Page 52 of Tailwhip
With a shaky voice, she says, “Heath is coming to get you, be ready.”
As soon as I hang up, I look over to Noah and Mateo, who both now have worried looks on their faces. “Heath is coming to get me; Ashlynn was fucking attacked.”
No one knows what to say. “We are coming too. Ashlynn has been good to us; we need to be there for her.” Mateo says.
I run and change, and all three of us go and stand in the cold to wait for Heath, though it doesn’t feel cold with every emotion I have coursing through me.
As soon I spot headlights coming down the street and Heath is driving like a bat of hell, but his car handles the snow just fine. We are at the curb before he even stops and all jump in to waste no time. As soon as he starts driving, question after question is flying out of me. “Heath, do you know what happened? Is she going to be, okay? What the FUCK?”
Tapping his steering wheel, he says, “I wish I could give you answers to all of that, but we haven’t been talked to yet.”
The drive didn’t seem to take long to get to the hospital and the whole ride, all I kept thinking was she better be okay, please let her be okay. Walking into the entrance, I ask Heath, “What floor?”
Hitting the up button on the elevator, he says, “Third floor.”
I don’t wait for the elevator and run up the stairs faster than I thought possible. Once I swing the door open and rush into the hall, I see Neha at the end, sitting in a chair. Rushing down to her, I ask, “Neha, have they said anything yet?”
She shakes her head at me. I pull her into a hug because I can tell she needs one right now. Neha pulls slightly away. “Where have you been? Why didn’t you answer our calls?”
I pull her back into a hug, “I fell asleep while reviewing the footage from the tour and put my phone on silent.” At that time, the guys are getting off the elevator. We all sit and wait for the doctor to come and talk to us. After about forty-five minutes of waiting, a doctor finally comes over.
“Are you all here for Ashlynn Black?” All of us jump up from our seats at the same time and say, “YES.”
The doctor looks a bit confused but continues. “Well, I am Dr. Addison. Miss. Black was brought in by ambulance after being struck on the side of her head and right side of her face.” I am seeing red and can hear my heartbeat in my ears; the doctor can probably see my veins in my neck pulsing like crazy with how pissed I am. “We did a scan, and we didn't see any damage, which is lucky. It was the second blow that knocked her out. Luckily, she was by a coffee shop and was found fairly quickly. Whatever she was hit with must have had something sharp on the end because it cut her from the right-side of her forehead, down past her right eye, and turns slightly on her cheek. You all can go in and see her, but we have her sedated for now for pain. When she wakes, she will still have some pain and sensitivity to bright lights. She is pretty bruised up on the right-side, of course, so just prepare for that.”
I tell the doctor thank you and turn to go into the room.
Quietly pushing the door open, my breath hitches when I see her lying in the hospital bed, hooked up to monitors and with an IV in her hand. Walking to the right side of her bed, I remember the doctor said she was bruised, but I didn’t think it was as bad as it is. Her face is purple, her lip is cut, and the bruise goes down onto her neck. She has bandages covering the cut, and her eye is swollen. Everyone walks in after me, and I only hear Neha now. “Oh my god. It’s worse than what she said.”
She starts crying, and Heath puts his arm around her shoulder to console her. I don’t think Noah and Mateo know what to say; both are quiet and are shocked by how Ashlynn looks. Her hair is matted and still has blood in it from where she fell. I take a seat on the chair by her bed and just hold her hand and give her a kiss. “I’m here now, baby.”
Everyone stayed at the hospital that night; usually, they said, they would only allow one person, but I think they saw how none of us were leaving. Everyone fell asleep around the room; I stayed awake all night, thinking about every possible scenario of what could have happened and why Ashlynn; she keeps to herself. Who could dislike her so much?
The next morning, there is a knock on the door and Dr. Addison comes in to check up on Ashlynn. “Everything looks good; she is still just sleeping off the sedation. Should be wearing off today, hopefully.”
Looking at her, I ask, “Hopefully?”
Nodding her head, she says, “Some patients have a harder time with it–waking up from it. Also, there are two police officers outside that would like to talk to you. Mr.?”
She points to me. “Anthony, Anthony Ville. You said police officers?”
Writing something down on the chart and looking back up to me, she says, “Yes, usually, for something like this, they want to talk to everyone she is close to, but they specifically asked for you.”
With that she turns and walks out. I get up out of the chair to walk out and Neha and Heath both follow me. “I want to know what is going on, too.” Neha says. I have no energy to argue with her right now.
Sure enough, once out of the room, two officers are waiting there. We walk up to them, and I extend my hand, “I’m Anthony Ville. Dr. Addison said you wanted to speak to me?”
Each officer shakes my hand. “I am Officer Lorenzo, and this is Officer Coleman. We would like to talk to you about what happened. It involves you directly. Are you okay to go down to talk in the cafeteria? Who are these two?” The officer asks while pointing at Neha and Heath.
“I am Heath, and this is Neha, we are Ashlynn’s emergency contacts–close friends.”
Turning toward the elevator, Officer Lorenzo tells us to follow him. I pop my head in Ashlynn’s room; Mateo took the chair and is now sitting at Ashlynn’s side. “Hey man, I have to go talk to these officers. Text me if she wakes up, please.”
“Yeah, no problem.” Mateo says.
The ride in the elevator is quiet. I keep thinking to myself, how does it involve me directly? We all walk into the cafeteria and get some strange looks from everyone eating. Grabbing some coffees, we find a table that is close to the back and out of ear shot for most people to hear what will be said.
Officer Lorenzo starts talking as soon as we sit, “I am just going to get right to it. Does the name Joanna Whelms mean anything to any of you?”