Fiction: In One Second
Here is the next prompt for my prompt table at 10_themes The prompt is Fear.
This is the fourth story in my Love and War series.
Ashlee and Coop get thrown together in marriage, will they fall in love or stay at war?
Title: In One Second
Author: Jailynn
Character: Ashlee Wolfe, Guiding Light
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm borrowing the characters from their rightful owners and will return them when I'm done.
Warning: Violence, AR/AU, part of a series
Summary: Ashlee and Coop are married. Will love come next? Prompt for this story--- Fear
Word Count: 2326
==+==
The next couple of months were spent in relative calm. Ashlee found herself swept up in life, work, family and friends. That night with Shayne really helped sharpen her focus, but didn’t diminish her desire for Coop in the cold, quiet hours between moon rise and sun rise. Her dreams still contained a certain man that slept only a few doors down from her. Her dreams still made her wake up in a pool of sweat, panting in need. In the morning she still rolled onto her side, fist tightening in frustration and her lips pulled into her mouth to keep in the screams of annoyance.
Ashlee pushed some of her sweaty blond bangs behind her ears when it swung forward from her ponytail. She had to admit that even though the nights were bad, the days were surprisingly easy. With her mother’s help, she found a perfect place for her book store. The building was rather small and needed a great deal of work, but the windows were large and she liked how intimate the space was. She looked around her at the walls she was trying to fix and sighed in happiness. Between getting things to fix her new store and hanging out with her friends, especially Shayne, she really hasn’t seen her husband much. Which was bothersome and weird compared to the time before she called Shayne to get back at Coop.
Before that night, it seemed she couldn’t get away from his presence. He was everywhere. Coop would show up and cause her heart to pound in her chest at the way he would look at her and infuriate her at the same time. Even when she had no idea he was around, he would appear. It was like her thoughts would conjure him up from the mist. She paused, gnawing on her bottom lip. Maybe that’s what’s changed. Or maybe she was making more out of it then it really was. Ashlee knew he was still seeing different women. Ava, Lizzie, Marty, Barbie, Skipper… all of the women’s names started to run together. Blonds, brunettes, redheads, women with short hair and long hair, short or tall it didn’t matter, the house was like a revolving door of females. Sometimes she could actually hear the woman of the night giggling in his room, but by morning the phantom female would be gone and Coop would act like nothing was amiss.
She picked up a nail and her hammer, staring at the wall in front of her. She sighed again, pushing her thoughts about Coop from her mind. They were useless and she really wanted to finish nailing this board before she had to meet her mother and Shayne for lunch. Placing the nail between her teeth, she held the wood where she needed it then grabbed the metal from her mouth and hammered it into place. Ashlee repeated the action until the hole was completely covered. The fix was a temporary one, but until she got a new infusion of money it would have to do. She rolled her head around a couple of times to relieve some of the tension in her neck.
Glancing down at her watch, she stifled a curse. If she didn’t leave now she would be late to meet her mother and that was one thing she didn’t want to be. Ashlee loved Doris, she didn’t, however, love Doris’s lectures. She wiped some sweat from her brow, dropping her tools into the tool box at her feet. She knelt down; snapping the box shut then pushed all of her supplies into closet next to the wall she was working on. Standing up again, she grabbed her purse and the light jacket she brought in case the weather turned cool while she was working.
Ashlee closed the door to her new store, pulling the keys from her pocket and locking the bolt behind her. She turned around and breathed in deeply. There was a lightness to the air now. Fall was on the horizon and she could feel the change. She started walking the short distance to her car, picking through her keys to find the right ones when she felt the sharpness at her back. Everything inside her froze and her heart turned heavy in her chest. A body pushed up behind her, hot breath slid on her neck and the object at her spine jabbed harder.
She wanted to scream but her voice was stilled in her throat. She wanted to cry but was too frightened to do that too. A million different scenarios jumped in and out of her head like kids on a trampoline. Ashlee’s hands tightened on the keys in her hand. She wouldn’t be able to do much with them, but she might cause some damage if she needed to. Her knees were shaking, almost knocking together as she started to turn toward the stranger behind her.
“Don’t move,” his voice was accented and gravelly. Swallowing she did what he said and stayed facing where her car was. “Give me the keys and your purse and you won’t get hurt.” The rational response to an order like that would be to give the attacker her keys, but she didn’t. Instead Ashlee tensed up her arm and jabbed it back toward the man behind her. She heard the grunt of air being expelled from his lungs at the unexpected move and spun quickly to face him. He had a beard that obscured the bottom half of his face, long straggly dark brown hair, his body was slender and his nose was slightly crooked. She dragged her nails across his face thinking that if she did die at least she had some piece of him. In his left hand was a shiny gun. She memorized as much as she could before bringing her knee up to connect with his stomach. Adrenaline and fear pumped wildly through her veins. The guy growled, panting through the pain and she took off toward her car.
The keys felt heavy in her hand and her feet pounded the pavement in a steady rhythm. Her car was only five feet from her, but the distance seemed longer than that. Ashlee could hear his footsteps behind her and just as she reached her vehicle his hand gripped her arm. The gun came down on her cheek like a battering ram. The pain exploded and she felt the side of her face break, blood slipped from the wound. His grip tightened on her arm, she prayed silently that whatever was going to happen next would be quick. Ashlee looked up into his coal black eyes. The orbs were dangerously glittering with anger. He pushed her back against the vehicle, ripping the keys from her hands then knocked her across the head again.
This time he wasn’t holding on to her and she fell to the concrete, her head smacking the hard surface. The robber kicked her in the stomach, snatching the purse from around her arm and then got into her car and drove off. Ashlee struggled to get up, but the pain was excruciating. Her body shook then dropped back to the ground. Blood leaked from her head and her stomach was on fire. She lifted her head up enough to scream, “Help!”
A hand touched her back and she tensed, frightened that the robber was back and maybe he decided to use his gun as more than just something to hit her with. The gentle touch rolled her over. She came face to face with two young teenage boys. Through her pain hazy vision she saw their faces were white and fearful.
“We called the police,” they told her. She could barely hear them over the roaring and pounding in her head. “They are on the way.”
Ashlee rolled her tongue against her lip and struggled to stay conscious. “Thank you,” she whispered before the blackness enveloped her.
==+==
Coop wandered the hallways of Cedars in a mild panic. The phone call telling him his wife had been admitted was brief and set his stomach on edge. Nervous energy pulsed through his veins as he looked around him. He had no idea where to go or who to ask what happened. The only information he had was that Ashlee was hurt during a robbery. Those words conjured up horrifying images in his brain. Images that made him push the limits of his car as he drove to the hospital from Cooper Industries.
He walked up to the front desk, looking for someone to tell him where Ashlee was. The receptionist’s area was empty and he wanted to scream at the lack of help. A doctor walked calmly past him and he spun around grabbing the other man’s arm. The older man in his late forties shut the folder he was reading, turning blue eyes on Coop. Coop licked his lips, glancing at the doctor’s pledge. “Dr. Bauer, I’m looking for my wife, she was admitted just a while ago and I have no idea where she is.”
The older man looked up at the receptionist’s desk then around the hallways. Coop’s urge to scream intensified. Dr. Bauer must have noticed the tension radiating off of him in waves because he nodded, “What’s your wife’s name?”
“Ashlee Bradshaw,” he said, noticing the way his voice shook a little on her name. He swallowed the lump in his throat and rubbed his palms together to infuse some warmth back in them. Dr. Bauer walked over to the desk and typed in her name. He looked at the records briefly then back up at Coop.
“She’s on the fifth floor with a massive concussion and bruised ribs.” Coop’s stomach dropped open. “She’s in room five thirty seven. It’s in the second hallway left of the elevator.”
Coop nodded, “Thank you.” He spoke the words over his shoulder as he rushed to the elevator, punching the button with more force than was necessary. He watched anxiously as the numbers decreased then the one lit up. It took a second longer than Coop thought it should for the doors to open. He stood back watching all the people exit the car, bouncing on his heels. Finally the last person walked out and he got in, jamming the number five with just as much force as he did the up arrow. “Come on,” he growled at the machine.
The ride seemed to take forever. The numbers didn’t move quickly enough and he had to curl his hands into fists to stop from slamming them into the wood panel walls. When the five finally lit up at the top, he held his breath and stared straight ahead. Coop honestly hated hospitals. The smell seemed to stay on you for days after you’ve left. The moments with his dad in this very place were some of the worst of his life. No matter what anyone thought about him, Buzz knew that he loved him and Coop knew the same. The only time they really ever fought was when it came to Coop’s less than ideal love life.
He shook his head, dislodging those thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to dredge up old haunting memories. Coop headed down the second corridor and found Ashlee’s room right where the doctor told him it would be. Looking through the glass window, his heart stopped in his chest. She appeared so fragile, laying in a hospital bed. Her head was wrapped in bandages that were covered red in some areas. He pushed against the door and walked up to her.
There were deep purple bruises on her sweet, perfect face. Gashes marred her cheeks and black and blue marks colored her arm. Her eyes were closed. He watched her chest rise and fall with her breathing. Some of the fear ebbed away to be replaced by anger. How could anyone hurt her like this? Coop pulled a chair up to the bed and touched her hand. His fingers slid across her own, but he didn’t take the elegant hand in his. They weren’t that close and suddenly he hated the distance.
Coop removed his hand and placed it in his lap. He had no idea what to say. They were husband and wife in name, but neither has really let the other in. He has been hiding behind women since finding her with that guy he now knew was named Shayne Lewis and Ashlee has been making her dreams happen. She has also been spending time with Shayne. He really tried not to be jealous of that. Why should he be jealous? Why did the very thought of them make his stomach twist unpleasantly?
Ashlee moaned from the bed and he watched her eyes open. The beautiful blue orbs were hazy, probably from the drugs the doctors were giving her. She looked at him for a moment then around the room. Her eyes settled back on him, “Coop what are you doing here?”
The words cut him even though they shouldn’t have. “What do you mean what am I doing here,” his tone was much harsher than he intended it to be. “I’m here because my wife got mugged.”
Her eyes clouded then flashed. “If you don’t want to be here then you can go. I’m fine,” she hissed in pain. “I will be fine. I…” her words got cut off by the door opening. Both turned to see Shayne standing there holding a bouquet of daisies in every color. Coop turned back to Ashlee and watched her eyes light up. “Shayne,” she exclaimed in joy.
Coop looked away, standing up and walking over to the door. “I’m glad you’re feeling alright Ashlee.” His blue green eyes connected with Shayne’s gray ones. He lowered his voice so that Ashlee couldn’t hear him and said, “Watch over her.” With that he left feeling more empty than he had ever felt in his life.
And your thoughts are?