The Worst Choice

Never in my life had I been so happy about Jenn's laziness when it came to school.

Apparently I'd been knocked out in the basement longer than I thought because, as promised, she showed up in front of Nash's house within two hours, blowing up my phone until it started going straight to voice mail. Once that and banging on the door showed to be useless, my nosy, persistent best friend looked through windows to find me. She'd made it around back - yes, that's how much she didn't want to do her own work - and looked through the tiny basement window and found us. She said she almost ran inside but decided calling the police and waiting would be more productive, so that's what she did and that's who busted in through the door right before I passed out again.

I'd been in the hospital for a day and a half and I'd hardly said anything. I asked Jenn how we'd been found once I woke up but other than asking about Nash's condition, I hadn't said a lot, much to the dismay of the police. Nash's dad continued insisting that his son tried to kill himself and the police needed to talk to me to hear my side of the story. I couldn't focus on anybody's question when nobody would tell me how Nash was doing. "We need to figure out what happened before you start asking off-topic questions," is what they'd say every time. But off-topic? I had no clue if Nash was even alive because of this, how was it off-topic?!

"Ashlyn," Mom cooed quietly, snapping me out of my thoughts. She moved my hair out of my face as I stared blankly at Alex, who was on the floor playing with his toys. I wasn't sure exactly what they'd told him but he didn't seem too concerned with my health so they must've said it wasn't serious. "You need to talk to the detectives. They're here to help."

"I can't think when nobody is giving me answers," I mumbled, too tired due to all of the medicine to get angry over it again. "I just want to know if he's alive, that's all."

"I know you do, baby, and I don't blame you," she replied softly. "But the doctors are strongly recommending that it's best for your health and recovery that we don't touch that topic yet."

"But its okay for them to already start badgering me about what happened?" I asked her sarcastically. "That's not bad for my health?"

"They can only keep Nash's father in custody for so long without proof. He was found in the basement where Nash was hurt and you were tied up, but it looks like Nash's wounds were self-inflicted," she explained. "They're going to have to let him go soon if the only witness won't talk."

Only witness won't talk? Nash was also a witness, why couldn't they ask him? That suddenly made my stomach turn. They could only ask me what happened. "I'm ready to talk," I told her. No matter how much it hurt to not know if Nash was alive - and for the signs to be pointing that he isn't - I wasn't going to let the monster that caused all of this to get away. If I didn't tell them exactly what happened, he'd be freed and most likely run off and then absolutely nothing positive would come out of this. Nash and his mom need justice and the only way for that to happen is for me to push my worries and feelings aside and tell them exactly what happened in that basement.

"Ms. Munro?"

I was pulled out of my thoughts and found the same detective that had been trying to talk to me since I got here. I looked to my mom, who was holding Alex. She was giving me a questioning look, silently asking me if I needed her there. I shook my head. "I'd prefer you and Alex waited outside," I said. She nodded and she walked out, cracking the door.

I looked at the detective and he sat down and set a recorder on the side table, turning it on. "I'm Detective Pressley. I'm going to need you to answer my questions with words, so the recorder can pick it up, okay?"

"Okay," I said with a nod. He went to open his mouth but I cut him off. "Nash didn't do it himself. Well, he did, but his dad made him. He was going to kill Nash and was threatening to kill me so he told his dad that he'd just do it himself if he promised not to hurt me," I explained. "He didn't decide to just kill himself. It was still his dad's fault."

"That does make this all a bit more difficult," Detective Pressley admitted. "Do you think you could tell me what else happened?"

"He tied me and Nash up in the basement. He only yanked my hair a bit until he used the staple gun on my arm but with Nash... he burnt him, stabbed him and hit him. He-" I stopped, rubbing my eyes. I was beginning to feel too tired to talk, the memories playing in my head making me feel exhausted. "Is that enough to keep his dad at least until tomorrow? I just- I need sleep and I don't know if I can go into details right now. I promise I'll talk tomorrow but this is all just a little much."

Detective Pressley seemed a little irritated but he gave me a sympathetic look and nodded, shutting off the recorder. "I think we'll be able to keep him on charges of assault," he said. "But I'm going to need you to rest and prepare yourself for tomorrow, alright? We need answers and time is slipping."

I nodded and he told me he'd be back tomorrow after lunch before he left. I sighed, resting my head back onto the thin pillows and closing my eyes. I wanted to tell them everything so bad but it was a lot harder than I thought. Saying it out loud and getting it on record will only make everything more real and on top of me being clueless about Nash's condition, it was overwhelming. I lifted my head when I heard a knock on the door before Levi poked his head through. He gave me what looked like a forced smile. "Hey," he greeted. He walked in and took a seat in the chair beside my bed. "How you holding up?"

I scoffed. "I've been better but I'm doing okay," I told him. "They won't tell me how Nash is, which isn't making anything better, but whatever." Levi let out a breath of laughter but didn't say anything. I gazed at his face, trying to figure out the look on his face. Sadness? Guilt, maybe? It finally dawned on me. "You know. You've seen him."

He gave me an apologetic look. "I do," he admitted. "And I have." I opened my mouth but he cut me off. "Your mom made me promise I wouldn't tell you anything. I already broke the promise by telling you I've even seen him."

"Can you tell me something?" I begged, pulling myself up to sit straighter. "Levi, nobody's saying anything and they're talking like he's dead. Every time I close my eyes I just see him lying down, motionless. It's hard to sleep, too. Just put my mind at ease please?"

I knew guilting him was rude and it made me feel a little bad but I was gonna start going crazy if I didn't get any information. Levi looked torn, stuck between telling me and what everybody was telling him he should do. I was about to tell him to forget about it when he finally spoke. "They think it's better nobody says anything because they don't want to give you hope just to have it be ripped away," he started, slowly. "But when Nash was in surgery yesterday and nobody knew how he was, I know how I got and that's nothing compared to how you're feeling." My eyes widened, relieved he was going to tell me. Something in me told me that it could go horribly wrong - what was I going to do if he told me Nash was dead? - but I needed to know. "Nash isn't dead." I could've jumped up and started dancing around the whole hospital then. "Don't get too excited because he isn't conscious and hasn't been even for a second, but he is alive. They moved him out of the ICU and into his own room because his vital signs aren't critical anymore but nothing is looking too promising right now." I barely heard the doubt in his voice because I was too hung up on Nash isn't dead to process anything else. I pulled the IV out of my arm, not caring about the stinging. Levi stood up quickly, holding his hands out to keep me in place. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?"

"Let me see him," I ordered. "Please, Levi. I need to. Take me to see him."

"I don't think that's a good idea," he argued. "I don't really think it was a bright idea to take that needle out of your arm, either, so..."

I hate to do this but... "What if it was Jas?" I tried. "If it was Jas you'd be doing everything you can to get to her. I just found out that Nash is stable and you aren't going to take me to see him?"

Levi sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I don't know if it'll be the doctors or your mom first but somebody's gonna kill me for this," he mumbled. "You can't take that long. I don't want the doctors finding you and Carrie is supposed to be showing up sometime today so she'll probably want some alone time with him-"

"That's okay," I interrupted. "I'll be five minutes, tops."

He sighed again. "Alright, we need to move fast while being as careful as possible," he instructed.

"As long as I don't have to walk on my arm, I think I'll be fine," I replied but he insisted on helping me, holding my uninjured arm to help me down the hall. We walked until we reached a door at the far end of the hallway.

"He isn't looking that good," Levi warned but I didn't hear him. I took my arm out of his grasp and opened the door, walking in. "I'll stay out here?" Levi said right before I closed the door.

I stared at Nash, not blinking once as I walked toward him. His skin was sickly pale, a strong contrast against his dark, greasy hair and bruised face. The combination of the reddish-brown oval-shaped burn mark on the side of his neck and tubes connected to him made my stomach jump. I took a seat in the chair near his bed, scooting as close to his bed as possible. I grabbed his hand, feeling only a weak pulse but it was enough to give me hope. His arm accidentally reached my line of vision and I stared wide-eyed at the long and angry red cut along his forearm, stitched up with blue string. I turned his arm over before looking at his face. "Don't die on me, Nash." I knew he couldn't hear me but it was worth a shot, right? They say on movies that sometimes talking to them will help out. "You can't leave me. Or Carrie or Eric or Levi. We need you and you need to be alive to see your dad get thrown in jail forever. You need to wake up." I continued looking at him, waiting for his eyes to open.

The door opened. "Ash, we've got to get you back to your room," Levi said.

I frowned and nodded. "Okay, I'll be right out," I said. I stood up, his hand still in mine. "Please wake up soon, Nash. I need you to wake up." I leaned down, pressing my lips to his forehead. "I love you," I told him. As I pulled my hand away, I could've sworn I felt his hand move. I paused and waited to see if he'd move again, which he didn't, but as Levi led me back to my room, I knew he'd moved. And I knew he would be okay.

He had to be.