Chapter 6: Ashley

My heart dropped into my stomach.

Oh my God.

I totally forgot about my birthday today. I didn’t even think of it.

Stella rushed out with a cake.

“Happy birthday Ash!”

I didn’t move. My body had turned stiff due to the excitement.

People around me started clapping and cheering. I didn’t recognize most of them but I was pretty sure I spotted the gardner.

I dragged my eyes back to Stella, holding up the shower in my eyes.

“Make a wish, sister,” Stella moved closer to me.

I smiled sheepishly before I closed my eyes, wished and blew out my candles.

“Yay!”

I dropped the cake on the nearest table and pulled my sister in for a tight embrace.

I bit back a cry.

For the past few years, I hadn’t celebrated my birthday. Not because it wasn’t important, but because it brings back memories I fought away.

“Thank you,” I sniffed as she let me go.

“Hey, it’s okay. Please don’t cry, it’s your special day.”

I shut my eyes. “I’m fine,” I opened them. “I’m just so happy you went all out for me.”

“It’s nothing compared to all you’ve done for me. Besides, you deserve it.”

I mouthed another thank you.

“Come,” she dragged me to the table. “Let’s sit.”

Adrenaline rushed through my body.

“So,” Stella said. “How’s 28 treating you?”

“I don’t know,” I laughed. “It’s exciting,”

She laughed with me.

“I’ve missed this, Ash.”

“What’s that?”

“This,” she gestured. “Us. Our time.”

“Oh…” a wave of guilt washed over me.

“Ever since you got married to Noah, everything changed-”

I blinked.

Does this mean she wasn’t talking about our divorce earlier?

Would she perhaps be happy if she heard about our divorce?

“Speaking of Noah,”

I swallowed.

“Did he call you? Are you going back to his mansion? Or…”

“Uhm…”

Her phone rang just in time because I didn’t have an excuse to stall.

“I’ll be back,” she whispered. “It’s really important, I’m sorry,”

“It’s fine,” I assured her.

She went outside to pick the call. She looked really disturbed.

I wondered who she was talking to.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” I heard a voice say over me.

I looked up. It was a waiter.

He placed a plate in front of me carefully.

“Sorry, I don’t order this,” I said, glancing at the dish in front of me.

“It’s complementary,” he smiled. “From the chef.”

“Oh,” I returned the smile. “Thank you so much,”

He nodded and walked away.

I looked down at the food.

It looked… different. It wasn’t something I’d normally go for, but it looked interesting and smelled nice.

I stared at the plate for a few seconds more before picking up my spoon.

I stopped.

I should wait for Stella.

I looked outside. She was still on the call with the same expression on her face.

“Just eat,” I muttered to myself.

I took a small bite out of it.

I kissed my teeth.

“Wow,” I whispered under my breath.

The taste was… rich. It tasted like something the royal family would eat everyday.

I took another bite of it.

It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would.

Then something shifted.

I paused. My throat felt strange.

I swallowed.

Nothing happened. Whatever was in my throat didn’t leave.

I frowned slightly and took a sip of the water that was on the table.

Maybe I just ate too much.

The moment I swallowed the water again, my throat tightened.

I froze.

My fingers slowly moved to my neck.

“No…” I whispered.

I swallowed again. It got worse.

My chest tightened right after. My breathing turned short and uneven.

I knew this feeling, I just couldn’t place my finger on it.

“It’s nothing,” I told myself. “It’s nothing.”

It was clear that it wasn’t.

My hand gripped the edge of the table.

“Stella…” I tried to call.

My voice came out broken.

I coughed.

I raised my hands, hoping someone would catch my signal.

“What’s wrong?” I heard a voice.

I gestured to my throat. “I-I can’t br-breathe,”

Tears burned my eyes as I looked up.

His eyes met mine. He studied me for a minute before trying to steady me on my seat.

“Call 911,” he shouted.

Stella noticed what was going on and she rushed in.

“Ashley,” she shouted. “What’s wrong?”

I struggled to talk.

The man in front of me cut in, “she said she couldn’t breathe,”

I could feel the whole cafe turning upside down.

“No…no… Someone call 911,” Stella shrieked.

He pulled out his phone and dialed the numbers.

He moved away from us to talk to them on the phone and walked back. “They’ll be here soon,” he looked at me. “Please hold on,”

The smile that Stella had earlier on was nowhere to be found. She just looked at me, hoping I wouldn’t fall from her hands.

Her eyes drifted to the table in front of me.

“Wait…” she said, inspecting the food. “Does this contain shellfish?”

My eyes widened.

“Yes…why?” The man asked.

“Ashley is allergic to shellfish!” She shrieked.

“Oh no,”

The sound of sirens pierced through the air and Stella muffled something under her breath.

Everything began to blur out.

“You’re okay,” I heard whispers.

Two men rushed in with a stretcher.

I blinked slowly, trying to focus on them.

“Ma’am, can you hear me?” one of them asked.

I nodded weakly.

“Alright, we’re going to get you on this, okay?”

I didn’t have the strength to argue with them.

They lifted me gently, but my body still felt heavy.

The white light above me came into focus. Every sound around me quieted, making my thoughts as clearer as ever.

Unwanted memories flashed in my head.

***

“She needs to stay away from shell fish totally, else there’ll be another attack like this,” the doctor said.

“I’ll be on the look out for her.” Stella replied, bowing a little.

He smiled at us and left.

Stella pounced on me before I could breathe.

“Hey!” I protested.

“Thank goodness you’re okay,” she said.

“I’m always fine.”

Lies I told myself.

I tried to distract myself from the fact that my birthday ended up being a mess…again.

Why do I even try?

“Wait, where’s that man? The one who helped me here,” I asked.

“I haven’t seen him in a while,” she looked around. “Maybe he went to the bathroom?”

I nodded slowly.

I wanted to thank him for his help.

“I’m sorry today ended like this,” Stella lowered her head.

I just gave her a smile, anything beyond that was purely fake.

“It was all my fault,” she sighed. “If I hadn’t gone out to make that stupid call,”

“Don’t say that, it’s not your fault at all,” I said. “I didn’t inspect the food well before eating, so it’s my fault.”

She folded her lips.

“Who was that though?”

“Huh?”

“You looked really disturbed while you were making the call, who was it?”

Her expression twisted.

“Alright Miss,” the doctor cut in. “The bills have been settled and you’ll be discharged today.”

“The bills have been settled and you’ll be discharged today.”

I blinked.

“Settled?” I repeated.

“Yes,” the doctor said, flipping through his notes. “Everything has been taken care of already.”

I slowly turned to Stella.

Her brows furrowed. “I didn’t pay yet.”

My heart skipped.

“Then… who did?” I asked.

The doctor paused, like he wasn’t supposed to say more. But then he sighed.

“The gentleman who brought you in.”

My mind went straight to him. The man from the café.

“The one who called the ambulance?” I asked.

“Yes.”

I swallowed. “Where is he?”

“He stepped out not too long ago,” the doctor replied. “Said he had something to take care of.”

Something about that didn’t sit right with me.

Stella helped me down from the bed slowly.

“Easy,” she muttered.

“I’m fine,” I said, even though my legs felt like they didn’t belong to me.

We stepped out of the ward together.

My eyes moved around the hallway, searching.

But no sign of him.

“Maybe he left already,” Stella said.

I nodded slowly, but something in my chest felt… unsettled.

Why would he just leave like that? Without saying anything? Without letting me thank him?

We walked a few steps further and I stopped.

“Wait,” I said.

Stella turned. “What?”

“I… I think I dropped my phone at the café.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“I don’t remember holding it after that,” I said, trying to recall. “It might’ve fallen when everything happened.”

She groaned softly. “We can go back and check later. Let’s just get you home first.”

I nodded.

As we turned to leave, a nurse walked past us, then stopped.

“Excuse me,” she called.

We both turned.

She looked at me. “Are you Ashley?”

“Yes…” I replied slowly.

“Someone left this for you.”

She handed me a small folded paper. It looked really old.

My fingers hesitated before taking it.

“Who dropped it?” Stella asked.

The nurse shrugged. “He didn’t say his name.”

Of course.

My heart started beating faster.

I unfolded the paper carefully.

My eyes scanned the words.

*Patient Record- Confidential.

Name: Ashley Vega

Age: 10

Allergies: Shellfish, peanuts, lilies.*

I swallowed. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

This… this was from my childhood… from when I just got my shellfish allergy reaction.

H…how did he get this?

I didn’t even know I was allergic to peanuts…or lilies.

I hadn’t seen this file in years.

Stella leaned closer. “What is it?”

I turned the paper slightly.

Her eyes widened.

“Ash… where did you get this?”

“I didn’t,” I said quickly.

I flipped the paper over. There was nothing written on it.

There was more to this man. And I want to find out everything.