The Girl he Wants

51- Let Her Go!

RECAP: Natalie and Asher get angry with each other because of something Natalie said. Pete threatens Elizabeth because Asher beat him up previously, so Asher retaliates by saying that if Pete lays a hand on her, he will break two of his fingers. Hanes speaks with his brother about how he feels about Ruth. Asher and Elizabeth visit Jay in the hospital.

***ASHER'S P.O.V***

   Asher knew Jay would say something along the lines of stupid, but Asher didn't predict that Jay would apologize and open up. Somehow, he has gotten better at sharing his feelings. Maybe Elizabeth has helped him, but Asher would like to think that he contributed in some sort of way, too.

  Their conversations just go deeper and deeper and by the time their words dive as deep as the Atlantic, Asher is listening in fascination as Elizabeth pries more and more information out of a lonely Jay. He watches as she leans over Jay and says, "I thought you were going to die when I found you in the alleyway."

   "I thought I was, too." Jay mumbles. He tiredly closes his eyes, not even opening them to notice that Elizabeth has sat beside him on the small cot. "I thought I wasn't going to have time to right all my wrongs."

   "What wrongs?" Elizabeth asks, her voice small.

   "In my mind's eye, I wasn't going to have time to apologize to my parents for never talking to them about my feelings. I've been angry with them for most of my childhood, but they never knew why." Jay sighs, laying his head back.

   "It's hard talking about-"

   Elizabeth stops short when the hospital room's door creaks open. Asher glances in the small crease, expecting a doctor or the cop, but instead he lays his eyes on an unrecognizable round face of a stranger. Asher is about to ask the tall man what he needs, but he doesn't have the time.

   "I hate teenagers." The man mutters as he swings open the door and shuts it tightly behind him. He has to be at least four times taller and stronger than Asher, with an intense look that could kill if that was humanly possible.

   "What the hell?" Asher speaks aloud, confused out of his mind as to whom this person is and what he wants. "Are you a doctor?"

   The huge man slants his gaze at Asher, but then spots Elizabeth and tenses. "You bitch."

   All in the time span of a few seconds, Elizabeth's jaw drops and her eyes widen farther than a valley. Her body goes frigid and she instinctively steps in front of Jay for some reason. All the while, this strange man advances to her with his fists balled.

   Asher moves toward the man without knowing the hell why. He only gets a few steps in before the man extends his arms and snatches Elizabeth up in them. With wide blue eyes she attempts to scream, but the man places a thick hand over her mouth.

   The man curses and swears uncontrollably, all the while Asher getting angrier and angrier while Jay becomes paler and paler. Asher's insides churn until he is sure there is a storm inside of him. "What the hell, man? Let her go!"

   The man's mad eyes flicker over to Asher and in an instant he throws Elizabeth at him. The speed she flies is unbelievable and Asher has no time at all to react. Before he knows it, the two of them are colliding together and toppling onto the floor, creating a moaning heap.

Elizabeth's head rams into the floor and she passes out, not able to hear as the unexpected arrival begins speaking. "I came here to take out my witness and I find three kids instead of one. What. The. Hell."

Asher's gaze hoveres over Elizabeth for a long moment before he gathers the courage to hop to his feet and fend for the both of them. He can guess that this man was one of the ones to stab Jay and he is not letting any witnesses go.