271 Investigating the inciden

Thursday

7:42 PM

After tests in the General Hospital were done, Ashton was transported to the Franciscan Medical Center.

Liz arranged for Ashton to stay in the VIP room and she did additional examinations as soon as he arrived.

Ashton is still unconscious, and in his room are Hunter, Mia, Max, Sabrina, Jake, and Derek. They are all expectantly looking at Liz who entered the room one minute ago with the latest results.

The police came earlier, but no one could tell them what happened, and Ashton was unable to talk. Liz informed them about Ashton's condition, and the police left after giving their phone number with instructions to call them when Ashton wakes up.

Back to the present…

"Based on the current results, it does not seem that Ashton has brain damage, but we will know for certain when he wakes up." Liz said. "I can assure you that his life is not in danger."

"Why is he not waking up?" Sabrina asked.

"His skull is fractured, and he has a concussion due to multiple hits in the head. In these cases, we can't predict when the patient will regain consciousness."

Sabrina's chin trembled. "Are you saying that there is a chance he will never wake up?"

"Let's not be hasty with giving in to desperation. The first forty-eight hours are crucial. We will watch over Ashton carefully to make sure no swelling or bleeding occurs. Stay positive." Liz responded in her well-practiced professional tone. "Does he have immediate family members that should be notified?"

Sabrina was not sure, and she realized that there is so much she does not know about Ashton. She looked at Hunter.

"They are out of state." Hunter responded. "I would suggest that we wait until Ashton wakes up."

Liz didn't agree. "Don't you think that they should know that Ashton is in the hospital?"

"They should know, but the current situation sounds bad. They can't be here until morning and by then Ashton might be awake. I would rather wait with hope that we can call them with something better than news how he was brutally beaten and is unconscious." Hunter explained.

Liz looked through the room and saw that Jake and Derek nodded in agreement.

Liz gave in. "OK."

Max's phone rang and he gestured to Hunter to come with him. They stepped outside to take the call.

"How long it will take for Ashton to recuperate?" Sabrina asked.

"For the fractures, it usually takes four to six weeks, depending on his body. Bruises and swelling will be gone before that." Liz responded.

Sabrina exhaled while thinking that in six weeks Ashton will be at the University. She had so many plans related to their summer because he told her that from September he will be busy, and now she only hopes that he will wake up.

Tears rolled down Sabrina's cheeks silently while she blamed herself. She is confident that this is related to her, the timing is right. She offended Jackson who saw Ashton as an obstacle, and that means how Sabrina is the cause of this. There is no way this is an accident. Ashton's phone, watch, and wallet were on him, so it was not a theft. If it's not Jackson, who else has a reason to beat Ashton so brutally?

Sabrina's heart cracked when she remembered the report with his injuries. Only a few injuries are defensive, and the conclusion is that they knocked him out quickly and then they beat him while he was unconscious. How savage.

Earlier that day, Max got a list of people who visited Jackson since he came from the hospital, and other than a few people from the circle, the rest of Jackson's visitors are relatives. Nothing unexpected. But Sabrina is confident that one of them helped Jackson arrange for this attack.

The door opened and Mike and Olivia entered.

"Olivia?" Liz asked in surprise. She knows that Hunter called his and Ashton's buddies (Jake, Derek, and Mike), but why is Olivia here?

Olivia glanced at Mike before answering. "I was with Mike when he got the call, so we came together. How is Ashton?"

Olivia saw how Liz is looking at her and Olivia wanted to say that about two weeks ago, Mike came to the gallery to see her artwork, and then they went to get drinks and things took off from there and since then, she and Mike are dating. But Olivia didn't feel that this is the right time or place to disclose such information. She will explain to Liz next time.

Olivia's gaze moved to Ashton who is wrapped in bandages and her eyebrows shoot up when she saw Sabrina holding onto Ashton's hand and based on shaky shoulders, Sabrina is crying. Sabrina and Ashton? When did that happen? Isn't she engaged to Jackson? So many questions! But this is obviously not the right moment to ask them.

Olivia's gaze moved to Mike who was obviously confused, and she concluded that Mike didn't know about this new relationship either.

"His life is not in danger. We are waiting for him to wake up." Liz gave Olivia and Mike a short update on Ashton's condition.

Olivia and Mike made their way to the sofa next to Jake and Derek.

"Is she the reason you are avoiding us lately?" Jake asked Mike while gesturing toward Olivia.

Mike smiled smugly. "I'm not avoiding you. I'm busy."

Jake wanted to ask more, but Derek slapped his shoulder. "Focus. We are here for Ashton, not to bicker with Mike. We will talk with him later."

Jake nodded in agreement, leaned closer to Mike, and whispered: "Did you know about Ashton and Sabrina?"

"Nope." Mike responded and his gaze moved back to Sabrina and Ashton.

Max and Hunter entered the room.

"OK. Everyone is here." Max started sharing new information: "We found out that four guys jumped Ashton this afternoon. They are local thugs who would do anything for the right price. They tased Ashton and beat him in the alley where Rina found him."

Sabrina was startled from her daze at these words. She wiped her tears with her palms and walked to Max. "You have them?"

Max confirmed. "They are being interrogated. So far, we know that someone hired them last night. The guys say that they don't know who was it. They were paid in cash and the phone number they have as a contact, was a burner phone. It's already out of service, probably trashed. The only thing they know, is that the person who hired them was a female."

Everyone held their breaths while listening to Max.

Sabrina closed her eyes and she felt her head throbbing. Just as she thought they have something, it turns out everything is a dead end.

"That is not much to go with." Sabrina said weakly.

"Not necessarily." Hunter said with unexpected enthusiasm. "We are all suspecting Jackson, who returned from the hospital yesterday morning. If you think that last night thugs got the order to attack Ashton, the timing is right that one of his visitors placed the order… Let's see the list…" Hunter got his phone and opened the file. "We know that thugs got five thousand in advance with a promise of another five once the job is done. If we look at this, there are three females who visited Jackson." Hunter looked at Max. "We can see if any of them made cash withdrawal yesterday. Either from her account, or from Jackson's."

Max agreed that this idea is promising. "Jackson was home, but that does not mean that he didn't give his card to that woman to take the money. I will call Ian to check…"

"If you know that it's Jackson, why are we sitting here and talking?" Derek asked when Max left the room to make the call.

"Because we are not sure that it's Jackson." Hunter responded. "We are 99% sure that this was not random, and Jackson has the motive, but it might be someone else."

Jake shook his head in disagreement. "There is no one else. Ashton does not have enemies."

Sabrina lowered her head and walked back to sit on the chair and hold Ashton's hand. Jake's words hit her hard. Jake reminded her that Ashton is an amazing guy who has the natural gift to get along with everyone. However, because of her, he ended up in such a state. Sabrina gritted her teeth while cursing Jackson. If they confirm that Jackson had something with this, she will make sure he suffers.

Sabrina's only hope is that Ashton wakes up soon and he does not leave her because of this. She knows that she is selfish for clinging onto Ashton, but for the first time in her life, she really wants to be with someone. Ashton is able to stir her heart and she cherishes every moment they spend together, and she is not willing to let go. The possibility that Ashton will hate her because of this is devastating.

Max returned to the room and glanced at everyone before looking at Sabrina. "Rita Stone."

Liz pursed her lips. "Why does that sound familiar?"

Before Max could respond, Sabrina asked: "Are you saying that Rita is part of this? Why?"

Sabrina knows that Rita and Jackson are friends, they live nearby. But she never had any conflict with Rita, actually, Rita was always very friendly with Sabrina because of her crush on Max.

Max responded to Liz first. "She is the woman who tried to push you into the swimming pool at the Fourth of July party." Then he turned to Sabrina. "I'm not sure why she would work with Jackson to hurt Ashton. But she visited Jackson yesterday afternoon, and after that, she withdrew five thousand dollars from her personal bank account."

"They joined forces." Hunter said. "Rita has a crush on Max, and she was humiliated at our party. No one came to her rescue and I bet that she hates everyone from our family."

Olivia listened to all this with great interest. Mike asked her to come to that party as his date, but at that time they only started seeing each other, and she thought how it will not be appropriate. But now she thinks that she missed a lot of drama.

Sabrina gritted her teeth. "I don't care why Rita did it. But this confirms that Jackson is behind it. I will personally make sure he suffers."

"Don't be hasty." Hunter warned her. "He is in his family home. Other than his parents, there is staff and security and probably a lot of cameras as well."

"That's fine. I only need to get him out of the house." Sabrina said. She turned to Max. "You can secure a safe location where no one will hear him scream, right?"

Max confirmed and he can see that Sabrina has something on her mind. "Tell me the plan…"

"We want in also." Derek declared and Mike and Jake nodded in agreement.

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