On The Line (Ashton Irwin)

Chapter 18- Now

Chapter 18- Now

-Madison's POV-

I wasn't falling anymore. Instead, I was just sitting down, cross-legged, in pitch darkness. I was alone, unsure of my surroundings because, of course, it was dark. Standing up, I looked around quickly.

Where was I?

This wasn't upstairs.

That much I could tell.

"Milo?" I asked, brushing my hair out of my face.

No response.

Where was he?

Where was I?

"Milo?" I called again, crossing my arms over my chest and just walking through the empty space, not knowing where I was going. "Hello?" I yelled.

Seriously, where was I?

Far up ahead, I could tell it wasn't as dark, like there was a light. So, I just walked towards it, looking around aimlessly, and also looking for any signs of life.

"Maddy," a voice breathed, a voice I recognized immediately. "Maddy," Ashton said again.

"Ashton?" I called, a tear falling from my eye.

"Maddy," he said again, and I just followed the sound of his voice, which was leading me towards the light.

"Ashton, where are you?" I yelled.

I had always heard that when you die, you see a light. And, I guess when you see the light, you follow it, until you reach the end, and end up in Heaven, or Hell, or wherever you belong.

Was this it?

Was this the end?

It couldn't be.

I didn't want it to be the end. The end of me, of everything I've ever known. Maybe if I follow the light, then I'll start right away as a guardian, helping out others who are stuck on the line, just like I was. Am I still?

And if I was dead, wouldn't I finally be meeting Austin? Austin, the one person I'd be able to meet here who's meant something to me for so long now, my little boy.

I couldn't leave Ashton behind. But if I turn away from the light, whatever it's leading me to, I'll definitely be lost.

And that's really not an option.

Continuing my walking, I went on towards the light, pushing all further arguments past me. I kept following until I saw my options in front of me, almost like in small little bubbles.

There was a scene of me and Milo in our room upstairs, talking and laughing, and then I could see me still asleep in bed downstairs, Ashton sitting next to me and holding my hand, his face blank and expressionless.

The other scene was split in three parts. The top part was Milo, helping out somebody else. She was a little girl, with red braided pigtails, and they were joking around in the room upstairs that was mine.

The middle part was me, helping out someone, a boy. He looked about seventeen, and I was explaining to him what it was to be on the line. The third part was Ashton.

He was sitting by a gravestone, one I recognized as Austin's. Except, more had been engraved on it. Where my name was, was now an end date, so it read Madison Taylor Holmes 1993-2013. Ashton had set a bouquet of flowers down in front of the grave, and a steady stream of tears were falling from his eyes.

One scene Ashton was expressionless, just a shell. The other he was showing emotion. On the other hand, if I ever woke up, then of course there'd be emotion.

Turning to the left, I ran through the scene that showed Milo and I upstairs, and then I had run right through it, stopping in the middle of the room, right on the line. Milo looked up at me from his spot on the ground, a grin spreading across his face as he stood up, fist bumping me.

"Madison Holmes," he said. "Welcome back to the line."

"I'm back?" I asked, looking around and down to see me downstairs, my heart monitor working again and Ashton running in, along with the other boys at his heels.

"You are," he said with a smile, and I couldn't resist running up and hugging my guardian tightly. "He brought you back. He saved you."

"He?" I asked.

"Ashton," he said. "He saved you. You followed his voice back here."

****

-Ashton's POV-

"Ashton!" Luke yelled as the elevator doors opened, and they all came running out. "What happened?"

"Maddy, she.." I trailed off, wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my sweatshirt. "Fla-flatline."

"Oh God," Calum breathed, stopping in his tracks.

The door opening behind me, I turned around to see the doctor standing there, and I stood up quickly, backing away from him until I was standing next to Michael.

"How is she?" Luke asked.

"She's back," the doctor said. "Still in her coma state, but we were able to revive her. You can go on in, if you like."

"Thank you," I said, pushing past him and running into the room where the rest of the medical staff were putting their tools and instruments away.

"She's alright, Ash," Cal said, putting a hand on my shoulder as I sat down in my normal spot; the chair next to her bedside.

"She is," I said, a small smile spreading across her face. "You're alright, Maddy. You're fine,"

She was alive. That's all that mattered right now. She wasn't awake yet, but I'd worry about that later. Right now, she was here, and that's all that mattered.

"Ashton, we can give you guys your space if you want," Luke said. "We can go wait in the cafeteria or something,"

"No, stay," I said. "You guys can stay, it's fine."

Four minutes. That's all it had taken for our situation to completely turn around. Maddy's flatline.

Four minutes.

Four.

Just four.