DAMAGED

chapter29 ☪

tiny author's note :-)
I promised you I would update soon,
and I know this is short, but this is the pre-last chapter :-)
•••
Kassie's POV

I ran to the middle of the street, kneeling down immediately. The cars in our lane stopped, waiting for me and Tuvi to get out of the way.
The sight made me feel lightheaded in an instant. I can say I've never been more scared in my entire life. "Ashton?" I whispered, shaking him gently. My heart began pounding, and I felt weak to the point of needing to sit. Something swelled up in my throat as Tuvi and I shook him again, ignoring the cars beeping.
"I'm sorry." Tuvi cried. Ashton's sides were a bloody mess. I shook him a bit harder, but he still wouldn't open his eyes, and I couldn't even tell whether he was breathing or not.
"No." I whimpered, sniffling. People began to get off of their cars to see what the commotion was all about.
A siren wailed in the distance. "I'm going to the hospital to alert them about this right away." A man announced, running to the hospital.
"Kassie?" Tuvi spoke very quietly. "Is he...Um... Not breathing?"
I didn't answer. I couldn't; this took away all the strength left in me. "P-Please." I kept saying. Please, please, please...
I trailed my trembling fingers along his shoulder. Still no response.
A whole crowd had gathered around the scene, but I didn't pay attention. I'd blocked the outside commotion, focusing only on him, trying to figure out if he was breathing.
Suddenly, my spirits were lifted when he coughed, his eyes still closed. My heart began to beat faster as he began to breathe slowly, as if it was painful and a lot of work.
"Ashton, can you-can you do something?" I asked softly, trying not to have an anxiety attack right then and there. I didn't get a response -- his eyes remained closed and he kept breathing.
Tuvi left to go talk to someone, but at that moment, I could've cared less.
"P-please? I need you." I said to him, feeling a cold tear streaking over my numb cheek.
His hand moved to the top of mine, but that was it. I heard something rolling over to us, and I realized it was a cot. Multiple people had alerted the hospital. "Excuse me, miss." I heard a paramedic tell me as another forced me to stand up and pulled me away.
"Let go of me." I ordered, but he wouldn't listen. I elbowed him in his ribs and he released me, rubbing the now-sore spot I gave him.
I watched as they took Ashton away in the cot, and I tried to run after them, but got held back by the man again. "Leave me alone!" I cried, elbowing him harder. He grunted in pain but didn't let go this time. "Let go of me! Please, just..." I continued, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.
I felt something sting my back, and I winced, suddenly too exhausted to fight back. My vision began to get blurry. "What did you do to me?" I mumbled groggily as another paramedic brought me a wheelchair and sat me down on it. "It's not necessary." I said, fighting the temptation to close my eyes and failing horribly.

~~~

My eyes flew open, and I immediately wished they hadn't. My head hurt like I had 30 tons in there, and my throat was insanely dry. I stood up and caught sight of Jarett talking on the phone. A nurse was brushing away clumps of hair on the floor.
Jarett turned and saw me awake.
He hung up the phone and sighed. "Hey, Kassie. You really have quite the string of bad luck."
"Why? What's going on? I don't remember falling asleep here. Where's Ashton?" I asked, frowning.
"Your boyfriend got run over by a truck, remember?" He said straightforwardly.
My eyes widened, and my legs began shaking. "Where is he?"
Jarett looked at me with a hint of disgust. "Not one word about Tuvi? It's all about him now, huh?"
"Tuvi didn't get run over." I told him, anxiously waiting for him to tell me where Ashton was.
"No, she's in the MRI scan. As for your boyfriend, he's somewhere else."
"What? Where?" I asked immediately, my heart racing.
"In a coma."
"N-no." I whimpered.
"He's in room B-3-12." Jarett continued, and I sped off to find the room.
It was at the very end of the hall, next to a gigantic window. It's probably midnight by now; I think I slept a lot.
The door had a sign saying "Do Not Disturb" but I opened it anyway.
My hand went over my mouth as I saw all the monitors and IV bags hooked up to him. Bandages were wrapped all around his stomach.
"Hello." A doctor greeted me.
I nodded in response, heading over to Ashton.
"I wouldn't if I were you." The doctor warned, and I stopped.
"How is he?"
"He's super fine. Everything's fine." The doctor said, obviously lying. I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. "Aren't you a little young to be a doctor?"
"I'm 27." He confessed. "The name's Austin."
"I don't care. Tell me the truth or I will complain." I threatened, my voice shaky.
"I know you're his girlfriend, and I just don't want to depress you." He mumbled.
I rolled my eyes. "Depress me? I'm way past that."
"Okay... You see, what happened was that when little Tuvi ran off into the street, it was too late for her to get out of the way by running, so he got in the way instead and pushed her with enough force to keep her off the road... However, he's damaged badly as a result. His left arm is broken, and part of his ribcage shattered into pieces. We managed to operate on him, but the anesthetics' side effect was a coma."
I sniffled as my eyes welled up. "Well, how long 'till he gets out of it?"
Austin sighed. "We don't exactly know... Our best hope is that he doesn't drift off into something further than a coma."
"You mean-You mean death?" I whispered, feeling nauseus.
"Yeah... I'm sorry, Kassie. The chances that he'll ever wake up again are almost impossible."
I whimpered, letting my tears roll out. "W-Wait... How did you know my name?"
Austin looked at me hesitantly, not wanting to upset me even further.

"When they were getting him ready for the emergency operation, that's all he would say."