Chapter 31: Chapter 31

Rylie's POV

I slowly came to to find myself in a bright white room. My vision was hazy and blurry and I couldn't see well. I could hear conversation around me but couldn't really focus on anything due to the banging in my head.

I tried moving and moaned painfully. Ow, that hurt! Everything hurt. Everywhere hurt.

"Rylie, are you okay? Rylie, speak to me! Open your eyes, Ry," a faintly familiar voice said, large, warm hands gripping my shoulders.

A unbelievable coldness gripped me when the warm hands that gripped me let go. My body ached due to the lack of contact.

"You have to calm down. Healing takes time," I faintly heard a strange voice say. I felt something prick my neck before I faded into darkness again.

Blake's POV

After Rylie was hit in the face by the basketball out of the blue, I jumped out of my seat, barely catching her as she fell. As her limp unconscious body laid in my lap, blood running out of her nose, I looked around for the person who could have thrown it but with the crowd already gathered around us, I couldn't see anything. So I decided to focus on that later and on Rylie for now.

"Oh my gosh, Rylie!" Olivia exclaimed, fighting through the crowd to get to us.

"Olivia, call 911!" I ordered and she was quick to do as I said.

With Rylie in my arms, I stood from the floor and ran outside so it would be easier for the paramedics to get to her. A few minutes later, the ambulance appeared and Rylie was placed on a stretcher and wheeled in.

Olivia and I both wanted to accompany her in the ambulance but we were told only one of us could go with her.

"You go. You're her best friend," I pushed Olivia forward. She moved to enter the ambulance then paused, "But you're her boyfriend. You go. I need to get Myles and Mason anyway."

I heaved a sigh of relief, happy to hear her say that. "Thanks Liv."

"No problem. Now go!"

I nodded and got into the ambulance. Once the door was closed, the ambulance started moving, its siren blaring as we went. While the paramedics attended to Rylie, I held her hand, refusing to let go.

"You're gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine," I muttered repeatedly throughout the ride to the hospital.

When we arrived at the hospital, Rylie was wheeled out of the ambulance and into the hospital. I continued going with her until we reached a point and I was told I couldn't go any further.

I wanted to object but I knew that any time I spent arguing would only cause Rylie more harm than good so I obliged and let go of her hand. I kept my eyes on her until she disappeared round the corner.

Once she was gone, I ran my hand through my hair as I paced the floor, waiting and hoping for news about her. Myles, Olivia and Mason came around a while after and together, we waited for news about Rylie.

As we waited, I imagined a lot of scenarios, a lot of ways this could end, none of them good. What if Rylie died? What if she got brain damage? What if one of her eyes was pushed into the socket? What if…?

The sudden arrival of I and Rylie's parents interrupted my chain of thoughts which I was grateful for. My thoughts weren't exactly optimistic.

"Grandma!" I exclaimed with relief, rushing to hug her.

"Oh my little Blakey! Don't you worry, honey. Rylie will be fine. She's a fighter. She'll be alright," Grandma cooed, patting my head reassuringly.

I only hoped that she was right.

Eventually, just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, the doctor appeared. As soon as we sighted him, we rushed to him, unloading a barrage of questions on him.

"Okay, okay. Slow down everybody!" The doctor stopped us all in our tracks.

"Doctor, how is she?" I asked, summing up everyone's questions.

"The patient, a Miss Rylie Myers, is doing well based on the severity of her condition."

"What do you mean, doctor?"

"What I mean is that though she experienced severe trauma to the head, she's recuperating quite well. Her nose might be swollen and might bleed for a while but she'll be fine. What happened to her again?"

"Well we were all in the gym and we were playing basketball. Rylie got called up and just when she got on the court, someone threw a basketball at her," I shakily narrated the whole experience.

"Huh-uh! And you're sure it was a basketball?"

"I'm positive, doctor," I confirmed.

"Well, it's either the basketball was thrown from a long distance or it wasn't a basketball at all," the doctor concluded.

"Why do you say so?"

"The blow to her head was much too severe to be done by a mere basketball thrown to her head by accident. She's lucky her nose took the brunt of the hit or else, well, let's just say things would have been a lot more serious."

By the time the doctor finished talking, there was a stunned silence among us. Could it really not have been an accident in the first place? Could someone have done this in purpose? Who would do it in the first place and why? I had so many questions.

"Can we see her now though?" Olivia asked, breaking the silence.

"She's still unconscious but of course. Not all at once though. Family first," the doctor signaled the family members to follow him.

Rylie's parents went along but Myles hesitated and glanced at me. I motioned for him to go, that I would see her once they came out. He nodded and hurried after his parents.

Waiting for the Myers’ to come out was absolute hell. I found myself counting the seconds until they finally came back. I longed to see Rylie, to touch her, to know that she was okay… I know I probably like some heartbroken boyfriend but I don't care. What matters to me most now is Rylie.

When they eventually appeared, Janice (Rylie's mom) was crying as she clung to her husband.

"Why would someone do this to my baby?" she cried repeatedly, taking a seat on the waiting chairs in the hallway.

"So who's going next?" The nurse who'd accompanied them back, asked.

I looked to see if anyone else wanted to go with me but everyone was gathered around Janice trying to comfort her.

I hesitated but Olivia mouthed the word "Go!" to me and I went.

In Rylie's room, the first thing I noticed when I stepped in was how incredibly beautiful she looked in her sleep. Sure, her nose was swollen and she also had another bump on the side of her head but it didn't quell my desire to kiss her, not one bit.

I never thought I'd ever admit something like that but I wanted to kiss Rylie. I've officially gone insane at this point.

I walked closer to Rylie and sat beside her on the bed, taking her hand in mine. I brushed away a few strands of hair that lay across her face and found my eyes drawn once again to her pink cotton candy lips.

"Geez Blake! The girl is literally unconscious," I scolded myself for having such thoughts.

Since I couldn't kiss her, I decided to satisfy myself with staring at her face instead. In a way, the bumps and bruises on her face made her even more beautiful to me.

I contented myself with the view of her face when I saw her fingers twitch. I thought I'd seen it in my head until I saw it again.

Not knowing what else to do, I ran out of the room and called a doctor.

"You said you needed a doctor. Is there anything wrong with the patient?" The doctor from before asked, appearing at the door.

"I think she's waking up," I answered breathlessly.

"That shouldn't be. The anesthetic shouldn't have worn off that fast."

He followed me into the room where we found Rylie sleeping peacefully. The doctor turned to me, his expression showing that he wasn't finding it funny.

"What do you think this is, kid? A hospital is nowhere to play pranks on people, especially doctors," he scolded.

"But I wasn't playing a prank. I saw her fingers twitch and I assumed she was going to wake up," I argued.

"Really? Her fingers twitched and you decided to just call the doctor without confirming if she was really awake?"

"Of course I didn't check. I'm not the doctor!" I objected, already getting angry myself.

A sudden moan drew me back to Rylie and I walked over to her. Her eyes were open but barely. She was squinting and was obviously in pain.

Unable to help myself, I gripped her shoulders, trying to shake her awake. "Rylie, are you okay? Rylie, speak to me! Open your eyes, Ry," I pleaded.

A sudden touch on my shoulder startled me. I looked beside me to see the doctor.

"You have to calm down. Healing takes time," he said, gently pulling me away so he could administer more anesthetic.

I nodded, not too happy about Rylie drifting off to sleep again but it was necessary for her to get well and I wanted that for her.

After injecting Rylie, the doctor told me I would have to leave so Rylie could rest. I didn't want to but it was for Rylie's good so I agreed to go. Once back in the waiting room, I found my mind going back to what the doctor said about Rylie's injury.

If it really was true that someone threw that ball at Rylie on purpose, then whoever it was should get ready to answer to me. The only question is: Who was responsible?