Here to Stay || Ashton Irwin (completed)

Chapter 27

After putting on his pants, shirt, and shoes, I hooked my arms under Ashton's armpits and pulled him to his feet. He hung is head, his arms trying to cover it up as if it would reduce the pain. Once he was on his feet, I took one of his arms and wrapped it around my shoulders. 

If we were human, moving him would've been harder but whatever paranormal being we were happened to give me enough strength to carry him along. Once I hit the cold road, I began floating and sprinting as well. I knew my time was limited. 

Before long the hospital came into view, I pushed harder and sped up, Ashton wailing in pain on top of me. "I've got you, don't worry," I whispered in an attempt to soothe him. I felt him nod and continued on. With a glance at my watch I noticed I had 5 minutes left. 

I reached the entrance and disregarded all doors completely. I needed to get Ashton back to his body or else. Though we didn't know what could happen, I couldn't imagine it to be anything positive. All I knew was that I needed to get him back in under 4 minutes. As I raced through the hallways I thanked my lucky stars that I had memorized this place better than the back of my hand. I took each turn with acceleration and each staircase with the same method. The closer I got, the more calm I felt. As I reached the top of the stairs, Ashton stirred. 

"Emma?" He croaked, his head rolling against my shoulder.

"Yes? Ash? Are you okay?" I asked, worriedly, still hurrying down the hall.

"It hurts."

"I know baby, I know," I said kissing his forehead, "You'll be okay."

"I love you Emma, so much. So-"

"I love you too, sorry what were you going to say?" I asked, nearing his operating room with two minutes to go.

"So much that, I don't wanna go back in there."

I froze dead in my tracks. I looked down at him, his eyes searching my face for something other than shock, which he was not going to find any time soon. "Em?" He asked, his voice low.

"Ashton," I began," Ashton, you saw your friends. They need you to fight. To keep fighting. You can't just give up on life. You have a chance, take it."

Ashton sighed and wriggled out of my hold and onto his feet. He stood close to me and grabbed both my hands. "But if I don't go back, I can stay here with you. Like this I'm healthy," he smiled, "I have hair," he tugged at it, "And we have all the privacy in the world," he smirked, his hand moving down my back to grab my ass. I giggled and squirmed out of his reach before snapping back into the seriousness of the conversation. I looked at my watch. One minute.

"Ashton, we don't know that you'd stay here," I reminded him, "And didn't you see Calum? If you go back there, you can have Calum and you can have me. But if you stay you only get one. I know what you're saying and why you're saying it, but I can't take your life away like that. You need to go back. You don't need to be anything other than who you are for me. No matter who that is. Whether he's weird ghost thing or human boy." I touched his face and brought our foreheads together, "Please just go back."

I knew I didn't have much time. I knew that Ashton didn't have much time. Following my speech, he remained quiet and I used that to my advantage. I brought my lips to his and kissed him hard, throwing my entire body against him and through the doors to the OR. I backed him up until his body bounced back at me, from his legs hitting the operating table. Doctors stood all around us, I could sense, through my closed eyes. 

"I'll be here when you wake up," I whispered against his lips and gave him one final push. Ashton lost his balance and fell back directly into his body, his left index finger twitching slightly as the last of his ghostly form disappeared into his skin. "And now we wait," I muttered to myself, taking a step back so the doctors could move him.

- - - - - - - 

"There you are," I whispered as Ashton's eyes fluttered open. My voice waivered a bit, but I tried to hold it together. Ashton's fingers slipped around mine and he gently squeezed my hand. 

"Quite the operation, huh?" He asked, smirking when he saw my blush. 

"Yeah, it w-" I tried not to cry, "it was."

"Emma?" Ashton asked and I lost it. Tears raced down my face. "Baby, why are you crying?" He asked, his thumbs quickly wiping away my tears. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, letting it fall onto his chest. My free hand falling next to my face. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him close to me, hugging as much as I could with one arm. "Nothing's wrong," I sniffled. 

Ashton looked down at me and gave me a confused look, "Then why are you crying?" He asked.

I wiped my nose and began the story, "After they wheeled you back into here, I went back to the OR to check on the outcome of this whole situation, well operation."

"And?"

"Ashton. They removed it. It's gone. Your tumor is gone," I smiled. 

As I spoke the words, I saw Ashton's eyes light up. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. I had seen his smile radiate light, but never before his eyes... Except for our time in the cabin... however, everything about him glowed. His eyes. His smile. His body. He just looked bright. I smiled and leaned back into him, "I told you so," I whispered. I hadn't meant for him to hear it, but soon I felt the easy rise and fall of his chest as he giggled along to my comment.

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a/n: short update yayaya love you all. i burnt my nose today in the sun :( don't forget to comment/vote and above all, stay fab xoxox -em