After All

Chapter Twenty-Nine

            A cold brick of fear settled itself in my stomach. "What do you mean he's in the hospital? Is he okay?"

"I don't know," Ryan rubbed his fingers through his scalp, mussing his hair. "Brianna said he wasn't feeling well all day. He had a pain in his stomach and was throwing up. She assumed it was the flu at first, but when he got worse instead of better, she took him to the pediatrician. The doctor took one look at him and told her to go straight to the emergency room. They just got there." As he spoke, Ryan put his suit jacket back on and patted the pockets, making sure he had everything. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'm gonna go see if I can catch a flight home."

"I'll go with you," I said without hesitation, grabbing my purse off the table.

Ryan paused and looked deep into my eyes. "You don't have to do that, Lily. Stay. Enjoy the wedding."

Placing my hand on his forearm, I squeezed it gently. "I want to. This is important. I want to be there for you." I could see the hesitation in his eyes, so I pressed on. "We're in this now, you and me. You don't have to do this alone. I'm not running anymore."

The lines on his face finally softened, and he grabbed the back of my head, kissing me madly, as if he finally realized how much I did in fact care for him.

"Okay, let's go," the frantic panic in his voice was back.

We rushed over to Rebecca and Keith and quickly explained why we needed to leave. With complete understanding, they wished us safe travels.

Since we'd taken the bus to the reception, Ryan called a cab as we ran outside. Thankfully we only had to wait about ten minutes for it to show up, though Ryan's incessant pacing made it seem longer. As soon as the cab pulled up in front of our hotel, we paid the man and ran at full speed up to our rooms. Not taking care with my things, I shoved them into my suitcase and met Ryan downstairs to check out.

As we waited for the cab the concierge had ordered, I was surprised by the amount of fear coursing through my body. I knew nothing about being a parent, nor had I even met Jack yet, but the fact that he was a part of Ryan drew me to him immediately. I could only pray he was going to be okay.

Ryan pulled me to his side as soon as we got into the cab. He gripped my hand tightly, almost to the point of cutting off the circulation. I knew that I couldn't say anything to calm him down, so I stayed quiet. As long as my physical presence was helping, that was enough.

Without traffic, we made it to the airport quickly. We grabbed our bags and rushed inside. It was already late in the evening, so I worried there wouldn't be any more flights leaving. But as it had most of the weekend, thankfully fate was on our side. A flight to Newark was leaving in forty minutes. That gave us just enough time to get through security and board the plane.

By the time the seatbelt sign turned off, Ryan had finally snapped out of his trance, though he had yet to let go of my hand. "Hey," he turned toward me, as if he'd forgotten I'd been there the whole time.

"Hey," I gave a weak smile. "I wish I could do something for you."

"Just having you here is helping. You make me feel stronger. I do feel bad you're missing the wedding though."

"Don't, really. It was never even a choice I had to make. There's nowhere else I want to be than here with you."

***