All is Found - Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Hey this is Ashlyn leave a message and if you're lucky I'll call you back. BEEP. Ashlyn it's Elijah, yes I did just pull out my whole name because this is serious. Please tell me where you are. The note you left me isn't funny, Bobby is really worried about you, hell so am I. I'm trying to buy you time so you can have some space because I know why you went back home but you need to call me! If you aren't home by tonight then Bobby is calling the police and it's out of my hands. Seriously Ash, call me back.
I don't remember how long I was in the tub for. Actually I don't really remember much after I saw the Grim Reaper. After I came back up from under the water I felt like the weight that was sitting on my chest eased a bit. The elephant was replaced by a rhino. I barely remember getting out of the water and now I'm lying in bed with the sun streaming in through the curtains covering the window.
It took a few moments for the events of yesterday to finally sink in. The party. Leaving the letter for Eli. Running to the bridge. Throwing my coat down over the rail along with my cell phone. Climbing over the railing. The dark flat sheet of water waiting for me. The Grim Reaper floating in front of me, waiting for me. Ready to take me. Thea. She pulled me over the railing. She saved me. My angel.
I pushed myself up in bed and hissed as pain shoot up from my hands. Once I rested again the headboard I looked down at my hands. Band-Aids covered the heels of both of my hands. When Thea pulled me over the rail my hands got scrapped up. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looked around the room. It was on the smaller side. The bed is in one of the corners of the room. A nightstand with an alarm clock it sitting next to the bed, a desk with a laptop sitting open is across the room, Christmas lights are hanging from the ceiling wrapped around the room. A large safe is next to the desk.
Carefully I got out of bed and looked at my body in the mirror. I'm not in the clothes I was wearing last night. I'm wearing a black Henley long sleeve shirt, a pair of white basketball shorts and grey ankle socks. Other than my hands being scratched up I look fine. But we all know looks are deceiving.
I pulled open one of the doors in the room to find a walk in closet. The first thing I found is a long sleeve shirt with a Salem Police Department patch on the shoulder. Thea's a cop. I stopped looking in the closet and closed the door behind me. I need to get out of here. Thea will make me go back and I can't do that.
I went to the other door in the room and pulled it open to find the living room I was in yesterday. Carefully I moved through the hall to find the door so I can leave but when I came around the corner I found Thea sitting at her kitchen table sipping coffee from a mug while reading the paper. I was startled to see her and my foot stepped on a creaky floorboard. I'm convinced the creak could be heard from miles. Thea's head shot up from the paper and she coughed on her sip of coffee.
Neither of us said anything as we stared each other. Thea's blonde hair is sitting in a messy bun on top of her head. She's wearing an old faded Salem Police Department sweatshirt with the right sleeve pushed up to her elbow.
"Would you like some coffee? It's not the best in the world but it will do." Thea offered and closed the paper.
"Sure" I said and slid into the chair across from her. Thea got up from the table and returned a few moments later with a steaming mug and milk. Once Thea settled into her seat she placed the mug in front of me and the milk. When her hands were free she pushed the sugar over.
Two spoonfuls of sugar and a splash of milk. Just enough to turn the color of the coffee from the dark brown to a chestnut. When the color was just right I took a sip of the coffee. Thea was right, the coffee did kind of suck but I was grateful for the caffeine.
"Does anybody know you're here?" Thea asked breaking our silence.
"No, I threw my phone off the bridge before I climbed over the rail." I said not meeting her eyes.
"Do you want to call anybody?" Thea asked next.
"No" I answered and took another sip of the bad coffee.
"Why were you on the bridge in the first place?" Thea asked quietly.
It wasn't like the world shattered at her question. I knew why I was up on that bridge last night. But did I want to involve anybody else in my problems? No. Especially not Thea.
"Sometimes it feels like I'm too much of a coward to live but I'm too much of a coward to kill myself. I don't know why I'm here anymore." I said and put my head in my hands to try and will away the headache that's already forming.
"There is a reason why you are on this earth. The fact that you were going to throw that away last night hurts my heart. Just because you are going through some things right now doesn't mean they are going to last forever." Thea offered and I sighed.
I got up from Thea's kitchen table and made my way into the living room. The house is small but looks lived in and loved. This is a home, not just a place for her to sleep at night. Love is present in the worn couch and throw pillows. On the window ledge there are almost a dozen pictures in various sizes and frames. One picture stood out the most though. It's pushed to the back of collected group. I picked up the frame to find the glass is broken. The picture is of Thea dressed in her formal police uniform with another woman standing up against her chest in a white wedding dress.
"Where's your wife?" I asked and turned to the officer.
"She passed three years ago." Thea said quietly playing with her coffee mug.
"I'm sorry for your loss." I said and looked at the picture again. Both women looked so in love.
"You would think time would make it easier to accept but it doesn't." Thea said and stood up from the table and pour her coffee down the drain.
"How old were you when you married?" I asked my eyes still focused on the picture.
"21, fresh out of the academy. We were high school sweethearts." Thea said and came over to where I'm standing.
Thea took the picture from my hands and placed it towards the back of the pictures again. I couldn't imagine the pain that she went through trying to recover from that.
"I have to go to work in a few minutes, you can stay here as long as you need too." Thea said and put a hand on my shoulder. I just nodded and heard her walk away.
I took my time looking around the living room while Thea was in her bedroom. Ten minutes later Thea walked out and stopped in her tracks. I got the chance to take her in in uniform. Her tactical boots made her an inch taller. The navy dress pants are perfectly pressed with her long sleeved dress shirt tucked into her pants. The tie around her neck is clearly a clip on and is a bit off center as the top button of her shirt is undone. An SPD turtle neck is sticking out of the top of her dress shirt and a beanie is in her hand.
"I'm on shift till midnight. There is some food in the fridge, help yourself to anything in the kitchen. My cellphone number and station number is written on the top right corner of todays paper. If you need to call the station ask for Themis Ramsey." Thea said and pulled her SPD beanie over her blonde hair.
"Themis?" I repeated the name back to her.
"Themis is my full name. I tend to go by Thea though." Thea said and picked up her duffle bag to sling it over her shoulder.
"Be safe Themis." I said. Themis doesn't roll off the tongue as nicely as Thea.
"Always am" Thea said and gave me a smile before she picked up her keys and walked out the front door.
Once again I'm alone. I sighed and sat down on the officers couch. What am I doing here? I can't stay here for long but I can't go home either. I could always go back to the bridge tonight. I think that might be the best idea I've had today. It's settled, before Thea gets back from her shift I'll go to the bridge.
Just as I got up from the couch I thought I could feel another presence in the house. I turned around thinking that Thea might have forgotten something and came back for it to find another woman standing there. She's wearing an SPD uniform and her hair is down in soft brunette waves.
"Sorry Thea told me I could stay here for the day, she's helping me out." I said wondering why Thea didn't tell me an officer was coming over.
"Stay as long as you need. How do you know Thea?" The woman asked.
"She found me on the bridge over the river last night and is letting me crash here for the day. Who are you?" I asked.
"My name is Allison Ramsey, I'm Thea's wife." The woman said.
That's why she looked familiar. I looked away from the woman and found the picture Thea put behind every other one she had.
"I hate that she puts us in the back." Allison said from behind me. "We were as thick as thieves back then. Wherever I went Thea wasn't that far behind and vice-versa. She has been alone since I died. I don't know why she went home that way last night but fate lead her to you." Allison said as I moved her wedding picture to the front of the others on the ledge.
"She's my angel. She pulled me over the rail when I tried to kill myself last night." I said and looked over at Allison.
"Sounds like Thea" Allison said and gave me a small smile.
"I'm not going to be here long." I said thinking about my plans to go back to the bridge tonight.
"You heard what the Reaper said last night Ashlyn. It's not your time yet." Allison said.
"Maybe not last night, maybe it's tonight." I said and looked away from Allison.
"I just want to make you aware that the Reaper likes to play games. He did when he took me. There must be a bigger plan for you here living on Earth for him to say it's not your time yet Ashlyn. Please be careful." Allison said.
A car horn outside blared and I turned to look out the window as I watched a car pass by the front of the house. When I looked back toward Allison she was gone. I sighed and sat back down on the couch. I looked at the clock that's hung on the wall to see it's only 3 in the afternoon. Today's going to be a long day.