BEYOND LOVE

CHAPTER 3

I was looking out of the window in Ryan's room. The city was busy, each immersed in their own bubble filled with thoughts of work, family, love and health. Life was so uncertain. One minute it would all be fine and the next, it would have turned upside down.

"Water...water..." I heard a faint noise from the room I was in and I immediately knew who it was. I turned around and literally ran towards the table to fill a glass of water for Ryan. I lifted his head slightly from the pillow and kept the tip of the glass near his lips and slowly tilted the glass until he drank all of it. Tears were already staining by cheeks by now. I was so happy that he had regained his consciousness. Nothing mattered than this. Ryan's eyes were swollen and red, his lips dry and chapped, his breathing ragged. As much I was happy to have him back, I was immensely hurt by his condition and didn't want this for him. I immediately placed his head back on the pillow, kept the glass on the table and dialled Dr.Cooper to inform him.

I kept my phone back on the table and watched Ryan. I held his hand and gently pressed my palm into his; deeper each time, but there was not a single movement. He slowly tilted his head towards me and a weak and tiered smile appeared on his face.

"Good afternoon, sleepy head." I whispered, loud enough for him to hear and smiled at him.

"I feel numb....all over..babe.." his voice was strained and raspy.

I couldn't bring myself to tell him anything and I just sat there feeling numb myself. Dear god, what is happening...

"It will get better love. It's just the medicines. You'll be fine." I said and rubbed the top of his right hand.

"Hmmm...." He hummed in response and closed his eyes for a few seconds before opening it again. This time he kept his eyes on me, without even blinking. After a few painfully silent seconds, he asked me something that tugged deeply at my heart.

"Where is your husband's good morning kiss?" and smiled, slowly. He pulled his eyebrows together, as if he was in deep thought. "Or maybe a good afternoon kiss.." he said, bringing  back his smile.

Without wasting a second I shifted myself to the side of his bed and placed my lips over his. This was my ritual. Every morning when he woke up, I would greet him with a kiss and on many occasions, when he did not have to rush to work, he would take my innocent kisses to a whole new level. I felt him, I felt his chapped lips, trying to move on mine and I held back my tears. I lifted my head and placed my forehead over his. I looked into his eyes and kissed them when they closed again.

"Is he awake?" Dr. Cooper called out as he came in and I straightened myself.

He went near the bed and sat on the chair.

"Hey Doc..." Ryan greeted his friend. "Thanks for whatever you did with my body, I can feel nothing..." He said, trying to laugh, but ended up coughing. I filled the glass with water and went to the other side of the bed to help him drink.

"It will get better, Ryan. I promise." He said and looked at me gravely. He immediately checked Ryan's heart count with his stethoscope and checked his pulse. He looked up towards the almost empty pack of glucose that was being injected into Ryan's body.

"Has the nurse come on her rounds, Andra?" he asked, turning his head towards me.

"Yes, she did. She said she would bring another pack of glucose."

"Great. I'll be back again. There is a patient downstairs who I have to attend to, as soon as I'm done with him, I'll be back." he looked at Ryan and kept his hand on his shoulder.

"Like I said, I can't even feel your hand on my shoulder. Did you operate me right, mate? Or were you and your minions experimenting on me?"

Dr. Cooper laughed.

"We'll have to wait to find that out then" he joked, with a wicked smile on his face.

"Fuck off!" Ryan cursed, and laughed at his friend.

"It's scary how much I trust you, Steve." He said, looking at the ceiling.

"You'll be fine Ryan. I promise." He said, and got up.

"Can I have a word with you, Andra?"

"Yeah, steal my wife now."

"Ryan!" I looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Go to bed, love."

"I will...Feeling exhausted again..." he said, and closed his eyes.

As soon as I was out of the door, I pulled it close from outside, waiting for Stephen to tell me whatever he wanted to tell.

"He is back to his normal self now, but it will be hard to handle him when he comes face to face with what has happened. It's going to be hard, so let me do it for you."

"Please, let me do this by myself. I will tell him..." I wanted to do this by myself, but I felt enveloped with fear. What if he changes forever after this? Will he shut down on me..? Questions upon questions and my mind was introducing me to a whole new level of negativity.

After a few seconds, he spoke, "Alright, Andra, just be careful. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

I nodded.

He looked at the door and then back at me.

"It's good to have him back. Give him plenty of water and fruits. The nurse will come again and guide you with his diet. Take care and I'll be back soon." He nodded, and walked away to attend to his patient.

I looked at his figure walking away and turned towards the door.

"Andra!" a familiar voice called out.

I could identify the owner of the voice without turning towards them. I saw her sophisticated self walking towards me with determined steps. Even though she spoke all those hurtful words, at the end of the day, she was my mother and I had to respect her. I don't know why, but I felt at peace to see my mother back in the hospital again.

"I am sorry, Ma." I said, and looked towards the door. "Ryan's awake. You can meet him if you want to, but if your intention is to hurt him, I would ask you to leave immediately." I spoke with my voice rigid, looking straight into her eyes to make my point very clear.

She looked surprised for a second.

"Why would I do that? I am not going to hurt him by informing him about his own disability. He is going to hurt when you tell him and that will happen sooner or later. So there is not much difference."

I looked at her and knew that this is not what Ryan would want to see at the moment. I couldn't let my mother go in a talk to him now. She would bloody emotionally drain him.

"Well, he is asleep now. Why don't we go down and grab a cup of coffee?" I suggested.

"Sure, let's go."

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Hello my loves,

I hope you liked the update. Please let me know if you guys liked the update.

Until next time,

RLJ