Author's Note: Well, here's part two, I'm not sure what to say here to start off, but I took the liberty of giving Lance a surname, hopefully my choice doesn't rustle too many jimmies out there, I thought the name was fitting myself. If by any chance the creators themselves throw the canon surnames out there, I'll edit the story to match. I'll probably add in an epilogue later and maaaybe a continuation post-movie with this story. It's all audience based participation: If that audience wants it, I will deliver. Enjoy chapter two.
Ash's cellphone rang and vibrated obnoxiously against her pocket as creeping bits of morning sunlight had pierced through the shades, welcoming Ash into a new day. She was still groggy and in no mood to face what life had in store for her. She grumbled as she tossed the pillow to the ground, there was no way she was going to get back to sleep after experiencing such a rude awakening.
The phone soon went silent, but the grace period didn't last long as it notified the porcupine of a single voicemail. It would continue to plague her periodically if she didn't answer. Might as well, seeing as I'm already up now… Ash grumbled, lifting herself up into a sitting position, She dug out her phone, betting on the fact that Lance needed something from her ASAP,
But her expectations were utterly destroyed when she saw the number. "...Lance's mom? What does she want?" She spoke out loud, shocked that she would get a call from her this early in the morning. Lance's parents loved Ash to death. She was the daughter they wished they always had. Even if Ash's appearance was rough around the edges, she was everything that Lance was not. Sadly, it was another reason that Ash felt she needed to stick around in the relationship.
Though it was a sad fact that Ash couldn't even help their boy become a man. The porcupine sifted over to the voicemail and set it to playback. raising the receiver to her ear, she wasn't prepared for what was to come. "Lance got into a car accident! Oh God!" The voice grieved heavily, and by the sound of it, it wasn't looking too good for Lance's condition. "We're at the hospital right now! There's blood everywhere! Who knows how long he has left!" Her words had the most sobering effect on the porcupine's hangover, causing her to drop her phone onto the couch as the events of yesterday flashed back instantaneously.
Ash was at a loss of words and thought. Lance's mom had babbled on through the tears until the message ended. There was no question about it, Ash had to see him. As much as she wished the worst for him just yesterday, she was completely regretting it today. She gathered her phone into her pocket and bolted halfway for door, only to realize the house still reeked of weed, and she did too. There was no way she was going to present herself like this to Lance's parents.
Retreating back into her room, Ash nearly tripped over the empty bottles left by Lance and Serge. She got mad at the mess for the moment but realized she would clean it up when she got back. Ditching yesterday's clothes, she slipped into some fresh clothes from her closet. To cover her bases, she sprayed herself over with some perfume, but not too much to be overbearing, It was an emergency, not a date.
Looking presentable enough through the mirror, Ash rushed herself through the door, making sure it was locked this time. She headed down for the subway, knowing the wait for the next ride would be the worse part of the trip. The anxiety ate at her, she had to see Lance for herself. Tell him she was sorry. Tell him that she still loved him.
The train rushed in with a blaring horn, ripping Ash away from her dread, if only for the moment. She boarded with the crowd and did her best to hide her emotions away. The porcupine took a seat and kept to herself, even when it turned out to be a crowded ride. Granted, her quills gave her a little extra breathing room, and for good reason.
Blaring its horn once more, the train took off towards its destination. She still waged war with her thoughts and emotions, unable to chase them away for the time being. In the midst of her battle with anxiety, her eyes met with another porcupine, a quite different one at that. His quills appeared more fluffier than hers, but his style was more edgier than her own, dressed more like a metalhead she assumed. He gave an innocent wave and smile her way, though she was in no condition to reciprocate the notion.
Maybe another time we can chat it up about music, she sighed softly as she awkwardly broke the visual connection. She spent the rest of the ride keeping her gaze away from his general direction. Adding that to her already stressed out plate only made things worse. There was no way she was going to pour all her problems onto a stranger.
Within a few more minutes they had arrived at their stop, Ash would have to walk the rest of the distance there. Her pace was quicken with the urgency of the situation, almost to the point where she was willing to cut through traffic if only to shave some minutes of waiting off. Either way, she would be getting to the hospital by feet or by ambulance.
She pushed through the glass doors and hurried through the lobby towards the front desk, a slender flamingo manned the front desk, she had looked completely disengaged from her job. Who could blame her with how depressing life was around the hospital. Ash caught her attention as the porcupine made her approach, huffing and puffing to catch her breath.
"Excuse me," Ash began, "do you know what floor and room Lance Jameson is on?" She paced in place, ready to take off on a moment's notice. She watched impatiently as the flamingo pecked away on the keyboard, surprisingly fast for just a beak.
"Floor four, room One-Thirty-Five," she replied apathetically, unaware that Ash already bolted for the stairs. There was no time to take the elevator. She might have been a tad short, but she was sure her legs could carry her up the stairs faster than the sluggish rise of the elevator. Keeping an eye on the floors, she busted through floor four's door, hurrying down the halls to find Lance's room.
"One thirty five… One thirty five," Ash muttered and huffed under her breath, glancing back and forth at the plaques on the walls. She had ignored any and all help from any of the employees wandering about the floor, she didn't want to waste her breath. Her attempts of finding the room herself had delayed her a minute or two, but she made it all the same.
"Oh god… Lance," Ash clamped down on her nails, unsure if she really wanted to witness what state her boyfriend was in. No… I have to do this, Lance needs me, the porcupine gave herself a pep talk, enough to stop nervously biting her nails and take the plunge inside. Taking a deep breath in, Ash reached for the door and pushed opened it carefully.
The cries of Lance's mom were the first things her ears picked up, the second being the electronic metronome that was a heart monitor. The sound was enough to show her how grim things really were. Ash hesitated a moment before opening the door the rest of the way.
She was instantly greeted with a mangling embrace from Lance's mom. "Mrs. Jameson..." Was all Ash could meagerly say as his mother cried relentlessly upon her shoulder. She returned the hug, being mindful of the quills. As Mrs. Jameson pulled away, Ash could see the makeup running down the porcupine's face, she was crying all day by the looks of it. Lance's Mom guided Ash towards the back in the room. Mr. Jameson was at a lost for words and appeared just as distraught his his wife.
But what was behind the curtains was even worse. Lance himself was laid up in a gurney, wires and tubes were attached and ran through him to monitor his vitals. Bandages and casts kept the porcupine in one piece, but it couldn't hide all the blood and bruising spread across his body. The sight alone was enough to bring Ash to tears as well.
"L-...Lance?" Ash sniffled, drawing closer to her boyfriend's side. "Lance… Can you hear me?" His eyes remained shut. He was still in a vegetative state, unable to respond. "If you can hear me… I'm… S-sorry, Okay?" She tried to stay strong, but she was one to easily give into emotion. "I didn't mean what I said yesterday!" She held onto his hand tightly with both paws as the tears ran down her face.
Her words had sparked enough curiosity from Mrs. Jameson to hush her blubbering enough to ask, "what exactly did you tell Lance yesterday, Ash?" Her voice expressed her uncertainty, she was brave to ask, but she wondered if she honestly wanted to know.
"...I was mad at him," she kept her head down, unable to look anyone in the eye. She couldn't let the cat out of the bag about what had happened back at her apartment. It would be best to leave it as vague as possible… At least until they found out what was in his system. There would be plenty of explaining to do eventually. "He got together with some stranger online. The guy was trouble when I first saw him… But I couldn't stand my ground, He ended up leaving with him in the middle of the night," her words had devastated Mrs. Jameson as she shrieked in horror. Ash couldn't understand how that news was much worse than what was happening now "...What's wrong?"
"Lance was the only one in the car when they found him!" Immediately Ash knew something was terribly wrong with that statement. It wasn't long before the police got involved. The nervous porcupine did her best to give her side of the story as best she could while covering her bases. It turned out that "Serge" wasn't enough to track the possum down, it was probably a temporary alias being a drug dealer. Drummer? Hell, she didn't even see him with a kit now that she thought about it. The only major detail that stood out that gave her testimony merit was that Lance was found in the passenger side of the vehicle. Serge was still out there, somewhere.
Ash didn't have much hopes of them bringing Serge to justice. It was a wild goose chase that wouldn't get them anywhere in the end. The best they could do now was hope for a speedy recovery and keep a close track of Lance to make sure he wouldn't pull another grievous mistake like that again. She spent the rest of the day at Lance's side, or would have if work hadn't call her in. She was almost tempted to call in sick, but seeing the circumstances, Lance's hospital bill was going to be huge and she would feel awful if his parents had to pay the whole thing.
She left her boyfriend with a gentle kiss on the forehead before heading off back home to get ready for her job.
