The Struggle

Ashton's POV.

Sydney and I lie in the hospital bed together for a little bit longer, casually exchanging kisses and occasionally her asking me how I'm feeling.
"Okay, Mr. Irwin-" the doctor enters the room but stops mid-sentence once he sees Sydney, "Miss, you cannot be in here!" he frantically says as he walks over to Sydney and reaches for her arm to drag her off of me.
"Hey! Don't you dare touch her!" I say with fury evident in my voice while wishing I could shoot daggers out of my eyes at him.
"Mr. Irwin, she cannot be in here." he says sternly.
"It's okay, I want her to stay." I inform him as I protectively wrap my arms around her.
"Well, okay, if that is what you want."He says with a disapproving tone. "Well, we have results from when we tested you earlier-"
"Tested me?" I ask, rather confused.
"Yes, you were unconscious." He informs me as I nod my head in understanding. "So, our results, there's no damage done that won't heal with time. You have two broken ribs but that's as severe as it gets. All the bruises that you've acquired will heal and you'll be good as new." He informs me a bit happier now.
"Okay, but how long will it take for my ribs to heal?" I ask him.
"A little while. It takes at least six weeks so prepare for a little longer to feel as good as new.'' he says.
"What about when he had the seizure in the ambulance?" Sydney questions. I had a seizure? Hm, I must have been out for a while.
"We're still waiting for those results, Miss." He tells Sydney.
Something then dons on me that I can't believe I haven't thought of yet. "Does my mum know that I'm here?"
"No, nobody knew how to contact her." The doctor informs me. "You're welcome to use the hospital phone but it is a small fee." he says with a smile.
"Okay thank you!" I say with a smile as he dismisses himself.
"Can I use your phone?" I ask Sydney.
"Yeah!" she says cheerily as she hands me her phone.
"Thanks!" I say as I peck her on the cheek which she returns with a smile as she nuzzles back into my neck. I wrap my arm around her as I dial my mum's cell phone number.
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"Hello?" my mum answers the phone sounding kind of confused.
"Hi, Mum."
"Hi, Ash, is everything okay?" my mum questions sounding worried.
"Uhh, not really." I say as I take a deep breath and say, "I'm in the hospital."
"Oh my gosh! Why what happened!? Are you okay!?" she's now asking questions a mile a minute and I can't keep track.
"Nothing just a little scuffle at school and yeah, Mum I'm fine." I decide not to tell her too much detail because I know that she will freak out and leave work to come down here and check on me.
"Hold on, Ashton. I'm coming!" She tells me. Looks like I already have said too much.
"No! Mum, I'm fine!" I try to tell her as I yell into the phone but she has already hung up.
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"Fuck!" I say as I give Sydney back her phone.
"What's wrong?" she asks.
"My mum's coming to the hospital" I say with stress most likely evident in my voice.
"So? What's wrong with that?" I really don't want to tell Sydney the real reason why I don't want my mum coming but lying to her about it would be pointless.
"Because...cause she can't afford to leave work to come and check on me. She won't be able to afford this stupid medical bill and-" by now tears are streaming down my cheeks and I'm overwhelmed by the stress.
"Shhh" Sydney comforts me as she rubs my head and kisses my cheek. "Don't worry baby, we'll figure something out, okay?" she tells me while she peppers kisses on my neck.
"Okay." I agree as I wipe away the stray tears on my cheeks.
Even though Sydney and I have only been hanging around each other for a few days, I've realized how shitty life would be without her. Before homecoming, my life was the definition of shitty, hell, it still is, but having Sydney in it makes it bearable and worth living. I have always known that I've felt something strong for her but I've never been able to properly identify it. I don't want to call it a crush because that seems quite juvenile and I know that my affection for her exceeds the boundaries of a little crush. These past few days though have made me think about the possibility of the fact that I might love Sydney.
I love Sydney.
I know I do. I feel it in my bones and I know that my heart could still be wrong but something is telling me that she's the one. She has the ability to make my heart beat all because of her and I also think she has the ability to break it; but I really hope she won't. I'd rather have absolutely nothing than not have her love.
I want to tell her I love her. I want to tell her so bad and I can't think of any better time than now.
"Sydney?" I ask her. She then looks up at me with her beautiful ocean blue eyes waiting for my response.
'C'mon Ashton! Just tell her! You can get through it!' I think to myself
"Yeah, Ashton?"
Here it is. The moment I tell her the truth. The truth I've been wanting to tell her for so long now I can finally get off my chest.
"I love you."

{Okay so sorry cause this chapter is like scary short but I wanted to end it when Ash says "I love you" cause I wanted a little bit of a cliff hanger. Yeah, I'm evil like that! But no I had in mind what words will be said next I just wanted a sweet, simple, and classic first "I love you" from him and not too over whelming for now but yeah! I hope you guys are enjoying the story cause I'm having fun writing it! Also, I have more ideas for new stories but I won't be writing those until I complete this story}