Beatrice's POV:
I awake to the sound of static and beeping. The static is coming from my TV and the beeping is coming from my phone, indicating a voice mail. I go and turn off the TV that had been playing Glee before I passed out on the couch. Mostly, my dreams are of Ashton and I getting married. But then, something happens. There's some loud noise like a car crashing and screams. I noticed that that's why I've been waking up too. These dreams scare the living hell out of me and I wake up crying. But while I was asleep on the couch, I woke up with no tears. My dreams were of a black open space. Like I was floating around or something. Thinking about it now, I woke up feeling nothing. I wasn't happy or well rested... it was nothing.
Before I fell asleep, Ashton told me he was leaving to go and get groceries from the Walmart across town, around four. He gave me a kiss on the forehead and told me to get back to watching Glee so he could come back and watch it with me. I check my phone and ignore the voice mail, probably just some wrong number. So, I check the time instead. My face furrows in confusion, because it's 12 AM.
"What the hell? Where are you, Ash?" I say this aloud without even realizing it. Listening to the sounds of the apartment, all I hear is the AC kicking on. Nothing else besides my breathing and the AC. My phone makes a loud noise as I slam it on the counter.
Quickly, I run to our bedroom. Empty. The bathroom: empty. The kitchen: empty. I even check the living room for him, even though I know it is empty. My eyes dart to my shoes next to the door and I run to put them on. Without turning off the lights, I run out of the apartment with my keys and my worried thoughts.
Thoughts in my head run wild as I run down the lit, empty street. Why the hell would he stay out so late? Maybe he's with Mikey and Calum. Ever since Maycee left for Australia, Calum has been as pouty as a puppy dog with no owner or some shit. But, he would have texted me if he was. My mind is running wild and I know I'm running wild too. I'm down the street by now and I've obviously seen no sign of him. Michael and Claudia's! I totally forgot that they moved back and maybe Ashton went over there and had one too many and couldn't drive back.
The convenience store coming up surprisingly has a taxi parked in the parking lot. Sketchy, but it's what I have. My feet make a slapping noise as I approach the drivers side of the taxi. I knock on the window and the driver jumps so high in his seat, it looks like he's a jack-in-the-box. He rolls his window down and stares at me.
"Can you take me to 246 West Santana?" He continues to stare at me and jerks his head towards the back set. "Get in kid."
---
"No, Beatrice. He's not here. I haven't heard anything from him or you since we got back." Claudia sits down beside me and shakes her head while Mikey gets me a glass of water from the sink.
"Shit, I'm sorry about not visiting you guys. Listen. You guys have to help me find him because I haven't gotten anything at all on my phone- oh shit." I stop and remember my phone. The voice mail. I quickly check my pockets: empty. Shit, I left it on the counter.
"I'll get you a blanket and you can just stay the night okay? It's too late for you to be out and about." Claudia rubs my back as I put my head in my hands. I shake my head and close my eyes, breathing deeply. "No, Claudia, I gotta get to my phone. I have a voice mail on there and it might be from him."
She nods and looks back to Michael. "I'll take her home, okay babe?" He shakes his head, no. "You stay here if he shows up and I'll take her, okay? Let me take her." Mikey walks over and hands me the water and strokes Claudia's hair. "Alright," she says "you take her. I'll text you if he shows up."
---
Michael's car is sort of small. It's kind of like those Mini Coopers but even smaller. A Smart Car? I think that's what it's called. We're just pulling out of their driveway when he looks over to me with a worried look on his face. "Mikey, don't. I'm fine. I just need to find him. I already got enough comfort from your wife and I can't take anymore."
"Fine, Beatrice. But you make sure to take care of yourself for once, please. You always seem to take care of everyone else besides you. I hate to bring it up, but that's what happened with.. with Luke." Even his name brings me pain. It's been awhile since I even heard that name and I can't take it. I break down. I look ahead as Mikey drives me home and tears stream down my face. He broke me but he didn't even realize it. I didn't even realize it, but I was horrible to him. The whole Ashton thing happened and I love it. I love Ashton. God, do I love him. But... Luke. I still love him. No matter what happened. In all honesty, I cheated. I broke him and that tore me apart. And you know what I feel now? Towards myself? Hate. That's all I feel towards myself. Pure self hatred because I created a monster. Inside myself, there is a monster and I can't handle it anymore. No one can handle it. Ashton can't handle it and maybe he'd be better without me. Maybe-
"Beatrice. We're here." I look over at Michael and stare for a moment. He's so sweet... a beautiful person. Claudia's really lucky to have him but he's also really lucky to have her. He knows how to treat her well and how to handle her anxiety. Without him, I swear me and Claudia would be living together. My eyes adjust and I slowly nod. "Thank you, Mikey." He says you're welcome or something I guess, but I can't hear him because I'm already running up the stairs to my apartment.
---
"Beatrice." A voice I haven't heard in I don't know how long fills my ears. "It's me, Luke. Um, I'm at the hospital... with Ashton." I gasp and tears fill my eyes. No, God. "Please call me back. I tried calling you 6 other times but they wouldn't go through for some reason. We're at the hospital by the grocery store. Please come." And with that, Luke's voice goes silent and the line ends.
Running back down the stairs, I see Michael hasn't left yet. Thank God. "MICHAEL! Don't leave!!" I literally scream this as I run to his car. His eyes are filled with confusion as I climb in. "What's going-"
"Just get me to the hospital. He's there with Luke for some reason." Mikey doesn't talk anymore and practically speeds to the hospital. I tear open the car door and run to the front. The receptionist is typing away at her computer as I run into the counter, almost flipping over the whole desk.
"How can I help you ma'am?" Her voice is filled with no emotion at all and she doesn't even look up at me. "Yes, I am looking for my boyfriend. His name is Ashton Irwin." The whole room is filled with my loud voice and everyone looks my way. The woman rolls her eyes and says, "We don't have anyone checked in by that name." She didn't even type in his name or whatever they have to do to find a patient.
"Beatrice..." A voice appears behind me and I spin around to come face to face with Luke Hemmings.
"Where is he?! What the hell happened?!" My voice gets shrill as I wipe away my tears. "He's in the emergency room. He got in a car accident." Luke's face is bright. He's tan from being in Australia and he has lighter hair. "I came back with my mom. She insisted... I'm sorry that it was me that didn't look. I didn't look. I didn't see the red light. I was speeding and I didn't look. This is all my fault, Beatrice. I ruin everything. That's why I left-" I interrupt him, "Don't. Shut up." Rage fills me and I can't even look at him. I walk away and see the emergency room door. Mikey is walking beside me, his arm around my shoulders. "Just walk. Don't talk. But, you'll have to soon. Don't forget that." He squeezes my shoulder as we walk to the emergency room.
The room is filled with a hectic aura. Doctors are running from patient to patient and seem to leave smoke behind them. A nurse comes up to us and asks us, "What is it that you two need?" She seems calm and collected besides all the craziness going on around her. Mikey speaks up for me and says, "Yes, we're looking for a young man named Ashton Irwin? He got in a car wreck about an hour ago?"
Her eyes widen and looks up at me. "Are you his fiancé?" Confused, I just shake my head yes. "Okay, well I can only allow you into the room, I'm sorry sir but you'll have to wait out in the waiting room." Mikey looks at me with those big, blue eyes and squeezes my hand. "It's okay, Beatrice. I'll wait with Luke." And with that, he walks away.
The nurse, she told me her name was Tiffany, leads me to the back of the room. "I'm sorry to tell you ma'am, but we have some bad news. Your fiancé has some memory loss." My feet stop in their tracks and I look at her. "Does he not... remember me?!" Tears are streaming down my face, again. And I can't think, again. Tiffany stops with me and apologizes for the information she just shot at me.
"I'm afraid he doesn't remember himself either. That boy that came in with him gave us Ashton's information and said he would call Ashton's fiancé, which is you I suppose." She said this in a manner that seemed like everything was okay. So, I wipe my tears and follow her. I have to be strong. I have to help Ashton. Forget my feelings and help him through this. Maybe he remembers me. I mean, I'm his girlfriend and he loves me and I love him. We've helped each other through everything and I can't wait to marry him. To have kids with him. That's what I'm going to do. Help him.
"Okay, so this is his little room. He's okay besides the little bumps and bruises. I honestly don't know what happened to him but his doctor will be here and he'll tell you his condition and such. I'm here if you need anything, okay ma'am?" She walks away with a wave and a smile.
Sitting behind this curtain is the love of my life. The boy... no, the man who saved me. But, he might not be that man anymore. He might not love me and remember me.
I raise my hand and pull open the curtain slightly. He's sitting there and he's messing with his hair like he usually does when he's nervous. He doesn't notice me so I stand there quietly, admiring him. Scared, is what he looks like. Like a scared puppy. I suppose my sneakers made a squeak on the tile because he looks up at me. His eyes are wide and filled with tears.
"Who are you? Are you another nurse?"
"No, I'm Beatrice. I'm here to help you remember everything okay?"
Ashton looks at me and slowly nods. He points to the end of his bed and tells me to sit down without even saying anything.
"Ashton, what all do you remember?" I'm literally holding back tears and trying to keep it together for his sake. It's time to fix him too.