THREE

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CHAPTER THREE
' BATSHIT. '

Ash lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Boredom ate away at her chest, and her jaw moved from side to side to relieve some of the pressure building in her body. Her eyes flickered to the device and scrolled through the songs. Nothing on the ward could break this annoyance, and none of the songs seemed like they would help either.

Groaning loudly, she punched the mattress and pushed herself to her feet. She stared at the mesh-covered window before moving around the bed and leaning against the wall to stare outside. Her eyes narrowed as they honed in on a familiar car, inching closer to get a better look. She recognised the reg as well as the two inhabitants.

A knock sounded at the door, and she turned to face it as someone opened it. The nurse smiled at her before pushing the door wider to fill in her notepad.

"Everything okay, Ash?"

"Yeah, thanks. Am I scheduled for any visitors today?"

She furrowed her eyebrows in thought and shifted to prop the door open with her foot and lean against the frame. Tapping her lip with her pen, she hummed. "I'm not sure, actually. You want me to check with Sarah?"

"Yes, please."

The nurse winked. "Gotcha'." She closed the door softly, and her footsteps sounded her departure.

Ash looked out the window and craned her neck to try and see where the car went but to no avail. She tapped the cill as she chewed her lip before she turned to leave her room. The loudness of the ward hit her instantly, and Ash winced. Some patients were prone to screaming for reasons Ash didn't know, but once she became accustomed to it, it was like any other background noise. Wandering through the corridor, she used her room key to leave the female ward and crossed the threshold into the unisex common area.

She returned the greeting of a patient. If she tried hard enough, she could remember his name, but her mind focused on one thing only. Approaching the office, she caught sight of Tony and Natasha standing in the space between the outside door and the one leading to the ward - she had resulted in calling it the airlock (for a few different reasons). She stopped, furrowing her eyebrows before Sarah stepped out of the office.

"Late notice, I know, but are you up for a quick meeting with Doctor Hammond?"

Ash glanced at her friends in the airlock before her eyes flickered back. "I mean, yeah, but why? I haven't done anything wrong."

"Oh, no!" Sarah rushed out. "No, it's nothing to do with your behaviour. It's about a possible home leave, that's all."

She blinked. "Home leave?" she repeated.

"But I was told there was no chance of home leave until I'm out of section."

"This is why we're going to have a meeting with Doctor Hammond."

Ash didn't reply, but she looked at Natasha and Tony through the glass and returned their wave in a confused manner. Blinking slowly, she followed Sarah to the meeting room.

\_|_/\_|_/\_|_/

Ash shifted in her seat, eyes flickering between Doctor Hammond, Sarah, Natasha and Tony. She shook her head slowly, her brain fluttering over the information raging through her head.

"You mean-" She stopped herself, mouth opening and closing briefly. "We can get them back?"

Natasha nodded. "Big if, but we need your help."

"Now," Doctor Hammond spoke up, shifting in his seat. "We rarely make exceptions, but seeing as this is something universal-"

Ash grinned sarcastically. "-Seeing as you can get your husband back," she corrected. "You're going to bend the rules?"

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