51. Please Just Go

Ashley couldn't imagine having to face another problem. She was already too tired and sick of it all. There was no way she was inviting another problem to clog her head even more.

So she endured it. Enduring the excruciating pain, as well as enduring the resentment in her heart for having to go through so many things that she never wanted to happen to her.

Trying her best to move slowly and carefully, it took Ashley almost twenty minutes alone to take off all her clothes one by one-including the rest breaks she needed to ease the pain. Then calculatingly, she seated herself on the edge of the tub deck close to the handheld shower. She stretched out her healthy hand to unscrew the device, turned it on, and adjusted it so that the water coming out of it gushed gently.

She began to wet her body except for the injured parts of her right hand and foot. Even so, she still could not prevent the water from splashing out altogether. Some of her wounds, which were still wet, stung even more from the water.

Ashley sighed repeatedly. There was something in her stomach that caused a strange tight sensation and swirled inside—like a waterspout stirring her insides. It made her confused whether to split her focus on enduring the pain first or enduring the nausea.

After finishing soaking her body and calming herself down, Ashley reached out her hand again to grab the bottle of soap on the bathroom vanity. But her hand was not long enough to grab it. She then slowly shifted her seat to get closer. Still unable to reach it, she shifted again, endured the pain, paused, then tried to reach it for the third time. She should have been able to grab the bottle with this distance if only it wasn't so centered on the table. Even so she still tried to shift her body a little more and tried to stand up while continuing to extend her hand as far as she could.

Just a little more, her fingertips could almost touch the bottle. But the pounding pain as her muscles stretched because she was wrongly resting on her injured leg, attacked her instantly with great force. It made her body jump and her fingertips accidentally nudged the bottle and other bathing utensils.

The sound of objects bumping and falling made the room filled with a loud noise that lasted for a while. As it turned out, the noise could even be heard outside the bathroom.

“Ash,” Josh called from outside while knocking on the bathroom door, “what's wrong with you? Are you okay?”

Ashley swallowed with difficulty. She was back sitting with her forehead resting on the edge of the bathroom vanity as she tried to shake off the excruciating pain. Her breathing was slightly labored and tears were welling up in the corners of her eyes.

“I'm okay,” she replied, but her voice was weak. Making Josh who was behind the door could only hear a murmur.

The man frowned, "What? What was that noise? Do you need help?"

Ashley sighed, “I'm fine,” then shouted at the top of her lungs, "It's nothing. Just go!"

But in reality, Ashley wasn't completely fine. She couldn't lie to herself that she was struggling. But as difficult as it was, what could she do? Ask Josh to help her take a shower? That seemed like the worst idea in the world. Not only did she not want to do it herself, she was also pretty sure Josh wouldn't want to provide that kind of help either.

The only solution was for Ashley to clean and wash herself very slowly and carefully. So she was still trying hard by herself not to expose the wound to water or get more painful by keeping the right side of her body still. The hardest part was getting dressed. She often accidentally bends and stretches her arms or legs too much, causing her skin to pull and sting. Plus, when the inner surface of the fabric scratched her wound, the stinging feeling that traveled up to her head made her want to faint right then and there.

With all these difficulties, Ashley finally made it through, although it took a very long time. It left her fingertips wrinkled, and her throat parched from exhaustion.

After taking a deep breath, Ashley walked out of the bathroom by clinging to the wall like she did earlier.

When she opened the door, she found Josh approaching her.

"Are you sure you're okay? You spent a long time there."

Ashley nodded. Although a bit hesitant, she felt she had no better choice than to ask Josh for a small favor, “Can you get me some water?” her voice sounded weak and polite. Ashley knew she couldn't be so casual when she was expecting favors from others.

“Of course,” Josh replied, then immediately wrapped his arms around Ashley's body to help the girl walk better.

This time, Ashley complied as she was already exhausted and probably wouldn't be able to make it halfway around the room just to get to the bed.

Josh got her a large glass of water after helping her lie down comfortably. As soon as Ashley received the glass, she gulped down the entire fresh liquid in one go until it was gone.

“Thanks,” she handed the glass back to Josh.

“Feeling better?” Josh asked as he saw Ashley let out a refreshing exhale.

“Hm-hm,” Ashley agreed. "I'll probably rest for a while while I wait for my mom to come. If you want to leave, you can go now."

Josh shook his head, “How can I leave when your mom will be here visiting.”

"It's okay. I told her you weren't home anyway. I can make a good excuse later, just in case. Go," she said with a bit of urgency this time.

"I'll leave later after your mom gets home. I have plenty of time and am in no hurry. It would be better if your mother knew I was here to accompany and take care of you. I will look bad in your mother's eyes if I am not at home while you are in this condition."

“No, no,” Ashley tried to stop him, "You don't need to delay your leaving just for that reason. There's no need. She'll be very understanding because I told her you have very important business outside. Go, it's really okay," Ashley tried to keep convincing the man to stick to his original plan to leave immediately. By being here when her mother came later, it would certainly upset the woman. Because the purpose of her mother coming to the house was to talk alone with her, without the need for anyone else's presence.

"No. It would be better if I was here."

Ashley was starting to be overrun with panic. "Then what about your girlfriend? Don't you want to go see her right away? Are you sure she'll be okay?" Ashley insisted on trying everything to get rid of the man immediately before her mother actually arrived.

"I told her I'd be a little late. And she's fine."

The girl really took it for granted? She didn't protest or insist? Really? Considering how unnatural her emotional state was—though Ashley had only glimpsed it in one moment from the scratches she received on their first meeting that hadn't even lasted for a quarter of an hour—her acceptance this time could be considered amazing.

"Really? You must have given her a really good reason," Ashley nodded, as if praising him. But in her heart, she really wanted to shake her head at Josh's misguided decision. The man had to leave right now before her mother arrived.

"Are you sure she's really okay? What if she gets mad, and—I don't want to be blamed for the damage to your relationship, okay?" Ashley kept trying to bait Josh into canceling his wish to stay home.

But he smiled at her.

"Our relationship isn't that superficial, Ash. Well, there are difficult times that make her unstable and demand more of my attention than usual, but she's not a child. I admit it was quite difficult to calm her down, but nowadays she is very understanding of both of our conditions."

"Um, that's strange. She shouldn't understand it that easily. You don't have to lie to me. You can really just leave now. I know my mom very well, so I assure you, I'll be able to control everything just fine,“ Ashley saw Josh wanted to retort but he quickly continued his sentence again, ”And you don't have to worry about your reputation, because I promise to make you look very good for my mom. We haven't agreed on what we're going to take to solve our problems yet anyway, so, for now I think it's best to cover everything up and act as normal as possible." Ashley ended her long sentence with confidence that Josh would correct his plans after this and leave immediately.

Yet again, what she received was an even wider smile from him.