Can't Help Falling in Love {Ryan Blaney}✔️

| twenty-five |

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜

"Where is my granddaughter?" Lara winced at her grandfather's voice echoing the halls of the emergency room. "I need to see Lara Hendrick now."

    "Sorry," She mouthed to the nurse who was taking her vitals.

    The nurse gave her a knowing smile as her grandfather appeared in the doorway. "Lara," His voice was desperate. "Are you okay?"

    She shrugged, "I don't know."

    "It wasn't that hard of a hit, was it?" He asked, searching Lara's face for an explanation.

    Lara shook her head, "No, Grandpa. I don't know what's going on." And she didn't. All she knew was that the pain was intensifying and instead of coming in waves, it was starting to be more steady.

    Rick plopped down into the plastic seat beside the bed, "I remember the first time your dad got hurt. Scared me half to death."

    "How'd he get hurt?" Lara asked, shifting towards her grandfather. New stories about her father were scarce so when he told her one, she listened, soaking all of the information like a sponge.

    "It was at Bristol, he was driving aggressively just like you were and he got into somebody and ended up spinning himself. And he was young, younger than you so the cars were not as safe. He ended up with a concussion and a broken arm." Rick shook his head, chuckling to himself. "He honestly tried to convince me that he could drive with a broken arm."

    Lara chuckled a little bit too. Sometimes she felt like her grandfather only told her that she was so similar to her Dad to make her feel better but when he told her a story like that, she knew it was true. "That sounds like the time I broke my wrist and tried to get in the car the next morning."

    Rick shook his head, "When he died Lara, I lost the will to live. He was more than my son, he was my best friend. But the day your mom showed up on our doorstep and told us that she was pregnant, I knew you were a gift. A gift from your dad." He let out a shaky breath.

    Lara leaned over, grabbing his hand. "Thank you for everything. Thank you for taking me in when my mom abandoned me, I know you didn't have to do that."

    Rick blinked at her, "Lara, we took your mom to court to get custody of you."

    Lara's eyes widened, "What?"

    "Lara, we could tell things were bad at your mom's so we took her to court. What did you think happened?" Her grandfather

    Lara leaned back in the bed, "She never told me anything, she just told me to pack my things and she drove to your house and told me to get out. I thought she didn't want me anymore and you took me in because me being in foster care would have been a PR nightmare. I thought I was your burden."

    "I had no idea," Rick murmured quietly. "You're not my burden, you're not anybody's burden. I'm sorry if I've ever made you feel that way."

    Lara blinked back tears. "I just always have had it in my head that I was. And then everything with Chase happened and..." Her voice trailed off.

    Rick let out a long breath, "I shouldn't have said what I said. Sometimes I forget that you're so young, you've always acted so much older because you had to." He shook his head. "I need you to understand that you have never been a burden to me, not even for a moment."

    A stray tear streaked down Lara's cheek, "I love you, Grandpa."

"I love you too, kiddo." Rick gave her a weak smile.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we're going to take Lara to her ultrasound now," The nurse poked her head in.

"I'll be in the waiting room." Her grandfather patted her hand before leaning up to kiss her on the forehead.

"Ready?" The nurse asked.

Lara nodded, wincing at the pain that she was suddenly aware of again and the nurse began to wheel her towards the ultrasound room.

"Hope everything works out for you," The nurse gave her a weak smile as she left her.

"Alright Lara," The perky ultrasound tech smiled down at her, "Let's take a look and see if we can figure out what's going on."

Lara nodded, anxiety churning in her stomach. "Okay," She whispered as she lifted her hospital gown.

"This is going to feel cold," The tech warned as she squeezed a cold gel on her stomach.

Lara leaned back as the tech pushed a small wand down, her eyes trained on the screen. She closed her eyes, for the first time letting her mind wander to what could be wrong. She had watched enough Grey's Anatomy to have an idea, possibly a ruptured appendix, maybe a ruptured spleen.

"My daughter is a big fan of you," The tech smiled at her as she moved the wand around. "You're pretty badass if I do say so myself. Chase Elliott had it coming."

Lara chuckled, "That was not my finest moment."

"Maybe not but you showed everybody that you weren't going to be pushed around just because you're a girl. That takes guts." The tech told her, eyes trained on the screen.

"Guts or maybe a little stupidity," Lara chuckled, watching the tech. Her heart pounded as she watched the tech's eyes widen. "What?" She asked, her stomach churning.

The tech turned to her, offering her a smile but this time it was different-- Lara couldn't exactly pinpoint how but it was different, sadder. "I've got all I need. I'll have the nurse bring you back to your room and the doctor will be in shortly, okay?"

"Can't you tell me?" Lara questioned, everything starting to spin.

She shook her head, reaching over to squeeze Lara's hand, "The doctor will tell you everything you need to know, okay?"

❛ ━━━━━━･❪ ❁ ❫ ･━━━━━━ ❜