He blinked and stared up at Nick as he came into his field of
vision."J?" Nick knelt in front of his friend taken aback by the blood on
his feet and the knees of his jeans.

"How did you get here?" Aj's voice sounded foreign, unreal.

"Dude. You called me." Concern colored Nick's face as he stared at
Aj."Don't you remember?" Aj shook his head numbly. He stared at Nick
as he started to pull him off the floor."Come on man. We gotta go."

"Where is she?"

"She's on the way to the hospital. Come on." Nick pulled him
gently from the room never letting go of AJ's arm. Aj followed Nick out of
the house blindly. He stared out the window as Nick called his wife. He
listened as Nick asked her to go and get AJ a change of clothes and some
shoes. Aj noticed then for the first time his jeans and his feet. He felt the
haze lift as he stared down at his pants. When his vision blurred he
realized that he was crying and felt the wave of anguish wash over him.

"Is she alive?" Aj's voice was quiet.

"She was when they left." Nick voice was soft, but AJ knew he
wasn't telling him everything. He had seen how her body had looked
when they lifted her. He knew she was nearly gone then.

Aj climbed from the car before it was in park and ran into the
emergency room entrance.

"Can I help you?" the nurse asked as he came to a stop at the desk.

"I'm here for Ashley Coates." Aj saw Nick as he came to stand
beside him.

"I'll buzz you in." She pressed a button and the door swung open.
"They will direct you to the correct room."

Aj and Nick entered the room but needed no help to find Ashley.
The far end of the room was in a frantic uproar. Aj knew without asking
that they were working on her trying to keep her alive. But he knew she
wasn't fighting with them. He had seen it in her eyes. She was done. She
had given up. Aj stood there frozen as he watched them work on her. He
would swear later that he felt it when she left, the world suddenly felt
colder, harsher. He watched as the doctors slowly began to slow, and
move away from her. He started walking toward her room as the final
doctor left the room. He watched as the nurse pulled the sheet over her
body. He felt his body give way and he sank to the floor outside her
door.