As it would happen in movies, after she received that heart-wrenching call, Ashley flashed back to twelve years ago. And when she finally reached the hospital Dave was taken to, she began to feel the same way she felt when she ran to her father's ward with her school bag loosely strapped on her back.

As she swiftly moved, the corridors of the hospital began to feel like they were closing in, her head kept banging and the frequently intercepted responses of the medic who took over the earlier phone call kept cycling in her head, adding to her destabilisation.

After halting her heavy steps, her hands clutching the cloth on her chest, Ashley quickly found a wall to rest against.

She was about to slip to the ground when she recalled that twelve years ago, after she fell to the ground, she got stalled by a few minutes and those few minutes did not allow her to see her father one last time.

So, she assumed a firm stance and chanted within her that Dave was going to be fine.

But as she resumed her walk, Ashley realised that she was a huge mess at that moment and that was scary to her. Her feet failed to be stable after a few steps and she kept staggering as though she had suffered some hurt to her ankles. So, yes, she was scared because of how confused and dishevelled she was at that moment.

But, it made her know that truly, she had found someone she was not willing to lose.

"Miss Steve?" A uniformed doctor stopped her, his face wearing a small encouraging smile that suited him the way his shoulder-length, bronze-like hair went well with his face cut. "I am Jeff."

At first, she wanted to push him away and check, at any risk, if Dave was fine. But when she saw the calm and welcoming expression on the doctor's face, she took a step back.

Relaxing a bit since it was obvious he was going to give her worthwhile information, Ashley asked without a chill, "Is Dave okay? What happened to him? Is he going to be fine?"

"Calm down, Miss Steve." Ashley shook her head, her whole system refusing to agree with his advice. "I need you to calm down," he repeated, this time slowly, his hands reaching out to lightly squeeze her arms.

"Can you just tell me something already?" Ashley begged.

"Mr. Scott is fine. Okay? Right now he is resting but he is fine." She could then relax a bit. Getting stalled didn't sound like a problem anymore. Doctor Jeff continued when he noticed that she was more at ease. "Though he suffered a bit of internal bleeding, we were able to stop it. We are presently observing him, so I cannot say for certain that he is totally fine, but the situation is currently not severe."

"Oh, thank God. Thank God." Ashley could breathe a bit easier.

"But, he dislocated his right arm due to the impact of the collision. So, for some while, he won't be able to use that arm. Apart from that, Mr. Scott doesn't have any other issue, he will be fine."

"Can I see him now?"

"Well, not now, he is still resting. I will send a nurse to get you when he is awake." The doctor's smile appeared again and Ashley finally had the strength to return it.

"Thank you so much, Doctor Jeff."

"Just call me Jeff. I will see you around then?" Ashley nodded, her lower lip tucking in to contain the relief and excitement bubbling within her. "Oh..." Jeff, who was already walking away, turned to face her. "I forgot to mention, there is a lady, hmm, her name is Emily Banks. Mr. Scott was speaking to her on the phone before the accident happened. Do you know her?"

"Uhm... yeah. Sort of." Ashley recalled the last time they had made contact.

"Oh great. We had no way of confirming if she was his secretary as she claimed. And since yours was the number on Mr. Scott's speed dial, we had to wait for you to confirm her words."

"She is his secretary. Is she still around?"

"Yeah. She is seated just opposite Mr. Scott's ward."

"Thank you." Ashley wondered how Emily would react to seeing her. Not that it would worry her, Ashley just needed some amusement at that moment, she needed a source of distraction.

After sparing the doctor one last smile, she made for the left path that led to Dave's ward.

"Hey there," Ashley greeted the arched and seated figure of Emily Banks, who kept jamming her legs against the white tile like she was awaiting an STD report.

The sneer that took over Emily's pretty face assured Ashley of some quality entertainment. Yet in a small corner within her, Ashley wished that Emily wouldn't see her as an enemy but have a reasonable conversation with her.

Ashley scoffed at that silly corner in her mind, the thought that such could happen was greatly far-fetched.

"What are you doing here? Who called you here?"

Taking a seat on the cushioned bench, Ashley replied, "Well, my number happens to be his emergency contact, so yeah... I got to know about his accident."

"Oh."

"I was told that you were on a phone call with him."

Emily's side eyes travelled down Ashley's upper body, her lips scrunched as her eyes squinted as though contemplating whether to give a response. She finally did. "Yeah. It happened so fast. One second we were going over the meeting finalizations, the next, I heard crashing."

In a normal situation, Ashley would have reached for her hand to give it a squeeze. But the situation was far from normal. Ashley was seated beside a woman who was possibly in love with Dave Scott. There was nothing normal at all.

"I know you don't like me," Ashley pointed out, one of her legs crossing over the other.

"I guess you don't like me either." The swiftness in Emily's response was enough to tell that she had been waiting for a moment to properly spit words into Ashley's face.

But Ashley was not going to let Emily run that mouth if that was really what she intended to do. Not when Dave was her main concern at that moment.

"I don't either like or dislike you," Ashley continued. That statement caught Emily's attention. The woman fully faced her. "I don't stress myself emotionally over someone I hardly know. I don't know you, Emily. All I know about you is that you are Dave's secretary and friend and honestly, that's actually all I want to know."

"So you know that I like Dave, but you are not backing down."

"Backing down for what? If this has been a fight, I am sorry, I did not get the memo."

Emily rolled her eyeballs, her arms folding afterwards. "Oh please. Stop acting like you are some innocent person. You saw the looks I gave you. The warnings they held were more than enough, yet you ignored them and came back the second time."

"Emily..." Ashley was not appreciating her bitterness.

"You need to get something right and straight. Dave is going to dump you eventually because it has always been him and me since college. So, Miss Steve, enjoy wasting your time."

"Are you done?" Ashley asked, her eyes set on the white-painted walls. When she did not get a response, she resumed her talk. "Even though I don't want to feel anything for you, I can't help but feel pity. I feel pity for you because you are wasting your time on a man who doesn't look at you the way you want him to."

Emily huffed. "Like you know anything."

"True, I might not know anything. But I know that you are living a fool's life. Remember the last time that you touched him on his you know where, the look on his face was enough to tell that he sees you as only a friend."

"You don't know anything." This time, the firmness in Emily's voice weakened.

"Listen to me. I am not saying this because I am a woman in Dave's life, but because this is about a fellow woman. I wouldn't like it either when my love is not reciprocated. But once I see it will never be returned, I don't see the need to be hung on that person. Look at you Emily, you are a pretty woman." Ashley looked at Emily.

"You are really, really gorgeous. Just with those eyes of yours, you can get any man you want. And trust me when I say you will get a man who will make you really happy, happier than you think Dave would ever make you."

"You are just saying this because you don't want to lose Dave to me. You are threatened, aren't you?"

Ashley sighed unbelievably. "I have nothing more to say, Emily, just try to figure out your life, okay?"

"Excuse me," a red-haired nurse interrupted Emily's approaching response, "Mr. Scott is awake now, you can go in. But please do not stress the patient."

"Of course. Thank you." Ashley appreciated the nurse's timing, Emily's talks were beginning to annoy her. "So... may we go in?"

Emily got up. "No. I will come back later. When you are not there."

Ashley shrugged. "It's your decision."

"Talking about decisions..." For some reason, Emily set her nose high before continuing her talk. "I know you are blinded by the fun you are having with Dave. But trust me when I say that I am going to puncture that fun very soon. And I will get my man back even if it means kicking you out of the way."

After a few seconds of glaring, Emily stormed off, her handbag trailing after her.

Ashley kicked Emily's threat away and got up. As she walked, she prepared herself to see the man who had been occupying her thoughts all the while, to see the man she dearly missed.