It Was Meant To Be Us

Chapter 24

The phone call Lily received from the hospital was the last thing she expected. She and Ryan got there as quickly as they could.

The double doors opened and Lily rushed towards the reception desk "I'm looking for Natalie Karter" Lily gasped trying to catch her breath.

"Ryan, Lil" Eddie's voice shocked both Ryan and Lily. He approached them with fear in his eyes.

"Eddie what are you?" Lily tried to speak.

"Me and Natalie have been seeing eachother in secret for a couple of months. I was there when..." Eddie explained and Lily pulled him quickly into a hug.

"How is she?" Lily asked as she pulled away "Have the doctors said anything?"

"Not yet, she's burnt pretty bad though Lil" tears filled Eddie's eyes "I don't understand how..."

"Hey don't think about that now man" Ryan stepped in, he was interrupted by an officer in uniform.

"Eddie Fisher?" He asked as he looked at Ryan and then at Eddie.

"Yeah that's me" Eddie replied. Ryan and Lily watched him follow the officer into a side room. Ryan draped his arm around Lily, she rested her head on his shoulder.

××

It had been a couple of hours since Lily and Ryan had arrived at the hospital. Eddie had now joined them again in the corridor, they were sat on a few seats that were against the wall.

"So what did the police say?" Lily wondered curiously.

"They said they won't know anything until they get the report back form the fire department, they should know what happened by the end of today hopefully" Eddie said gently.

"Well that's good then" Lily said trying to reassure him.

"Natalie Karter?" A doctor came form nowhere.

"Yeah" Eddie stood up quickly.

"Are you a relative?" He asked and Eddie looked at Lily.

"I'm her sister" Lily lied, she knew this was the only way she would get any answers from the doctor.

"Okay, well I'm sorry to say this but your sister has sustained a vast amount of burn injuries both to her face and body" the doctor explained. Ryan grabbed Lily and held her steady in his arms as her body swayed "there is also extensive damage to her lungs from the smoke inhalation"

"So what are you saying?" Eddie asked quickly "Is she going to be okay?"

"I'm afraid it's too soon to tell, even if she recovers from the smoke inhalation then the burns on her skin are very servere" the doctor explained "The next 24 hours will be critical"

"Well can I see her?" Eddie asked desperately and the doctor shook his head "Not at the moment I am afraid"

Eddie threw his head back and exhaled "I can't believe this is happening"

"Eddie I'm so sorry" Lily replied as she put her hand on his arm again, but this time he shrugged it off.

"You should be, she wouldn't be if here now if it wasn't for you. Why couldn't you get the memory stick yourself? It should be you not her..." Eddie was stopped in his tracks by Ryan.

"That's enough" Ryan snapped as he moved in front of Lily defensively "None of this is Lily's fault. She didn't know there was going to be an explosion" Ryan tried to stay calm

"I swear if anything happens to her it's on you Lily, it's all on..." Lily jumped as she watched Ryan crash Eddie's body into the wall. He was holding him by his shirt, with two hands.

"STOP" Ryan yelled furiously "Just stop, I know you're angry and upset but I won't let you speak to her like that. Come on dude this isn't like you"

Eddie thought for a few moments as Ryan released him, Lily was upset that Eddie could think it was her fault. She already felt bad enough for asking Natalie to fetch the memory stick for her "I'm sorry Eddie, I..." Lily sniffed as she looked into Eddie's eyes they were full of pain and despair.

"No Lily I'm sorry, I know this isn't your fault...I just, I'm sorry" Eddie said gently, Lily warily reached our and put her hand on his shoulder.

"She's strong Eddie" she spoke softly "She'll pull through this, I know she will"

××

Anna and Drew had arrived at the hospital now, it was getting harder for Lily as she had tried to contact Natalie's Dad, but with out any luck.

"Still not picking up?" Ryan sat beside his frantic wife and held her hand in his "He's probably at work"

"I doubt it, thing is Natalie and her dad fell out a few months ago, he is so stubborn and I just think maybe he has..." Lily couldn't stop the tear's anymore "It's all my fault Ryan I should have gone and gotten the memory stick..."

"Then it would be you lying here, Lily I'm glad you didn't go" Ryan exhaled and Lily threw him a glare.

"How could you say such a thing? Eddie is in a world of pain right now and you...I can't even...I need to get some air" Lily stood up and quickly rushed outside into the carpark. Anna got up to follow her but Ryan stopped her.

"I'll go" He said gently. Lily stood in the carpark catching her breath. She wasn't aware of the shadow figure standing behind her.

The figure waited for a few moments until they spotted Ryan coming outside, then it dissapeared. Lily was still none the wiser, she could see Ryan walking towards her.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to lash out" she half smiled and Ryan moved closer to her.

"I won't apologise for what I said Lil, I meant every word. Right now you are the most important thing in my life, well you and this little one" Ryan grazed his hand over Lily's swollen stomach, Lily put her hand in top of him and looked up into his eyes.

"I love you Ryan Tedder" Lily said gently and Ryan exhaled.

"I love you too Lily Tedder" he replied, before leaning forwards and kissing her gently.

A smirk crept across Lily's face as Ryan pulled away "That still sounds strange to me" she giggled a little "Maybe I should go with Grainger-Tedder?" she teased and Ryan laughed.

"Do they even give you enough boxes on a passport form for names that long?" He replied jokingly and Lily frowned.

"Lily-Rose Grainger-Tedder" she chuckled "Yeah I think you're right, Lily-Rose Tedder is better"

Suddenly Lily jumped and quickly reached for her cell phone "Just say Hello..." Violet's voice spoke desperately.

"Huh..."Lily was confused.

"That's enough" she gasped.

"Mom you're scaring me" Lily frowned and Ryan just listened.

"Oh honey I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you" Violet finally explained herself "It's just we saw it on the news about the explosion at your studio and..."

"Wait, What? What do you mean on the news...?" Lily stuttered.