Chapter Thirty-Three
Ryan
I still could not believe that I had been in a coma and that it was now Sunday. The events from Friday were fuzzy but they were slowly coming back to me. Waking up in a hospital was one of the strangest feelings, and I was only just starting to understand the severity of what had happened. But waking up to see Blaire in front of me and knowing that she was okay was good. It was more than good. I didn’t really care where I was, as long as Blaire was okay. I watched as she walked out and then smiled as Trinity came running in to see me.
“Blaire’s crying,” she said in shock as she jumped on the bed.
“Trinity! Don’t jump on the bed,” Reed said. “Remember, Uncle Ryan is not feeling well.”
“Sorry, Uncle Ryan,” Trinity said. “I forgot.”
“That’s okay, my girl. I’m okay.”
“Why is Blaire crying? Is it because you’re sick? I thought you were okay? Can’t you come home with us? Please, Uncle Ryan. We will have so much fun. More fun than if you stay here in this boring bed. I will make you hot chocolate like you used to make me. Blaire can help me. We can even put marshmallows into the cup. Remember how cool that was when you did it for me? They got all soggy.”
I smiled. “You’re the nicest girl in the world, do you know that? Don’t worry; I’m fine. And the hot chocolate sounds amazing. Especially with the marshmallows. Why don’t we have that when I’m out of the hospital?”
“You’re not coming back with us?” she asked sadly.
I shook my head. “Not just yet. Soon though, I promise. But don’t worry. Daddy is going to stay with me and make sure that I’m okay. Remember, your daddy is a doctor, so he knows what he is doing. He’s the best doctor in the world. And there are lots of doctors here, which means I’m in good hands. I’m going to get better, I promise. You can go home with Blaire and keep her company.
“Blaire is sad!” Trinity said. “I’m sad too.”
It broke my heart to think of my two favorite girls being sad because of me, but I forced myself to smile.
“You don’t have to be sad. And tell Blaire not to be sad either. I was sick, but now I’m in the hospital, and they are fixing me up. There’s nothing to worry about at all. I promise.”
“Come on, Trinity; it’s time to go. We have to make sure Uncle Ryan gets better. Say goodbye now,” Reed said and shot me an apologetic look.
“Bye Uncle Ryan. Come home soon.”
“I will. Thank you for coming. You’re going to have so much fun with Blaire. Remember, she’s your big sister now.”
Trinity giggled. “Oh yes, I forgot.”
“Love you lots, Trin.”
“Love you too, Uncle Ryan.”
I waited until I was sure that Trinity was out of earshot and then I turned toward Reed.
“Reed, I’m so sorry about all of this. I didn’t mean to frighten you all. Did Blaire explain what happened?”
Reed nodded. “She did. I still cannot believe what that guy did. He actually had her tied up to the chair? That’s disgusting. What’s wrong with people? There are a lot of crazy people out there in this world. I’m just glad you were there to stop her.”
“Me too. Although, I should’ve never let her out of my sight.”
“No, don’t say that. Blaire is also blaming herself what happened to you. The two of you need to stop blaming yourselves; you’ve both done the best in this situation. It’s not exactly something that you can prepare for. Nobody expects to have a stalker after them.”
“He got me good, though. I don’t even remember him hurting me. I mean, I remember the stab to my side. Man, that was painful. But I don’t remember him getting my head.”
Reed sighed. “He got you good. Listen, I’m going to talk to the doctor soon, but he already took me through a lot of what happened. You could’ve died, Ryan. Either that or been a coma for a lot longer than just a day. You had a lucky escape. But that’s really all that it was—pure luck. You might not be so lucky next time. You can’t do this fight, Ryan. You just can’t.”
“Blaire said the same thing to me. She begged me not to. It’s the first time that’s she’s actually asked me not to fight.”
“She’s right, you know. This isn’t just your life that you have to think about now. You need to think about Blaire. You need to think about me.”
“You?”
“Come on, Ryan. I know that we were never the closest out of all the brothers. But you have to know that I still care for you. In fact, that week that you spent with me was one of the happiest weeks of my life. I didn’t realize how much I missed having you around. And if you don’t want to do this for me, then do it for Trinity.”
I sighed. “I know. I know. You’re right. Blaire’s right. You’re all right. But what do I do about Ron? I don’t want him to win. I don’t want to come off as the person that couldn’t stand up to him. I hate all the things that he’s been saying about me. And if I don’t fight he’s just going to call me a coward. And the whole world will simply just believe what he says.”
“Who cares, Ryan? Who the hell cares what Ron says about you? Or what the world thinks about you? The only person that you should worry about is yourself and your family. And Blaire. That’s all. Anyway, I’m going to let you get some rest while I talk to the doctor. Think about what I said. I’ll be back a bit later, okay?”
“Okay,” I said.
I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep. I had already been asleep for so long, and I now had too much on my mind. But the moment Reed left, I closed my eyes and immediately started to feel myself nodding off. It didn’t take long for me to fall into a deep sleep all over again.
When I woke up again, I saw that I had been asleep for two hours. It had felt like I’d only just closed my eyes. I sat up a little and looked around, wondering where everyone was. I’d been lucky enough in life not to have been admitted to hospital before, so the feeling of it was something I wasn’t used to. I was used to just getting up and going wherever I wanted. Thankfully, a nurse came in only a few minutes later and asked me if I wanted anything to eat or drink.
“I didn’t even realize I was hungry,” I said to her. “But now that you mention it, I’m starving. Yes please.”
She came back carrying a tray with soup, two slices of bread, and some tea. The tea reminded me of Nick, and I felt a pang of sadness for my old life. I wanted to be back in the training center, teasing him for drinking tea while doing the same thing myself. I wanted to feel like I had my whole life ahead of me, rather than feeling like it had all been taken away. I ate quickly, and when I put the tray down, I felt as if I could eat another whole meal and still not feel full. I wondered if the nurse would allow me to have more.
But I didn’t get a chance to ask her because the next person that walked into the room wasn’t the nurse. It was my father.
“Pop?” I said. Then I laughed. “Oh wait, I think I’m dreaming. Man, this feels real.”
He chuckled. “You’re not dreaming.”
“Seriously? It’s really you? What’s going on?”
“I heard you were in the hospital. There’s no way I’m not visiting my own son in the hospital.”
I looked at him. My father. It was strange to see him here in front of me. The man I had once despised for the way he had treated us. Especially the way he had treated Brady. And yet . . . here he was. He was a good man who had done some bad things, but he’d come through stronger and better than ever before. It was hard not to feel emotional with him standing in front of me.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “I can’t believe you came all this way to see me.”
“Ryan, you know I’m always here for you. I always have been.”
“I know. Oh hey, did you see Reed?”
My father beamed. “Yes! I got to see two sons in one visit. I’m glad Reed is here for you. He’s looking good, don’t you think?”
I smiled. “He sure is. I hope you aren’t leaving today, because Trinity is also here.”
“I’m not. And yes, Reed told me. I haven’t seen her in such a long time. I cannot wait. She’s probably grown up so much.”
“She has. She’s the sweetest thing. Reed has done such a good job with her, you know, despite all that he went through. Sometimes I’m amazed at how strong he is. I don’t think I’m nearly as strong as that.”
“Are you kidding me? Of course you are. You’re a Maxwell. We were made to be tough. We all just have different ways of showing it. We’re all stubborn, we all like to do things our own way, and we all fuck up somewhere along the line because of these traits. But we all bounce back. Because we’re Maxwells. It’s who we are. We never give up.”
I’d never heard my father speak this way before.
“You’re not usually this vocal, you know. What happened?”
He laughed. “Cancer happened.”
“Oh Pop, I’m so sorry.”
“Why? I’m doing well. Look at me. I’m even getting my stomach back again,” he said and laughed.
“How are you so optimistic?” I asked. I certainly didn’t feel that upbeat.
“As I said, I wasn’t in the beginning. But I bounced back. It gave me a new way of looking at life. And it showed me what was really important. Family, for example. That’s the most important thing ever.”
“Pop, they say I can’t fight again,” I said suddenly. “But I really want to do this one fight. Just the one. The guy is talking trash about me like you won’t believe. He is telling the world that I’m too scared to fight him. Which is just absolutely ridiculous. I don’t want anyone to feel that way about me. It’s not fair. What do you think I should do? If you were in my position, you’d fight, wouldn’t you?”
My father shook his head. “I wouldn’t fight. Family is important, Ryan. The media is not. What this opponent thinks of you is not. But we are. If you don’t want to stop for yourself then at least do it for us. I love you, Ryan. And I won’t let you fight. It’s not up to you anymore. We’re all taking a stand for you. What’s the point in fighting if you might die?”
“But I could die anytime, Pop.”
“Yes, but the probability of you killing yourself with this fight is much higher. And we both know it.”
I nodded. There was nothing much else I could say to that. He was right, and we both knew it. Also, I was used to not listening to anyone when it came to their advice. But my father’s words had always carried more weight than anyone else’s.
And just like that, I knew what was going to happen. I wasn’t going to fight.