angels like you (rini au)

E I G H T

~chapter eight~

Days had gone by and Ricky was getting tired of Anna constantly vomiting and crying without knowing exactly what was wrong with her. She was his sister, and he knew her better than anyone else. Regardless of who had the medical degree, he knew her better than the doctors did.

They tried telling him she had some time of bug. That bug soon turned into "she has lactose intolerance" and they then escalated to "she can't digest gluten". Each time they gave Ricky a new diagnosis, he would insist that they were wrong. He had heard her crying enough times for the past couple of days to know that this wasn't allergic reaction and that something was really wrong with Annabella.

That is why when he heard her crying again that night, he immediately shot up from his bed. His dad was in fact downstairs, and his Dad was completely aware of all that had been happening with Anna. She rushed home from the hospital, eager to tell him, and he seemed to care. But he never offered to take her there, he never offered to stay there with her, he never made an effort. He didn't really care.

"Anna?" He called, as he ran through the halls. Her cries only got louder and louder, which made him more and more nervous. "Ricky! Ricky!"

He ran faster, picking up the pace as her crying became more and more frantic. "Annie, where are you?" He called, not knowing exactly where her voice was coming from. One of the flaws of living in a big house.

"Ow! Ricky, please come here," she yelled again causing his heart to race faster. He realised her voice must've been coming from her bathroom, and he made his way there. "Bella, are you okay? I'll be there, don't worry," he shouted to her. In an instant, he burst into her bathroom and his eyes widened to see her on the floor and holding her stomach. She was squirming around uncomfortably. She cried out loudly in pain which broke his heart into a million pieces.

"Annie, what's wrong? Talk to me, what's wrong?" he asked as he knelt down beside her. "Hurts, it hurts, my tummy hurts," she cried. "Shh, you're okay, you're gonna be okay," he comforted as he sat her up. "No it hurts!"

The way she was writhing in pain was just even more clarification for him to be sure that this was not just an allergic reaction, and there was probably something very different wrong with his sister. "Come here, I got you, you're okay," he said reassuringly as he picked her up into his arms and carried her. "You're gonna be okay," he reminded her. "It hurts," she repeated. "I know, you're gonna be fine, don't worry," he said to her again.

He ran hurriedly out of her room and down the stairs, headed straight for the living room. He knew it was a long shot, but he couldn't exactly take Anna to the hospital by himself. Ideally, he would need at least one more person to stay in the backseat with her to monitor her. He didn't want to ask EJ and he didn't want to ask Jane, considering it was way too late. Which meant that he only had one other option..

"Dad? Dad?" he called frantically as he entered the living room. The living room which was flooded with beer bottles, wine glasses and anything else that could aid to his father's drunkness. His dad could definitely hear him. But he didn't respond, and instead he increased the volume on the TV. "Dad, Anna's sick, she says her stomach hurts really bad."

It was hard for Ricky to get his point across with all the noise in the room. With the volume of the tv and Annabelle's loud cries, it was almost impossible.

"Dad, I said she's sick, we need to get her to a hospital," he shouted. His dad ignored him once more, bringing his millionth beer bottle closer to his mouth as he took another sip, which caught Ricky further off guard. "Dad, are you listening to me? Are you listening to her? I said she's sick-"