Ash. Was it really Ash? Becca wasn’t sure at first. Her voice was so soft and a little raspy. It could be her mind playing tricks. Wishful thinking. “Freud’s here too. They gave me such a hard time about seeing you, I had to throw a total fit to make it happen. Told them he was a licensed therapy dog. Hope they don’t call me on my bullshit.”

Becca wanted to laugh, and cry, but more than anything she had to see Ash. She fought the warmth, a jolt of pain rushing through her body.

“I am here, Becca. I’m right here. I told the doctors you wouldn’t bail on me, not when we’ve come so far. They don’t seem convinced. That’s why you’ve got to wake up. We can prove them wrong together,” Ash said.

Ash wasn’t just awake and talking, she was making jokes. This was enough to fuel Becca. She fought through that warmth, a sensation not all that different from swimming upstream.

Becca’s eyes flickered open, the fluorescent lights blaring down, the awful hospital death scent filling her nose as Ash slowly came into focus. Sitting in a wheelchair, an IV pumping antibiotics, her skin a ghostly pallor, the bruises that were once black transitioning into an angry shade of blue, Ash gazed back at her, a smile lighting up her battered face.

“Freud, look who’s awake.” Freud let out an enthusiastic bark, his tail wagging furiously. Becca tried to speak, but no words would come. She panicked, grabbing at her throat. Ash’s hands wrapped around hers, pulling them down by her side.

“Becca, don’t. They put in a tube. It’s helping you breathe. The doctors said once you woke up they’d remove it. It’ll be a little bit longer,” Ash said.

Becca blinked back tears, her breath still coming out in quick spurts. “It’s okay. You’re okay, Becca,” Ash said over and over again. Becca nodded in agreement. She was okay. They both were. They’d survived Mo and the Tribe. They’d survived and were here together. Tears streamed down Becca’s face. Ash gently wiped them away, and just like that their roles were reversed.

Ash leaned down close, and whispered in Becca’s ear, “Thank you for never giving up on me.”

Becca didn’t need words to tell Ash what she was thinking. She squeezed her hand tightly. And I never will.

BECCA

BECCA