As soon as the older woman’s fingers touched her face, Ashley pulled away as if she had been burned.  Surprised, Paula looked at Spencer, who focused her blue eyes on the brunette.  Unable to take the look Spencer was giving her, she gave in, allowing the doctor to touch her.  Ashley sat in silence in moment, watching as Paula carefully probed her eyebrow and forehead.  “Ashley, I think you need stitches.  Let me get you a gurney so we can help you, okay?” the doctor asked, her tone nicer than it had ever been with the brunette. 

“No,” Ashley mumbled feebly, pulling away.

“Ashley, you’re hurt.  You need help,” Paula pointed out, casting a quick, worried glance at Spencer.  “You’re bleeding and probably need several stitches.  The bleeding hasn’t stopped yet and could run into your left eye, plus you could have a concussion.  We need to check you out.”

“No,” Ashley repeatedly stubbornly, turning away from the two blonde women.

Mother looked at daughter and both sighed.  “Fine,” Paula conceded, pulling herself back to her feet.  “You guys let me know if you need something,” she instructed Spencer, casting a worried eye around the waiting room, looking at all the distraught teenagers and their families crowding the area.  With a quick, comforting squeeze of her daughter’s hand, she then disappeared out of the waiting room to go help, the shouts of the other doctors beckoning her.

Several tense, silence-filled minutes passed as Ashley and Spencer sat beside each other, both looking away.  Finally, Spencer couldn’t stand it anymore.  “Ash,” she began, reaching over and brushing the drying blood away from the brunette’s temple using her thumb.  “They’re gonna be okay.”

Before Ashley could reply, Paula appeared again at the door to the waiting room, her scrubs nearly soaked through with blood and her expression grim.

“Well?” Ashley demanded, taken aback by the amount of blood adorning her girlfriend’s mother.

Paula just looked at her, her face sweating and expression bleak.

“Aiden?” Ashley questioned, standing up halfway.

“He’s okay for now, but not out of the woods yet,” Paula told her.  “I think he could make it.  It’s still too early to tell for sure, though.”

“And Kyla?” Ashley questioned, standing up fully.

Paula looked at her briefly, then looked away, her lower lip trembling slightly.  Ashley got a horrible feeling in her gut, felt a pressure squeezing her chest tightly, nearly forcing the air out of her.  “Mrs. C?  What about Kyla?”

Paula looked at the young girl and merely shook her head.  “I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

Ashley froze, staring at the older blonde woman, disbelieving

Spencer felt her face crumple as the words sunk in.  “Oh my God, Kyla,” she said faintly, feeling Glen’s reassuring hand on her shoulder as her brother came up behind her.  She heard the sobs and wails of their other friends and classmates around them as the news spread.  Sinking into Glen’s supportive embrace, her eyes blurred with tears as she looked around for Ashley, noticing with dismay that the brunette was gone.

******************************************************************************

Her vision cloudy with unshed gathering tears, Ashley stumbled through the hospital doors, walking on nearly weightless feet to the parking lot.  She wandered for several moments before somehow finding her Porsche amongst the other vehicles.  Managing to fit the key into the lock, she hauled the door open and nearly collapsed into the driver’s seat, staring straight ahead in disbelief.  In a sort of trance, she started the car up and navigated her way out of the parking area.  She headed down the street in silence, the only sound permeating the vehicle being the quietly playing radio in the background, the station announcing a sudden news update.  Ashley’s eyes fell upon the bloody corsage on her wrist as the radio began to discuss the shooting at King High, giving all the horrifying details about the fact that at least four students were dead and many more injured.

Ashley slammed on the brakes, eliciting indignant beeps from the drivers around her as she suddenly brought the car to stop at the side of the road, listening to the news report on the radio.  She touched a tentative finger to the drying blood on her cut eyebrow and bit back a sob before throwing her hand out to hurriedly turn off the radio.  Leaning her head against the steering wheel, she stared at the gauges of her vehicle, the light glow of colors blurring in her teary vision.