TWENTY FOUR

She was exchanging air with the strongly disinfected environment with so much effort, Ashley just had to wonder for a second what she would be doing if he were in a more severe condition. But that train of thought did not last long because as soon as she saw his face, she felt the ultimate feeling of relief wash through her.

His eyes were shut making him look so serious especially with the few stitches here and there. But he also managed to look so peaceful. It was then Ashley wondered why he was awake just barely hours after his accident.

“Hey you,” she whispered to him as she took a seat on the little space left on his bed. Reaching out, she traced his face, a small smile settling on her mouth.

“Hey,” his response came out almost silently. Slowly, Dave opened his eyes and those twinkles they held just made Ashley break out into a bigger smile.

Whatever it was that was running through her whole system had to be love. Ashley did not think a better word existed.

“Aren’t you meant to be sleeping?”

“I heard you were around and woke up.” Ashley was loving how they whispered their words. It was as though they were telling each other secrets. Secrets even the hospital room shouldn’t hear.

“You should rest.”

“I will, now that you are here.” Ashley pulled back a bit and reached for his free hand to hold it. She began to play with the huge, moisturized hand as though it were a long lost toy. “Ashley?”

“Yes, Dave Scott?” She recalled the time he said the way she said his name did things to him.

“I am glad you are here.”

Bringing his hand to her lips, she whispered back, “I am glad you did not leave me.”

“I couldn’t…” Dave’s eyes drew back as though he was trying to have a fight with sleep. Opening his eyes wider, he managed to adjust himself without pressuring his slung arm. “During the crash, I did not think about the fact that I was close to death. The fact that death wanted to take me away from a good thing I have found after years of misery made me make sure I did not leave.”

“Shh… you should be resting. You are talking too much.”

He ignored her statement. “Even when I was being strolled in, I kept thinking about you Ashley. And now that you are finally here, I am so glad, I can sleep without worry.”

She leaned in to stay few inches away from his face. Giving him a short kiss, she began to ruffle his hair, “You should really rest.”
Ashley did not know why she was not responding to his body and heart warming words.

Dave nodded agreeably to her words and laid back, his eyes shutting. Suddenly, Ashley felt like she could respond to his words. She no longer felt tongue tied. “I think-”

“I have to confess though…” His eyes snapped open again and stared right into hers. “I was a bit scared.”

“Anyone would be.”

“I was scared because of my father.”

“Your father?”

“Yes,” his head tilted a bit to the left. “,my father.”

Ashley was confused. “But your father is no more. Right?”

Dave sighed tiredly. “He is actually alive.”

Ashley found herself a bit shocked that she pulled back to properly process his words. “Dave,” she chuckled unbelievably at what she was about to ask. “,are you hallucinating?”

Dave turned to face her again. “You are real right?” Ashley nodded. “Then, I am not hallucinating.”

Ashley threw away her chants that were supposed to cajole him to rest. “So, your father is really alive.”

“Yes,” Dave groaned.

“What? What is wrong?”

“I need to leave this place, hospitals make me sick.” He made to get up but Ashley pinned him down gently.

“Don’t be silly now Dave, you have hardly rested. How do you expect to feel better if you run away from the hospital like a thief?” Dave opened his mouth to reply, but he decided against it and laid down back, his eyes watching Ashley wearily.
“Well,” Ashley continued when she was sure he did not look like he was going to run away. “,since you won’t be resting soon, how about you tell me about your father.” Dave sighed again. The topic seemed to be like a heavy stone.

“What do I say?”

“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”

“No, its fine.” With the corner of his eyes, he watched her as his lips kept parting and shutting like he wanted to say something else. He finally did. “Are you sure I can’t leave?” Ashley gave him a glare. “Okay,” he surrendered into the bed.

“Are you going to talk to me now?”

“Well, when I was thirteen, my parents were in a car crash. My mother died, but my father did not.” There was a brief silence pregnant with approaching sorrow. “I also did not.”

“You were in the car…”

“I was meant to be the one to die from that accident.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It is actually true. We were on our way home from a charity event and my parents started fighting. And that, of course was my father’s fault. He was busy flirting shamelessly in front of her at the event.
When my mom couldn’t take his irritating defense anymore, she told me to come to the front while she would sit at the back to blow off some steam. We had already swapped and were about to enter when…” Dave drew another deep breath.

Ashley reached for his hand and held it tight.

“It happened so fast, Ashley. There was this trailer, it had derailed and it headed straight for our car. My mother had almost entered the car, my dad was sitting comfortably but I had taken a second to study some ants I saw on the ground.
Next thing I knew, there were screams and cries and tires screeching. The trailer rammed into the car with so much force, my mother… she… just didn’t make it. The trailer had a lot of impact on the back seat.”

The tears on his face made Ashley’s heart break the more. “Dave... ” She did not want him to continue.

“My father also got hit, but he survived somehow and I, I had been tossed away in another direction so fast, it took me minutes to recover. When I did, I stood up to a totally ruined car and a loud scream which I am sure came from me. My heart broke, damn, my heart broke when I realized that there was no way to save them. I just fell onto the ground and cried.

It was later on that they found out my father surprisingly was still alive. At first I was glad, but when I saw my mother’s body being carted away, I hated him instantly. Since then , I have hated him. I swore not to forgive him ever.”

“I… I am…” She did not want to say *sorry*. That word did not do her feeling at that moment justice. So, she just kept quiet and she silently watched him as he gathered his thoughts while her hands caressed his own lovingly.

Dave wiped away the tears that were rolling down freely. With his jaws locked, he looked up at the ceiling. “Today, during the crash, I remembered my father and how callous I have been to ignore him for too long.” He looked back at her. “I am a hypocrite you know? The other day I was telling you to forgive your mother when I have not found it in me to forgive my father after so long.”

“You have been angry for a long time.”

“Yes. But, not anymore. The little time I have spent with you has taught me a lot and I have realized that instead of hating my father when he is still alive, I should just accept what happened and try to look beyond the fact that he is the reason my mother is dead. I know my mother would want me to forgive him because she loved him regardless.”

“That is good Dave.” Having been used to a playful Dave, Ashley wondered why she never noticed the loaded side of Dave, the side that held so much sadness.

“I was scared during the crash because I thought I was going to leave this world without meeting my dad once more to tell him I miss him and that I love him.”

Ashley bent and planted a kiss on his forehead. “I am sure your father will be so glad to see you again.”

“Yeah.” He was beginning to sound sleepy.“Ashley, would you like to accompany me to see my father?”

“Gladly.” She rubbed through his temple with her thumb. “Now go to sleep.”

Dave exhaled. “Yes ma’am.”

“If you say one more word, I will have to get you sedated.” Ashley was amused at how bossy she sounded with him. “I wonder why you weren’t sedated initially,” she pondered loudly.

“The nurses probably got carried away on seeing my fine face.” Gasping at first at his managed cockiness and at the fact that he was still not trying to sleep, Ashley’s expression turned soft when she noticed that the heaviness that his story left had disappeared a bit.

“Just go to sleep,” she whispered, stroking his hair, a small smile appearing on her lips gradually as soon as she saw his little smirk.