The Baynes Legacy- Book 2 - Youth Of The Night

Youth of the Night (Chapter 18)

18.

Hey ya'll, This chapter is shorter than my normal, sorry. I have been so busy with life, and with the weather working against me it's been difficult to get this chapter completed. Not to mention the lack of ideas, is frustrating enough as it is! But here it is, Chapter 18! I hope you like it, please VOTE VOTE VOTE and don't forget to comment! Thanks Bunches

Stacy

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Rhys laid awake for hours that night. His mind still reeling over what he had done that day. Inside he felt as if he should be sad for what he did, but Rhys didn't. With the death of his father, the gravity of the years past began to haunt him. Why did he wait so long to seek help for his mother? Internally Rhys was beating himself up over the entire situation. Finally becoming frustrated with the lack of sleep, he got up from his empty bed. Kalee, Mrs Baynes as he referred to her, insisted Ali stay in her room tonight while he stayed his apartment.

Without thinking, Rhys found himself outside tossing pebbles at Ali's window. After a constant ticking for two minutes a soft light finally turned on within her room. Seconds later Ali looked down from her bedroom window, smiling. She motioned for him to wait a minute, then disappeared. Rhys' mind wandered as he waited for her. Laying down in the soft, cool grass gazing up at the stars.

"Hey. What's wrong?" Ali whispered as she crept across the yard in short pajama shorts and a tight tank top. She gracefully sat down beside Rhys, reaching out taking his warm hand in her's.

"I can't sleep." Looking off, Rhys replied softly. Ali's brows scrunched together in apprehension, something was bothering him that he wasn't saying.

"Rhys, you know you can tell me if something is bothering you." She spoke softly as her tiny fingers drew circles in his palm, "I know I said earlier that I didn't want to talk about what happened today, but I realized I was being selfish. That was wrong of me. After what happened, you must need someone to talk to, and I want to be the person you can always turn to."

Rhys turned on his side resting his head on his free hand. "I know, Ali. It just seems like everything I've witnessed over the years is finally catching up with me." Rhys sighed, every thought he had was bouncing around in his head, making concentrating hard. As he tried to wrangle his thoughts together he noticed it was growing increasing harder to breathe and could hear Ali voice sounding so far away, but she was right in front of him.

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"RHYS! WAKE UP, RHYS!" Ali screamed, she looked up at the house still seeing the lights off, she screamed louder, "HELP! RHYS PLEASE WAKE UP!" Ali didn't notice when her father arrived, it seemed like forever, she sat there watching him barely breathing.

"Move back, Ali. Kalee, call the ambulance!" Connor moved Ali out of the way to get to Rhys' side. Placing his head to the boy's chest, he could hear his heart faintly pumping, and his breathing becoming more an more shallow with every breathe he drew in. Connor started to do mouth to mouth, stopping every few seconds to do chest compressions. Ali sat back, frozen with terror. She could lose him, she began willing him to live. Trying with all her might to send her thoughts to him, 'PLEASE RHYS, LIVE FOR ME! I LOVE YOU, YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!'

Connor looked up at her as he blew the next few breathes into his mouth, when he moved again to press on his chest he finally spoke, "If he didn't hear you, I know the rest of the world did. That was loud, Allison."

Ali kept her eyes glued to Rhys' lifeless body, even when the ambulance arrived and took over the care for him. She needed him to open his eyes, just to see her once again, giving him a reason to live. Moving toward the awaiting ambulance, following the paramedics, Ali suddenly felt restrained. "Let me go, I have to go with him. He can't be alone. I won't let him die without me with him." She cried trying to claw her way to Rhys.

"Allison, you can't go with him. We'll follow behind in the car, come on." Connor leading her to her car. "I'll drive, get in." She didn't fight. Ali jumped in the passenger seat, strapping herself in tightly. Before she could finish buckling the seat the car was flying down the street, staying close behind the twinkling lights of the ambulance.

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The next few hours had Ali on edge, not knowing how Rhys was, no doctors came to reassure her. What was going on? She jumped from her seat for the third time in an hour to ask the receptionist about Rhys.

"Ma'am, I can't tell you his status, it has to be direct family." The elderly lady snapped, getting annoyed with having repeat the same sentence to Ali over and over again.

"He has no direct family, they are all dead! I'm his FIANCE you going to tell me what's going on now?" She barely noticed her father walk up behind her placing his hands on her shoulder.

"Ma'am, since his parents just passed I am the boy's legal guardian. Please tell my daughter the status of her fiance." Connor asked sternly. The lady sighed heavily pushing herself from the desk disappearing behind a wall. After waiting for her to return for over a minute Connor led Ali back to her seat.

"Mr. Baynes?" Ali looked up at a younger man dressed in a white lab coat and scrubs underneath.

"Yes?" Connor stood holding out his hand to shake with the doctor.

"I'm Dr. Cunningham, Rhys' attending doctor. We can't seem to find a reason for him slipping in to a comatose state. He is stable, but not responding to external stimuli. We have ran brain scans, he is showing normal brain scans, so he could possibly wake up. But we just don't know when."

"Can I see him?" Ali jumped up pleading. The doctor simply nodded and lead the way back to a private room. Rhys was laying peacefully on the hospital bed, he had tubes running to his arm and around his nose. Ali rushed to his side, gripping his hand tightly. "Rhys, please wake up. Please?" She asked softly to him, but he didn't respond.

"Mr. Baynes, has the boy had any major trauma happen recently?" The baby faced doctor asked.

Connor turned to face the doctor, nodding to head out the door leaving Ali alone with the sleeping Rhys. Once they were in the hall, Connor responded, "His parents just passed away, it was a murder suicide. From what Rhys has told me in the past, his father beat his mother frequently and would do the same to him when he was younger."

The doctor nodded as he placed his forefinger on his chin in thought. "From what your telling me and the tests we've ran on him. It seems that Rhys is in fact in shock. His body has put him in this state until he is physically and mentally able to handle what happened. I've seen it before, but unfortunately there is no time table to go on. So now we play the waiting game." The doctor spoke confidently as he jotted down notes in a file he was holding. "But you should know, studies have proven that the comatose can still hear. So talk to him as you normally would, reassure him he okay. And that everyone will be here for him when he's ready." Connor understood and nodded in response. He held out his hand to shake with the doctor before he departed.

Walking back in the room, he saw Ali sitting on the edge of the bed rubbing his hand talking to him. He hoped for Ali's sake he would wake soon. Just by looking at her, Connor could tell everything that had happened the past few weeks are taking a toll on her as well. Something deep down told him that Ali had an untapped strength within her, much like her mother did. Now only if she'd find it before she suffered the same fate.