Diagnosed with a terminal ailment, Ashley Grayson divorces his husband Jonathan in hopes he will be able to move on. But plans go south when Ash ends up falling in love first, with the last person he expected...
I walk into the hospital as the usual routine that had become my daily nightlife. The hood of my sweatshirt drawn up tight to keep away from the stupid paparazzi that followed my family at every turn.
I push through the first set of double doors as I make my way to the turquoise labeled wing. Taking in a deep breath at the second to last set of doors, I scan my black band to get into this heavily isolated unit which my husband currently spent his days.
Ashley spends 22 hours of the day in a semi-sleeping state to keep him in as little pain as possible while my brother runs a series of medications and experiments through his fragile body.
He's been here for three months. T
Three long months, but every day we got closer and closer to finding something.
At least that's what I liked to tell myself.
So Ash is awake and fully aware of his surroundings for two hours.
And I'm here for those two hours.
Every. Single. Day.
I walk up to his room. Scanning the band once more before entering.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Well look who's here, I thought you weren't going to show up tonight," Ash laughs as he sits on the edge of the hospital bed, taking a few sips of tea while waiting for me.
"Sorry, Fin was rolling in the mud today and it took a little longer than I expected." I sigh as I walk closer to him.
"I'm just messing with you. How many times do I have to tell you hon, you don't have to come see me every day. It's okay to just stay home and sleep you know. You must be exhausted." he says and takes a sip of the steaming mug.
"I know, but then what kind of husband would I be?" I sit down next to him on the bed and try to relax but the tenseness built up in my body never seemed to dissipate.
"A perfectly normal one," He says as he puts the mug down.
"Good or bad?" I ask and he shakes his head.
"Not to bad today... could have been worse." He turns his arm over to hide the bruises from me form The puncture wounds in his skin.
"I'm actually starting to feel a little bit better," He says with a small smile.
"Fin told me to tell you that he loves you very much." Escapes first because it was the first thing on my mind the smile disappears from his face and he looks down at the tiled hospital floor.
"How is our little boy doing?" His voice cracks and I feel the pain in my heart continue to throb. I try to hide my sadness and clear my throat before pulling out my screen phone from my back pocket. Showing him the picture I took before I left the house of Fin snuggled up with the stuffed tiger.
Ash takes my phone from me and holds it, zooming into Fin's puffy little face.
"I love him too," he chokes out and closes his eyes tight, holding the phone to his chest as he tilts his head down in a slow depression.
"While we were having a bathtub chat, he said he told his teacher to go fuck herself and got put in the corner for so long he was traumatized," I try to cheer him up and he burst out laughing. But his laugh was filled with so much pain and longing that I felt my own tears build up in my eyes.
"He really is too much," he mutters in a small whisper.
"You'll see him soon," I try to remind him this was only temporary, to give him some form of hope.
"He must be so confused as to where I am, You might as well tell him I died." He snorts and I look at him confused.
"No Ash. Don't say that." I try to put my arm around him but he shakes it off. Giving me my phone back and rubbing the bridge of his nose. I refuse to let him push me aside and I forcefully wrap my arms around him.
"Johnny...I don't know how much longer I can take of this," He chokes out and I gulp down the tears, holding him as tight as I could. He finally caves and wraps his weakened arms around me and we just hold each other close for a few minutes.
"You have to stay strong Ashley...please.You know I can't do this without you," I cry into his shoulder and he coos to quiet me, gently rubbing small circles on my back and trying to calm down my ragged tear filled breaths.
"Jonathan, you've gone without me once for ten years. You can do it again." he tries to say into my ear but I don't want to hear it.
"Yeah, but this is different. I didn't know how much I really loved you back then. So don't you dare compare that to now!" I yell at him. My voice filled with to the brim with my greatest sorrow as I start to weep into his shoulder.
"It's okay...We'll be okay," I can hear him gulp, but I knew there was no belief behind his words.
