Loves Second Chance

Chapter Three

Lacey and her mother walked into Graces hospital room, leaving Ryan and Paul too wait in the waiting room. Neither knowing what they were walking into, Amanda walked over to Grace and picked her hand up.

Lacey took one look at her lying motionless on the hospital bed and fought for her next breath. She felt as though the walls were closing in and she had to get out of there. As fast as she could Lacey turned and ran back out of the room and down the hall. She never even noticed that she had run right past Ryan, only knowing that she was going to be sick. Running into the ladies' room, she barely made it before she lost all the contents of her stomach.

She felt a warm hand on the back of her neck and a damp paper towel being placed on her forehead. "Breath, Sweetheart." Ryan quietly told her as her body wracked with tears. When she had calmed a little Ryan helped her up, and they walked back down to the waiting room.

"Ryan, what am I going to do, how can I go in there and face that little girl. She lost her parents tonight. I can't stand to see her laying there in that bed and not being able to help her." Tears welled up in her eyes again, and she quickly closed them, but not before Ryan seen them and gently wiped them away with his thumbs as they made their way down her cheeks.

Ryan knelt in front of her and took her hands in his. "Sweetheart, there are no easy answers for you. You are a strong woman that has been through an awful lot tonight. When that little girl wakes up, you will do what you always do. You will be there to talk to her, to love her, and to help her out in any way that you can, because that is who you are.

Of course, it's hard seeing her in that condition. No one likes to see the people they love suffering, but you are brave, and strong and you can get through this, and I already told you Sweetheart that anything you need I will help you with. If you need me to be with you when you go back in that room, then I will."

"I don't know what I would have done without you. Even after all the years how is it that you always know exactly what to say to make me feel better."

"All I was doing was telling you the truth Sweetheart." Ryan stood up and helped her to her feet. "Are you ready to go back in there yet?"

Putting her hands around his waist and leaning in for a hug. "Yeah, I think I am, thanks to you." She looked up at him and smiled, then kissed him on the jaw and took his hand as they walked back towards Grace's room.

When they arrived at the room Amanda was just walking out. "Lacey I was just going to come and find you. Are you alright dear?"

"Yeah, I am now thanks to Ryan. I had a slight breakdown, but I'm fine now really."

"Well dear, I am going back to sit in the waiting room with your father. After your visit could you please come find me? I need to speak to you."

"Sure mom." Lacey answered as she made her way farther into the room.

Lacey walked back into the room, stood next to the bed, and took Grace's hand in hers. Ryan silently stood behind her with his hand on her neck.

"Hey Gracie, it's your aunt Lacey. I know I haven't seen you in a while, and I'm sorry for that. You need to get better so you can come home." Tears welled up in her eyes again, and she was struggling to breathe.

Ryan turned her in his arms and held her, never saying a word. Finally, she calmed down again and stepped back from his embrace. "I'm ok now."

Ryan never said a word, just continued to hold her in a loose embrace.

"I'm going to go talk to your grandma, you rest. I will be back in a little while to check on you again." Lacey leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead, and then silently left the room.

They found Amanda sitting in the waiting room drinking coffee and watching the news. "Well mom what did you need to speak to me about?" Lacey asked as they took a seat across from her.

"We need to go to the funeral home and set up the day and time for the visitation and service. Lorena and Scott already had everything else bought and paid for. I think it would be best to have a double service since Scott didn't have any family. What do you think dear?"

"I am going to leave that up to you mom. I have never been good at dealing with this sort of thing. The closest I came to planning a funeral was for my goldfish when I was ten."

"Alright dear, I will set everything up, and then I will call you with the details. You need to make a few calls yourself. Nobody other than us knows about Lorena and Scott. I'm sure you will want to call your friends."

"I'm going to wait until I know the time of the funeral and then I will make the calls."

"Well, it's almost seven now, I need to go and get cleaned up and have some breakfast and then head over to the funeral home. You should really go home and get some more sleep. You look like you could use it."

"I am going to stay here with Grace, I don't want her to wake up and be by herself."

"Don't worry Mrs. Walters, I will see to it, that she rests and gets something to eat." Ryan said looking pointedly at Lacey.

The rest of the day went much the same way. Every two hours Lacey and Ryan would go in and check on Grace and then go back to waiting. Just after five in the afternoon her cell phone rang, seeing it was her mother she quickly walked outside and answered it. Once she had all the funeral information, she made her way back inside to tell Ryan.

"That was my mom. Service has been set for Friday. They wanted to wait a few days for Grace to wake up, and hopefully she could attend. Mom also said she is coming back out and is going to stay tonight so we could go home and get some rest. I'm sure you need to get back to your life and job."

"Sweetheart, I called the chief and told him I was taking a few personal days off. You are my number one priority right now, and unless one of the guys gets hurt, they can handle things."

"Wow, I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything."

"Yeah, I remember, but I still feel like you waste too much time helping me out and not enough time at the station."

"Lacey when I do anything for you it is not a waste of my time. I do things for you because I want to, I would like to help you out. I hate it that you are having a rough time right now, but I would rather be with you than anywhere else in the whole world."

"Thanks Ryan. That means a lot to me."

"No problem, Sweetheart, do you want to go and grab something to eat? Some pizza sounds good. Then we can head back to my apartment and get some sleep."

"Sure, I could eat Pizza, but I can go back to my apartment. I don't want to put you out"

"Lacey, you would not be putting me out. I know you have a lot on your mind right now and you might need someone to talk to. And I would feel better if you were with me, than by yourself. I will sleep on the couch, but I will not take no for an answer alright."

"Alright, I'm too tired to argue, but you don't need to sleep on the couch. It is your apartment. Now let's go get that pizza, I'm starved."