It Was Meant To Be Us

Chapter One

Everything went by so slowly, Ryan just sat in the corridor and waited. He had managed to call Drew, who said he would let Anna and Natalie know what had happened. And he also called Lily's parents who were pretty much on their way before the end of the phone call...All Ryan could do was wait.

"Oh my god Ryan!" Anna's voice echoed through the corridor as her and Natalie rushed towards him "What happened?"

"Blake" Was all Ryan could manage before being interupted by a doctor.

"Mr Tedder?" The doctor smiled as he approached them "I understand you came in with Miss Grainger?"

"Yeah, how is she?" Ryan asked desperately.

"I'm afraid I can only share that information with family..." the doctor started.

"He is family, she's his wife" Natalie thought fast.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't realise" The doctor apologised before going to one side so he could explain Lily's condition "Lily is stable, we have managed to stop the bleeding and remove the bullet..."

"Bullet?" Anna gasped, Ryan hadn't been very specific over the phone he just told Drew they needed to get to hospital as soon as possible.

"Although she is stable for now I'm afraid the next 24 hours are critical" the doctor said dryly "Would you like to see your wife"

Ryan nodded and followed the doctor, Anna hugged Natalie as Drew looked on.

××

Ryan took a deep breath as the doctor opened the door to Lily's room, she looked so calm and peaceful. The only thing that told him she wasn't just sleeping were the tubes running in and out of her body.

The first thing Ryan noticed was the bag of blood hanging on a metal stand above her bed the line ran down into the crease of her left elbow, in her right hand was an IV fluid drip. A small tube ran into Lily's mouth pulling it down in one corner. She also had a pulse reader attached to her finger on her left hand...The sounds of the machines beeping echoed around the room as Ryan took a step nearer "I didn't want to say anything before because I wasn't sure if your friends were aware of your wife's condition"

"The baby" Ryan spoke as he suddenly remembered.

"The baby seems to be okay for now, the bullet wasn't anywhere near the uterus...but because of the trauma and blood loss I just want you to be aware that there is an increased risk of miscarriage"

"Okay" Ryan nodded, even though it wasn't brilliant news he was glad Blake hadn't harmed the baby "Thank you"

"I'll leave you for a while" The doctor head back out into the corridor.

××

Anna walked slowly towards Natalie and sat beside her, she couldn't help notice how hard Natalie seemed to be taking the news "She'll be okay she's strong" Anna gently squeezed Natalie's hand.

"It's not that" Natalie sighed.

"Then what?" Anna wondered why Natalie was so upset.

"I found something in the trash when I called in at home to pick up some of her things, it was underneath some cardboard in the bathroom" Natalie said gently "It was a pregnancy test..."

"What?" Anna gasped as she quickly turned to look at Drew.

"She's pregnant Anna, Lily's pregnant" Natalie couldn't hold it in anymore, the emotion took over her and she found herself sobbing into Anna's jacket.

Anna watched as Drew turned and walked away from her a little, he had his hand covering his mouth. He must have heard Natalie's revelation.

××

Ryan held Lily's hand delicately in his, he was scared he would disturb one of the carefully placed tubes if he moved her too much "Please don't leave me baby, we've still got so much to do" Ryan whispered as he kissed Lily's hand before resting it back on the bed, still keeping hold of it.

××

Violet and Tom rushed through the double doors like some sort of hurricane "Lily Grainger, we're her parents"

"Vi" Anna called out and walked over to them.

"How is she?" Tom asked desperately "They said she has been shot, what the hell happened...where's Ryan?"

"We don't know exactly" Anna tried to answer Toms questions, she was grateful to see the doctor approach.

"Mr and Mrs Grainger?" He guessed "We spoke on the phone...your daughter is stable at the moment we have given her a blood transfusion, her husband is with her at the moment"

Violet looked at Natalie who smiled weakly "I told them Ryan was her husband" Violet just nodded "They wouldn't tell him anything otherwise" luckily no-one heard what Natalie had said to Violet.

"So when can we see her?" Violet asked.

××

"Oh Lily" Violet gasped as the door opened revealing Lily's fragile state. She quickly rushed to her daughter's side and picked up her hand gently "Ryan what happened?"

"Blake" Ryan managed before Tom interrupted.

"The stalker?" Tom was horrified "He did this? How? Why?"

"I don't know why?" Violet had never seen a man look as lost as what Ryan did sitting beside Lily "He was already at the Studio when I arrived he was waiting for me, the bullet was meant for me...but she jumped in front of me"

"She what?" Violet seemed angry at Ryan's explanation "Why would she do that?"

"Violet" Tom warned.

"I thought you loved her" Violet backed away towards the door.

"I do" Ryan sniffed.

"Then you should have pushed her away, stopped her from trying to protect you" Violet grabbed the door handle.

"It all happened so quickly...I..." Violet didn't wait any longer she just rushed our of the room.

"She doesn't mean it" Tom say the other side of Lily's bed and took her hand "Its just shock"

××

Natalie was surprised to see Violet rush past her and into a side room "Do you think she's okay?" Anna asked lifting her head off Drew's chest.

"I'll go and see" Natalie stood up and followed Violet. She sat down beside her without even saying a word.

"How could he let her do this?" Violet had tears in her eyes as she looked at Natalie "How could he let her think the value of his life was worth more than her own?"

"Because she loves him and he loves her and I know for a fact he would change positions with her in a heartbeat if he could" Natalie defended Ryan "You're not the only one in pain right now, he's feeling it too..."

"How can he be?" Violet protested "How can he possibly know what we are going through he has known her 5 minutes" Violet realised Natalie had something to tell her "What..?"

"It's not really my place to say" Natalie sighed.

"Natalie what is it? What do you now? Why would you think Ryan knows how I feel?" Violet pushed, until Natalie finally gave in.

"She's pregnant...Lily's pregnant" Natalie blurted out "So yeah he is hurting too"

"I didn't know" Violet stuttered, she felt terrible for judging Ryan so badly.