Chapter 10 "Hey Jude"
Hey jude, dont make it bad.
Take a sad song and make it better.
Remember to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.
The sound of music played softly in the background as Ashley began to awake. She felt some slight pain in her right knee. Confused she sat up and saw their knee was wrapped in gauze and an ice pack laid on top. She could hear Craig singing softly but the place they were in looked unfamiliar. "Where am I?" she asked trying to get up. Craig rushed into the living room where she was at. "Whoa there. Take it easy! You're a little banged up," he said taking the ice pack off her knee to look at it. "I'm fine," she added a little embarrassed unrolling her pants leg. "Sean's mom took a look at it and she could tell it had been broken or fractured before. You've been blacking out for a while now" he added. She thought back to her accident when she had lost her baby. "I didn't need anyone to look at it. I'm fine," she replied getting up. She winced a little feeling some pain. She made her way to kitchen where there was a glass sliding door and walked outside. She nend to be alone. She needed some air to think and collect herself. A few minutes later Craig followed her bringing some sandwiches out.
"Hungry?" he asked sitting down at the picnic table. She didn't say anything for a while. "Not really… what is this place?" she asked quietly. He could barely hear her. He got up and sat closer to where she was standing. "It belonged to my father. He brought it for my mom when they first started having trouble," he told her looking down. "You mean when he first started beating her?" she asked turning her back to him staring off into the distance. Craig hesistated for a moment. He didn't know where or not he should press her for more information about her and Jimmy. She had been mumbling his name during her blackouts begging him to stop hurting her. There was silence for a while before he spoke again. "Yes. When he started beating her," he nervously answered.
Tears began to run down her face. He could hear her trying to keep quiet but she couldn't hide it any longer. She was tired of keeping everything inside. No longer could she keep her secret.
"Jimmy…he used to beat me. I don't know why or how it started but it just got bad so fast," she cried. Craig jumped up and grabbed her hand. "We were going to have a baby, a little girl and, and then he pushed me. Craig, I tried to get away but he threw me down the stairs. I was begging him to stop for the baby's sake. And when I saw little Eli, I..," before she could finish he wrapped his arms around her. She buried her head in his chest crying and shaking. "Shh, its ok. I'm here," he said. As she cried and cried he could feel his body trembling with anger. Jimmy deserved to be exactly where he was, rotting and being half eaten by worms just like his father.
"I'm sorry you had to go through this Ashley. If I had known sooner, maybe I could have done something," he reasoned. She looked up at him. "Its not your fault. Just you being here is enough," she said staring at him with those gorgeous green eyes. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to protect her and keep her safe from all this but he knew now was not the right time to let her know how he felt. "If there's anything you need. I'm here," he said hugging her again. She wiped her eyes. "I've never told anyone that. Not even Paige or Marco. No one knows. I've kept it a secret," Ashley replied sitting down. "I won't tell anyone until you're ready," Craig told her. This still didn't explain why she went back to Jimmy even after she had lost the baby. He wanted to know more but afte all this was a huge step for Ashley and he was proud of her.
She sighed still emotionally drained from the situation. "And I'm sorry for being so mean to you. Its just hard for me to let people in. Especially because of our past." Ashley confessed. He understood. They both still were healing from everything that happened post high school.
"No don't apologize. Nobody's been that honest with me as you were that night at Joey's. When you're in the business people just say whatever you want to hear. I spent months with Manny but not once did she ever convince me to clean up my act. I mean she had feelings for me but she loved my bank account as much as she loved me. Coming back to Toronto and seeing all you guys made me miss being normal. I turned my back on the people who really cared about me. I don't want that to happen again. I've decided that I'm quitting the business. I'm done with it all. Its not worth losing my soul over," he said. Ashley's face looked disgruntled.
"You can't quit. Sure you've faced so much and now your now you're getting your life back together," she said. "I'm done. My last album was horrible. All people want is flashing lights and overproduced pop. Maybe I'll write jingles or do kitty litter commercials," he rambled wailing his arms around. She laughed a little. Craig was glad to see her face light up even if it was over a corny little joke. "Get in the studio. Start writing again. Prove all your critics wrong. People do want to hear more than just overproduced sugar coated pop," she explained. Maybe she was right. Maybe he could prove them all wrong and make an album worth listening to. Suddenly he got a crazy idea.
"Ashley, why don't you come into the studio with me?" he asked. It was a far stretch but perhaps she'd say yes. It could be like old times. She chuckled as if he were joking and shook her head. "I'm serious Ash, you're good," he added.
"Craig its been years since I've written anything or even played an instrument, let alone performed," she said."I can't do this without you," he added. She sighed and closed her eyes. "You have been for the past couple of years. Look Craig, I'm glad you feel like I'd be a great partner for your new record but we just started being friends again. This is all a bit much for me," she explained. She was right. He was just gaining her trust again. He needed to take things slow. "We better head home for Toronto," he mumbled. "Wait, I di.." but before she finished he was already heading inside the house.
The drive back to Toronto seemed faster than going to Wasaga for some reason. Ashley fell asleep most of the way and Craig tried not to over analyze what had occurred. At least she had said they were friends. He kept thinking. As they pulled up to her townhouse she was still asleep. Paige was waiting outside. She had been worried sick after Ellie had left her a message saying Ashley had been hurt. "Is she alright?" she asked concerned. "Yeah. She's fine now. Knocked out like a little baby," Craig whispered.
He picked Ashley up and carried her inside. "Her room is upstairs on the right," Paige pointed. He carefully went up the stairs and into her room placing her on her bed. She rolled over a few times and woke up as Craig tried to tip toe out. "Craig," she whispered. He turned around and went back to where she was. "Yes?" he answered. "Thank you, for everything" she said staring at him. She grabbed him and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled back. "Now get out of here and wipe that little smirk off your face," she replied throwing a pillow at him. He ducked and threw it back. "Good night," he said leaving. "Good night," she repeated smiling.