After a moment her better instincts kicked in and forced her finger down, the robotic female voice declaring she had 2 unheard messages. The first was from her office, something about so and so’s case file arriving, and the second was from Ashley. Spencer held her breath, staring down at the machine as she felt her entire body tense. As it ended, a hard frown creased her features and she stayed frozen to the spot. Ashley sounded much more distressing than usual, and the blonde couldn’t help but be concerned. Maybe she’d just drive by Ashley’s place, just to make sure everything was okay.

It didn’t take long for Spencer to persuade herself to check on Ashley, her maternal instincts overriding her other objections. They usually did. As she pulled up to the set of apartment buildings, she noticed Ashley’s door had been kicked in. A jolt of adrenaline hit her system, and in what seemed like an instant she had parked and was rushing inside. The whole place was an ungodly mess, it reeked of alcohol, and there was a small patch of blood on the kitchen floor, but there was no Ashley.

“Oh hey there Spencer, haven’t seen you around lately.” The blonde spun around to see one of Ashley’s neighbors standing in the doorway, a sympathetic look upon her features.

“Yeah… I know…” She responded, eyes shifting downward momentarily before darting back up. “Where is she? What happened? Is she okay?” Immediately the questions poured out of her like water, and a soft, sad smile crossed the woman’s face.

“Ashley is at the hospital. I heard a lot of commotion coming from her place so I called the police. Apparently she fell and hit her head on the counter over there.” The woman paused to gesture towards the counter, “They took her to Palomar Hospital if you want to visit her…. She’s gotten a lot worse lately.”

Spencer nodded quietly at the last statement, her eyes clouding as they shifted to the floor. “…I know…” She hated feeling so guilty and responsible for Ashley. She’d tried so hard to separate herself from the girl after she’d realized the brunette wasn’t going to change, but it hadn’t worked. No matter how many hours she put in, how many calls she ignored or how many times she told herself to move on, Ashley was still a part of her.