey." She whispers. Her voice barely audible and her throat clearly dry.

"Hey." I reply before we both focus on Ashley's frame; completely still, frozen in time.

We watch over her for another hour before Colette returns; giving us all a sad smile. Her puffy eyes telling us that she definitely wasn't smiling before she opened the door.

"Thanks for staying guys, you should go home and get some rest." She takes a seat at the end of the bed and fixes the hospital blanket, covering Ashley's calves.

"Are you sure?" I ask her, worry evident in my strained voice.

"Yeah. Come by tomorrow morning." She gives me a nod and give her hand a squeeze before following the rest of them out of the room.

"Sophie!" I catch up with her; hand in hand with Jake.

"Yeah?" She sniffles before wiping her nose with her sleeve.

"Can I talk to you?" I motion to Jake who nods and follows Sebby to the elevators.

"I was at the station for questioning about Jason. I thought his name was familiar and I've only put the pieces together now. Jason Reed. Are you two related?." I ponder, thinking about how the officers referred to him.

Time almost slows to a halt as the words I never expected leave her mouth;

"He's my brother."