Hold On

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Ryleigh
This doctor was starting to piss me off. It would be a good afternoon if they would just let me leave. The doctor shared a glance with Dad. Dad shook his head. I raised an eyebrow. The doctor took a seat on the rolly chair at the end of my bed.

"I have some bad news. When you landed, you fractured three bones in your spine. It jostled your spinal cord. Tell me, Ryleigh, can you feel your legs or anything below your waist?"the doctor asked. I just looked at him with wide eyes. This could not be happening. "No,"I whispered. "We're hoping this is just a temporary paralysis. With spinal injuries like this it's often hard to tell,"he spoke and it all faded away. I couldn't hear what he was telling my family over the rumbling in my ears. "I need you to be prepared that you may never walk again,"he finished as the noise in my ears calmed again.

Nurse Olivia walked in pushing a wheelchair. The bars were purple. I looked away, disgusted. Olivia pulled the covers off of me and I took a glance at my legs. Tears welled in my eyes at the sight. Scratches, burns, and bruises ran down my lower legs. I didn't want to think about what I couldn't see. "Can I change first?"I whispered to her. She nodded. "Everybody out,"she ordered. "Wait, Mom, can you stay?"I asked as she tried to grab her crutches. She nodded and stayed sitting on the couch across from me.

Dad left a small duffel bag next to Mom. I knew it was mine. Olivia went over to grab it and pulled out a pair of sweats, fuzzy socks, my Panic! At The Disco Crew tee, and an oversized hoodie that was most likely Zack's. Olivia had to help me get the sweats up. After all, I couldn't stand. Olivia slipped the socks on while I slid on a sports bra, the tee, and the hoodie. Olivia opened the door then showed them how to lift me without hurting me.

"I'll miss you,"Olivia whispered in my ear. She had crouched down to hug me. "I'll miss you, too,"I replied in a whisper. She was one of the nicest nurses I had. "Take it easy,"she said. I nodded and Zack began to roll me out of my room. Everyone else followed behind us worriedly. What else could we say? I knew they didn't want to upset me. We loaded into two vans. I was with Mom, Dad, Zack Hall, Pete, Gerard, Zack, Josh, and Tyler. Josh, Tyler, Zack, and myself were on the last row with my wheelchair in the back. Zack Hall drove with Gerard passenger seat. Mom, Dad, and Pete were in the middle seat. Everyone else was in the other van.

The label had been kind enough to send out a private jet to take us home at least. I just dreaded going through the airport. I'd seen the news. They were vultures hoping to catch their prey. I cuddled into Zack's side which was hard to do. He was on my left side where my arm was in a sling. Josh was on my right side and grabbed my good hand. He started to rub his thumb over my knuckles to calm me down.

The silence wasn't helping. "Does anyone have headphones or earbuds?"I asked. "There's a pair of Bluetooth Beats I got for you. I figured you would want them,"Pete said. "Thank you,"I whispered while he dug around in his bag. He passed them back. I had my "new" phone in my lap. They went and got a replacement for mine while I was still in the hospital and backed everything onto it.

Pete handed them to me. I took them out of the case and placed them on my head. I went to Apple Music and started a new playlist I made. Kellin's voice surrounded my ears first and I closed my eyes to let myself get lost in the music. Zack nudged me when we pulled up. I slid the beats down around my neck.

As I expected, the media was gathered around the entrance. Camera flashes were already going off. A pit settled deep in my stomach. Something bad was about to happen. The car hadn't even fully stopped when they swarmed us and were yelling. I couldn't make it out. My ears felt stuffed with cotton. I was pretty sure I'd get sick.

"Zack, can you handle Ryleigh if Zack Hall clears enough for you to get out?"Dad asked. He nodded. "Run like hell. We will be behind you. Once we're inside, Airport Security will stop them,"Dad said. Zack nodded again. Zack Hall was out and running around the car as I was gently passed to Pete's lap so Zack could get out and take me.

Pete helped me to pull my hood up and handed me off to Zack who held me gently but tightly against his chest. "You all need to back away. Give them some space, please,"Zack yelled as he pushed the crowd away. I squeezed my eyes shut and held onto my Zack tighter. He was running so fast. "You can open your eyes now,"he said. I opened them and looked up at him. Pete was running through the crowd pushing my wheelchair piled down with their bags. "Hey, it's gonna be okay,"he said and kissed my forehead. "I love you,"I whispered. "I love you, too,"he said. Everyone with us made it inside and airport security took over as we made our way to the private jet taking us home.

Zack sat me down on the small couch and sat down next to me. Dad was on my other side. Once we were in the air, I put my Beats back on and opened up my music. I started blasting Bring Me The Horizon. In that moment, it was what I needed. I started to doze off on Dad's shoulder. "Do you wanna lay down?"he asked. "Mmhm,"I hummed, barely awake. They carefully adjusted me. My head was in Dad's lap and my feet over Zack's. Someone covered me with a blanket. When I woke up, I felt cold. I shivered and suddenly felt like I was going to be sick. My head was still on Dad's lap. He was asleep. "Dad?"I whispered. I couldn't shake him. I tried to hold back but I really had to vomit.

"Ryles, are you okay?"Justin asked. I shook my head no. He nodded and grabbed a plastic bag. Everything came up and I felt even worse. "Thanks,"I whispered. He nodded and then took the bag to toss it in the trash. He scrunched his face up in disgust. He came back and felt my forehead. "Jesus, Ryles, you're burning up,"he said.

Life With The Uries (The Urie's Daughter Adopted By Brendon Urie) Book 3Where stories live. Discover now