A New Life

9. A Startling Realization

Nick, Sophie, Connor, and I had decided on having lunch together after class, but Nick and I still had an hour before Sophie and Connor finished their classes for the day. We had decided to study for our quiz tomorrow at the coffee shop.

"What's one of your favorite things to get here?" he asked me as we stepped up to the counter.

"Well, their Vanilla Frappecinno is really good," I told him.

"We'll have two of those," he told the man at the counter.

"Anything else, babe?" Nick asked me.

"Nope, I think that's it," I replied.

"Can we also get a slice of coffee cake?" Nick asked the man at the counter.

Nick insisted on paying for it as usual.

We sat down on a couch near the corner of the coffee shop. Our order was ready and Nick quickly got up to get it. He came back with our drinks and the coffee cake.

"Are you sure you don't want any of this coffee cake?" he said holding the fork to my mouth tempting me.

"Fine..." I said rolling my eyes jokingly.

He fed me a bite, and I found that the coffee cake was actually really amazing.

"This is really good!!" I told Nick as he took a bite himself.

We studied for the quiz, and after her class was over, Sophie texted me asking where I was. I replied, "At the coffee shop...we'll meet you at the cafeteria."

Nick and I left the coffee shop and began walking to the cafeteria. We met up with Sophie and Connor, and we got in line to get lunch. They were serving sandwiches, and they also had a nice salad bar. I grabbed a sandwich from the counter and went to pay. We all sat down at a table and started talking about our classes and how much homework we all seemed to have. We all got along really well and I enjoyed our little group.

"Thanks for a great lunch, guys!" Sophie said we all got up to go our separate ways.

I had decided I was going to go visit Ryan in the hospital.

"Hey, Nick can I ask you for a favor?" I asked him.

"Anything, babe, what's the matter?" he replied.

"Do you think you could take me to the hospital so I can visit Ryan?"

He was a little puzzled by this statement, but he agreed and we started walking to the car. As we got to the parking lot, Nick finally asked me, "So, how do you know Ryan?"

"I knew him from high school last year. Nothing is going on I promise, he's just a friend." I replied.

Nick looked relieved as I said this. We drove to the hospital, and Nick was a lot more relaxed.

We got to the hospital and signed in. We asked the lady at the front desk which room he was in. She guided us to the waiting room where a nurse was waiting for us.

"I'm sorry but his room is so small, we can only have one visitor at a time." the nurse said.

Nick and I looked at each other, and Nick said,"You go, babe, I can wait for you out here."

I smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss before following the nurse to Ryan's room.

The hospital was very plain. As I walked down the hallway, I wondered what Ryan would say to me when he saw me; I guess I would just find out.

Just then, the nurse stopped at a room and said, "Here we are, Ms. Cullin." I thanked her and  walked in.

A million emotions were written on Ryan's unshaven face as I walked in. I just smiled and walked toward his bed. He had so many IV tubes and monitors stuck to him, and there was always something faintly beeping. 

"I'm so happy to see you," he said as he barely moved his head. He motioned me to sit on the bed next to him. I never realized that football could be so injuring.

"I'm happy to see you, too Ryan," I told him. "How are you feeling?" I asked him.

"Ok, I guess," he said, "even better now that you're here."

"How has the hospital been treating you?" I asked.

"Good, but I miss being with you, Connor, and Sophie back on campus." he replied.

"You did really well at the game," I told him.

"Yeah, even though I missed the play completely," he said, "that was pretty embarrassing."

"I didn't think so," I said, "It was actually a little bit scary. I didn't know if you were going to be alright."

He was gazing into my eyes, smiling.

Then it dawned on me....he didn't know about Nick and me.

"Ryan, I need to tell you---" I began to say, but I didn't get to finish.

He had begun to move toward me, watching my lips.

I was so startled by this that I leaned back and accidentally fell off the edge of the bed.

Now that was embarrassing. I pulled myself back up and I knew that I needed to tell him about Nick.

"Ryan, I have to tell you something..." I said to him, "I'm in a relationship with someone else."

This completely took him by surprise. His eyes closed, and I don't think he heard much else.

A bunch of the machines started beeping loudly and that's when I realized Ryan had fainted. I had no idea that he would be so shocked by this news.

A bunch of nurses came running into the room and dismissed me. I felt so bad about all of this. I ran up to Nick, who had heard all the nurses talking about Ryan's fainting right when it happened. He ran to me, and I burst into tears in his arms.

He guided me out of the hospital and we got out to the parking lot. We stopped near the little park next to the hospital parking lot.

"What happened, baby?" Nick asked me, still hugging me as he wiped the tears out of my eyes. I had to tell him.

I sighed and began to tell Nick what happened. "I was sitting next to Ryan, and we were just talking, and he leaned in to kiss me. I backed up and accidentally fell off the bed. I got up and told him I was in a relationship with someone else, and he fainted. I feel so bad. I had no idea he felt that way toward me."

Nick hugged me tighter, and my tears started falling again. He was so good at comforting me.

"Thank you for being honest with me, babe," Nick said kissing my forehead.

"Let's go," Nick suggested.

We walked to his car and he opened the car door for me.

I thought we were driving back to campus, but after a few minutes I realized we were going the opposite way.

"Where are we going?" I finally asked Nick.

"It's a surprise!" he said.