Page 54 of Tailwhip
I try to move my neck to look over to the left of me but have a throbbing pain. Right then, the door opens to the room, and in walks Noah. “You’re awake! How are you feeling?” he asks me.
I look more around the room, feeling disoriented. “What happened? Where is Anthony?”
Both Noah and Mateo give each other a quick look. “He had to run out and do a few things. I sent him a text though, letting him know that you are awake.”
The door opens again–not with the person I would have thought would be by my side in the hospital–but Neha, Nick, and Heath. I give a weak smile to all of them. “Oh my god, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” Neha asks me.
I take a deep breath. “I’ve felt better. Can any of you please tell me what happened? How did I end up in the hospital?”
Neha sits on the edge of the bed, “What is the last thing you remember?”
Thinking back to the day at Neha’s house, I remember everything she and I did. “The last thing I remember is getting coffee for Anthony and me to take it home.”
Now everyone looks concerned at what I remember. “Is that not, correct? I was getting coffee and, oh my god, I was hit. That’s where the pain came from and the blood on my hand; everything went blurry, and I guess I collapsed.”
Heath stands from the chair. “I’m going to go get the doctor since you are awake now.” After Heath leaves the room, everyone is quiet. I am trying to process what I just realized happened to me. I was freaking attacked–by who and for what reason? Was it random? Nick and Noah stand and head out of the room. At that time, I overhear them saying that they are going to get something to drink, leaving Mateo and me. “Mateo, have you been here the whole time?”
Mateo, stretching his arms out and yawning, says, “Yeah, I have been. Neha asked if I wanted to go stay at your house. I wasn’t going to leave you, though. Ashlynn, you’ve been like a sister to me–the sibling that I never got. You support me. So, I need you to please be 100% okay.”
I have tears in my eyes. “Mateo, I’m going to be okay. Thank you for being here for me.”
He puts his hand on mine and squeezes lightly.
The door opens, and in walks the doctor; Dr. Addison introduces herself to me. She goes over everything, letting me know what happened. “So, I have been out for a few days? It’s the Saturday after Thanksgiving?”
Dr. Addison just nods her head at my question. Once she finishes my checkup, she leaves the room. Everyone is quiet, just sitting around, waiting for me to say something, but I don’t really know what to say. I am still processing the fact I am in the hospital because someone attacked me. Lost in thought, I hear Mateo say, “Hey,” and I turn my neck as much as I can without it being too painful. Anthony is walking over to my bedside. “Ashlynn, how are you feeling?” He asks while taking my hand and kissing the back of it.
He just sits down in the chair next to me, not saying anything else, with a blank look on his face, staring at the floor. Everything feels off with him next to me, like a wall has been put up, with me left at the bottom to figure out everything on my own. Luckily, Neha pipes in and breaks the awkward silence. “So, we talked to the cops about what happened, and they said they will be back to talk with you once you are awake.”
I just nod my head, “What am I supposed to say? I don’t even know who did this?”
Neha tilts her head. “None of us know, but they arrested her and showed us a picture.”
My head is pounding, but I look at Neha. “HER?”
I am processing the fact that it was another girl who did this to me. She sure hit the hell out of me to knock me out. Right as I go to ask Anthony something, a nurse walks in. “Let’s take that bandage off your face, dear. I have to clean up the wound, but we should be good to leave the bandage off now.”
Mateo moves out of the way to give the nurse space, and I turn my head slightly to the left. Anthony is on his phone looking at what appears to be flight information, still with no emotion on his face at all. Once the nurse is done, she asks me if I want to see what it looks like in the mirror. “No thanks. I’ll be seeing it for the rest of my life since it’s permanent and all.”
Right away, I feel bad for being rude and look at the nurse. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”
Giving me a smile, she says, “You have every right to be upset, dear.” With that, she turns and leaves all of us.
I've been awake for a few hours now, and I feel exhausted somehow. Just as my eyes start getting heavy, two police officers walk in. It startles me enough to make me jump up. “Sorry Miss Black, we didn’t mean to startle you. Your doctor said you were awake so we can question you.”
I lay back and give them a smile. “It’s fine.”
After I tell them that, they ask everyone to leave the room except Anthony, telling me he is directly involved. I’m stunned to hear that, but wait for them to elaborate on it. Officer Lorenzo and Officer Coleman fill me in on everything they went over with Anthony the day after my attack. “A stalker? Did you know her, Anthony?”
I don’t know why I ask right after the officer’s state that Anthony and Neha said they didn’t know her. All I get from him is a head shake. Why won’t he just talk to me? Officer Lorenzo hands me a photo of the girl. “Oh my god, that’s her.”
Both officers look at each other, “Do you know who she is, Miss Black?”
“No, but I ran into her a few weeks ago when I was leaving the coffee shop to head to Heath’s house. I told her she looked familiar, but she just said I didn’t know her.”
After we go over everything, the officers get up to leave, but not before they turn back to me. “In a few weeks, come to the police station and we can figure out charges.” They turn, walk out the door, and Anthony gets up and follows them out as well. I ask where he is going, but he just shuts the door behind him.
Anthony doesn’t come back to the hospital after he leaves with the police officers. I’ve tried to text him, but he is leaving my messages unread. I don’t understand what is going on. Heath gets up and asks all of us if we need anything; I am the first to say something. “I would like my chocolate chip cookie dough latte that I never got to try!”