Authors Note: Back again with another update. I can't believe I've written 25 chapters to this story already!

Thanks to those of you that left reviews/followed/favourited the story. It makes me happy to know that people are enjoying this story. I thought Alicia's differences from most women her age would turn people off. I'm glad, in more ways than one, to know they haven't. :)

Hope you enjoy the update!

Chapter 23: Aftermath

A few hours later…

I was sitting on the bathroom counter in my motel room, in just my jeans and bra, next to the sink, with a bandage on my left temple.

Ashley was standing in front of me, with warm, soapy water sitting in the sink.

The hospital obviously had cleaned up my face of the blood, but I still had some dried on my neck and chest where the blood had run down onto my shirt.

Ashley was helping, or rather, was cleaning me up. She didn't want me to over exert myself.

Physically, I had a small gash on my left temple from the impact with the radiator.

I also had a concussion.

The doctor was fine with discharging me, as long as someone was with me for the next 24 hours to keep an eye on me.

Emotionally, I was a wreck.

The lockdown had been, to quote Aaron, "bat shit crazy".

It had certainly been crazier than all of the scenarios I had come up with prior to it.

I could only vaguely remember what had happened before I had blacked out.

Zak had filled me in on the details when I woke up in the hospital roughly 35 minutes after I had lost consciousness.

I slowly opened my eyes, finding myself laying on a bed in a dimly lit room.

I slowly turned my head, wincing at the throbbing headache that was radiating from the left side of my head.

I saw Zak sitting in a chair beside my bed.

He was slouched down, his head leaned back over the top of the chair. His eyes were closed and he had his arms folded across his chest.

I couldn't tell if he was asleep or awake.

"Zak…?" I asked softly.

Zak jumped slightly, his head lifting up and his eyes shooting open.

He stared at me for a minute before his features relaxed and he sat upright, leaning toward the bed and gently resting a hand over one of mine.

"You're awake," Zak said, in obvious relief. "Oh thank God," He added softly.

"Where are we?" I asked softly.

"We're at NYE Regional Medical Center in Tonopah. It was the closest hospital to Goldfield," Zak explained.

Tono-what? Oh right, our motel is here, I thought.

"How are you feeling?" Zak asked.

"My head is pounding…" I replied softly.

Zak frowned but nodded in understanding.

"The doctor is pretty sure you have a concussion. He was waiting for you to wake up. I'll go find him," Zak said, starting to stand up, but I grabbed his hand.

"No, wait. Don't leave me…please…" I said softly.

Memories were starting to come back to me, terrifying memories.

Being drained of energy. Unexplained pain in my wrists and stomach. Being pulled across a room by an unseen force…

The last thing I had wanted was to be alone.

Zak gently squeezed my hand as he sat back down.

"It's alright doll, I'm here," Zak said softly, turning a bit and reaching up to a small button attached to a wire.

He paged for a nurse.

"How long was I out…?" I asked.

Zak glanced at his watch.

"Roughly 35 minutes or so. You were in and out of conscious briefly as we took you out to the car, but then you were out for the drive here. We got you registered and a doctor came and examined you almost right away. We've been here for about 15 minutes," Zak explained.

"Is everyone else okay?" I asked.

Zak nodded, but looked grim.

"Physically, yes. Mentally and emotionally…Aaron and I went through some crazy stuff too," Zak replied.

I frowned and began to worry.

He gently squeezed my hand for reassurance.

"I'll fill you in on the details later," Zak said.

"Excuse me," I heard a female voice from the doorway.

Zak and I looked over and saw a nurse.

"She just woke up. Her doctor wanted to see her when she came to," Zak said.

The nurse nodded.

"Of course, I'll have him paged right away," the nurse said before walking off.

I looked back at Zak.

"Tell me now…at least briefly," I said softly.

Zak sighed but must of knew I wouldn't relent.

"I was saw a shadow figure, and our static x-camera was thrown off the tripod into the wall. I captured some EVP's from the same male voice we had captured before. It must have been Wingfield. He said he was going to 'kill her'…I thought it was residual energy from the struggle between him and Elizabeth," Zak started softly.

I nodded slightly and kept quiet so he could continue.

"Billy had contacted me over walkie to tell me Aaron was stuck in the basement, he couldn't open the door, and couldn't reach him over walkie. Then Billy told me you were experiencing physical symptoms and pain, so I was going to come down to check on both of you. But I suddenly was drained of energy and could barely move. Then I started having trouble breathing," Zak said.

My eyes widened in shock, and fear.

But before I could say a word, Zak answered the question I had been about to ask.

"I'm fine. I'm not sure what it was, but all the activity and negative affects on us seemed to stop once Ashley, Billy and Jay broke in," Zak said.

"Broke in...?" I asked softly, in shock.

Zak nodded.

"Ashley had gotten in contact with Red to come back with the keys. But Billy and Jay were concerned he wouldn't get back in time. So they threw a rock through a window and climbed inside, turned on the lights, and split up to get the three of us. By the time Billy had reached me, I felt fine. And when Jay reached the basement, Aaron was able to open the door. Ashley found you bleeding and unconscious…" Zak said, looking upset again.

"I…I was-" I started to speak, but immediately stopped when a doctor appeared in the doorway.

"Glad to see you're awake Miss Wilde, you gave us all quite a scare," the doctor said as he walked over to us.

I hadn't know whether to laugh or cry at the secret meaning his words meant to me.

"Are you okay Ali?" I heard Ashley ask, distracting me from my thoughts as she rinsed a facecloth in the sink.

I looked at her and nodded slightly.

"Just reliving everything," I said softly.

Ashley frowned at me as she grabbed a towel from a rack on the wall and handed it to me so I could dry off.

"Try not to dwell on it too much now. You need to get some rest," Ashley responded.

I simply nodded as I carefully dried off my neck and chest.

I wanted to get a shower, but I knew doing that by myself was not a good idea. And I didn't feel comfortable enough to ask for that kind of help from Ashley.

And besides, all I really wanted to do was sleep. To get away from reality for a while.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Oh my god, I told him to give us fifteen minutes, and he waits five," Ashley grumbled, as she finished washing her hands in fresh water, ossed a hand towel on the counter and walked out of the room to answer the door.

I couldn't help but chuckle to myself, knowing she was talking about Zak.

I set the towel aside when I was finished with it, and then slowly and carefully slid down off the counter.

Ashley had already grabbed a set of pink pyjama pants and matching t-shirt, adorned with "Hello Kitty", for me from my luggage, so I unbuttoned my jeans and let them slide down my legs to the floor.

"Zak, that was hardly fifteen minutes!" I heard Ashley say from the door.

"I'm impatient, so sue me. Where is she?" I heard Zak reply.

I also heard his footsteps coming into the room.

He'd pass the bathroom door any minute.

I reacted out of instinct, not taking my condition into consideration.

I let out a small shriek as I stepped forward to close the door, and tripped over my own feet still in my jeans.

I fell forward but managed to get my hands out in front of me and caught myself on the towel rack hanging on the wall.

"Oh Jesus, Ali!" I heard Ashley shout as she let the motel room door shut and ran into the bathroom.

I felt her grab onto me and help me steady myself on my feet.

"Ali?! Are you- HEY!" I heard Zak say, barely opening my eyes in time to see Ashley kick the bathroom door shut in his face.

"Zak, I'm in the process of helping her get changed! You big oaf!" Ashley retorted.

"I…! Oh…oops…" I heard Zak mumble outside the bathroom door. "Sorry!" He added, sounding like a little boy who had broken something important.

Ashley rolled her eyes as she helped me step out of my jeans, then grabbed my pyjama pants and helped me step into them.

"Good thing he's cute huh?" Ashley said.

I couldn't help chuckling, despite the pain it caused.

After I finished getting changed with Ashley's help, she opened the door and we saw Zak leaning against the opposite wall, with his hands in his pockets, looking at the floor.

I smiled slightly to myself.

"Oh don't pout, she's alright," Ashley said.

I stepped out of the bathroom while Ashley began cleaning off the counter and putting stuff away.

Zak looked up at the sound of Ashley's voice and smiled slightly when he saw me.

"I really am sorry, I wasn't thinking. You didn't hurt yourself did you?" Zak asked, stepping toward me.

"No, I'm fine. Other than the near heart attack of being seen in my underwear by a hot guy," I replied, trying not to blush.

"Damn…Ash, why did you have to kick the door shut?" Zak asked.

"Because I finally had a viable excuse to do it," Ashley responded in a joking tone.

I laughed quietly as I turned and walked toward the bed, wanting to lay down.

But a wave of dizziness overcame me.

I had turned to fast.

I grabbed onto the nearby wall to steady myself.

I felt Zak beside me and one of his arms around me almost immediately.

"Are you okay?" Zak asked softly.

"Just turned to fast," I replied softly.

"Would you be opposed to letting me wrap you up in bubble wrap?" Zak asked, only a slight bit of humour in his voice.

"Oh my god, Zak, I will kick you out," Ashley called from the bathroom.

"I'd love to see you try," Zak replied with a laugh.

Ashley was only a bit taller than me.

I made my way to the bed, laughing quietly the entire time at their bickering, and sat on the edge of the bed, all with Zak's help.

Zak sat with me and kept an arm around me.

"Touché. But seriously, she's not a fragile doll that's going to shatter into pieces," Ashley said.

Zak glanced down at me, looking at me as he spoke.

"She is to me," He said softly, speaking to me more than Ashley.

I smiled, despite the fact that the words would normally offend me, but this time they didn't.

After everything that I had experienced, I felt fragile.

I leaned into Zak and rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes.

I think he was shocked at first, because he didn't react right away.

But then he reached up with one hand and gently brushed some hair back out of my face, and then pressed a light, but lingering kiss to my forehead.

I was pretty sure I could deal with being called "fragile" for a few days.