Now or Never ⇀ John B Routledge [1]

xx. misery business

The blinding lights of the hospital waiting area gave Ashtyn one of the worst headaches of her life. Every ten minutes or so, the fluorescent tubes would flicker, causing the sixteen year old to flinch. At that point, she wasn't sure if it was her eyes playing a trick on her though because her mind was focused elsewhere.

Ashtyn and Luke had been huddled together on two uncomfortable orange chairs all night, the older of the two refusing to leave his sister's side in case the doctor brought back bad news. He'd missed work, but what did that matter? He could always find another job, not another sister.

Luke eyes dart down to the blue eyed girl, clearly seeing the worried creases running across her forehead. "I'm sorry that I wasn't there to protect you from mom and I'm sorry I couldn't stop John B. That should be me in there, not him Ashtyn. You're only sixteen and you've gone through more than the average thirty year old."

"You couldn't have protected me from Claudia or Johnny from last night." Her voice was hollow and a stray tear slid down her cheek before Luke had the chance to wipe it away. "Topper is a dick. He's gonna pay for this if John doesn't make it."

Luke felt his sister shaking with anger as she clenched the rim of the plastic seat under her thighs, her right leg anxiously bounced with each passing second. Never once had the dark haired male seen his sister so enraged about something in his entire life. She wasn't lying. If John didn't make it, she'd go after Topper Thornton. "I shouldn't have agreed to go there. Kiara was right-"

"Shit happens Lucas." Her words were sharp and to the point, holding her brother's attention as she stared at the white wall ahead of them. "Right now, we just have to hope that he is okay. Without John, everything we've done would be for nothing."

Luke took a moment to dwell on her words, nodding in agreement. Without John, the Chateau would be put up for sale and there was no way Luke could afford to live there alone. The Pogues would disband, Kiara and Pope leaving for college while JJ and Emerson found somewhere quiet to start their adult lives. He and Ashtyn would become a distant memory.

As he prepared his response, Luke froze. The entrance doors slid open and none other than Ward Cameron and Claudia Hughes strode through them as if on a mission. "Fuck..." Without hesitation, Lucas pulled his sisters face into his chest, hiding his in her dark hair so they wouldn't be recognized.

This would be their luck. A friend, and in Ashtyn's case a boyfriend, was in the hospital and the devil herself had to arrive.

Sarah was in the room with John, having offered to be their eyes and ears in case DCS showed their vengeful faces. It wasn't unlikely, and that meant Ashtyn needed to be as far away from John as possible for the time being. She's a runaway, child services would snatch her away just as quickly as they would her boyfriend, and that's the last thing John would want for her.

The long haired male would go down for murder before he let someone take Ashtyn back to her abusive mother.

"Don't move Ash. Code Red." Luke lightly stroked the back of his sister's head, doing his best to hone in on Wards voice as the man spoke softly to the desk clerk. For a moment, silence fell over the large room, but when two pairs of footsteps made their way toward the ICU, he knew that they had left.