Into The Unknown

Chapter 7

Harriet's POV

I had no idea what to say as I watched Ryan fall apart in front of me. His whole world had been snatched from under him, he was a mess and had every right to be. Abi was an amazing person, this shouldn't be happening to her, to them. I loved them both so much and to see Ryan like this was soul destroying.

The desperation in his eyes as he stood quickly to greet the doctor cut through all of us "How is she?" He didn't even give him chance to speak.

"Mr Tedder" the doctor guessed, Ryan simply nodded his reply "I'm afraid it's not good news...?" I watched in horror as Ryan's body wobbled slightly, me and Zach rushed forward expecting him to fall, but he managed to steady himself "We suspect your wife has meningitis"

"What?" Ryan staggered "Will she be ok?"

"We are hoping we have administered the antibiotics early enough the take full effect" The doctor seemed to avoid the question, which infuriated Ryan.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I AKSED" he yelled as Zach pulled him back a little.

"I'm sorry Mr Tedder, it's too early to tell at the moment as we are waiting to find out if it is viral or bacterial, but for now she is stable" the doctor was shaken by Ryan's outburst.

"Stable" Ryan repeated "Is that the best you can do?"

"Ryan" I try and touch his shoulder but he has already started to walk away from me, Zach follows him and Leroy moves closer to me.

"Ryan wait Man" I hear Zach call after him, they are our of sight now.

"We should make some calls" Leroy looks at me we are both still in shock "I have already been in contact with Stella and Frank, they are on their way"

"Oh god Freya" I gasp "We need to call Nick before the press do, no doubt someone would have seen the ambulance leaving the house" my hand trembles at the thought of telling Nick, Freya was far to young to deal with any of this. I listen to the dialling tone, hoping no one answers.

"Hey Harriet what's up?" Nick's voice is cheerful, making me feel worse "Harry?"

"Oh...erm Hey" I struggled to make the sound pass through the lump in my throat.

"What's going on?" Nick sound worried.

"Nick it's Abi, she's in hospital" I wince as I wait for his reaction, but he says nothing "They think she has menigitis" I hear him inhale loudly which confirms he is still there listening.

"Erm, oh shit" Nick stuttered "Is she gonna be ok?"

"They don't know" Suddenly I feel myself crack, tears are streaming down my cheeks as I finally cave in to the reality that my best friend is in a critical condition.

"Shall I come over?" Nick whispers still trying to take it in.

"N...No not right now" I think about Ryan for a moment, the last thing he needs is a crowd turning up at the hospital "I just wanted to let you know before anyone else did" I sniff "I will call you if anything changes, but for now just look after Freya"

"Yeah ok" Nick's voice is shakey "I won't tell Freya yet until you know more, she won't be able to deal with this"

"Okay, oh Nick is Freya alright to stay with you until...?" I reply.

"Yeah of course, Tell Ryan he has nothing to worry about we will take care of Freya for as long as we are needed" I am reminded of the relationship Nick and Abi share for Freya's sake "Harry please make sure you keep me posted, we might not be together anymore but she still means alot to me"

"I know" I smile weakly "I will be in touch as soon as we know more"

X-x-x

I return to find Zach and Leroy sitting in the corridor "Where's Ryan?" I ask, Zach flicks up his head.

"He is with Abi" he replies weakly.

"Well that's a good sign if they are letting people in to see her right?" I try and reassure myself hopelessly.

"He didn't really give them much choice" Leroy shook his head.

I sat in the chair next to Zach and put my hand on his arm "I have never seen him like this before" he shuddered at the thought "If anything happens to her, I don't know how he is going to cope"

"Nothings going to happen" Leroy interrupts "Abi is strong, she will fight this...do you honestly think Abigail Tedder is going to stand for his bullshit?" Leroy makes us smile, I jump a little when I feel Zachs hand take mine.

It seems like forever sat in the corridor, but I know it's more like an hour. Stella and Frank have arrived, they were out of town when Leroy called them.

Tony arrived shortly after "The press have started to gather outside" he informs Leroy on his way towards us "How is she?" He asks me, I stutter as I speak.

"It's not good, Ryan is with her" I explain, he glances over and sees Frank and Stella talking to one of the doctors, Frank has his hand resting in the small of Stella's back.

Tony walked over to Stella and Frank when he saw the doctor walk away, I watched as Stella hugged Tony tightly "Maybe one of us should go and talk to Ryan" Leroy frowns as he stands behind me I see Zach next to him "The press are pushing for a statement from one of us, if we don't talk soon they will get restless and try to get in here"

"Tell them what the fuck you like" Ryan's voice shocked us all. He was pale and his eyes looked red "I don't give a shit"

"Oh Ryan" Stella rushed quickly towards Ryan and wrapped her arms around him "How is she?" She asked as she cupped Ryan's face in her hands.

Ryan shook his head "Not good, she has swelling in her brain and spinal cord. She is in an induced coma to try and limit any damage, her pulse is weak and she isn't responding to the antibiotics they are giving her" Ryan choked as he fought his tears "The Doctor says she has Meningaccol Meningitis, which is the bacterial form and she could also have septicaemia"

"So what happens now?" Frank asked eagerly "Surely they aren't giving up on her yet?"

"No they're trying some different antibiotics" Ryan wasn't really with us, he looked so lost. I guessed Ryan wasn't telling us everything the way he got choked up, no one asked him about it though.

"Can we see her?" Stella put her hand on Ryan's arm. He didn't speak he just nodded.

We all watched helplessly as Ryan, Stella and Frank disappeared inside Abi's room. None of us knew what to say, I turned to Tony who was trying so hard to fight his tears "I'm gonna go and talk to the press, Ryan's got enough to deal with" he exhales as he walks towards the elevators.