Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia nor any of the characters and places associated with it.
Chapter 14: Paranoia
I feel all my insides freeze up as soon as the news sinks in. If she's in a coma then that means that she may never wake up again. Panic is now my initial emotion. If she never wakes up, then I will never get to marry her or see her eyes again or get to tell her how much I love her again.
"Isn't there anything you can do?" I ask worriedly. The doctor shakes his head.
"Sorry, but we'll just have to wait for her to wake up in her own time or plan a funeral if she doesn't," he tells Malina and I. I glance over to Malina when I hear her starting to sob and instantly walk over to give her a hug. I'm not an idiot. I know how to comfort a girl when she's upset.
"Peter, what if she never wakes up again?" Malina sobs into my chest. I frown and start to feel tears well up in my eyes.
"She will wake up, Malina. There is no way Aslan would give her to me if she was going to die before we even got married, let alone have children," I tell her solemnly. Her crying ceases in a second and I can tell that she's deep in thought as I pull away from her.
"You're right, but that could be ages away," she complains. I grimace.
"As long as she wakes up, I'll be happy," I say simply. I hear the door open again and look over to see the nurse from before.
"Doctor Hedrick, we need you in room twelve right now for the spinal operation on, Mr. Hare," she says. I look over to the doctor who has just finished writing something down on his parchment. He puts it down on the bedside table and walks over to the door.
"I'm sorry, King Peter. I'll check up on her later, but you are free to stay in here if you wish," he tells me. I nod.
"Thank you," I say. He nods in acknowledgement before leaving. The door closes slowly with a slight thump.
"Peter, I have to get back to work. I will come back later though," Malina promises. I smile at her.
"Thank you, Malina. If it wasn't for you, I probably would've never found her. I appreciate it," I whisper softly, but loud enough for her to hear. She grimaces.
"That's quite alright. I'll see you later."
"Bye," I say as she runs out the door, Cinnamon following closely behind. I grab a chair then from across the room and inaudibly place it next to the bed. I sigh quietly to myself before grabbing Ashley's left hand with mine. I suddenly remember something and carefully reach into my pocket and pull out the dazzling, diamond ring. I gently slip it onto her ring finger before intertwining her hand with mine. I put my spare arm on the edge of the mattress then and lean my head onto it. This is going to be a long few months.
Ashley POV
I'm sitting down on a rock in a beautiful meadow; a soft wind is blowing through my long, brown hair as a few of the sun's rays reach down through the branches of the large oak tree I'm leaning against and beam down on my head. There's a gentle, bright-blue stream beside me and flowers of all colours surrounding me. I pick a few of them just as a large shadow looms over me. I turn my head around a tiny bit to notice Peter watching me intently. His blue eyes hold sadness. I look down at my reflection in the crystal clear water of the stream and sigh. I look just as sad as he does. He walks forwards towards me and sits down casually on the rock beside me. I feel his arm wrap tenderly around my waist as I lean my head on his shoulder. A few tears trickle down my cheeks as he gently kisses my head.
"Are we ever going to find them?" I ask sadly. He thinks over my question quietly before answering me.
"We will. I promise, I won't let anything happen to them." I nod softly. He smiles faintly and encircles his other arm around me so that I'm curled up in his arms. "I love you," he tells me. I smile at his words.
"I love you too." I spin my head around a little bit so that I can kiss him on the lips. He happily accepts and quickly grabs my lips with his. The kiss is gentle and loving, full of reassurance. I smile against his lips. He gently pulls away, but keeps me in a tight hug. I feel myself shake a little bit with cold as the wind starts to pick up and blow dark clouds over our heads, blocking out all the sunlight. The meadow grows dark very quickly. I continue to shake and suddenly start to hear familiar voices. They're very faint, but still there.
"Ashley," I hear a soft voice say, pulling me out of the queer dream – or should I call it vision. It seems like something that Aslan would give me. I try to open my eyes, finding it painfully hard. "Ashley," the voice repeats. It sounds like the person who's talking is relieved.
"She's waking up, hallelujah!" I hear a different voice exclaim. I slowly open my eyes, only to notice four eager faces staring down at me. I groan as I try to sit up in the bed. Wait bed? I'm out of the horrible dungeon and away from the atrocious creature. Thank Aslan! Wait Aslan...I freeze as all the previous events start to unravel themselves. The cell, the dungeon, the little, brown bat, Aslan…and now I'm in a bed? This is queer. A soft hand rubs across my forehead then. I look up only to be met with the gorgeous, blue eyes of, who I guess is, my hero.
"Peter," I cough out. My voice is dry and croaky, not exactly what I had planned. I see a tear roll down his cheek after I speak causing me to wonder how long I was out cold for.
"Do you know how scared I've been; always wondering whether I'll ever be able to hear your voice again or see your eyes again or tell you how much I love you again?" he asks me, relief evident in his voice. I feel my eyes begin to water at his words. He really cares about me. I smile faintly.
"I do now," I say. He chuckles a bit before leaning a bit closer to me.
"How are you feeling?" he asks curiously. I have to think about it for a second.
"Sore," I manage to get out. He frowns and kisses my forehead gently before moving some of my hair out of my face. I grab his hand and lace my fingers with his.
"It's amazing. I've been in this country for a year and a bit now and you've already been in the sick room twice with major injuries. It's as if you're a magnet to accidents and trouble, Ashley," Peter says while sitting down on a chair beside me and grabbing my hand in both of his. "By the way, that reminds me, I've booked a wedding planner, so you don't need to panic," he adds, in which I sigh with relief. He laughs and kisses the top of my head. "I knew you would be that way," he says, grinning down at me. I smile back and give him a gentle kiss on his warm and soft cheek.
"Ashley, who did this to you?" Malina suddenly asks angrily. I glance over to her and then looked into Peter's blue eyes for support. He looks even more angry than Malina. I settle for staring at the white bed sheets. This is going to be hard to say.
"You all know her. She's a witch and her name is...Starstone," I choke out before I feel tears slither down my hot cheeks. All these years I've looked up to her and now she's just turned her back on me and totally abused me. Everyone in the room gasps. Peter clutches at his sword and keeps his hand on the hilt, as does everyone else who has a sword with them. I groan and fall back onto the soft and comfy pillow. Peter's grip tightens on my hand a great deal, making me jerk and groan out in pain. He loosens his grip on me then and shoots me an apologetic smile. I smile back, forgiving him silently. He kisses my forehead and turns to the front of the room as soon as the door opens.
"Ah, Ashley. I see you're awake my dear. Good. Now, you may go home if you like, but you must rest up and stay in bed. We'll come in and check on you regularly in the castle. Thankfully, these seven weeks have given you plenty of time to heal. Just be careful with your leg, it only just healed and we don't want you damaging it any further which is why the cast is still on, but you can still walk around with it on, so you should be fine," Doctor Hedrick tells me, beaming brightly and happily. I think he really enjoys this part of his job.
"Thank you for everything," I say, staying calm on the outside, whilst freaking out inside. Seven weeks of my life are once again gone in what felt like a minute to me. It's honestly frightening. I smile at the doctor grimly while getting up off the comfy bed. I look down and then notice that my left leg is still in a huge, white cast just like the doctor promised. Well that's convenient! Peter tries supporting all my weight on one shoulder before deciding that it's easier to just carry me. He swings me up gently into his arms before we start walking out of the hospital. "Peter," I say. He looks down at me carefully.
"Yes, sweetheart?" he whispers back.
"Um, if I've been in the sick room for seven weeks does that mean our wedding is in three days?" I ask him curiously. He shakes his head.
"We postponed it. We weren't sure when you were going to wake up, so it's not for another month yet," he tells me with a slight grimace. I frown and of course he notices. I giggle as his fingers make their way to my rib cage before he begins tickling me. I full out am having a laughing attack within a few minutes.
"Peter! Stop please, I'm getting a stitch!" I exclaim in between the giggles. He stops abruptly.
"You are such a girl," he teases as we walk up the castle steps. I roll my eyes at him.
"Whatever," I say jokingly as he puts me down on one of the white sofas in the staff room. He smirks famously at me before pecking my lips with a kiss and walking towards the door. "Where are you going?" I ask worriedly. I don't want him to leave me here alone.
"Relax, Ash. I'm just getting Bella; I promised her that I would get her as soon as you were awake," he explains. My eyes grow wide with fear.
"Peter, no! Please take me upstairs with you. Don't leave me down here by myself," I beg as tears start trickling their way down my face in currents.
"Honey, what's wrong?" He's at my side in an instant, wiping away all the tears with his thumbs. He looks a little bit confused as I pretty much throw myself at him, not caring about my leg at all. "Shh, calm down. It's alright, love; I'm here," he whispers in my ear soothingly while softly smoothing down my hair. I calm down a considerable amount as he gently pushes me away from him. He wipes away the last of the tears as I sit up straight and calm down from my odd panic attack.
"Sorry, it's just; I'm scared of being left alone," I admit softly while looking down at my hands and playing with my fingers. He lifts my chin up so that I can look at him straight in the eyes. He smiles comfortingly and picks me up bridal style.
"I understand," he says. I bury my face into his chest as I feel us walking up what I guess are the stairs. Once we're up the top we go into my room where he places me gently on the heather bed.
"I'll be back in two seconds," he promises. I'm just about to interject when he cuts me off. "Starstone is not going to touch you again." I nod and place my head back onto the pillow. I hear the wooden door close with a thud. My heart suddenly accelerates a hundred miles as my mind wanders around all the possibilities of what can happen at any second. I'm being ridiculous. I don't need Peter to tell me that. I know that my mind is playing tricks on me when the dressing table in the corner of the room suddenly turns into a centaur holding a knife. I shake my head a few times to clear away the thoughts and turn towards the door expectantly. Hurry up, Peter! I think as I start to sweat. Is it just me or is this room starting to get really hot? I don't know where this sudden fear of being left alone came from. Am I starting to become paranoid? Starting? You reached paranoia around two hours ago! I almost jump out of my skin when I hear the creak of my bedroom door. My breathing picks up a considerable amount as a shadow appears in the doorway. A few lone tear's role down my cheeks for the hundredth time today as a figure enters.
"Ashley, it's okay. It's just us. You're fine." I sigh in relief as Peter's comforting voice fills the room. He walks up to me slowly and I vaguely feel him wipe away the tears as I feel the other side of the bed dip. He smiles then which makes my suspicions grow. I spin around and am instantaneously tackled by Bella.
"Ashy, I thought you were dead - again!" she exclaims as she cuddles into my chest. My insides burst into a billion flames just as reality suddenly hits me. I was seriously close to dying again. Bella silently cries with tears of happiness into my shirt. I stroke her hair as I think over everything that has happened in the past few months, well the things I can remember anyway. It seems like I wasn't really there for my little sister at all. That thought worries me. I'm the only family left for her and I'm pretty much ignoring her. I hold her even more tightly to me as I think about that. I really have to start protecting her more. "Ashy, am I allowed to come to your wedding?" she asks suddenly, causing me to frown in confusion.
"What do you mean 'are you allowed'? You're my little sister, Bella. Of course you're coming. You are also going to be a flower girl," I promise her. She looks up at me excitedly.
"Really?" she asks excitedly. I nod my head at her. Her smile is so wide that I think she's about to burst with happiness. "Yay! Yay! Yay!" she repeats over and over again in anticipation for the wedding. I knew that she'd love to be a flower girl for the day. She is such a eight year old! I take a quick glance over to Peter who, I only just noticed, is holding my hand in his. He's smiling at me; obviously I have made the right decision about that much to my relief.
"Bella, why don't we leave Ash so that she can get some sleep," Peter suggests, glancing down casually at Bella. I feel her grip tighten on me. She shakes her head from side to side.
"No, I don't want to go! I just got her back!" she whines while getting underneath the sheets with me. I smile faintly. At least she doesn't hate me for ditching her for two months.
"Bella –" Peter begins, but I cut him off abruptly.
"Peter, honestly I don't mind if she wants to stay in here with me. I feel safer with her in here anyway. I don't think I will be able to get much sleep if I'm alone," I admit sheepishly. He nods and steals a quick glance down to Bella, ensuring that he doesn't linger there for any long periods of time, before looking back up to my face.
"I'll see you soon," he promises me. He gives me a quick kiss on the lips before walking out of the room and softly closing the door. I look down at Bella then who's smiling happily up at me; her dimples showing very clearly in the candlelight.
"What?" I ask. I know that little glint in her eyes; there's something that she's dying to tell me.
"I know a secret that you don't know," she says in a teasing voice before giggling and hiding her face underneath the sheets in true eight year old fashion. I pull the sheet away from her to reveal her messy, giggling face. Her long, black hair is now a big mess on the top of her head. I try flattening it down to no avail. There will be tears later as I try to get through this.
"What's your secret, Bella?" I ask. She shakes her head and does the gesture of zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key. I raise an eyebrow out of curiosity. "Can you at least tell me who told you the secret?" I inquire. She nods and unzips her mouth.
"Aslan," she states simply. I raise an eyebrow.
"Aslan told you a secret?" I ask curiously. She nods.
"Yep and he said that you and Peter would find out in a months' time," she explains. I smile and then suddenly get hit with reality. Peter and I are getting married in a month. Hmm, interesting. What could the secret be? Maybe it's just him turning up to the wedding or maybe he has a gift. I grin. A gift from Aslan? That will be one unique present!
"I guess I'll just have to wait then," I say. Bella nods and lays her head back down on my chest so that she's cuddling up to me.
"You will, but, Ashy, you need to sleep now," Bella commands in a sharp tone. I smile at my little sister's command and slowly close my eyes and lay my head back on the soft pillow.
"Sure. I love you," I say.
"I love you too," she says before I feel her get off me and lay down next to me. I open my eyes and shoot a questioning glance at Bella. She points behind me. At that moment I feel two strong arms wrap securely around my waist. I know who it is and spin around so that I can cuddle into his chest. I feel him grin like a Cheshire cat as he plants a kiss on the top of my head.
"Get some sleep, beautiful," he whispers into my ear. I nod and yawn before closing my eyes and falling into a deep slumber. I know one thing for sure; this next month is going to fly by at the speed of light.
