Chapter 4: I Still Miss Someone (Johnny Cash)

A/N: Look at first chapter 3 was supposed to be a stand-alone chapter that describe why Craig & Ashley weren't together but I didn't want make to long. And I also want to write what Craig was thinking about the entire situation. There is going to be a bit of a twist some might see it coming others may not but it will explain what happened after the failed marriage proposal. I'm sure some are probably going to ask who the mother of Little Joey is, well in this chapter im going to introduce her, she going to be a very lovable character, someone who just got thrown into the world of Craig and Ashley. I hope you guys like her; it was her strength that helped Craig get a hold of his life. By the Way just so you know that this Chapter is a bit more adult in terms of language and content.

Craig would usually get up around 9am, he would usually go through his usual morning routine of running, taking a shower, strumming away on the guitar in the studio and when little Joey gets up he make them both breakfast. But this day the routine would go out the window. He doesn't take a shower or even ran, he just finds himself going into the studio, he plays a little too long than normal, so Joey wakes up at a quarter to 11, and goes to get his dad and once he enters the studio he plops himself on his lap and gives give a kiss on the check.

"Daddy, are you going to be in here all day. I'm hungry and you smell" says Joey as he yawns and rubs his eyes.

"Ok kiddo first lets just take a shower and then I'll make breakfast, what do you want to eat" Craig says as he gets up and he sets down his guitar.

"I want waffles daddy" says Joey who is running into the bathroom

"Okay" Craig says with a smile on his face

Craig walks through the hall and sees a picture that makes him stop and think for a moment. A picture of his wife holding their newborn son in her hands. Craig thinks to himself she looks so happy, so peaceful.

He continues on, and takes a shower. He puts he head underneath the showerhead. He feels the water pour down his face. He can feel the water as it hits the various marks that cover his body, including a subtle reminder of Ashley. Then he feels a weird mark over his heart, a scar that is not just physical but also emotional. He thinks back to the day that he got it.

When Craig looked up in the sky and saw the sun was setting it had been six hours since "the incident", he decided that no matter what he loved her, she was his heart, his soul wrapped all in beautiful piece of art named Ashley Kerwin.

He said to himself "Ok so were not getting married right now but one day she will be my wife, even if I have to wait for eternity".

He slowly turned the key to their apartment, and walks inside and put his stuff on a nearby table. He sees a couple bottles of Jack, but he thinks to himself that maybe 'she was just drowning her sorrows"

As he walks through the door he sees a few more bottles. Then Ashley mangled hair. Then see the most painful thing he has ever seen in his life, another man sleeping where he should be sleeping.

He tries to regain his composure; he sits down in a nearby chair. She starts to move around and opens her eyes as she looks at her unwelcomed guess and says "What the hell did I do, oh my God. I think im gonna die"

"He do you think I feel right now" says Craig as he startles the crap out of Ashley as she jumps out of their bed.

"Craig please I'm so sorry" she says this as he gets up and heads for the door. "Please Craig don't leave, Craig says something. I know what I did im so sorry. I know I can't excuse what I did but I was so drunk, i went to bar and I just started drinking and then I just blacked out"

Craig doesn't say anything he just let one tear drop falls down his face and lightly hits Ashley on the check. But to Ashley it felt like the weight of the world, and she could feel his heart breaking.

The guy wakes and puts on his boxer and says "What's all the noise about"

Ashley looks at a nearby picture of the two of them then she looks down and says "I just lost the love of my life"

An hour later

Craig begins banging at the door "Sean let me in. come on man I know you're home"

"He not home yet, but if when he come I'll tell him that you came by. What's your name?" says Sean neighbor Mr. Hudson.

"Craig. Craig Manning sir" says a disheveled Craig as he presses the button on the elevator

Once he leaves Craig's apartment he see a bar down the street & decides to go in. Once he enters the bar he takes a seat.

The Bartender goes up to him and says "What are gonna have Hun?" She looks about 35, extremely beautiful and has on very tight clothes. If he was with any other women, he wouldn't think twice about taking her in the back and releasing everything he had in him. But he couldn't for everything that had just gone on that day, his heart and body couldn't take mindless sex with a random stranger.

"A shot of something hard, I don't give a shit what it is" says Craig not caring what he anyone thinks of him.

Craig hears the radio in the background & can sympathize with the singer

The bartender hands him a shot of bourbon and gives him a sad smile, knowing that he was empty and everything in his life was destroyed.

At my door the leaves are falling

A cold wild wind has come

Sweethearts walk by together

And I still miss someone

I go out on a party

And look for a little fun

But I find a darkened corner

Because I still miss someone

Oh, no I never got over those blues eyes

I see them everywhere

I miss those arms that held me

When all the love was there

"Oh Johnny you know how to express a man's feelings" says Craig as he continues to down shot after shot

I wonder if she's sorry

For leavin' what we'd begun

There's someone for me somewhere

And I still miss someone

"Maybe you stop; dude drinks will never be able to mend a broken heart. Tell me about it" the bartender says seemingly looking at him with concerned eyes.

"The woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with said no when I asked her to merry me, and when I came home I found her in bed with another man, how fucked up is that" he says this as he passes back the empty shot glass.

A man comes up to him and tells him "Everything will be ok, everything will be fine"

"Whatever" he says and wakes out the door. The man follows him gesturing to two other guys behind him. They walk up to him and says "I think its best that you give us your wallet". Craig just moves pass them. They jump him and take him wallet but not before the ringleader stabs him in the heart with his knife. He falls to the floor and starts to go in & out of consciousness. He sees a picture of Him and Ashley that fell out of his wallet. The Bartender found him and dialed 911 and they took him to the hospital.

The Ambulance reaches the Bar and the EMT's place Craig into the Ambulance and start to work on him

"He's crashing, beginning CPR. Get the defibrillator ready" says the Female EMT to Male EMT

"It is ready" saying back to her. "Charging to 210. Clear. Okay not responding. Charging to 220. Clear. Okay we got a pulse" says the relieved EMT

They get to the Hospital. They wheel him. "Okay, what do we got" says the doctor to the EMT's

"Male. Late teens, early twenties. Stab victim. He's got a pulse but it's really weak" says the Female EMT to the doctor.

"Okay get the ER ready" says the doctor to a nearby nurse.

They get him into the ER. They repair the damage done to his heart, all in all the operation takes about 2 hours, because of the sensitivity of the area.

They wheel him into his room

A Latin Nurse who is her early twenties walks in. She's about 5'5, petit, very beautiful, with long dark hair. She checks his charts and the lifts her head and sees his face. She notices that he is a very handsome man with curly hair, but also detects a bit of sadness in his face, but figures that he is just probably too tired and needs to rest.

She says "He's cute, I hope he makes it through this" as she walks through the door and turns off the lights.