Relentless

Chapter 25

Ashton

"A-am I g-going to die?"

"He found me."

"If I do t-then he'll hurt you."

"I'm sorry."

Her last words to me keep repeating over and over again.

Why would this Daniel guy try to kill her?

Why would he try to kill me?

Is Jay alive?

Why hasn't my mom told me anything?

As I sit in the waiting room, trying to get out of my state of hysteria, I see Lisa coming down the hallway. I quickly stand up as she walks over to me, looking like she is struggling to move. When she arrives in-front of me, I see tear stains on her cheeks, similar to mine as she speaks to me.

"What happened?" She asks with a shaky voice.

"I don't know." I simply reply. "Is... Is she..."

"They won't tell me anything."

"What? But you're her Aunt!"

"Exactly! They won't allow me to work on her because she is my niece." I hang my head low in my sorrow and grab my hair with my fists out of frustration. "All I know is... She flatlined when she got here."

"In my arms." I add, hearing my heart shatter as I do.

"You found here?"

"I found her lying on my bedroom floor. There was so much blood, Lisa. I brought her here as fast as I could. She just... died." I whisper the last word and feel myself slowly falling apart. "She was coming to me. She was coming to me for help and I wasn't there for her. I promised, I swore that I would protect her and I wasn't there. I'm sorry, Lisa. I'm so sorry I wasn't there. I'm so sorry." I cry. Tears are streaming down my face as Jay's Aunt hugs me. I feel like my entire world is crashing down.

"Lisa." I hear a voice say down the hallway. Lisa and I both look in the direction of the voice to see my mother.

She can't be gone. Please, she can't be gone!

Lisa runs over to my mother as I sit back down in the chair to keep my knees from giving out. As they stop talking and Lisa walks down the hallway with her head down, my Mom looks at me. I take a deep breath as she walks over to me and sits in-front of my on the hospital floor. She puts one hand on my knee, and I lose it.

"NO!" I yell, standing up, causing everyone to look at me. "No, she isn't dead! She can't be! I told her I would protect her! I promised her! I never told her I loved her! Mom, she's not supposed to be dead! She's only seventeen, Mom! It wasn't her time to go! She was so talented and so smart and so beautiful! She... she..." I start to lose my breath and sit down, crying my eyes out. I only knew her for three months but I fell in love with her. I fell in love with her the moment she bumped into me on the street. I loved her.

"Ashton." My mom whispers, placing a hand on my shoulder. I move my shoulder and get her hand off of me.

"No, don't give me the whole 'she's in a better place' speech because she should be here! She should be here with me! I know that's selfish as hell but I don't care!"

"She is here, Ashton!" My Mother yells over me, causing me to gasp and stand back up.

"What are you talking about?" I say in a flat tone.

"She's alive. We brought her back. She lost a lot of blood and suffered some internal bleeding but we fixed that. She has a concussion and is under supervision right now, but she's going to be fine. It's a good thing you got her here when you did or else things would've been much worse."