All is Found - Chapter 48: Chapter 48

When I woke up again things were a bit clearer. The room was dark and I took a breath as I tried to get my eyes clear. I rubbed away some sleep and looked around the room. The room is big and sleeping in the bed next to me is Thea. I sighed and smiled as I watched her heart monitor flash her heart waves.
The door to the room opened and I saw a woman in scrubs walk inside quietly. She looked over Thea and took some notes on her tablet before she walked over to me. When she saw that I'm awake it startled her a little.
"It's good to see you awake Ashlyn, my name is Bianca, one of your night nurses. How are you feeling?" Bianca asked and put the tablet down on the small rolling table that's next to my head.
"I don't know, things are kind of hazy. How is Thea doing?" I asked and watched as Bianca started to put some gloves on.
"Thea is doing really well. She recovering well from the gunshot wounds and the damage they cause. How about we talk about you for a few minutes okay." Bianca said moved some of the blankets off me.
"I'm going to take a look at your stomach and check how your stitches are doing, okay?" Bianca said. I just nodded and watched as Bianca lifted the last blanket off of me to get to the hospital gown I'm wearing. She lifted the side of the gown and I watched as she pealed back the large bandage stuck to my abdomen.
Once the bandage was removed it revealed a long angry looking line of stitches across my abdomne. Bianca carefully cleaned around the stitches before she covered it up with a new bandage.
"I thought I was only shot once?" I asked trying to remember the shooting.
"You were but the doctors needed to make a larger incision because the bullet caused internal damage and they needed to repair the damage." Bianca said and checked a few different things.
"Are you in pain Ashlyn?" She asked.
"No?" I said in question as everything is still a bit hazy.
"Okay, if you start to feel uncomfortable just press the red button right here, it will release your next dose of pain medication." Bianca informed me.
"How is Thea?" I asked because I couldn't remember if I asked her already.
"Thea is doing well; she is sleeping right now since it is the middle of the night. We were able to remove both bullets from her stomach and repair the damage. She has been talking to you all week waiting for you to wake up." Bianca said and pulled the blankets back over me.
"How long have I been asleep?" I asked.
"The incident was last Thursday. It's been a week since. It's okay that you've been asleep for this long. Your body went through a large trauma and needed some time to recover before you woke up." Bianca said and pulled her gloves off.
Bianca took some notes on her tablet and threw out her gloves before returning to my bedside. She removed the oxygen mask and replaced it for a nasal cannula.
"You've had a lot of visitors over the past few days Ashlyn. Pat said he has been looking after Chad and Brad for you, do you have any pets?" Bianca asked grabbed her tablet. I couldn't help but laugh. It didn't last long when I felt a dagger of pain shoot through my chest.
"Chad and Brad are my MTV VMA awards he named. But I do have two gold fish. Well we have two gold fish, Thea and I, named Stevie and Nicks." I informed the nurse.
"That's right I do remember Thea correcting him of the same when Pat brought it up. I do want to ask you about your mom though. You said you saw her when you first woke up." Bianca said.
"My mom died years ago." I said trying to remember who I saw in her place.
"I'm sorry for your lose Ashlyn. I'm going to leave you to get some sleep. Press this big button here if you need me okay." Bianca said and showed me the button on the railing of the bed.
"Before you go, can you push me over to her please?" I asked. Bianca looked concerned and was about to start a rebuttal. "Please, I thought she died in my arms that day, I just want to be able to hold her hand." I pleaded.
Bianca gave in and started to move some things around before pushing our beds together. She lowered the railing on our beds so we could see each other. Once she was in reach I grabbed onto Thea's hand and took an extra breath. Bianca didn't say anything before taking her leave.
I didn't end up going back to sleep that night. I just stayed up and watched Thea sleep. Her face is still pale, her blonde hair up in a bun on top of her head with a few pieces escaping. I tried to reach out and move them off her face but they were just out of reach. So I took Thea's hand in mine again and watched her sleep.
Somewhere along the night I must have fallen asleep. When I opened my eyes again I found Thea's bright green eyes staring back at me. We didn't say anything to each other for a long while. Our eyes did all the talking. But finally I found my voice.
"Themis, will you marry me?" I asked quietly.
"Yes Ashlyn I will." Thea said without hesitation as tears welled in her eyes.
"Once we get out of here I want to marry you." I said as the first tear fell from my eye.
"Okay" Thea said and smiled at me. "I want to kiss you so bad."
I smiled at Thea and lifted her hand to my lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. Thea smiled so bright a few tears fell from her eyes. Before we could say anything else to each other the door to the room opened and in walked a sad looking Nikki. She didn't look over to us as she walked over to the couch on the opposite wall and sat down. She rubbed her head a few times before looking up at us. When she saw us awake Nikki fell trying to get off the couch fast and took a few long strides to get over to my bed.
"Are you just going to stare?" I asked and held out my left hand for her to take.
"I'm not dreaming right?" Nikki asked as she looked at the both of us. Instead of answering her I pinched her arm. Nikki yelped and moved to hit me back when the door opened again. This time a tired looking Malia walked in.
"What'd you do now Nikita?" Malia asked and found her standing next to me.
"No, you're not dreaming." I finally answered her question.
Nikki didn't get to say anything back as more people started to flood the room. All of them shocked to see me awake. I couldn't keep track of how many people came in because everything was still a bit hazy. Everyone was crowding me and asking me questions and it was all overwhelming. I looked at Thea and I think she saw my panic because she hit a button and Bianca and a new nurse walked into the room. When she saw everyone Bianca and the nurse quickly cleared everyone out.
Once everyone was gone I still found it hard to breathe and Bianca saw it. She quickly put the oxygen mask over my face and instructed me to take a few deep breathes until I could breathe normally again. When I went to push the mask off Bianca told me to leave it on. I looked over at Thea and she nodded at what Bianca was saying.
"Too many people." I said and closed my eyes trying to get the panic under control.
"That's okay Ashlyn, we will restrict the number of people allowed in at once. Is there anybody in particular you wish to see right now?" Bianca asked.
"Malia, I just want to see Malia please." I asked.
Bianca nodded and the other nurse left to get Malia. It wasn't long before Malia walked in. She looked like she hasn't slept at all over the past week and I get it. I was in her shoes before almost two years ago now. Malia stood by the foot of my bed and I held my hand out for her to come closer. Malia got the hint and walked over to me taking my hand. I used my other hand to push the mask off my face and I looked at her.
"Thank you for saving my life Malia. If you didn't show up when you did and applied pressure to my wound I would be dead right now. So thank you." I said.
Malia sucked in a harsh breath of air and her lip trembled like she was going to cry. I wish I could give the girl a hug right now because she needs one so badly.
"You looked like you gave up right before you passed out in my arms. I thought we lost you too. Thea barely had a pulse and you were fading fast I didn't know what to do. All I knew was that I needed to try and stem your bleeding. Your hand was still firmly pressed on Thea's stomach so I just moved you closer so I could put pressure on your wound. The EMTs showed up and took Thea away. When they pulled her away from you, you opened your eyes and said save her. You passed out again when the EMTs started to work on you." Malia informed me.
"You saved my life Malia, thank you. I did give up. I gave up because I knew I couldn't hold on any longer. You kept me alive Malia, I owe you my life." I said firmly.
Malia's legs gave out and she fell into the chair that Bianca placed right behind her. She started crying and I just wished I could hug the girl. I asked Bianca to get Nikki and she left quickly to get the girl. Nikki came back into the room and rushed toward her girlfriend as I placed the oxygen mask back over my mouth. Nikki pulled her crying girlfriend into her arms and comforted her as best as she could.
It took a while before Malia calmed down enough for Nikki to be able to move her to the couch on the far side of the room. Once she got Malia settled Nikki came back over to me. She took my hand and leaned over my side to kiss my forehead.
"You made my girlfriend cry; I should be kicking your ass right now." Nikki said and I chuckled only to stop when I felt that pain shoot up my side.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean too. How are you doing kid? Please tell me someone got Thea's truck and your Christmas present." I asked.
"Yes, I got the truck after the police opened the crime scene up, and yes my Christmas present was still inside the trunk when I got it." Nikki said and took the chair next to my bed.
"Hey, no peaking, it's not Christmas yet and Santa can still come and return your gift." I said and smiled.
"Don't worry I didn't peak." Nikki said and smiled at me.
"Seriously though Nik, how are you doing?" I asked.
"Better now that you are awake. Oh can I get everyone please? We have a surprise for you. A big one." Nikki asked looking hopeful.
"If it's too much I can always kick them out again Ashlyn, don't worry." Bianca said.
I nodded and Nikki left my side. When she returned she held the door open for the crowd of people who wanted to see me. Alyssa, Eli, Diego, Britt, Pat, Nicholas, Sydney, Jack, Lindsey, Scarlett, and Halsey all walked inside but kept quiet for a moment to let me adjust to everyone. Alyssa stepped forward and smiled at me.
"This past week the nomination for the Grammys came out and you got nominated for 6 Grammy awards Ashlyn." Alyssa said.
"I've got to be high but I'm pretty sure you just said I got nominated for 6 Grammy awards." I said not believing her.
"This isn't a joke Ash, it's true. You were nominated for 6 Grammy awards." Eli said and nodded.
I looked over to Thea and saw her nodding her head to confirm what they were saying and I had so many feelings that I just started crying in shock. One of the best moments of my life and I'm in a hospital bed recovering from getting shot. Once I got myself to calm down I looked around the room and everyone looked concerned at my emotions.
"Today's the best day of my life, got nominated for a Grammy and proposed to the love of my life. Alyssa can you cancel our vacation because it looks like we aren't going to be able to go away right now." I said and wiped away the last of my tears.
"Did you just said that you're engaged?" Pat stepped forward and asked.
"Yea, I asked Thea to marry me when I woke up and she said yes." I said looking over at Thea to make sure I didn't dream that moment up.
"She did, we are getting married." Thea said and took my hand again.
The crowd erupted in in well wishes and after a few more minutes Bianca started to shoe everyone away. Only Alyssa was left as she went over a few things with me about what's going on with the label and I gave her the information she needed to cancel Thea and I's vacation for January. After Alyssa left Bianca introduced me to Stefan, my day nurse and he brought me some food for lunch. I didn't really get to eat most of it as all the excitement of the morning caught up to me and I ended up falling asleep.