Chapter thirty nine
"Alright, she's going to wake up in a few minutes. If you need anything else, tell one of the nurses to page me." the doctor finished pushing a code in the machine by Anika's bedside. Gelsey thanked him before he walked out saying that he'll be back in a half hour.
All eyes returned to Anika on the bed. Ryleigh and Gelsey held each of her hands where they were sitting on either side of the bed. Skinner and Ivy were wrapped up in a hugging embrace against the far wall with their eyes glued to Anika's face. Mel and Keira sat in the extra chairs on either side of the door.
The machine's constant beeping quickened, which had everyone in the room gasping softly. Ryleigh's eyes racked over Anika's still unmoving form up to her face.
At first the twitch of her brow was so minuscule, that Ryleigh thought his mind just wished it to happen.
"Anika..." for some reason, Ryleigh wanted his voice to be the first she heard when she woke up. "Keep doing it, Nick. We're here. Just open your eyes and see for yourself if you don't believe me." he heard either Keira or Ivy chuckling at the over excited gleam in his eyes and smile.
Anika's lips moved to form nearly silent words so Ryleigh hurried to lean his head forward till his ear hovered over her mouth.
"I trust you."
A wide smile pulled across Ryleigh's face and when he straightened to sit up, he caught Anika's cool grey eyes.
"Hi." she whispered hoarsely.
"Hi." he chuckled and reached over to the tray at the foot of the bed to grab the cup of water. Anika greedily watched Ryleigh's hands as he brought the straw closer to her mouth until her lips closed around the straw. She sucked the room temperature water into her mouth but couldn't find it in her to complain.
"Better?" Anika matched Gelsey's smile with her own sheepish one.
"Much." Anika let out a content sigh before a small frown pulled at her lips. She had been so happy to finally open her eyes instead of just listening to what was said that the pain throbbing in her head didn't register right away. Actually, her whole body felt like it was hit by a mac truck. Or a bat.... Her frown hardened at the memory of Victoria and her two minions.
"Hey, you okay? How do you feel? Want me to get a nurse?" Ryleigh's hand was already poised over the button on the side of her bed.
Anika held her hands out to Ryleigh's hand like a toddler that wanted her toy on a high shelf. Her stomach fluttered at being fretted over, but she didn't want Ryleigh to worry over her.
"I'm fine. Just a small head ache." Anika felt a small but genuine smile tug at her lips when Ryleigh hesitantly relaxed back in his seat and took up playing with her fingers again. Just like how he did when he told her his past.
Anika could now say that she never wanted to feel like how she did when she was brought into the hospital; to not be able to move or see anything. To not be able to open her eyes to put faces to the foreign voices as they talked over her. And then all of her panic left her body when she heard Ryleigh's voice.
Partially unaware that she could in fact hear ever word, she held onto his voice as he painfully explained his past. She could also faintly register the fact the someone else was holding her hand and rubbing their thumb in between each of her knuckles. Of course, the soft warm skin belonged to Ryleigh.
"So I have a concussion and lots of bruises. That explains why I feel like I've been run over." Anika cracked a smile at Ryleigh's surprised expression.
"Y-you could hear us?" he stammered and Anika had a feeling she knew why he was suddenly nervous.
"Every word." she gave his hand a squeeze. "Though, I must admit it was extremely irritating not being able to talk back. Oh, and Keira?" Anika searched the room for the golden blond haired girl.
"I can explain...?" Keira sheepishly ducked her head with a smile on her face as her cheeks grew a shade of pink.
"Go on then. Please explain to everyone why you were admiring Ryleigh out loud?" Ryleigh's head snapped to Keira who managed to shrug casually despite all the amused eyes on her.
"He's adorable when he's sleeping."
"I think that makes this the second time." Ryleigh sent Keira a sly grin.
"The second time? You've watched him sleep before?" Anika openly stared in shock at her friend.
"Can someone say stalker?" Skinner snickered.
"When was the first time?" Ivy asked, ready to join in on the teasing.
"During the party. Anika and I were on the beach taking a nap and I woke up and she was there." Ryleigh held in his laughter as Keira's flush darkened.
"I don't remember that." Anika said in confusion.
"That's because you were high on sugar at that moment." Keira helpfully supplied.
"Oh." Anika nodded with a goofy smile on her face, which made everyone laugh.
"Glad to see that you're awake." Anika smiled hesitantly at the older gentleman walking into the room.
"I'm glad too."
He introduced himself before politely asking everyone except Gelsey to leave the room temporarily so that he could go over some tests with Anika. Ryleigh left the room after kissing the back of Anika's hand and followed everyone else out.
To give them some privacy, the kids went to search for a vending machine while Genevieve went back to her car to make a phone call.
"So... I'm adorable?" Ryleigh half smirked at Keira who turned around to playfully glare at him.
She rolled her eyes while muttering, "Cute, but an ass none the less." Ivy and Mel chuckled at the inside joke leaving Skinner and Ryleigh to exchange amused looks.
Ryleigh pulled out of the conversation when they arrived at a vending machine. Anika said she heard everything that was said. So she had heard when he was talking to her as well. Her being in a medically induced coma and in the hospital was definitely not how he imagined to tell her. Maybe on the beach at the end of the dock.
"Earth to Ryleigh..." Ivy waved a hand in front of his face until he blinked again and looked down at her.
"You okay? You've been staring out in space the whole walk back to Anika's room?" Mel's brow twitched with a worry filled curiosity.
"Yeah." Ryleigh shrugged.
"She's going to be okay." Skinner squeezed his shoulder and went to reach for the door handle. Ivy grabbed his arm so he turned and gave her a confused glance.
Ivy rolled her eyes. "They're still talking. Let's just wait out here."
The door hadn't been shut properly so it still allowed the doctor's muffled voice to come through. At first they could hear bits and pieces of Anika answering how she felt so the group didn't think anything of it as they leaned up against the wall in the hallway. It wasn't until there was a silence that Ryleigh thought they might be done. He took a step closer to the door but froze when he heard the doctor's voice again.
Gelsey helped Anika sit up in her bed as the doctor strolled around to the other side of the room to check the monitors. Her friends had just left and she had offered a smile on their way out but it was forced. Truthfully, she was slightly scared of the doctor. She mentally slapped herself for even comparing him to the men in her past. To the men in the alley.
"How do you feel?" Anika took a deep breath and shook away her thoughts.
"Beat. My head hurts a little but I'm not nauseous or anything like that." Anika sighed, suddenly feeling weighed down by exhaustion.
"I've given you something to lessen the pain but it will make you feel drowsy." he explained and Anika had the nagging feeling that he wanted to say something more. She watched in confusion as the doctor and Gelsey exchanged unsure looks
"What?" Anika couldn't even recognize her own voice filled with anxiety.
Gelsey sat in the chair Ryleigh had been sitting in and held her hand. "Anika, because you never went to the hospital a month ago after the night of your attack, we didn't know the extent of the results until now." Although Gelsey was trying to put it as delicate as possible, Anika still felt worried and confused.
"What results?" she tried to swallow but her mouth had dried up to the point where her tongue felt too heavy.
"Anika, you were pregnant."