Everything Opposite

Chapter Seventeen

Josh
We won the trial. We were about to go reunite with our family when the man who was sitting with Ryleigh's birth mom jumped out. I saw the knife glint too late. Blood was darkening the black of Ryleigh's dress. She looked at me for a moment before she collapsed.

Ryleigh!"I yelled. We all stood over her as she gasped for breath and whimpered. "NO, YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO HIM! THAT LITTLE WHORE DESERVED EVERYTHING COMING TO HER!"her mother screamed hysterically before Ryleigh's eyes fluttered closed. Several cops were pulling the man away as her mother fought them and they eventually took her too. "Sir, we need you to step back. An ambulance is on the way,"an officer said, pushing me back by the shoulder. I was totally numb. My little sister lay in front of me, her blood spilling out and I could do nothing to stop it.

Debby was crying. I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her into my chest as I also started to let myself cry. The EMTs were here now to take her away. Tyler led me out to his and Jenna's vehicle and we followed behind the ambulance while my siblings went with my parents in the car behind us. They ran her away from us, behind closed doors. All we had left to do now was wait.

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Alex
I was pacing back and forth. We've been here for hours. Hospitals have made me nervous ever since Tom passed away. The clock ticking was driving me crazy. People came in and out. "Alex, dude, calm down,"Rian said, trying to slow my pacing down. "She's gotta be okay! What if she isn't?"I asked aloud.

It was then I noticed the guys watching me, worried. Zack was unusually quiet. To the fans he was the quiet one but to us he talked more, we were like family after all. He was staring at the wall. I took a seat beside him. "Hey, how ya doing?"I asked. "I can't lose her. I really like her, Alex. I didn't want anything bad to happen to her. Why did this have to happen?"he asked putting his head in his hands. I saw his shoulders shake. I rubbed his back, not sure how to console him.

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Josh
"Ryleigh Dun?"a doctor called out. It wasn't hard to pick out our clan. We were most of the people left in the waiting area at this time of night. They had moved us to large waiting room upstairs around two hours ago. We stood, crowding around the doctor.

"We managed to stop the bleeding and give her a transfusion. The knife missed many of her vital organs but it hit a major artery and the side of the left heart valve. We were able to patch these up and she should be able to make a full recovery,"the doctor informed us. "When can we see her?"Tyler asked. "You can probably start heading in now. She'll start waking up, kind of groggy within the next few hours. I'd say no more than groups of six. She's in the ICU on the 8th floor,"he said.

"Any other questions?"he asked. When no one spoke up, the doctor took his leave. We all looked at each other, trying to decide who should go in first. "Hey, maybe you and Ty should go first since you've known her longer,"Ashley said, putting her hand on my shoulder. I looked at my sister and nodded. Tyler began following me down the hall. The members of All Time Low followed closely behind us. We walked in silence with occasional pages to doctors coming over an intercom.

Nurses sat sleepily at the station with coffees, waiting for the twelve hour shift to finally come to an end. "Excuse me, ma'am, I'm looking for Ryleigh Dun?"Tyler asked for me as a bright eyed nurse came out of a room. "Just down the hall, third door from the end,"she said, pointing. We began walking again. "I'll come by for her vitals in a bit. I'm Misty, by the way,"she said quietly to our group. I heard a hint of a southern accent in her voice.

We found Ryleigh's room but I found myself hesitating to enter. Tyler gently opened the door and lightly pushed my shoulder. Oxygen tubes came from her nose. Dozens of IVs were in her arm. A small blood stain was on the blanket, seeping through a thick bandage around the wound. "Oh, Ryleigh,"I whispered, fighting off tears. I took a seat by her side while everyone else found a place in the room whether it was leaning against a wall or on the faux leather couch. I drifted off to sleep.

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Zack
I was the only one still awake. The nurse, Misty, came in around an hour ago to check Ryleigh's vitals. She also replaced the bloody blanket with a new one. Now, I was the only one still awake. "You have to pull through, Ryles. I love you so much,"I whispered to her, kissing her cold hand. Her fingers tightened around my hand and she let out an audible sigh. She would be waking soon.

The guys went out a few minutes ago to get her family and Logan. Josh and I remained in here with her. He slept with his head near her arm. Eventually I let myself drift off, too.

I woke up when I felt the bed shift a little. Ryleigh's parents were asleep on the little couch. Her sisters sat on the floor asleep, leaning against her brother Jordan. Ryleigh had moved her legs a little. I sat up and used my hand to try to clear sleep from my eyes. I still felt tired. I hadn't slept long.

When they were clear, I saw her tired eyes looking back at me. "Zacky?"she asked weakly. "I'm here, what do you need?"I asked. "Where's my family? What's going to happen to me?"she asked, her eyes already half closed again. "They're here, Ryleigh. You made it, you're gonna be okay,"I promised. "What happened to the man?"she asked. "He's currently in custody. You just get some rest, we'll talk later,"I said. She started falling asleep again. I was relieved. She was gonna be okay. I carefully removed my hand from hers and stood to go get coffee from the cafeteria. It was a long night. I found myself wondering if she heard me while she slept. I guess time will tell.

A/N: Hey y'all! Here's another update. Yesterday was so bad for me but I managed to write a little here and there. What did you think of this chapter? I'm not the proudest of this one but I can always rewrite it later. I didn't really have a plan for this one. Try to update again soon. Much love!

B