Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Why us?

(Flashback)
Ryan's point of view

I can see Claire out of the corner of my eye grabbing her keys, discreetly glancing back at me just before her hand reaches the door knob, making me think she is going to say something, but she quickly opens the door, and leaves

Claire must have left an hour and a half ago, and she should be back by now because she is never gone this long without at least texting me. No matter how hard I try to keep the thought out of my head, I know something is wrong, I just don't know what. I know i shouldn't, but I can't stop pacing back and forth, thinking of all the worst case scenarios that could have happened.

I stop doing everything when I hear a metallic ringing noise coming from the kitchen. The noise sounds familiar but I can't put my finger on what the noise is coming from. I walk towards the sound, and realize that it is our old wall phone that was there when we moved in. I remember how amazing we thought it was that we had an actual wall phone in our kitchen. We ended up setting a number because we thought it was so neat. Now the only calls we ever get are from ad agencies, trying to scam us out of our money.

I snapped out my day dream because I remembered the phone was ringing. Which is odd because we never use it, and we've never received a marketing call this late at night. I quickly picked up the phone before it went to voice mail.

"Hello."

"Hello is this Ryan singer? "

"Yes, can I ask who is calling?"

"My name is Felicia Davis, I tried calling your mobile number but it went straight to voicemail. I'm calling from Mckenzie Hospital. My records show that you are Ms. Claire Reynolds emergency contact, is this correct?"

As soon as she spoke I started shaking so uncontrollably I couldn't stand anymore, so I just slid to the floor.

"Yes, did something happen?" My voice doesn't sound like my own, it sounds like someone else's on recording.

"I'm so sorry, there's been an accident."

I didn't need to hear anymore. I dropped the phone, and ran to my keys as fast as my feet could carry me. I could hear the lady on the phone yelling but I didn't care, I need to get in my car, and get to the hospital immediately.

I am instantly in tears. I haven't cried in so long it feels so foreign to me, but that's the least of my worries right now. Oh god I was right, there was something wrong. Why did I have to be right? She is all I have, and I am all she has. Her parents deserted her at birth, and all of my family isn't around anymore, other than my alcoholic father. I can't lose her. It will shatter me into a million pieces, that I will never be able to glue back together. Without her I would be eternally broken, with no repair.

As I race into the parking lot I can see flashing ambulance lights. I know that just minutes ago, my precious Claire was brought to this hospital in one of those flashing vehicles, that never mean something good. I can't breath, and I can barely see anything in front of me because I'm blinded by my own tears. When I finally find a parking spot I screech in and I don't care. I rip the keys out of the ignition, and I run.

When I reach the front desk they tell me she has just been taken into surgery. I honestly can't  take it anymore. I can hear the sounds of my screams as I slide onto the floor, but the sounds seem so distant. This can't be happening. Maybe it was just a dream, but deep down I know this is real. This was happening and I sure as hell not ready for it.

Claire has been in surgery for 12 hours, and the entire I time, I have been sitting on the edge of my chair, staring blankly at a wall. I can hear the doctor telling me she has broken her left leg, left arm, and back, with possible head injuries, but I can't feel anything anymore, and now he's telling me they don't  know if they are going to be able to repair the injuries to her spine and brain. I don't even know how many times I have pinched myself tonight, but each time the pain still comes. This isn't a dream. This is real.

I knew she was upset. I could have stopped her, and sure as hell would have stopped her if only I had known her driving would end with her lying in this hospital bed. I could have kept her from running head-on, into a car, in the middle of the night. Why didn't I stop her? It's my fault she's lying here  help-less, while I sit and wait for her to open her eyes. All I can hear right now is the beeping of the monitor and the gushing sound of the machine that is breathing for her. I just have one question for anybody to answer; why us?

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Thank you so much for reading this!! I wasn't sure if it was even going to get 1 view thank you!!