Ashish Banks.
The boy who once held my heart, then let it go.
My jaw fell open as I stared back into his light-brown eyes. My gaze fell into a place that felt instantly like a warm fireplace on a chilly afternoon.
Ash.
Time felt as if it froze right then and there for a million years, but it was truly just a split second. “Karla...” His voice dropped lower, almost to a whisper as he nodded his head in my direction. “You have to let her go. I got it from here.”
Without another moment of hesitation, I dropped my hold of Grandma Claire, and Ash was quick to get to work. His focus was fully on my grandmother as he went into full-blown professional mode. He began speaking to the other paramedic in what could’ve been a completely different language to me,based on the medical terms alone. I sat back, my bottom hitting the top of my heels as I stared wildly at Ash with my hands in my lap.
Ash.
He wasn’t the same boy I once knew, though. He’d grown in almost every way possible. He was a grown man with a deep, husky voice, a full beard, and a build that looked as if it was crafted by a famous Greek sculptor. Maybe it was Polykleitos himself who’d carved grown Ash out of clay. But his eyes... they looked heavier and sadder than I remembered. Then he blinked the look away.
Within moments, Grandma Claire was loaded up into the ambulance outside.
I hurried out as Ash loaded her into the vehicle.
“Which hospital?” I spat out at the same time as my father, my words tumbling out with his.
“Saint Mary’s on Clockworth Avenue,” Ash replied before shutting the doors.
The ambulance pulled off, and I turned to my left. There Dad was, along with the rest of my loved ones. My knees began to buckle, and Dad swooped in to catch me in his arms. “I got you, Karla. It’s OK. Everything’s going to be OK,” he swore, he hoped, he prayed.
I broke out into a deep sob against my father’s chest. Lorelai fell apart in his arms, too.
He held us both and allowed us to fall apart.
***
My heart remained pounding against my chest as I entered the emergency room of Saint Mary’s Hospital with my family. Dad, Ellie, and Lorelai looked terrified from what happened.I didn’t blame them. I was so scared, too. Before I left Second Chance, Daniel told me he’d handle locking up the shop, and Joanna was quick to offer to help him clean everything up. I was grateful for that, for my friends. I could hardly think straight, let alone handle the bookshop.
We hadn’t received an update yet from anyone, which made it feel all the more haunting. Dad, Lorelai, and Ellie went wandering the hospital halls to try to shake off their anxiety. I stayed seated, hoping for answers.
Until I heard a deep voice grabbing my attention.
“Karla.”
I turned around to see him again.
Ash.
My whole body froze as he stood in front of me. He only held his stare with mine for a moment.
What in the world was happening?
Why was Ash standing in front of me?
And why did I still get those stupid wordlet butterflies from him staring at me?
Wait.
None of that mattered.
What mattered was my grandmother and me figuring out if she was all right or not.
“Is my grandmother OK?” I asked.
