Gone || Ashton Irwin

Chapter 1

PART ONE

“I’m sorry ma’am, but only family can see him.” The doctor tells me, taking in my ragged appearance. I feel my chest rising and falling rapidly, tears streaming down my face.

“I was gonna marry him.” I tell him, my voice cracking. “I was gonna marry him.”

“You can sit in the waiting room. His nanny is there.” He says with a gentle smile.

I nod slowly and walk across the room, looking around at everyone. That’s one thing I never noticed about hospital waiting rooms. Everyone looked sad. Everyone always looked sad. And now so do I.

The emergency room is buzzing. Patients are flooding in from every single direction. There’s people waiting in seats, looking like they could be dead in the next two minutes. People are groaning and relatives are crying. I inhale sharply and walk over to an empty seat next to Patty without saying a word.

There are tears running down her face and I bite down on my lip. I can’t cry in front of her. She’s worried. I’ll only upset her more. I reach out for her hand and take it in mine. She looks up at me, her wide eyes filled with tears. She lets out a heart wrenching sob that I can only imagine sounded like mine earlier. I wrap my arms around her and let her cry into my shoulder. I don’t tell her it’s going to be okay. I don’t say anything at all. I just hold her.

Someone clears their throat and I awkwardly pull away from Patty. I look up and see a blonde woman with a forced smile. Her cheeks are tear stained.

“You must be Valerie.” She says quietly.

I nod.

“I’m Ashton’s mum, Anne.”

“Nice to meet you.” I tell her, forcing a smile.

“He’s asking for you.” She says.

I stand up immediately, my heart rate immediately picking up speed. “He’s alive?” I ask.

“Yes. They didn’t tell you?” She asks, tilting her head to the side. Patty bursts into another fit of sobs and Anne bites her lip. “I’ll take that as a no.”

“Is he okay?” I ask.

“He’s stable right now.” She answers simply.

“They said it’s only family.” I tell her.

She takes a deep breath. “I know. But I don’t know how much longer he’ll be-” She stops and takes a deep breath. “I’ll talk with the doctors.”

I nod and watch as she walks towards the doctor I had just freaked out on. He’s alive. He’s alive. He’s alive. He’s fucking alive. I feel tears streaming down my face and wipe them away. They won’t let me anywhere near him if I’m this emotional. All I want to do is fall to the ground and sob.

“Come on, sweetie.” Anne says, grabbing my arm gently. She leads me down the hall that’s crowded with nurses and doctors running around. She leads me to a room and pauses in front of it. “Listen, what you’re about to see-”

“I’ll be okay.” I assure her, trying to keep my breathing even. I’m so close to seeing him. Just a door between us. Just a stupid fucking door.

Anne nods and twists the doorknob. She pushes the door open and steps inside. I follow after her and close the door behind me.

I take one look at Ashton and slap my hand over my mouth. Don’t vomit. Don’t vomit.

He’s covered in cuts, up and down his arms. There’s stitches all over him. He’s hooked up to so many machines and the constant beeping is like a haunting melody. He looks so weak. He’s pale, so skinny. My beautiful Ashton is nothing but a ragdoll.