Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
B rielle blew out a breath and hugged her arms around her torso a little tighter. She was starting to get cold again. Ryan’s warmth was gone, and it felt like it had been hours, though she knew that wasn’t accurate. At least not according to her watch, which was moving aggravatingly slow.
A shiver went through her body, and Brielle closed her eyes and tucked into herself a little more, trying not to move her foot. The cold night temperatures had helped keep the pain at bay, but now that she was wide awake and her skin was sort of thawed out, the pain was building with an intensity that had her concerned about long term healing. Moving it at all was pure agony, and she could only pray that none of her injuries would leave permanent damage.
“He’s coming,” she reassured herself. “Ryan will be here soon.” Another shiver went through her and Brielle did her best to push away her panic. The wet clothes she was sporting again weren’t helping, but she hadn’t wanted to be left here without a shirt on. It had been difficult enough to be curled up with Ryan that way, but she wasn’t even close to being comfortable with letting everyone else see her in just a sports bra .
A rustle in the bushes had her eyes snapping open and her fight or flight instincts screaming to react. When nothing emerged, Brielle tried to bring her breathing back under control, but her tired and broken body was refusing to listen.
Movement in the leaves on the ground caught her eye, but Brielle forced herself to look up. Seeing the worms that had emerged because of the rain storm and all the little ants and bugs definitely wasn’t helping her keep a positive outlook that Ryan would be back for her soon. She hated the feeling that there were creepy crawlies all over her body. The woods had always been a place of refuge, but Brielle realized in that moment that sleeping in a tent or running down a trail hadn’t quite given her the full nature experience…and right now she wasn’t keen to have one.
Come on, Ryan. Come back to me.
The words slipped through her mind and brought Brielle to a halt with their double meaning. It was such a stupid thing to be worried about right now, but her brain now had hold of the thought and refused to let go.
When we go back to the real world…will we still be real?
The night hadn’t exactly been romantic, but it had been intimate. She’d slept on his chest. They’d shared their warmth. He’d come after her in the middle of a nasty storm and saved her life.
But would those heroic acts be enough to see them through when they met back up with their families? Would her mother even care? Or Aurora?
Brielle snorted at the thought. Both of the other women in her family would more than likely tell her it was her own fault that she got hurt and left in a storm. If she hadn’t been so manly , she wouldn’t have been out here and wouldn’t have been hurt.
“Speaking of hurt…” Brielle could feel the frown pulling at the cold skin of her face. “Why did she lie?”
Brielle simply couldn’t fathom it. Aurora had everything. She had men in her life, she had pageant wins, she had the right body shape, the right wardrobe, the right sponsors, she even had the most coveted thing of all…their mother’s approval.
So why lie about Ryan? Twice!
What would possess Aurora to do such a thing, and what would she have possibly gained from it?
Brielle’s teeth clacked together, and she was shivering more than she thought. The movement was shaking her legs, which included her ankle, and she bit her lip against the pain. “Please, Ryan…please come.”
If the sky had opened with a heavenly chorus singing and bright light shining down on Ryan’s head with divine intensity, Brielle wouldn’t have been more surprised than when she heard him calling her name in response to her plea.
“Brielle!”
“Ryan?” Her voice broke, and she searched the area toward the trail, looking for movement. This couldn’t be her imagination, right? He’d only been gone a couple of hours, was that really enough time to get help for them both?
“Brielle! Where are you?”
“Ryan!” Her voice grew stronger, and she leaned forward. “I’m over here!” Raising a shaky hand above her head, Brielle tried to wave, but her arm flapped down to her side as soon as she spotted the crew.
“Over here.” Ryan led the way off the path, tromping through the forest like the intruders they were.
The sound of a revving engine took away her ability to hear and a couple of four-wheelers stopped on the side of the trail.
“We’re here,” Ryan said, dropping by her side. His hands were clammy and his cheeks flushed, making Brielle worried he’d pushed himself too far. “We’ve got you, alright? You’re going to be okay.”
She tried to nod, but her head was spinning and Brielle couldn’t get her mouth to form words. Her heart rate picked up, the reaction surprising Brielle since she was rescued, but suddenly her skin broke out in a cold sweat and the shivering from before grew, but not from the cold.
Another body dropped next to Ryan and hands landed on her face, neck and wrists. “She’s going into shock!” a voice bellowed. “Get that blanket over here.”
Noises began to infiltrate her frozen ears, but Brielle couldn’t take her eyes off of Ryan. He’d been pushed back as more people crowded around her, but she didn’t want anyone else. She wanted Ryan. She wanted him to tell her that everything was going to be okay. That they were still going to be speaking when this was all over. That he wasn’t going to walk away and leave her the way she had tried to leave him.
His dark eyes grew worried, and Ryan stood to his feet, stepping back slightly, creating a distance that Brielle wasn’t ready for.
A broken cry finally crept up her throat, but it never formed a real word. She jumped when someone pulled down her eye and shone a light directly in it.
“Ma’am, can you hear me? We’ve got you. You’re gonna be alright. Do you hear?”
Brielle tried to nod, but her body began to sway and her eyes grew unfocused. Ryan’s terrified face swam in and out of her vision, eventually disappearing completely as she felt herself slip sideways.
Mentally, she had just enough consciousness to prepare herself for landing on the pokey pine needles, but the expected feeling never came. Instead, something stopped her descent and began to realign her body.
When the same thing keeping her from falling began to stand, Brielle’s leg shifted, and the cry of pain this time was involuntary. It was also the last thing she remembered before slipping into a cold black expanse.
Ryan’s foot bounced mercilessly against the linoleum of the hospital floor. He knew he should go home and shower, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave her side. The look on Brielle’s face when he backed away to let the emergency responders through was going to haunt him forever.
He wasn’t sure why she was looking at him that way, or what feeling had brought it on, but her bright brown eyes had landed on his and hadn’t left until she’d collapsed. Luckily, it had only been from exhaustion and pain, but it still bothered Ryan.
He pushed his bandaged hand through his hair. In all the hubbub, he hadn’t realized that there was a cut on his palm. A little cleaning, a little stinging, and some glue had put him to rights, leaving him free to come sit with Brielle.
The hospital had wanted to keep him for observation, but Ryan had refused treatment. Yes, he needed to get out of his wet clothes, eat some real food, and most of all shower, but he wasn’t leaving until he knew she was alright.
It had taken too much of his energy to walk away from her the first time, and he couldn’t bear to do it now, at least not until she gave him permission. He wouldn’t leave her again ever without her permission. The devastation he’d felt when he backed away was still making him sick to his stomach, and he needed to know why she had looked at him like that.
“They said she’s in there,” a shrill voice said, startling Ryan from his dark musings, right before the door slammed open, and a woman with long blond hair came striding in. “Oh…” She sniffed as her eyes landed on the bed. “She looks so…filthy.”
Ryan frowned.
“She was in the woods,” a deep voice said with a sigh. “I think that’s to be expected.”
“Are you going to move?” another feminine voice came through the door. “Standing in the hallway isn’t exactly comfortable.”
Ryan watched as the man pushed the first woman through, waited for the younger one, then quietly closed the door. It took him a minute, but the younger woman’s face finally registered. “Aurora.” Ryan spoke in a harsh tone without thinking, and every head snapped in his direction, causing him to snap his mouth shut.
Aurora blinked several times before frowning slightly. “Ryan? What are you doing here?”
Ryan stood, feeling awkward now that he realized this was Brielle’s family. He’d never met the parents, only the two girls. He wasn’t quite sure what to do, especially since Brielle wasn’t awake. He probably looked like a weirdo staying in her room. “Uh, hi…I’m Ryan Thatcher. We went to school together.”
Aurora squeaked as her eyes went up and down his dirt caked frame. “What happened to you?”
“Rory,” the man scolded softly. “It looks like he was with Bri.”
Aurora scowled at the man that could only be her father. It was clear that her blonde hair came from the mother, but Brielle favored her father in coloring. The man was largely built, which was a heavy contrast to his soft voice, but his wife was slim and perfectly made up, with Aurora matching her mother almost exactly.
“Stop calling me, Rory,” Aurora snapped. “That sounds like a boy.”
Mrs. Underwood came toward him. “You were the one with my daughter?”
Ryan nodded, shuffling his feet.
“Why are you still here?” she pressed. “Why haven’t you gone home?” Like her daughter, Mrs. Underwood’s blue eyes went from his feet to his face. “You look like you could use a break. I know my daughter well, and I doubt it was easy being out in the woods with her.” She smiled, but it looked far from genuine. “Thank you for helping take care of her. We’ll take it from here.”
Ryan shifted again. He didn’t want to leave, but he didn’t have any rights in this situation. If the family wanted him gone, there was little he could do to argue.
Before he could think of a response, or beg them to reconsider, a nurse shuffled in. “Oh!” She looked around. “ I didn’t realize we had such a large group of visitors.” Her eyes went to the corner where Ryan was standing. “Mr. Thatcher,” she softly scolded. “You really should go take care of yourself. Ms. Underwood will be fine. I’ll see to her myself.”
Ryan’s shoulders fell. “I know,” he said with several head nods, but still he didn’t move. How could he leave her a second time? And no one here understood. No one knew how much they’d shared last night and how Ryan had come to the conclusion that Brielle was the only woman for him. He couldn’t leave and not know when he’d see her again. Nor could he leave her wondering what was going on. His protective instincts were all screaming that his place was at her side.
“See?” Mrs. Underwood said, her nose slightly upturned. “She’s being well taken care of. Thank you for your help. You can go now.” Turning on her heel, Mrs. Underwood walked over to the nurse and began asking questions.
Ryan took a stuttering step toward the door, but his gut was screaming for him to stay.
“Ryan?”
His neck nearly broke as he jerked toward the sound he’d been waiting to hear. “Brielle.” Rushing through the crowd, Ryan crowded into the side of the bed immediately grabbing her hand and leaning over, careless of his dirt and grime. “You’re awake,” he said, smiling widely.
“Excuse me,” Mrs. Underwood demanded. “What’s going on here?”
Ryan ignored the woman and focused on Brielle, who was doing the same. He heard their voices and knew a conversation was going on behind him, but he didn’t care. Resting one hand gently on her head, he ran his thumb along her forehead. “How do you feel?”
She gave him a shaky smile. “Tired, but fine.” Shifting, Brielle winced. “My foot?”
Ryan closed his eyes, some of his adrenaline finally fading before he looked at her again. “You tore a couple of ligaments,” he explained. “They’re still deciding if you’ll need surgery or not.” He grinned and leaned down. “But I’m not supposed to know any of that, so pretend to be surprised when the doctor talks to you.”
Brielle laughed softly, keeping their conversation intimate. “Then how do you know?” she asked.
“I might have been listening in,” Ryan said with a shrug. “I don’t think they expected anyone to understand all the medical jargon they were throwing at each other.”
“So you used your knowledge of wounded animals to diagnose me, is that it?”
Her teasing had Ryan feeling like he was dancing on air. Not even the itchy feeling of flaking mud from his skin was enough to distract him. “Of course not,” he assured her with a smirk. “None of my patients are nearly as cute as you are.” Brielle’s pale cheeks blushed, and Ryan wished he was clean enough to run his fingers over the heat.
“You’re ridiculous,” she said with a laugh.
“Yeah…I am,” he admitted. “But you like it.” Her smile was all the answer he needed.
“Ryan,” Aurora gushed, pulling on his arm and reminding the couple that they weren’t alone. “You have to tell me all about this rescue mission.”
Ryan frowned as Aurora pulled him away from the bed. “Uh, there’s not a lot to tell.” He looked back at Brielle who had opened her mouth as if to say something, but her parents coming up on her side took away her attention.
“We know all about it, there was plenty of chatter in the halls when we came in,” Aurora continued, walking him quickly to the door.
“Brielle, I’ll call you,” Ryan said as Aurora pulled him into the hallway. He huffed, not the least bit impressed with Aurora’s pushy behavior, especially not from a woman who’d lied about him.
“You always were such a do-gooder,” Aurora said, her tone less frantic now that they were outside the room. She smoothed a hand down her hip. “I should have known from the time we were teenagers that you’d grow up to save damsels in distress.” Aurora gave a light laugh. “If Brielle can be called a damsel, that is.”
Ryan took a step back from her, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. The mother had said a couple of things that had seemed a little harsh, and now Aurora was doing the same. It ticked him off, but Ryan wasn’t quite sure what to do about it.
“Look…” Aurora shot eyes toward the door, then back at him. “My parents aren’t going to be quite as understanding as I’ll be, so I’m gonna give you a bit of advice.”
Ryan’s brows pulled together.
“You might as well let things go with Brielle.”
Ryan’s frown deepened, his anger rising. “Why do you say that?”
Aurora rolled her eyes. “It’s not like she was ever your type anyway, but Dad can be super protective and Mom will interrogate your entire family if you hang around making her think there’s something between you.”
Ryan folded his arms, but didn’t respond. He usually found it best to listen before acting rashly and right now he definitely wanted to act rashly. Aurora had put him and Brielle through a lot of trouble and now she was trying to push him away again. He didn’t like how Aurora spoke about Brielle, nor did he like that no one seemed to stand up for her.
Why would he care about a protective dad or someone interrogating his family? He loved Brielle, none of those things bothered him.
“Look, Aurora,” Ryan began, trying to be careful with his words. He didn’t need to get into a shouting match in the middle of a hospital. “I don’t know why you think something as ridiculous as overprotective parents would scare me off, but you should know that Brielle and I have talked…extensively.”
Aurora’s eyebrows went up, and she looked wary.
“I know you lied about us in high school and last week as well. I don’t know why you did it, but Brielle and I have cleared things up, and I won’t let you interfere with us again. ”
Aurora’s eyes widened, and her face paled. “Are you threatening me?” she gasped.
Ryan closed his eyes and prayed for patience. How had he never seen what a drama queen this woman was? He pinched the bridge of his nose. “No one’s threatening anyone. But I’m done letting you keep me from the woman I love.” He dropped his hand and spun around. “I’ll be back. So you might as well tell your mother and father to get ready. I’ll bring my resume.”
He wasn’t going to wait around to see what comeback she shot at him. Ryan had said his piece, he’d been honest in it all, and he needed to get cleaned up so he could come back. There were people to call, appointments to reschedule, and a woman who needed healing. He had no time for the likes of Aurora Underwood and her dramatics.