Mysterious Marriage

Chapter 17 - Relief

XxX

Footsteps continued to walk by me over and over again. Nurses. Doctors. Aids. Other patients.

Here I was, sitting in a chair, hands holding my head with my elbows propping them. I was hunched over with my elbows on my knees, silent. There was no word yet, and I that dark hole that had swallowed me earlier was now starting to drown me.

A sudden rushing of feet came towards me and I looked up to see the panic in Ryan's face. "Amilee..." he whispered, as if out of breath. Tears gathered again in my eyes and I quickly stood and threw myself in his arms. Those long arms quickly wrapped around me as he gently rubbed my back. "Have you heard anything?" he asked gently.

I sobbed in into his chest. "No Nothing yet. Oh god, Ryan! You should have seen him when they pulled him out of that building!" The memory flashed before my eyes, remembering him being pulled out by two men because of his size. He was covered in soot and his jacket was off. His shirt sleeves were gone, and his arms were charred.

He wasn't responding.

Paramedics had rushed to his side and quickly intubated him, then started to bag him so he could breathe. They checked his heart out, throwing on a LifePak to monitor his heart rate and rhythm. I was able to breathe myself once I saw his heart rate going. But that quickly faded once I saw that his heart rate was technically brady, or slower that normal.

His hair was a mess, his body dirty and burned. They had quickly rolled him onto a backboard and strapped him on, then got him onto the stretcher. I was allowed to follow behind the ambulance with the car, so the officer escorted me back and I've been here at the hospital since.

I had called Ryan and I had already been on his way to meet me. He saw it on the news as well, but by the time he got there we had already left.

After a few I started to calm down and Ryan pulled back slightly so that he could look at me. His green eyes were ones of worry and compassion. He must be just as scared as I am, but able to control himself better. His hand came up and wiped my cheeks a bit. "He should be just fine, Amilee. Tate's too strong to give up."

"I hope you're right." I sniffed, wanting to break down all over again. This was the worst day of my life, and until I actually saw Tate, alive, with my own two eyes, my life would be worthless.

"I am. Now, sit down while I go get you something hot to drink. Coffee?"

I shook my head and hugged myself. "I can't drink or eat."

"Nonsense." Ryan looked around and spotted a little nutrition room for visitors. He looked back down at me and gently rubbed my arm. "You need to keep something down. I'll be right back."

It wasn't much later after Ryan and I both sat and had a cup of coffee each that a Doctor walked through the doors and came straight to us. My eyes went wide and Ryan's eyes shown just how urgently he needed to ear good news as well.

The younger looking Doctor with caramel colored hair and brown eyes was putting his white lab coat back on and nodded at the two of us. He held out his hand. "I'm Dr. Yold." Ryan took his hand and then I did next. "Mrs. Anderson, I assume?"

"Yes. And this is our good friend, Ryan Scott." I swallowed hard. "H-How is he?"

Ryan's hand came up touched my arm for support. Wither it was for me or for himself I didn't know.

"He's going to be fine."

"Oh thank god!" I cried with relief. Ryan's shoulders eased up a bit as well.

"Yes, he'll make a full recovery, but there are a few things that you must know. About twelve percent of his body is covered in burns. Now, most will heal with no problem, but there are two spots that are third degree burns. A spot on his back and on his right forearm. Both will scar. Now, he's still intubated just because he might have burned his airway from the smoke. We are monitoring that, but if we don't see any signs of swelling in a day or two, we can see about removing the airway. He's breathing okay right now, we just want to keep eyes on his condition the next couple days."

"No other damage?" Ryan asked, surprising me. Why would there be any other damage done?

"Yes, we took him in CT to check his head after we found a contusion on the back of his head. He does have a concussion, but there is no signs of bleeding or major swelling, so he should be okay. Just sore and out of it for a while."

Why in the world did he have a contusion on the back of his head!? He was just in a fire... did something happen? Or did something fall on him?

"We admitted him upstairs, you can see him now if you want."

"Ye-"

"I'll take her up in a moment. What room?" Ryan asked, cutting me off. Dr. Yold nodded.

"216."

"Thank you, Dr. Yold. We appreciate all you've done for Tate."

He nodded and walked away, heading back in to work on his next patient. I turned and looked at Ryan. "What's wrong?" I asked, surprised he delayed us in seeing Tate.

He pulled out a small letter as anger sparked from his face and eyes. Dread started to fill my chest again. "You should read this." He held it out to me. As I eyed it in his hand, I realized that it was the same letter I had given Tate earlier before he went all crazy and stormed out in a rush. Swallowing past the lump that was forming again in my throat, I reached out and took it.

Everything I feared came true.

My eyes read the first line and I instantly knew what had happened.

It was the date to make my down payment.

The short letter was actually about me.

"Down payment is due today. I don't believe your wife has the money. Unless you don't want something bad to happen to her, meet me at your new hotel, six sharp, with the money. 50,000. Don't be late."