One Step Ahead

More Than Meets The Eye

      This announcement was met with stunned silence, which was only broken when Kevin muttered, "Shit, I was afraid of that."

      Cody wheeled on his cousin, his expression incredulous. "What the hell do you mean, you were afraid of that? Then why didn't you say something? Damn it, Kev!"

      "Whoa, dude, roll it back a notch!" Kevin responded. "I said I was afraid it might happen, I didn't say I was sure. Yeah, I'm a medic, but I'm not an actual doctor, so I was hoping that I was wrong. So I didn't want to worry everyone more than they already were unless I had to."

      "Hey, Cody," Ashley called, turning the teen's attention toward him. "Trust me, I get where you're coming from, but I have to be honest here, I'm not sure how I would have held up if I'd had to sit here and think about that for the last few hours."

      "I hate to admit it, but he's right," Wiley grudgingly acknowledged. "If we'd known that might be on the table, I probably woulda gotten kicked outta here hours ago."

      "You would have completely freaked out, huh?" Sanger queried.

      "Not exactly, Lieutenant," the other man retorted. "More like I would have probably gotten my ass arrested for finding where you've got that walking shit-stain hidden and doing the same thing to it."

      Removing himself from the conversation, Ashley turned back to the doctor. "Can we see her now?"

      "I'm sorry, but no, not for probably several hours yet," she said. "She's in recovery right now, and under the effects of the anesthesia, so she won't be in any condition to talk to anyone for awhile. So my recommendation would be for you to go home for now and get some rest, take care of your own injury, and come back tomorrow."

      "I can't fuckin' go home, doc, I live in LA!"

      "Ash, calm down," CC interjected. "Hold up a second, and we'll figure something out."

      "Right, just try to relax, man," Jake added. He then turned to the doctor and inquired, "Would you happen to know if there might be a hotel nearby? Or a motel, even?"

      "Yes, there's actually a Quality Inn about three blocks west of here, we frequently refer folks there in situations like this. It's on Truman Avenue, if you'd like to look it up in the directory."

      "Thanks, that sounds good," Jake replied, as Blasko pulled out his phone and started punching buttons. "Okay, so if we can get a couple of rooms, we'll go there tonight, and you can actually maybe have a chance to get comfortable and rest a little bit. Then, as soon as visiting hours start in the morning, we'll bring you back. Do you think you can cope with that?"

      "Does anybody really give a shit if I can or not?" Ashley snapped. "I'm getting a little fucking tired of everybody trying to run me off when I've already told you I'm not going anywhere until I know how she is. What part of that is so goddamn difficult to comprehend?"

      Everyone stared at him, startled by the hysteria edging into his voice. Finally, after several seconds, Jinxx recovered himself enough to reply, "Ash, we totally understand where you're coming from, don't think for a second that we don't. But the doctor already explained that you can't see her until tomorrow, and you really do need to get some sleep. You're not gonna be any use to her when she comes around if you're still laid up, you know that, right?"

      "We're just gonna be a couple of blocks away, buddy," Blasko reminded him. "And I'm sure we can persuade someone at the desk to give us a call if anything changes."

      "But what if she wakes up?" he asked, obviously still resistant to his friends pleas. "I don't want her to be here all by herself. She didn't leave me when I got hurt, so I don't want her to think I'd do that to her."