The russling stopped suddenly as she neared the noises. She knew something was going on, probably something that she shouldn't get in the middle of, but she didn't stop. As she neared the alley, a few men ran out. A quick glance sent toward her sent shivers down her spine. What were they doing… She walked over to the alley not quite knowing what to expect. As soon as she turned the corner, she saw Ash on the ground all bloodied and beaten. "Whoa whoa whoa!" She ran up and kneeled next to him. "Ash, is it? Are you- obviously not. What in the world happened?"
Ash coughed once, rolling onto his back with a pained groan, "You tell me. I was minding my own business when those idiots came asking for anything of value. I refused, like a normal human and uh, here we are." He coughed again, spitting out blood.
Now that she'd had more than just a glance at him, it was obvious that he was in pretty bad shape. "Well, I mean…" She looked around quickly to see if there were any people around to help out. There was no one. She sighed. She couldn't exactly leave him here. "You definitely need help." She pulled out her phone. His coughs made her wince a little. Not good.
Ash tried to wave a hand idly, key word tried. He just ended up wincing slightly, "Nah, I'll be alright… just, gimme a minute and I'll up," He coughed, then cursed a little, "In no time." He smiled slightly through the pain.
She scoffed. "Yeah, right. 'In no time,' you say." This guy. "You'll only be alright if you get help. Just let me call some help." The winces he made worried her more. Why are you worried? He's practically a stranger.
Ash opened his mouth to protest as he tried to sit up, only to cry out in pain, "F-Fine! Fine.. y-you can call someone…" He gave in, letting his eyes all shut and releasing a breath.
She could almost feel the pain as he sat up. "Whoa there bud." She was glad she was letting her help. If she went the rest of the day not knowing if he would ever make it to a hospital or not, she would probably die from the anxiety. "One thing you'll learn," she whispered as she dialed, "I worry a lot." The tone rang and a voice spoke on the other end. "911, what's your emergency?" She proceeded to tell them what had happened and where they were. They told her to stay on the phone and that they were sending someone right now.
Ash would have rolled his eyes if he had the strength to open them, "Yeah… I can tell…" He muttered. Even that one sentence felt strained to get out.
Red could hear the rolling of his eyes in his voice. She smirked. The sentence, however easy it may have been, caused him pain that she could clearly see. Come on… Pretty soon, sirens sounded and they got continuously closer until she could see that bright lights. She watched as they pulled as close as possible and rush to get their supplies. "Looks like your ride is here," she said with a small chuckle.
He cracked a small, lopsided smile, a small noise coming out of him that was probably a laugh, "Yeah, thanks for calling them, I really owe you one."
She took the noise for a laugh and nodded. "We'll just say it's me paying you back for a few days ago." How could he be (almost) smiling right now? And make me smile? She pushed away the questions an looked to him. "Is there family I should call, or…?"
Ash shook his head just a little, "Nah, no family. I mean… you could call Jack and just tell him I won't be in the shop tomorrow for obvious reasons but that's it."
No family? "If you'd like me to." Did that mean he would have no one to look after him? "Do you want me to come with you or stay?" She hesitated before she added, "Either way, I don't care." What are you doing?! Why would he want you to come with? Why would you want to go?
“Yeah, Jack will worry his ass off if doesn’t know,” Ash muttered, “You can come, I wouldn’t mind the company.” He flashed a smile. Don’t know why you’d want to, though…
(Sorry, my mental health took a dive for a few days)
"Alright, I'll do that once we get to there." Why the smile? She shook her head a little.
(Should we skip to the ER/Hospital?)
(All good, I know how that feels and yeah)
The trip to the hospital felt too long for Ash's sake, but maybe that was because he was in immense pain and no longer had concept of time. The doctors took him straight through to access his injuries and fix him up, though he was unconscious for most of it. Soon enough, a doctor came looking for Red and told her she could see him now.
Red stood up quickly when the nurse had come. The entire time she had been worried for no particular reason. She had, according to his wishes, called his boss and told him what had happened. After the call, she wasn't sure what to do with herself but sit there in the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. With the nurse telling her to follow her, she at least knew he was somewhat okay. At least not dead, that is. They soon showed up at the door and she reluctantly opened the door.
Ash was slowly waking up from the anesthetic, groggily opening his eyes to take in his surroundings. He didn't notice Red at first, too dazed at the moment. The nurse left them alone, though said to Red that if he needed anything to just call from someone near by.
Red nodded to the nurse in acknowledgement and watched as they left before sitting down in the chair beside Ash. Much better than the chairs out there. She watched as he opened his eyes slowly and smiled a little. "Morning, princess." He looked really rugged, and yet somehow- No. Stop. No attachment.
Ash slowly turned to face Red, cracking another crooked smile, “Mornin’,” He replied, blinking his eyes open all the way. So she actually stayed. “You doin’ okay?”
Red chuckled a little. There's that smile again. "Am I okay?" She glanced at the ceiling. "I'm not the one who was just beat up and put into the hospital." She looked back to him. "Are you doing okay?"
“Just because you weren’t put in hospital, doesn’t mean I can’t ask you how you are,” Ash replied, still smiling, “And I feel like I’ve just been hit by a truck.”
(ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh crying for days is amazinnnnnnnnnnngggggggg)
She laughed a little, still surprised of his light way to go about things. "Hit by a truck, huh? That doesn't seem too bad," she joked. "To answer your question, I'm okay, thanks."
(Oh, you okay now?)
"Good. I honestly didn't expect you to stay, you know. I thought you would have left a while ago." He smiled sheepishly.
(I mean, no. But I'm gonna try to pretend because apparent, according to some people, I'm just one big joke but it's chill ya know)
I thought so too… "Well here I am. Is that okay?" He seemed to be happy about it, but she didn't want to misread anything.
