Chapter 228: Over Quickly
Ryan’s POV
The hospital was a loud place, a place of constant movement. But to Ryan, it had never felt more quiet, more still.
He felt like he was the one fixed point in a body of constant motion. Like he had somehow been turned into a statue while the rest of the world carried on without a care.
In his now bandaged hands, he held a tar black cup of coffee that had long gone cold. Not that the temperature mattered, he had never tasted it while it had still been hot. Even now that it was cold, he did not care for it. He was simply holding it for the sake of holding on to something. He barely even noticed that it was there, but it served its purpose. A part of him was worried that if he let it go, he’d undo his bandages and start picking at his wounds just to feel...something.
His gaze was fixed on the room directly in front of him. Ryan tried to look away, but could not seem to turn his head.
Through the glass doors, there lay a body, cold and still, her heart no longer beating. Just an hour before she had been alive, fighting for her life.
Now she was no more. She had passed with Ryan watching. The doctors working frantically to try and save her. When they had begun their work, they had pulled the curtain for privacy. But it had not gone all the way around. And Ryan had been able to watch as the medical team had done everything that they could.
Chest compressions, medication, electric shock, they had really done their best.
But it had still not been enough. He had been the first to notice the heart monitor turning into a straight line. And he had felt like his own heart was going still as well. It had been several long minutes since her time of death had been pronounced, but Ryan was still unable to move.
He was still just sitting there staring at the lifeless form on the bed.
Was this really it for her? A lifetime done in a matter of seconds. Her life force extinguished like it had never been.
It was not fair.
Finally managing to move his gaze away from her. Ryan stared down at his cold coffee. The dark liquid rippling as his tear drops fell into it.
"Ryan?" Oh, that was him.
The sound of his name being called had him slowly raising his head. His lips wobbling as he caught sight of not only his best friend, but Vivian’s as well. The cold cup of coffee hitting the floor and going all over his shoes, Ryan all but fell into his friend’s arms. Suddenly unable to stop crying. He was not alone anymore, Mark and Amy were there, he could let go.
***
It took a few long minutes for him to get himself under control, and once he did, he pulled back from Mark, wiping at his eyes, and fighting not to burst into tears again as his gaze slid back to the now empty room.
"Is that... is she really..." Amy’s voice broke through the fog that had been clouding Ryan’s mind and he blinked at her.
Oh, they had come in to find him staring at a room with a dead body in it, then he had just started crying. Realizing how that must have seemed Ryan began shaking his head.
"No, She is still alive. I came down here for a cup of coffee and the woman in that room was breathing her last. Watching her pass really got to me. It reminded me how close I came to losing Vivian," His explanation had Amy collapsing into Mark’s arms, the woman having a crying fit of her own, Mark holding her through it. His friend rocking her gently and humming softly. Treating her in a way that Ryan had only ever seen him treat loved ones. There was something there, but he was too out of it to put his finger on it.
When her tears dried up, she left Mark’s embrace and punched Ryan lightly on the arm.
"Don’t you ever scare us like that again...Where is she?" Amy asked.
Ryan, feeling more than a little bit guilty, pointed up with his index finger.
"The doctors still won’t let me see her. So I came down here for coffee and that’s when I-" He gestured back to the room, unable to speak.
Nodding her understanding, Amy smiled lightly, her relief clear, and Ryan felt guilt tug at him again for having worried them.
"All right, now that that is cleared up, how about we head upstairs to wait for news?" Mark said, his voice soft but commanding. Glad to have someone else taking charge for once. Ryan followed behind the two. Absolutely noting the fact that they were holding hands, but too out of it to really think too much on the contact.
***
"All of the news channels are saying that she’s dead. Do you know that?" Mark asked.
Shifting around in the uncomfortable waiting room chair, Ryan nodded. "I know, it was my doing. I called in quite a few favors to have that done,"
Amy gasped loudly. "Why would you do such a thing? Don’t you know that you are calling bad luck her way?"
Ryan immediately shook his head. "No, I am not. I’m trying to protect her,"
"So the other part is true then. It was really Bryce and Gwendolyn that attacked her," Ryan nodded.
"I only saw Bryce and I was able to fight him off. But there’s no doubt in my mind that Gwendolyn had a hand in all of this." Stifling a sob, Amy cleared her throat.
"So that’s why you were telling everyone she’s dead, so that they won’t come after her,"
Ryan nodded. "In part yes. But I also want to set a trap for them. They wanted Vivian gone and I’m giving them that on the silver platter. Now they are going to reveal their hand. And when they do, I’m going to crush them,"