Chapter Thirty-Two
Blaire
I was nervous and excited to go to the hospital to see Ryan. The last time I’d seen him had been Friday night when the cop had taken him away in his squad car. It was now Sunday. I’d tried to visit him the moment I was finished at the police station, but the doctor wouldn’t let me. They’d informed me that Ryan had passed out in the car on the way to the station and that he had gone into a coma. It had been the scariest moment of my life. And even though the doctor assured me that he was going to be fine, I still couldn’t get the fear and anxiety of knowing he was comatose out of my head.
But before I could go to the hospital, I was waiting for Reed to arrive. I’d called him on Saturday to explain what had happened and he’d told me that he would get the first flight that he could. I was so grateful that he was coming, and I knew that Ryan would be happy to see him too. He’d called me not so long ago to say that he was on his way.
I sighed with relief when I heard a car pull up outside. I opened the door and smiled as Trinity came running toward me. She gave me a huge hug, and I squeezed her back. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed her until that moment. I stood up and gave Reed a hug too. We were beyond the formalities of handshakes now.
“How’ve you been holding up?” Reed asked.
I shook my head. “Not so great. I mean, I’m glad that the man has been caught, but I can’t stop thinking about Ryan. I feel like I’m to blame for what happened.”
“No, don’t say that. You were doing the best that you could under the circumstances. It could’ve been a lot worse. And you’re fine, and Ryan is going to be fine. What’s the last you heard about him, by the way?”
“He came out of the coma this morning. So are you okay with going straight there?”
“Definitely.”
“Great. Well come on in and drop off your bags. Then we can all go together. I haven’t seen Ryan since Friday. I don’t know why but I’m so nervous about seeing him again.”
“You’ll be fine, Blaire. He’s going to be so happy to see you. And don’t feel like you’re to blame, okay? Ryan wouldn’t want you to think that way.”
“Is Uncle Ryan okay?” Trinity asked.
I nodded. I’d actually forgotten that Trinity was standing right there and listening to the whole conversation. She had been unusually quiet since arriving, and I think she was battling to understand what was going on.
“He’s going to be just fine. You know what he’s like,” I said.
“Yeah. He’s the strongest man in the whole world. That’s what he told me,” Trinity said.
I smiled. “Well, he wasn’t lying. And you want to know something else cool about him?”
“What’s that?”
“Your uncle also saved my life.”
“He did? Like a superhero?”
“Exactly like a superhero.”
“Cool!” Trinity exclaimed.
“Okay, should we go and see him?”
“YES!”
We got into the car and made our way to the hospital. Trinity seemed to have gotten her voice back, and she chattered the entire way there, telling me all about her plane trip. It was nice to have her there, and she helped to take my mind off of what was happening.
When we arrived at the hospital, Reed and Trinity stayed in the waiting room while I got the chance to visit Ryan alone. The doctor took me through and then told me to call him if I needed anything. Ryan was in bed with his eyes closed. I walked up to him, sat down on the bed and took his hand. He looked so peaceful lying there but just seeing him in a hospital bed made my heart break.
He opened his eyes and smiled at me.
“Sunny!” he said and tried to sit up. I stopped him.
“Don’t get up. I’m right here,” I said, and I squeezed his hand. “It’s so good to see you, Ryan. I’ve missed you so much.”
He looked a little confused. “Where’ve I been?” he asked.
The doctor told me that he might take a little while to comprehend what had happened. They’d tried to explain it to him earlier, but he’d been too out of it. They said he was finally coming around again though, so hopefully I could talk a bit of sense with him.
“You’re in the hospital. It’s Sunday now.”
“Sunday?”
“Yeah, you slipped into a coma on Friday night, but you came out of it this morning. When the doctor told me that you were out of the coma, I was so relieved. I don’t think I slept a wink last night. You had me so worried, Ryan. I thought . . . oh . . . I’m so sorry about everything.”
“In a coma,” he said. He shook his head slowly. “I didn’t know. I’m just so glad to see you. You’re beautiful.”
I smiled. “As are you. I really am sorry about what happened. I shouldn’t have just left like that. I wish I hadn’t left.”
“Why did you leave? I got the note.”
I told him the story about the phone call and how the guy had threatened to kill both of us.
“You said it was Katie on the line.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. But at the time I honestly thought that I was doing the right thing. He seemed so angry that I was with you, and I knew that I was putting you in danger. I couldn’t do that to you, Ryan. That’s why I left. I figured it would be better for me to sort this out by myself. I didn’t want you to be in any danger. I couldn’t do that to you. But . . . you saved my life.”
“You are my life,” he said in a dreamy voice. He seemed to move between being completely with it to being a little out of it constantly.
I smiled. “And you’re mine too. I feel awful that I put you in this position.”
“No, you didn’t do this. That man did it. Not you.”
“Thanks, Ryan. Oh, and there are some other people here to see you. Are you ready for a bit of company or is it too early for that? If you want to rest, you must just let me know.”
“I don’t want to rest. Who is here?”
“Give me a second. I’ll get them.”
“Don’t go.”
“I’ll be right back. I promise.”
I quickly rushed out and called Reed and Trinity to come with me. I smiled as Ryan beamed with happiness at the sight of his niece.
“Trinity, be gentle. Uncle Ryan is in a lot of pain.”
“I think they drugged me up,” Ryan said. “I feel good. Thanks for coming, Reed. I would say you shouldn’t have come all this way, but I’m too happy to see you all right now to even say that.”
“Are you going to be okay?” Trinity asked.
Ryan smiled at her. “I’m going to be fine. Now, tell me all about the plane. Did you have fun?”
We talked for a little while longer, until the doctor walked in to see if everything was fine. Ryan was feeling more himself and he wanted to know what was going on.
“I got stabbed. Was it bad?” he asked the doctor. “Is that why I passed out? Did I lose too much blood?”
The doctor shook his head. “No, that’s not why you passed out. In fact, the stab wound wasn’t all that bad. He didn’t go in very deep at all, and we stitched you up in no time. I’m assuming the man hit you in the head or something?”
Ryan looked to me as if he couldn’t remember and I nodded. “Yeah, he head butted me pretty hard,” I said.
“That knock to your head was almost fatal. I spoke to your brother here who informed me of your head trauma. All I can say is that you are a very lucky man, because that blow to the head could’ve been the end of you. Your body responded by shutting down, but thankfully you managed to come back from it. But no matter how well you are doing now, we need you to get a bit more rest, and we need to run further tests on you. I’ll leave you all to say your goodbyes, and I’ll be back in ten minutes. Reed, you’re welcome to stay if you’d like. You know his history a bit more so that might help.”
I looked at Reed and nodded. “You stay with Ryan. I’ll take Trinity home. Mind if I have a few minutes to just say goodbye alone?”
“Of course,” Reed said and took Trinity outside to wait.
The moment they were gone, I leaned in and kissed Ryan gently on the mouth. I suddenly couldn’t stop the tears that were falling down my face.
“Oh Blaire, why are you crying? You can see that I’m fine.”
“Yeah, but you could’ve died, Ryan. I didn’t realize just how much I cared for you until now. I should’ve told you not to fight Ron. I should’ve made you stop. I thought I was being supportive, but I was only making things worse.”
“What? No, you weren’t! And anyway, this has nothing to do with Ron. I’m not in here because of the fight.”
“I know that, but it just made me realize how bad this fight could’ve been for you. Please don’t do it, Ryan. Please. I can’t lose you. I just can’t. Ryan, that fight is just not worth it. Not if I lose you. Please.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Ryan said sadly.
“I just don’t want you to fight anymore. Just think about it, okay?”
He nodded. “I will. Don’t be upset, Blaire. Please, I can’t stand to see you sad.”
“I just don’t want to lose you. I can’t. That’s all. Anyway, I better go. Listen to what Reed and the other doctor have to say, okay? And get lots of rest. I will spend the evening with Trinity and come and visit you again tomorrow. Okay?”
“Okay. Thank you for everything, Blaire.”
I walked out the room and told Trinity and Reed that they could go back in. Trinity wanted to say goodbye too, and it would give me a chance to calm down before spending the evening with Trinity. I didn’t want her to see me looking so sad. But it wasn’t easy to feel okay about everything when all I could think about was how Ryan was lying in a hospital bed because of me. Not just that, but he still hadn’t promised me that he wouldn’t fight.