The Revelation #14

“Lee, are you okay?” Ash had her frozen body cradled on his lap, she looked dazed, her eyes fixed and empty, staring at nothing.
“Honey, please talk to me.” His urgent voice melted her, forcing her to blink a couple of times as she came back to reality.
“Ash, I saw my father. I’m sure of it. Ann saw him too,” she whispered into his neck.
“Lee, I don’t know what your father looks like, and that guy looked really young.” Ann was quiet, Lee could tell she didn’t want to confirm or deny that she saw her father.
She pulled out of Ash’s arms and walked to her room. She got her shoebox out of her closet. It had been a while since she went through the contents. She took a deep breath before she took the lid of. It was filled with newspaper cuttings of her family. She took Ash’s diamond pendant and put it on, she needed the security—it was the only good thing in that box. She then took out the clipping with the caption ‘FAMILY DIES IN HOUSE FIRE’, below it was a picture of her family, with her included.
It was a happy picture, with her seated on her father’s lap and Alice in her mother’s arms with her little fingers in her mouth. Jayson was standing behind her mother and father with his huge dorky smile on. She’d missed that smile.
The first day she spoke after her family got killed was the day she saw their picture in the newspaper. Her social worker had to file a motion with the court, declaring that she hadn’t died in the fire. It was a long process but she was finally legally alive. She was glad that the newspapers hadn’t found out that she was still alive, she didn’t want the attention and maybe not physically, but a part of her had died with her family that day.
She looked up. Ash was standing at the door, his face distressed. She stood up and walked to him. She took his hand in hers and walked back to the living room. Without a word, she handed Ann the clipping then led Ash back to the couch. He sat down before she climbed back onto his lap, burying her head in his chest. He held her tight, cradling her.
The gasp behind them answered everyone in the room. Lee wanted to disappear, to creep under a rock and never come out. She pressed herself against Ash, hoping his body would give her the refuge she so badly needed. His arms tightened around her in response.
The room was quiet, everyone’s breathing sounded louder than they usually did. She kept her concentration on Ash’s heartbeat. It was racing erratically. She needed him to stay calm so that she could draw that from him. She clenched her finger tighter on his shirt, keeping her other hand securely on his arm.
“Ash, will you please calm down. I’m depending on you to keep me from falling apart. So you need to keep it together.” Her voice was flat, emotionless and low.
“Okay.” He slowly shifted on the couch and stretched out on it keeping her cradled against him. He put her in between himself and the couch. Someone placed a blanket over them. Lee didn’t bother to move to see who it was. Then the breathing was gone. She and Ash were the only ones left in the room.
She pressed her ear on his chest, listening to his heartbeat slow down, depending on it to keep her anchored to reality. She didn’t want to think of anything. She needed to stay sane long enough to process the new curve ball life had thrown at her. She kept her concentration on Ash’s heartbeat; it was now a stable rhythm. She pushed everything out of her mind, except for the loud thud of Ash’s heart. She closed her eyes and drifted into sleep, hoping she would drown in her new dreams.