The Ribbon Campaign

twenty one || of loss and longing

We're in the car within seconds.

Maurice is surprisingly extremely understanding with our thirty second explanation and promises to handle it, as well as mail us the payment for speaking. I'm in Bryce's arms, hugging him tightly and my head buried in his chest therefore unable to answer him, so Bryce answers for me, "Thank you for everything."

As soon as we're in the car, my mother is calling my dad on the car's built in loudspeaker but he doesn't pick up since he's at work. After that fails, we call Caiden again.

Caiden's voice is weak and strained when he answers, "Hello?"

"Caiden, what's going on?" my mother quickly demands, her hands shaking on the wheel.

"The ambulance just loaded him in the back, they gave him a breathing mask. They didn't let him in the back so I'm driving over to the hospital right now. I don't know w-what's going on. He's been complaining about his throat for a while but it g-got serious fast when you guys left. John said he booked Ry a doctors appointment tomorrow so we were going to hold out until then but this morning he was p-pretty bad, so we moved it to tonight. John went to work and an hour after, Ryan's breathing got seriously shallow and he lost c-consciousness."

Caiden's words are slurred together and without me even seeing him, I know that he's shaking and a mess. My mother takes a couple of deep breaths and pulls out of the parking lot. Thank God we took our own car to the seminar today, I tell myself.

"Okay Caiden. I don't want you to panic, alright sweetheart? Drive safely, I know you're scared but you've already done so much so I know he's going to be fine. Ryan's too stubborn to leave you so you have nothing to worry about."

Caiden takes a shuddering breath and weakly replies, "Okay, I'm trying."

Although I'm shaking and internally freaking out, I manage to compose myself for a moment. Caiden gets shaky and nervous easily, so right now he must be completely unfocused and panicky. I know if we don't calm him down, he'll get into a crash. I say, "Caiden, he's going to be okay. Promise me you'll drive safe, and if you feel like you're not okay to drive pull over and take a break."

"I promise. When w-will you guys get here?"

"It's a ten hour drive, but we'll do whatever possible to shorten it. Keep us updated," my mother replies.

"I will," Caiden promises before ending the call.

I sigh, holding onto Bryce's hand with a tight grip. I don't even care if my mother is in the front- I doubt that she'll even notice. I need Bryce to keep me grounded right now.

The first two hours of driving are agonizing. We continuously call Caiden, but Caiden says he doesn't know what's going on and promises to tell me as soon as he gets information. My father is soon at the hospital too and is calling us as well, his voice feigning composure as I can tell he's freaking out.

Finally, we get the call from Caiden we've been waiting for.

"It was pulmonary edema, a chronic build up of fluid in his lungs. That's why he's been complaining about his throat for a while now. The doctors gave him oxygen and drained out his lungs so now he's just on rest."

My mother looks stunned into a silence, her grip on the steering wheel increasing to the point where her knuckles turn white. "Do they know why?"

"Not yet... They said that it's looking like a bad reaction to a medication he's been taking, which can sometimes lead to pulmonary edema, but they're not certain yet."

"The only medication Ryan's on is his allergy medication, could that be it?"

"Possibly."

My mother sighs once more. "Where's my husband?"