Everything was just black. I don't know for how long. I felt like I was floating in a pool of black nothingness. Then there was this light. It wasn't super bright but it was just there at the end of a long hallway. I started to walk to it but I felt a weight on my chest. It made it hard for me to move. The light continued to get brighter and I had to put my hand over my eyes to block it.
Soon the light started to fade and I pulled my hand away. The blackness around me was gone, now replaced with the scene of the Music Emporium parking lot. There was a lot of police around and a few ambulances here as well. Just as I was about to start walking to where they were standing, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and thought I was dreaming. It had to be a dream. There was no way this is real.
"Mom?" I questioned.
"Hi babygirl." Mom said and smiled at me.
I reached out to her and pressed my hand to her chest. She is solid. Once I knew she was I launched myself into her arms. I let out a sob and held onto her tightly. Mom didn't let me hold onto her for long as she pulled away and held me at an arm's length. She looked me over and I did the same to her. She is wearing her favorite tee shirt, a black and red Ramones band shirt along with a pair of jeans and a long grey navy peacoat.
"You're all grown up now." Mom said with tears in her eyes.
"It's been almost 15 years since you've died." I said and wiped away the tears still pouring out of my eyes.
"I know babygirl, come here." Mom said and pulled me into her again.
I pressed my nose into her chest and took a deep breath. She still smelled the same. I felt mom press a kiss to the crown of my head and heard her sigh.
"I need you to come with me Ash." Mom said and pulled away from me again.
I just nodded and took her hand. She led me over to the scene of police officers. They couldn't see us as we got closer to the center of attention. Suddenly an officer moved out of the way and I saw Malia pressing her hands firmly into my abdomen.
"Ashlyn you need to stay with me. The EMTs are taking Thea to the hospital and you're next but you need to breath for me come on." Malia said to me as she watched the EMTs load Thea into the waiting ambulance. Just as the doors of the ambulance closed I saw Asher, Ashley and Allison sitting in the ambulance with her.
"GWS to the abdomen, no exit wound. She was conscious when I got here but passed out once I started trying to ask her questions." I heard Malia say as the EMT's started to work on my body.
Malia pulled her hands away from my stomach and one of the EMT's replace them. Malia moved away as they got to work and found my cell phone on the ground next to my body. She picked it up and followed the EMT's as they place my body in the back of the ambulance. The doors shut and I watched as a few police cars pull out in front of the ambulance.
"They are going to get you to the hospital fast which is good. You lost a lot of blood." I heard mom say as she squeezed my hand next to me.
"Am I dead?" I asked as I watched Rory walk onto the scene. He started to yell at his officers demanding to know what happen. They didn't have a lot of answers for him until the owner of the Music Emporium came outside and pulled him inside the store.
"No, you're in the in between. You're not alive but you're not dead, this is kind of like a place of limbo." Mom said.
"Why are you here then?" I asked.
"I'm your guide here. It is up to you to fight for your life Ashlyn." Mom said and pulled me away from the two large puddles of blood that now stain the parking lot.
We started walking down the block away from the parking lot and the street started to change. The heaviness that was on my chest is starting to ease but it was replaced with the feeling of a pulling and tugging. I felt lightheaded and suddenly we were walking the halls of the hospital. Mom moved us out of the way of the doctors rushing through the halls and slowly walked us to the room they went in to.
"You turned out to be better at the piano then I ever thought you could be Ashlyn." Mom said as a doctor moved out of the way and I saw my face. Wires and tubes coming in and out of me as they rushed to try and save my life.
"What caused your heart attack? The doctors could never figure it out and it left us with so many questions about what happened to you." I asked turning away from myself to face my mother.
"Asher was driving you and your sister to school that morning after I worked late the night before. I wasn't feeling good that night, I had a lot of heartburn so I took some medicine and went to bed. The Reaper appeared to me and told me that a drunk driver was driving on the wrong side of the road and would hit his car. He gave me the choice to sacrificed my life for yours and I did. There was no doubt in my choice and I made my decision before he even finished speaking. I took his hand and he took me to the scene and we watched as Asher moved out of the way in time for the drunk driver to flip his car when he tried to make a turn." Mom said watching the doctors work to save my life.
There was a lot of yelling and people moving around in the room. I couldn't see what they were doing but it was probably for the best.
"How is Thea doing?" I asked. Mom didn't say anything but held out her hand. I took it and suddenly we were in a different room. I could see Thea's head and doctors crowd around her stomach.
"It's a miracle that she is alive right now." I heard one of the doctors say. I tried to walk closer to her but mom held tightly to my hand.
"Let them work Ash. Asher, Ashley and Allison got her, don't worry." Mom said and smiled at me.
I stepped back and stood next to mom. She wrapped her arm around my waist and we just watched as the doctors continue to work on Thea.
"She means a lot to you." Mom said.
"She's my whole world. She saved me when I wanted to give up. I wanted to do anything to save her since she has saved my life so many times before. She's my angel." I said and looked up at mom.
When I looked back at the operating table I saw my own body there. More doctors are rushing around the table I heard them start to yell.
"Does anybody have eyes on the bullet? I can't find it, there is too much blood, suction!" The lead doctor yelled.
Before I could see what happened next the room changed again. This time mom and I are standing in a waiting room. It was private and just a few people are here. Pat, Nikki, Malia, Lindsey, Scarlett, Jack and Rory. Malia is shaking, her hands and arms still tainted red from all the blood. Nikki is on the phone with someone while crying in the seat next to Malia. Rory has his hand on Pat's knee as it looks like he is praying. Jack and Lindsey both looked concerned but are trying to hide it.
"You know if either of them have advance directives drawn up?" Lindsey asked Jack quietly.
"Ashlyn met with Phillip to get some in place before she went to Europe and didn't Thea have some drawn up after Allison died?" Jack questioned.
"If she did, she didn't tell me. Can you call Phillip please, tell him it's an emergency." Lindsey asked.
Jack didn't say anything but nodded and left the room. Before I left to tour Europe, I did have a will prepared just encase anything happened, along with what my wishes were in certain situations. I never thought I would ever need them this soon.
"Alyssa, Eli and Diego are getting on a flight now and will be here as soon as they can be." Nikki spoke to the room.
Before anyone could say anything the door opened and a doctor walked inside. Everyone looked up I could see Nikki hold her breath.
"To be honest we don't know how, but it looks like Themis will pull through. One of the bullets hit an artery but somehow Ashlyn used pressure in just the right place and steamed the bleeding just enough for us to repair the damage. Themis isn't out of the woods completely but we were able to repair the most life threatening damage. Right now we are in the process of sowing up the damage from the other bullet." The doctor said and rubbed his head.
"What about Ashlyn?" Nikki asked.
"I'm sorry but I've just been working on Themis, I don't know Ashlyn's status. I will go ask and see if I can get something in here to update you guys soon." The doctor said and back out of the room.
I took a deep breath and felt mom squeeze my shoulders. I turned to look at her and gave me a smile.
"You saved her life Ashlyn." Mom said. Before I could say anything back my vision got spotty. I reached out and grabbed onto moms arms to hold myself up.
"Ashlyn, look at me honey." Mom said and forced me to look at her. "It's time for you to fight."
"Mom I don't feel good." I said felt like someone set my stomach on fire.
"It's time for you to go back Ashlyn." Mom said and I felt myself move.
"No, I'm not ready, I want to stay with you." I said and gripped onto her arms tighter.
"You can't honey, you need to go back and fight for yourself now. I'm so proud of the woman you have become Ashlyn. Now is the time you need to fight for yourself. Use everything you have learned to save yourself." Mom said her hands on my shoulders forcing me backwards.
"Please stay." I said as I felt like it was getting hard to breath.
"I'll never let you go Ashlyn but you need to fight. Don't give into the Reaper. Your girl will be waiting for you. Please live." Mom said.
"I love you mom." I said and felt her hand run down my arm. I caught it in my own and I watched with tears in her eyes as she pressed her other hand to my chest. She pushed me away and my hand slipped out of hers.
"I love you too Ashlyn."
It felt like I was shocked by a lightning bolt. Once the pain eased I felt my chest start to get tight. I don't know what was happening against my body but I knew I needed to feel it. I just don't know how long I could stand this pain for. My chest it getting tight, tight, tight and then finally I felt myself get shocked again.
The pain from the shock released the tension in my chest and slowly the pain started to fade away. The pain was the only thing anchoring me to this world. Once it was gone I felt like I was floating again. I don't know how long I was floating for. It could have been days or it could have been years.
But finally I started to feel my body again. It started with my toes and worked its way up my legs. Then to my fingers and arms. When the feeling returned to my chest that's when I felt the pain and opened my eyes. Everything around me was white and it made it hard to see where I was. Just as I was about to close my eyes again I felt like I couldn't breathe. I looked down and saw a tube in my throat. I reached around trying to signal someone.
That's when I felt someone grab my hand and I looked up and found my mom standing there. I stopped struggling and focused on her. Her hand brushed up against my cheek and I closed my eyes at the feeling. I felt myself calm down against her touch. When I opened my eyes again she was gone and a doctor was in my face removing the tube in my throat.
I coughed a few times and once it was out they place an oxygen mask over my mouth. Everything seemed to move to fast around me and I couldn't keep up with them. I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath. It caused me to cough a few more times and once I started to settle again the room got a bit quieter. I felt someone caress my face again and I called out for my mom.
When I opened my eyes again the hand went still on my cheek and I focused enough to see a concerned looking Pat looking back at me.
"Where's my mom?" I asked him when he moved his hand off my face.
"She just stepped out sweetie, she will be back soon. You should rest though. You've been through a lot." Pat said and patted my hand.
"Okay, just tell her I missed her when she comes back." I said as I felt myself starting lose against sleep.
"I will honey, don't worry, get some sleep Ash." Pat said with tears in his eyes. I didn't have a chance to response before my eyes closed for the final time and sleep washed over me like a wave.
A/N: i always knew i wanted to incorporate Ashs mom in here somewhere but i needed it to be a special moment. Thought that this moment called for Ash to see her mom. Her mom is going to be played by Cobie Smulders. The song on the side goes perfectly with this whole situation. It's called Never Let Me Go and i used some of the lyrics and themes of the song and music video in my writing.