Mr Irwin | Ashton Irwin

Twelve

The next day I woke up feeling like pure crap. I felt weighed down by the weight that was called 'Ashton Irwin'. I couldn't stop thinking about him all day and night; I only slept for a few hours last night.

I decided to get up and wash my face. I hoped that the more I threw and scrubbed the cold tap water into my face, the better I would feel and look. Sadly, that didn't happen at all.

I decided to take a quick shower. It felt almost weird to stand up. I'm not adjusting to this new weight loss very well.

I stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel from the rack and dried myself. I walked into my room with the towel wrapped around me. Even just bending down to dry like my feet and stuff tired me out. I decided to leave my hair damp as I didn't have the energy to dry it.

I put on underwear, bed shorts and my Calvin Klein bralette that my mum had brought me yesterday. I wrapped my favourite cardigan around me and walked barefoot out the door.

I know that if I really meant that much to Ashton, he wouldn't have left the hospital. I walked everywhere. I walked to the reception. On the counter was a jolly looking man with corn rows. I saw his name badge and he was Noel.

I smiled sweetly, "Excuse me?"

"Hello, how may I help you," he asked. He was a very jolly man just by the way he looks and talks; a huge smile plastered on his face too.

I asked, "Have you seen a guy pass by here? He's in a shirt, dress trousers, brogues. He has long, dirty blond hair. Have you seen him?"

"I actually think I might have. If it's the right guy then he walked down that corridor. I'm sorry if I'm no help," he said.

"No, no," I smiled, "Thank you. This place needs more cheery people like you."

I walked off down the corridor he told me. At the end of the corridor, there was a decision to make, left or right. I looked right but there didn't even look like there was life down that way.

I looked left and at the very end of the corridor, I saw him. Ashton was sitting against the side of the vending machine, knees pulled to his chest; he was sleeping.

I silently walked up to him. I nudged him with my hand. I shook his shoulder gently and finally he woke up. He immediately looked up and asked, "Lauren, what are you doing?" He stood up. "I don't think you're meant to get out of bed."

"We need to talk," I spoke.

"There's a café thing on the next floor?"
He proposed.

I nodded, "Okay."

--

I took the seat opposite him and took a gulp of the glass of water. I said, "So we're dating?"

"No," he replied.

"Friends with benefits?"

"No."

"Having sex?"

"Almost . . . But no."

"Are we a thing?"

"Oh!" He said, "That's actually debatable but I think we are."

"If we aren't dating, aren't having sex or friends with benefits or any of that stuff, why do you care about me so much?" I asked, utterly confused.

He smiled, "Because I think that one day, we'll be more than "just friends" and a "thing". I think that one day, maybe we could get together and go out."

"Oh," I said. He was super sweet and attractive but I still don't remember breaking up with Ross. I decided to ask him, "You know the way i can't remember breaking up with Ross? Did I ever tell you why I broke up with him?"

"You're a pretty secure person," he stated, "You might have been confident and not quiet in my classes or even on our own, but you didn't really let anyone in. You always kept the tracks of your past covered up."

"Hmm," I hummed. "I don't remember why exactly, but nothing of this memory loss adds up."

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"The dates of things I can and can't remember are completely random. I mean, who remembers their mum and not their dad? How come I still thought I was going out with Ross and yet, I knew that you were my teacher. Okay, maybe I only knew that one detail about you but still," I shrugged.

"I'm not a doctor so I have no clue why," he said. I saw his eyes drift to the top of my head and he asked, "Is your hair still wet?"

"Yeah," I shrugged, "So?"

He stood up and said, "You could catch a cold. Come on, let's get you back to your room."

"Ashton, I-" I looked down shamefully, "I don't know why but I've lost a lot of weight when I was in a coma. My hair has got darker and duller, my eyes aren't hazel but they're blue. I'm completely drained of all energy. Drying myself from getting out of the shower even made me dizzy and out of breath."

"Don't worry," he smiled, "I'll dry it for you." He held out his hand and I took it. He helped me stand up before walking me to my room.

When we got to my room, he made me sit on the edge of my bed. He walked into the bathroom and brought out the hair dryer, finding a plug to plug it in on the wall. He sat behind me, either leg on either side of me.

He started to blow dry my hair. He could even use a paddle brush! I don't know why but at that very moment, it felt like I had known Ashton for a lifetime.

--

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