just for a moment | rini

[15] i told you i'd be back

"mom, please, i need to see ricky." nini pleaded.

"nini, sweetheart, we are going to be honest with you. we don't know if that's possible." nini's mom said, as both women looked at eachother, there eyes filled with dread for the news they had to give to nini.

"what do you mean? where is he? mom?" nini asked worried.

"nini, you were very lucky. there were 107 kids in the woods that night. 75 have died since the accident. some on the scene, others days later in the hospital. 26 of them are in life threatening states. nobody knows if they are going to survive or not. baby, you were apart of the remaining 6. you are so incredibly lucky. you guys got out with non-life threatening injuries. you get to go home tomorrow. but nini, ricky wasn't apart of the 6." nini's mom said. nini could feel every inch of her body wanting to scream.

"please don't be dead. please don't be dead. the last words i said to him can't be "ill be back, i promise." god, i couldn't live with myself if i knew i left him alone to die. please don't be dead."

"ricky is part of the 26. his injuries are very complicated, and his body can't fight it in his normal state. rickys body fell into a coma. he has been in it since he got to the hospital. they don't know when he will wake up... sweetie, they don't know if he will wake up." nini's mom said, squeezing her hand.

"luckily, when you got to the ambulance, before you went unconscious, you gave the EMT your name. they found you in the blood donation system, and got your emergency contacts. we got here while you were in surgery. we didn't know that you were with ricky, or we would have called mike. he ended up calling us the next morning. he asked if ricky had stayed over at the house after you two didn't come home the night before. by the time mike got here, ricky was already in the coma." nini mom explained.

this was crazy. nini hates it. why does she get to just be okay while ricky may never wake up again? what sense does that make? this wasn't fair. nini was supposed to get help, and ricky was supposed to be okay. this is not okay.

"i need to see ricky. i just need to see him." nini said, adamant in her decision.

"baby, i don't think that's a very good-" nini's mom started, but nini cut her off.

"mom, the last thing i told ricky in the woods was that i'll be back. i promised him. i need to see him. i need to mama." nini said. her mother's looked at eachother and got the doctor in the room to help get nini in a wheel chair. they attached nini's IV's to the back. they rolled her down the recovery hallway, all the way down to 2 big doors with the letters 'ICU' written across the top. the first room on her right had 'BOWEN, R.' on the door.

nini's breathe caught in her throat. the doctor opened the door and let nini wheel herself in. she looked at the boy who laid in the bed, not wanting to believe it was ricky. there was machines hooked up to him, tubes in his throat to help him breath, there were so many wires.

nini wheeled herself over to the side of the bed. she stopped and just looked at him. as much as she didn't want it to be him, it was. she would know ricky anywhere, even with all the scrapes and bandages and wires and tubes, it was ricky.

nini gently reached her hand up and set his in hers. she gave it a light squeeze.

"i told you i'd be back." nini said softly. the beep of the monitors was the only response. "i'm so sorry. i should have stayed with you. i never should have left." nini said as tears slipped out of her eyes and down her cheeks.

"but i'm here now. and i'm not going anywhere. they said you may never wake up, but i don't believe that. you are a fighter, ricky bowen. so fight. i cant lose you. i won't." nini said, bringing rickys hand to her face as she planted a soft kiss onto the back of it.

she lifted her other hand to move a curl out of his face. so much has happened since friday night. now, it was sunday morning and nini would give anything in the entire world to go back to friday morning. so she could tell EJ caswell that she couldn't make it to his party. oh my gosh, EJ. nini had been so preoccupied, she never even thought about the other people she knew at the party. the only other people she was really close to was EJ, carlos, and seb. nini would ask around to see if they were okay, but for right now, she needed to be with ricky. she knew it wouldn't make up for the time in the woods that she wasn't there, but she would be here now, weather he knew if or not.

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authors note : this is probably the shortest chapter i will write in this book, so i will be back to my longer chapters soon! let me know your thoughts! don't be e silent reader!! also, please go check out my your rini book and my anne with an e/ shirbert book!
xoxo, jo <3