Broken

• Chapter 132 •

I wake up feeling like death. There is no other way to describe it. I'm weak, sore, and completely out of it.

"A-Ashton?"

It takes all my strength to open my eyes. I manage to slightly turn my head towards the voice. It's Clementine, only... There's three of her. My vision is blurred. I squint, willing my eyes to focus, hating not having any control over my body. They finally focus on a girl crying her eyes out.

"Ashton, holy shit! Thank God you're awake! DONA? DONA, HE'S AWAKE!" she calls out.

I blink, not recognizing this place. White walls, white floors, white ceilings. I'm either dead or at the hospital, waiting to die. The same doctor who came over when shit happened with Clementine comes through the door, offering me a kind smile.

My heart sinks into my stomach, "The twins—"

My voice is hoarse. Clementine wipes her cheeks, "They're fine, just fine... They're with Emoni."

"How did I end up here? Where is he? Where is that ASSHOLE?" my voice booms through the wounds in my throat. My rage becomes overwhelming, everything hits me at once. I begin losing vision to the madness. I start feeling it again, the feeling of losing control.

"ASHTON! ASHTON, PLEASE! STOP, IT'S FINE!"

I feel my body temperature cooling down. My vision becomes clear once more. I'm out of the bed and I've thrown a table over. I glance back at Clementine, her eyes are full of shock. Then I glance at the doctor, she's pale with fear. Finally, the pain hits. I collapse onto the floor. Clementine runs to my side, tossing my arm over her shoulder and yelling for the doctor to come help.

The doctor comes out of her state of shock and rushes to my side, helping Clementine get me back to bed. I feel as though I can't breathe, my lungs are collapsing. The pain that shoots through my body is unbearable. I wince as my consciousness fades in and out.

"Ashton, it's okay. Baby, it's okay, I'm right here..."

I glance up at Clementine before blacking out once more.

___________________

- CLEMENTINE -

"Is he going to be okay?" I ask Dona shakily.

She nods, "I managed to remove all the poison from his system. He'll need time to recover, but he'll be just fine. He took a serious beating and lost a lot of blood. Thank God you called when you did, or he'd be dead."

She shrugs, "It's going to take a few weeks for his wounds to heal, and it is vital that he rests for the next couple of days. I'm saying he can't move. Those wounds were deep. He absolutely cannot do any strenuous activity past walking. And even that, I don't recommend for at least two days."

I nod and sniffle a cry, "Is it... Safe, for him to be here? I just—I'm scared that whoever did it will come back and finish the job?" I give her a knowing look.

She smiles in amusement, "He's safest here. We have staff working twenty-four seven."

I frown, "You think I haven't seen the movies? Someone will sneak into his room in the middle of the night and suffocate him with a pillow!"

She laughs and shakes her head at me, "Tell you what? He stays here tonight, and I'll have him transferred to his house tomorrow, where I'll come check up on him daily. I'm assuming you'll be staying with him?"

I nod, "Of course. Anything he needs."

She nods, "Okay. I'll arrange it, then. For now, you can go back home. It's getting late, my dear."