•Chapter 20•
Ryder and I sit a couple of inches apart on the wooden park bench as we watch Callie run all across the park. She wears a huge smile on her face that never seemed to fade away.
"She's so... happy," I point out, crossing my right leg over my left leg.
"Yeah, it's like... I never see her without a smile on her face." I slowly nod my head at his response.
"Ryder, Riley! Look!" Callie calls before sliding down the slide. Ryder and I both put smiles on our faces before Callie goes running in a different direction.
I open my mouth to say something before Ryder suddenly speaks. "Thank you," Ryder says, turning towards me.
I furrow my eyebrows in confusion at his response. "For what?" I ask curiously.
"For... everything," Ryder says.
"What do you—"
"I've been an asshole to you our entire lives, and you gave me a job when I needed it. You helped me when I needed it. My dad showed up at your house, and you know... you still didn't bail on me." I look at Ryder intently as he speaks. "I just feel like I need to thank you."
I put a small smile on my face as I feel my cheeks burn up. Never in a million years would I've expected Ryder to say something like that to me. I would've expected him to be an ungrateful little pest about the whole situation and never utter a single thank you...
"You're welcome." I say with a small smile. "I—"
"Ryder! Riley!" We suddenly hear Callie's voice, but something about her tone doesn't sound the same as it usually does. It sounds as if she's struggling to get the words out.
Ryder and I both whip our heads around to see none other than Callie... squirming on the ground, coughing and gasping for air.
My eyes widen at the sight and Ryder and I both shoot up and frenetically run over to Callie. We run as fast as we can over to Callie, and I watch as tears stream from her eyes as she struggles to breath. Seeing her in this condition was heart breaking, and I honestly wanted to cry.
When Ryder and I finally reach Callie, we both drop to our knees and put a frantic look on my face as I watch as Ryder uses his arms to pull Callie's body close to his. "She's having an asthma attack!"
"Where's her inhaler?!" I yell in a panicked tone.
"We didn't bring it!" Ryder yells, instantly picking Callie up bridal style and standing up to his feet. "Come on!" Ryder yells before running as fast as his feet can carry him in the direction of the parking lot.
I quickly follow behind him and run until we reach Ryder car. "Here, take her and get in the back seat!" Ryder yells before I take Callie into my arms. I sling the back door open and hop inside before slamming the door close.
Ryder instantly hops into the car and begins driving back to the hospital, speeding a few notches over the speed limit.
I look down at Callie as she continues to struggles with her breathing. I cringe and shake my head, trying to think of anything I can do to help in the meantime. "What do I do?!" I yell, switching my gaze back and forth in between Callie and Ryder.
"Sit her upright! Lying down could make the breathing more difficult!" Ryder yells in response, going a little more faster with speed.
Doing as Ryder said, I sit Callie upright in hopes of making at least a small impact on her breathing. I spend the remainder of the ride with an extremely rapid heartbeat and momentarily giving Callie words of encouragement to calm to her down.
When we finally arrived at the hospital, Ryder aimlessly swerved his car in the closet parking spot before we instantly ran out of the car and into the hospital.
"Somebody help!" I yelled to the top of my lungs as soon as we stepped foot inside the hospital.
"What's going on?!" A male doctor asks in a concerned matter, walking over with urgency.
"She's having an asthma attack!" Ryder informs, switching his gaze between Callie and the doctor.
"We need a stretcher and a breathing mask down at the front quad!" The doctor says into the speaker that's attached to his sleeve.
Almost instantly, a set of doctors come rushing in with a stretcher. The doctor takes Callie from my arms and carefully lies her on the stretcher before the other set of doctors place the breathing mask on Callie's face. It takes a couple of seconds before Callie finally stops struggling and her breathing starts to steady.
As I see Callie start to calm down, I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders and I take a deep breath. I don't think I've ever been as sacred, or worried, or panicked for someone that much in my entire life.
Ryder and I watch as the doctors roll Callie's stretcher away and into another room. We watch until they are all completely out of eye sight.
"She'll be fine," the doctor assures. "Next time you ever take her out, please make sure you have the inhaler. This was very dangerous." The doctor informs us with a serious, stern tone before he walks off into another part of the hospital.
I watch him until his figure is out of sight before turning my head to the left to face Ryder. Ryder stands still in his place, staring into blank air. He lets out a huge, exasperated sigh before walking out of the hospital.
I stand still for a couple of seconds before turning around and following behind him, walking out of the hospital also. I look to the right to see Ryder, who is sliding his back down the glass wall and running his fingers through his hair. Ryder puts a look of dismay on his face and shakes his head. "I am such an idiot," he mutters with clenched teeth.
I open my mouth to say something, but quickly shut it before I say something stupid or pointless.
I stay silent, having nothing to say as I watch Ryder continuously run his fingers through his dark hair, which is something I've noticed he did a lot when he was stressed.
"Uh..." I stutter, trying to conjure up something to say. "She's gonna be okay—"
"That's what everyone says, Riley!" Ryder suddenly interjects. I look Ryder with complete attention and I notice how his dark brown eyes go even darker as he continues to speak. "Callie has been sick for the majority of her life, and all anybody has ever been telling me is that 'she's gonna be okay!' If anything, she's getting worse! It's like she can't even go an entire day without struggling to breath!"
"Ryder—" I say, trying to stop him before he just interrupts again.
"Let's just go," Ryder grumbles before lifting himself up from the ground and walking over to his car.
I look at him walk away until he is about half way to the car before quickly following behind him.
Every time Ryder talks about Callie, all I ever do is wish that there's something I could do. But I can't do anything. All I can ever do is hope and pray that she'll be alright. I used to like to see Ryder suffer, but not like this. This is at a whole new level, and I don't think I like seeing him like this...
_