A Broken Spirit

Chapter Seventeen

As I left the staff room, my boss, Claire wandered over to me. I smiled as I waited for her to speak.

"Paige needs her IV changed." she ordered abruptly. I nodded and made my way to her bed. She hugged me as I sat next to her.

"I need to change your IV." I explained to her as I removed the old one and bandaged her arm and took her other arm.

"Mummy came to visit me yesterday." she announced happily.

"That's really good, did you have fun?" I asked her.

She nodded and squealed slightly as I placed the IV line into her arm.

"Sorry sweetie." I said stroking her hair.

"Did your mummy visit you at the weekend?" she asked.

"No." I answered quietly.

I bandaged in the new IV line and left to carry out the ward round. I could see Amelia rummaging in the dvd stack excitedly. She eventually picked one and sat with Paige watching it happily. I frowned and went looking for Claire.

"Did something happen over the weekend?" I asked.

"What makes you say that?" she answered.

"Amelia seems to be spending time with Paige and they don't normally." I replied quietly.

"Paige got worse over the weekend, I think it must have scared Amelia." she announced.

Her words hit me. I turned and watched Paige, she seemed quiet, but I just assumed she was tired. I returned to my work, but I couldn't stop worrying about Paige for the rest of the day. I slowly mopped the floor, deep in thought. I jumped as Claire tapped my shoulder. I turned around to face her.

"Some guy is here to collect you." she told me.

"Thanks." I replied and finished the mopping. I walked over to Ashton.

"Hey babe, are you ready?" he asked as he hugged me.

"Almost, I have to say goodbye to Paige." I said and walked back onto the ward, as he leant against the wall watching. Paige was sitting on her bed looking sad. I sat on the bed and put my arm around her.

"I have to go home now, I'm off tomorrow as I have an exam, but I'll be back Wednesday." I told her.

"I'll miss you." she said.

All of a sudden, Amelia began to scream. I rushed over to her and knelt next to her.

"What's wrong!?" I exclaimed.

"It's Ashton." she said pointing at him, then added: "He came to visit us!" she exclaimed.

I smiled at her. Ashton must have heard her, he walked over.

"Hi." he said hugging her gently.

She squealed. Ashton sat on the bed and Paige crawled onto his lap and snuggled up to him.

"Will you read this to me?" she asked him sweetly, handling him a Dora the Explorer book.

He smiled, took the book and began to read to her. Amelia wandered over and sat on the bed beside Ashton, swinging her legs on the edge of the bed excitedly. I couldn't help but smile as I watched Ashton reading to them. He was so good with them. I smiled proudly at him as he glanced up at me. Once the story was finished, we left and headed home.

"The girls adored you." I told him as I began changing out of my uniform.

He chuckled and watched me.

"Did you see Luke at college today?" I asked him.

"Yeah." he answered quietly.

"Did he say much?" I asked.

"Nope, I avoided him." he told me.

"You shouldn't do that Ash, you guys are friends and you have to think about the band." I sighed.

"I know, I'll talk to him tomorrow." he stated quietly, then added: "You don't have feelings for him do you?"

I walked over to him and gently kissed his lips. He smiled and kissed me back.

"You didn't answer the question." he whispered.

"Do I need to?" I asked.

He just stared at me, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

I rolled my eyes and continued getting changed.

"Don't look, I need to change my shirt." I announced.

He shrugged and continued staring at me smiling slightly.

"Ashton!" I cried.

He sighed and turned his back. I turned away from him and removed my shirt. I jumped as I felt him gently tracing his finger down my spine. I blushed and quickly put on my fresh shirt.

"I'm going to make dinner." he said sighing.

I nodded and continued getting changed.

As I walked downstairs, I saw Ashton putting pasta into a saucepan. I jumped up on the counter and sat watching him. He walked over and stood between my legs and placed his hands on my waist. I wrapped my legs around his waist and placed my arms around his neck.

"I love you Ash." I announced impulsively.

He stared at me for a long time. I stared back waiting for him to speak. Instead he kissed me gently. He pulled away as the doorbell rang. He sighed and glared at the door.

"I'll go." I said as I jumped off the counter.

I opened the door and saw a young man. He had black spiky hair, was tall and very broad. He looked me up and down and raised his eyebrow. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as he undressed me with his eyes. He took my hand and kissed it.

"Hi, I'm Dale, is Ashton around?"

I pulled my hand away and nodded as he looked at me intensely. I beckoned for Dale to follow me, as I led him into the kitchen.

"Hey Dale." Ashton said when he saw him.

Dale smiled and pulled him into a man hug.

"Laura, this is Dale, our manager." Ashton announced then added: "Dale, this is my girlfriend Laura."

Dale turned to me and smiled.

"You're a lucky guy." he said looking me up and down again. Ashton didn't seem to notice.

"I just came to arrange some tour details with you." Dale stated.

"I'll leave you guys in peace." I said making my way into the living room.

"Dale is staying for dinner." Ashton called eventually.

I sighed and rose from the couch, slowly wandering into the kitchen.

Ashton kissed me on the cheek and handed me a plate of pasta.

"Thanks." I smiled.

I sat down and began pushing the food around my plate, feeling uncomfortable as Dale watched me. We ate dinner in silence.

"I have to use the bathroom." Ashton stated as he rose from the table and left the room, leaving me alone with Dale....