Broken Souls by Beth Ashworth Read Free Book Online

its sturdiness as a support for her body. She shook her head from side to side trying to shake out of this nightmare. Denial struck her forcefully at her weakest moment. “She can't be dead,” she mumbled. “I won't believe it... There has to be more that you can do?” She looked to the surgeon for some form of confirmation.
    “ I'm sorry,” he replied, his eyes softening. “We tried everyth — ”
    “ No!” Ashley curled her hands into tightly coiled fists. “Gabby can't be gone!” she screamed, slamming her fists heavily onto the tabletop. Pain seared through her fingers as a stream of tears erupted from her swollen eyes. She wouldn’t believe it... Not again.
    “ I want to see her,” Marco announced.
    “ Sir, I think you need some time first. We will gladly take you to see your sister once she has been taken to the chapel of rest,” the surgeon replied.
    “ No... I don't want to wait. I want to see my sister,” he demanded, reaching out to grab Gabby’s clutch bag from the table. He gripped it to his chest as if it was the last piece of her that he had left.
    “ Very well,” the surgeon nodded, gesturing towards the waiting room door.
    Ashley watched on as Marco disappeared from the room without a backwards glance in her direction. She was on her own and hurting once again.
    “ Come on, lovely. Let's call somebody for you and get you home, hey?” The friendly nurse from earlier had reappeared and was trying her hardest to coax some form of response from her. “Is your phone in that bag on the table?”
    Ashley nodded and kept her gaze trained on the door Marco had just stepped through. She could see how hurt and upset he was right now. Heck, she was feeling just as broken. In fact, her heart was almost in complete tatters, like a razor blade had just managed to shred every ounce of strength that she had left inside of her.
    The muscles in her body shook uncontrollably as t he memories she had fought against reappeared before her eyes. Her world was splitting itself down the middle to once again reveal its true ugliness.
    “But I want to help her! You can’t just leave her like that!” Ashley screeched in the man’s face as he refused to touch Isabella’s lifeless body. “What if she dies and you could have saved her? Do something!”
    Ashley balled her hands into fists and beat them loudly against her thighs. She needed somebody to help her, but she didn’t know who to turn to. The one person in her life that she trusted had been taken from her. The support system that she used to get her through each day was gone and the memories were starting to resurface outside of her nightmares. She had no idea what she was going to do or if she was going to get through this torture.

Four
    It had been a bad idea for her to return home so soon following the news of Gabby's death. Everywhere that Ashley looked, she found constant reminders of the best friend she had just lost. There were photos everywhere; the walls, the mantel piece, the side tables. Everywhere she turned, she found herself face to face with another photo, or some other painful reminder.
    “ Did you want something to eat or drink?” Ben asked, closing the front door and placing her bag on the floor. “I could make you something, or I could go out and fetch you some food?” He stepped beside her and placed a comforting hand against her lower back.
    Ashley wrapped her arms securely around her body and tried to bury herself into a human cocoon. She felt completely numb. Her bed was the only thing appealing to her right now. It was a place where she could find comfort and cry away the pain and sadness that was eating away at her on the inside.
    Ben sighed and removed his hand. “I don't know what to do, Ashley. Why did you turn your phone off at the hospital? I would have been there for you. You know that I wouldn’t leave you to go through that.”
    “ I’m sorry. I needed time to think,” she whispered, dropping her eyes to the