Fragile Bones

Chapter Thirty-Five

The first thing I was aware of when I woke up was the sound of wind. The second thing I was aware of was that same wind brushing across my face, chilling the sweat that had accumulated on my forehead. The third thing, was that I wasn't supposed to be asleep.

I was staring at the interior roof of a car I didn't recognize, which made me immediately shoot up from my position on my back. I brought a hand up to my head as the force of the sudden movement brought on a headache, but was more concerned with the fact that I was possibly kidnapped. However, when I looked at who was in the drivers seat, I was comforted to realize it was Asher.

I guess he heard me get it up because he quickly looked over his shoulder at me, and let out a breath of relief. Rubbing my head, I squinted out the window, not quite remembering what led me to this situation. Nothing passed by that I recognized, and I wondered if perhaps Asher was kidnapping me. Lulled into a false sense of security, this was the time that he waited for to strike.

God, that is just ridiculous.

"What happened? Where are we going?" I asked, the words coming out quieter than I intended. I scooted forward so I wasn't propping myself up on my arms anymore, and leaned my head in between the two front seats so I could look out the windshield. To my surprise, it looked like it had begun to snow. Very lightly, but still falling down from the clouds above.

"You don't even remember? For fucks sake. You passed out in the middle of the ice rink. You're lucky I caught you before you bashed your head open on the ice." I scrunched up my nose at the grizzly thought. Dying in a public area and traumatizing a bunch of people is not the way I want to go. "We're going to the hospital."

"What!? No we're not. Just take me back to my house," I said, worry filling my senses. Clearly, this was not an emergency as I was awake now and perfectly fine. Or at least, as fine as I could be.

He turned his head to glance at me once more, looking at me like I was crazy. "Are you out of your mind? You've been unconscious for the past five minutes. You scared the hell out of Charlie-"

At the mention of her name, I interrupted him. "Where is she?" Certainly not in his car, or she'd probably be agreeing with him as he spoke, talking a million miles a minute.

"She left in her own car to go tell your parents-"

I interrupted him once more.

"What? You have got to be kidding me, that's so unnecessary," I sputtered, and took out my phone, immediately calling Charlie. Knowing her, she would have no qualms about answering it while she was driving. I just hoped she wasn't at my house yet. If my parents got word of me fainting, they'd stick me in a sanitarium for sure. Asher reached his arm over to me while keeping his eyes on the road, and tried to swipe my phone away from me but I turned before he could.

I held the phone up to my ear, ignoring Ashers protests against it. As expected, after three rings, she answered.

"Where are you?" I asked immediately.

"Oh my god Madeline, that's what you're asking right now? I thought you freaking died or something. I've never see anybody pass out before because, y'know, that's not a normal thing to do! Are you okay? Are you guys at the hospital yet?" She sounded a little frazzled, and I felt guilty to be putting her through this. My problems weren't only affecting me, now they were affecting people I cared about too.

"That's what I wanted to tell you. We're not going to the hospital, I'm just going to go home, so there's no need for you to beat me to the punch. I can tell my parents what happened myself. Fainting is really no big deal to be honest," I lied, chuckling nervously.