Ashton's POV
It was quicker than a blink. Quicker than a snap of fingers. Even quicker than pronouncing a single letter. The light blinded my eyes. I looked to the side and met headlights making their way to the side of my truck. With panic, I tried to reach out to Samantha and pull her closer, away from the window, but it was too quick. In less than a millisecond I felt the truck being hit. On impact, it swayed to the side and that's when I thought I was going to die. We were going to die.
The truck rolled a few times. I felt my body being spun and hit. My head was being bumped against metal, glass, and something else. In midst of it all, I tried to reach for Sam, I tried to pull her away from harm. It was hopeless. The car stopped rolling, my eyes were drooping. I couldn't help it. I fought hard but eventually I knew I was falling into darkness.
Somehow, my eyes blinked open. I looked around me and jumped at the memory of what happened, of where I was. My head snapped to the side and I panicked when I didn't find Sam. The door of the truck where she sat must've come off. Where is she? My door was jammed. I unbuckled my belt, pain shooting through my arm and up my side. Hissing, I tried once, twice, thrice to kick open the door. Panting in pain, it finally budged and I kicked it open and crawled out. I could feel some warm liquid on my forehead. My fingers reached up and when I examined them they were covered in blood. Shit! I looked around and what I saw gripped my heart and chest, disabling oxygen to enter my body for a mere second. I stumbled up and rushed over to Sam's limp body on the ground. Blood was covering the ground by her head. Her leg looked bad, her face was pressed onto the gravel. Blood was pooled by her side. Shattered glass was pierced into her upper arm. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I knelt next to her.
"Sam," I croaked out. I knew she wouldn't answer me but it involuntarily came out.
I moved the hair away from her bloodied face. I looked over her body and my eyes bulged as they zeroed in on her belly. Oh god. Oh god...the baby...the baby!! I looked around me desperately. No one was around. How couldn't anyone have heared the accident? Who the fuck could do this and then run off?
Sam's head rested on my lap. I needed to hold her, I needed to do something. I looked at the truck. It was gone, no use. Then I remembered. My hand shoved into my pocket and I retrieved my phone. It was cracked. The screen was completely cracked. The edges and corners were chipping off. Please god, please. I prayed hard as I tried to turn it on. It worked!!
"C'mon, c'mon," I mumbled shakily as it rang after I quickly dialed 911. A few seconds later and a lady's voice crackled against my ear with her stupid introductory.
"I need an ambulance I need help. My girlfriend and I were in an accident. She's unconscious and is losing too much blood please help me," I yelled helplessly down the phone.
"Sir, sir please stay calm, we'll track the number and help will be on its way. Make sure to stay put and don't move."
I thanked her and she reassured me that an ambulance was out and on its way.
"Sam please hold on. Please Sam, don't leave me okay? Please hold on," I croaked out as my thumb caressed her bruised and bloodied cheek.
Just when I thought I was going to lose it, a siren was approaching. I looked up and sure enough an ambulance approached, screeching to a stop a few steps away. Two paramedics, a woman and a man, rushed to us with their equipment.
"How long has she been unconscious?" Asked the guy as he slowly moved Sam's head from my lap and onto the ground.
"I-I don't know. The car rolled over and when I got out I found her here," I stammered. "You have to help her please," I almost cried.
"We'll get her to the hospital and they'll take over from there. She seems to have lost a lot of blood so we need to get her to a hospital fast," the guy explained as the woman checked my face. I tried to fight her off but she kept on going.
"Let me go. I'm okay. Just help her. Help her. She's pregnant, help her," I yelled.
They looked at me with wide eyes and as if a switch went on, the guy rushed the woman to grab the gurney. She acted in lightning speed and in a minute or two we were moving to the back of the ambulance. I slumped down beside Sam, clutching her hand, tears in my eyes as I begged her to fight on, to stay here with me. I prayed to god that the baby was okay, that the loss of blood and the impact won't hurt him. They have to be okay. The paramedics were telling me that the police will need to question me at the hospital as some investigators are already making their way to the scene. I couldn't concentrate, I just needed them to be okay. Sam can't die. She can't.
It's funny. My mom works at a hospital, I've been in halls like this one numerous times as I waited for her, and I feel scared and nervous and out of place as hell. People are crying, some are anxious, others are sighing with relief. I'm watching some doctors rush to Sam's side, they're checking her pulse, her limbs, her cuts. Some nurse tries to get me to get checked but I divert from her grasp as I watch Sam...her body seeming lifeless.
"Her pulse is low," I hear a doctor say. "Leg looks broken," another one informs. "She's lost a lot of blood we might need a transfusion." My head swirls around as I listen.
"Son, you need to get checked," the doctor tells me as she notices me.
Shaking my head I say, "No, no. You need to help her, you have to save her. I'm fine."
The doctor moves from Sam's body to come and check my cuts and my arm. One less doctor to save her life. No!
"I said I'm fine. Help her," I stated.
"It's okay. Your cuts need to be treated."
I flinch away, my eyes holding the doctor's as I say, "You have to save her. She's pregnant. You have to help them please. She's pregnant. Please."
My eyes pool with tears and my voice cracks. The doctor's eyes widen as she turns around and rushes to the others.
"We have to move. She's pregnant. Move! Move!"
The doctor then turns to me for just a second as they prepare to wheel Sam.
"We're taking her to surgery. I promise we'll do our best but in return you have to let the nurse take care of your cuts. Okay?"
I quickly nod, already letting the nurse sit me back down on the bed behind me.
"Will she..." I let the sentence drop.
"We'll do our best. We'll check her again and rush her to surgery. She seems to have multiple fractures but we need to see if there are any internal injuries. We'll call her ob-gyn to check the baby. Call family and friends and wait for someone to come out and update you."
I gulped and nodded, watching the doctor leave and letting the nurse patch me up.
My foot wouldn't stop jumping up and down. It's been almost an hour and no one has come out to update me. Melissa was called and she came rushing. She told me she'd come out and update me as soon as she would be able to.
"Ashton," I heard my mom's voice call for me.
Looking up, I see my mom with Anna, Aaron, Kayla, and Chace. When I called my mom and told her about the accident, she informed me she would be on her way right away. I then called Chace as he had texted me, worried about where we were as we were late to the party. My phone died right away so I made the calls from the hospital and that was enough to alarm my friends and family. Now, as I watch my mom and friends approach, I can't help but lose the strong posture I've held. She looks at the stitches on my forehead, the bandage around my arm, and the blood on my shirt. I shake my head to tell her it's nothing and her shoulders slump as she hurries to me. Her arms wrap around me and I fall into her embrace, tears running down my cheek, chest heaving as hands rub my back and my mom kisses the side of my head.
"There was s-s-so m-much b-blood," I cry, closing my eyes tight at the memory.
"Shhh, it's okay baby. She's strong, she'll be okay."
"She can't go. She can't," I whisper into my mother's neck as I hold on to her.
My eyes look around at my friends and I notice how they all look scared, worried, and devastated. They're all crying. The guys are letting the tears roll down discreetly and the girls are wiping at their cheeks and sniffling.
We are all sitting in the waiting area. My mom sits beside me, her hand on my shoulder. Anna sits to my other side, her arm around my own as her other hand holds Aaron's. Kayla and Chace sit against the wall to our left, Kayla's head on Chace's shoulder as she wipes away her tears. We're all waiting for a doctor to come out and tell us something. Anything. But no one appears. It's been an hour and a half and still no one has come out to inform us. The police appeared a few minutes earlier and threw question after question at me. It was a hit and run. They are investigating the case. They said the detectives will drop by to ask more questions when they've finished with the crime scene. A question that one of the police officer asked me has been swirling in my mind since the officers left. Do you think any one would have done this on purpose? Do you, or your girlfriend, think this might've been intentional? I didn't answer that question as I was tongue tied. Because the truth is, more than one name popped into my head, but my mind couldn't register that it could've been intentional. My mind couldn't come to terms with the idea that someone actually went this far to hurt Samantha.
The sliding door finally revealed Melissa. She was in blue scrubs, and she hurriedly approached us with a serious face.
"How is she? Is anything wrong?" I rushed to ask in worry.
"They're still operating on her," she answered, but that expression wasn't assuring.
"What? What is it? Is it Samantha? Is..is it the baby?"
At that, Chace, Aaron, and Kayla looked at me wide eyed. Kayla gasped as she looked at me with disbelief.
"You go..." I shook my head quickly.
"It's not mine," I weakly let out, my expression showing them the truth.
Kayla gasped in horror shaking her head with tears in her eyes.
"You mean...that night?" Chace asked.
I nodded, and they all looked even more in pain. In pain knowing that Samantha, the person we all love had to go through such horror.
"Is it the baby? Is he okay? Please tell me something, anything," I pleaded Melissa, my eyes watering again.
"She was brought with a lot of blood loss. She was hit pretty hard. Her head and her side are fractured badly. I don't know much more, but the whole thing was too much on her fragile body," Melissa explained.
I felt my stomach tie in knots, my chest being pressed down by a boulder.
"I'm sorry Ashton. The baby was too small and too weak. Samantha lost the baby."
I slumped in the chair behind me. Why? Just when Samantha was warming to the idea of accepting the baby? Why?
My hands covered my face as I let the tears run down my cheeks. I sniffed, looking up to see Melissa telling my mom she'll be back when she can tell us more, and then she left. My friends sat beside me. I could tell they wanted answers, but I couldn't get out words. I just couldn't. I wanted that kid so bad. I know it sounds crazy, I know. But I always wanted to have a family. And I couldn't imagine blaming a kid for something like that night. I felt protective over him. Now it's all gone. And the more my mind thinks about the little boy who we'll never get to know, the more my mind tells me that yes, someone wanted to intentionally hurt Samantha. And I know why.
I tried as best as I can to explain to Kayla, Chace, and Aaron about the baby. They figured out it was a result from that night, they didn't understand though why losing the baby affected me so much or why it would affect Samantha so much. So I explained everything. How we were slowly accepting it. How we wanted to keep the baby and raise him. I told them the truth behind the fight I got myself into with George, how he threatened to run over Samantha just because they wanted her to get rid of the baby. I also told them about her mom's visit, how they fought, what Sam's mother was after, and how it ended. They were all thinking, and I knew about what. Samantha was threatened more than once, could it really have been one of them?
It's already been three hours. I'm pacing around now, not knowing what else to do. I can't stay seated and wait. That's impossible. The chairs are uncomfortable and being still adds on to the pressure of waiting helplessly. Aaron, Anna, Kayla, Chace, and my mother were still in their same spots, but they were all nursing coffee in their hands as they needed a caffein kick after such a wait.
"Honey, just have a few sips, eat a little. You look pale," my mom called to me from her seat. She held out the paper coffee cup out to me, but I shook my head. Defeatedly, she placed it down on the space between my seat and hers.
"What the fuck is taking so long?" I huffed, earning a scolding look from my mom. "Can't you ask around?" I helplessly asked my mom.
"Honey, I'm a doctor not a surgeon. Besides, they'd tell me to wait. I've watched patients go through this, the doctors will come out when they're done," my mom replied in her most calming voice.
Groaning into my hands, I let my body slump into the chair once again. My heart couldn't stop racing, and my body couldn't stop twitching. The most fearful I've been in my life, and it's horrible that it's because the girl I love is fighting inside an operating room.
"Samantha Hale's family."
My head shot up and I immediately jumped up to the doctor, the same doctor who talked me into getting checked by a nurse.
"Y-yeah?" My voice wavered, nervous and scared for what I was going to be told.
"Hello, I'm doctor Davis," she smiled at us all. "You're all Samantha's family?"
"My son is her boyfriend, and these are her friends. We're the closest to a family Samantha has," my mom explained.
"Oh okay then," Dr David breathed in, ready to relay information to us. "Samantha is in a critical state right now."
I sucked in a ragged breath, the lower half of my body feeling like jelly.
"She has a broken leg and a fractured arm. She got a pretty hard hit to her head so that was where we were most concerned about. We were able to stop the possible bleeding that could've led to some damage," here eyes were flickering over each of our faces.
Anna and Kayla were sniffling again, and I was sure there were a few tears that ran down my cheeks.
"Luckily it wasn't a hit to the back of her head as that would've meant great damage and danger. We had to stop internal bleeding in her abdomen. I am so sorry for the loss of your child," her eyes sadly held onto my own.
That last sentence was all it took for me to let the tears fall, for my body to slump into the chair. Dr Davis placed a hand on my shoulder in comfort as she continued.
"There were some complications as she was losing blood fast, but we were able to stop anymore bleeding and get her a quick blood transfusion. She's in the emergency unit now. We placed her on life support just for the day as her body has gone through so much. She's stable now."
I looked up at the doctor with only one question, "Can I see her? Please, can I see her?"
I couldn't recognise my own voice. That vulnerable, scared, tired, pitying voice couldn't have been mine. But it was, and I didn't care how weak and sympathetic I sounded. All I cared about was seeing Samantha, I needed to see her, to be next to her. I needed her dammit!
"Yes, of course, but for now only one can enter at a time," Dr Davis replied to me before diverting the rest of the information to the others. "Follow me," she patted my back softly in an encouraging way.
She was just lying there. Lifeless. Helpless. Weak. The light I was so used to seeing illuminate her was gone. All I could see was a bandage wrapped around her head, stitches on her forehead, scratches on her cheeks. My fighter was taken over by a defeater.
"Oh god," my scratchy voice joined the beeping of the machines.
I slowly sat beside her, unsure of what to do.
"You won't disturb her. You can hold her hand, but just be gentle, and careful. I'll be outside if you need anything," said Dr Davis.
Nodding and thanking her, I looked back down to Samantha. My eyes found her limp hand. My fingers touched her skin and it felt cold. It felt wrong. Sucking in a breath, I held onto her hand, trying to radiate some heat to her body.
"Sam," I whispered, more like croaked.
Clearing my throat, trying to rid the lump that was forming there, I moved closer to her, my other hand slowly, tentatively, stroking her cheek.
"Sam, baby, you have to wake up okay? When they get you off of this machine, you have to open your eyes. I need to see your beautiful eyes. Okay? I love you Samantha, I need you."
I angrily wiped the few tears from the corner of my eye.
"I swear I'm going to find whoever fucking did this, and I'll make them pay. I promise you, I'll make them pay for what they did," I stated, making that promise to myself as well because I meant every word.
"I need you Sam. I know you've been relying on me so much these past few months. And I've tried so hard to be there, to be strong. But there were times where seeing you in pain would destroy me and I'd just want to break, but I couldn't because I love you and I always will. I can't lose you. Please Sam, please don't leave me," my voice cracked as I lay my head down next to her body and let my own body shake as the day finally hit me. I just couldn't believe it. We were celebrating winning the league, and now we're here. Sam lost the baby and now she's in a critical condition, on life support, barely able to make it. Why? Why was this happening?
My mom stood up the minute she saw me walk in. After just holding Sam's hand and staring at her for what felt like hours, Dr Davis politely told me tine was up. So here I am, walking into the waiting area once again. My head was spinning and my body felt heavy.
"Are you okay sweetie?" My mom asked as she placed her warm hand against my cheek.
Nodding, I blinked several times as I felt my head pounding.
"Ashton?"
Looking around me, I felt the room spin, becoming blurry. And just as I felt my limbs twitch, my vision slipped from me and I heard my name being yelled as I felt my body collide with a hard surface.
I wanted to open my eyelids, but they felt so heavy. Groaning, I pushed past the drowsiness and let my eyes blink, once, twice, adjusting to the light. My mom sat to my side, her eyes red and puffy with tears.
"Mom," I scratchily let out.
"Ashton, honey? Are you feeling okay?" She rushed to ask as she leaned closer to me, her hand going through my hair just like when I was a kid and needed her comfort.
"My head hurts," I mumbled, sitting up straighter.
"That's okay," my mom smiled at me reassuringly.
I looked around me. I was in a hospital room. I was dressed in those ugly hospital gowns. My hands weren't stained in blood anymore. Why am I here?
"You fainted sweetie," my mom broke my through my thoughts. "They took you for a head scan. Thank god nothing is wrong. But during the accident you had a pretty bad hit to your head which is why you experienced the dizziness and headache. You need to rest, that's why you're here. They need to keep an eye on you for the night."
No. I need to be with Sam. I can't be held here.
"No mom. Sam needs me. I have to see her," I rushed like a mad man, trying to remove the wires connecting me to the IV and the stupid beeping machine which only added to my headache.
My mom's hand pressed onto my shoulder. " Sam is in the emergency unit. She's going to be there until she wakes up. You'll go see her when they let you go. You need to rest Ashton. Sam wouldn't want you to do this to yourself. You can't be there for her if you're weak and unhealthy. Please baby, lie down and rest. Anna and your friends, and me, we'll alternate watching over her. Okay? Do it for Sam."
With that last statement, I fell back into my pillow, nodding to my mom as she let out a breath. Just then, the door creaked open and my sister's head popped in. Her eyes caught onto me and her tears continued to drip down her cheeks. She was quick to enter the room and rush to my side. She wrapped her arms around my torso making me hiss in pain.
"Sorry," she mumbled as her hold faltered just a little.
"It's okay."
I kissed the top of her head as she cried with her face covered by my ugly gown.
"I love you idiot," she chuckled, making me laugh.
"Me too knuckle head."
When she calmed down, she sat up and wiped her eyes and nose. Then she looked at me and said, "Some police officers asked for you. We told them you were unconscious so they asked us a few questions they needed to know about Sam."
With raised eyebrows, I urged her to go on. "What did they ask?"
"They wanted to know about her family. About her parents. I told them her dad died and that she didn't have such a relationship with her mother. And then they asked for her mother's name and I gave it to them. I hope that's ok."
"It's fine," I assured her.
"Kayla is with her right now," Anna whispered.
I gave her a thankful smile as I relaxed back into the pillow. Closing my eyes, I couldn't help but let myself drift into slumber.
Her hand was still cold. I tried hard to get then to warm up. It was useless. A few minutes ago I was discharged. My mom brought me a change of clothes and I got a quick shower before getting dressed and rushing here to Sam's side. Anna and our friends headed home to change and rest while my mom was waiting at the waiting area. I sat here just like I did yesterday, just staring at her and urging her in my mind to wake up when the time comes. Dr David informed me that they'd be taking her off life support today and they'll monitor her progression. I was scared. What if she didn't wake up? What if something bad happens? I couldn't stop such thoughts.
"Ashton," Dr Davis walked in with a nurse behind her. "We're gonna take her off the machine now. Okay?"
Nodding, I stayed in place, her hand in mine, as the nurse and doctor approached Sam. They checked some of the machines, checked her pupils and injuries, and then they started shutting off the machine and removing a tube from her throat.
"Now we'll monitor her every few hours and we'll wait until her body is ready to wake up."
I nodded again. I looked at Sam. She was still the same. Still lifeless and weak.
"C'mon Sam. C'mon, you have to open your eyes now. C'mon baby, open your eyes."
Nothing happened. And all I could think of was, will she wake up?