Keep On Walking (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 3 of the Hardships Saga)

Chapter Eighteen

❝promise (pronounced ˈprɒmɪs or prom-is), noun
a declaration or assurance that something will happen.❞

A few weeks later, Hunter walked into Ryan's room. It was about one am now, and he had left some coffee shop sounds playing for her, along with a quiet jazz track, which apparently helped calm her delirious bouts. It was raining heavily outside, and he remembered the time when they had danced outside in the rain together to 'Fire and the Flood'. It felt like so long ago now. Now that she was so ill... because of him.

He heard her cough, and said, "Honey?"

"H-Hunt?" she croaked.

"That's right," he said, sitting down beside her and taking her hand. Somehow, he could tell she wasn't hallucinating or delirious this time.

"Help me sit up. We... we need to talk."

Terror struck Hunter like a dagger, but he helped her. "Can... can you get the glass of water? I'm-" (she coughed) "- I'm a bit thirsty."

He grabbed it from her bedside table and stuck the straw into her mouth. She took a few sips, and it seemed to exhaust her. "That's... that's better." Her pale, gaunt face, with her two green eyes gazing at Hunter like two big moons made him feel worried sick. She looked so ill, even though he could tell, that for his sake, she was trying to look like she wasn't in pain. She had lost so much weight that she was all skin and bones, and Hunter, though he knew he wasn't meant to touch her, reached out to touch her cheek.

"How are you feeling?" he said gently.

She nodded slightly. "I'm feeling a little better. Not hallucinating or delirious, at least."

She was right- her eyes weren't clouded, the way they were when she wasn't in her right mind because of the fever. Hunter could practically feel the heat radiating off her. "What's wrong?"

He could physically see her getting weaker. "It's... it's about the baby." She lay a hand on her growing bump, and looked at him petulantly. "Honey... you know what's going to happen, don't you?"

He shook his head. He knew... he just didn't want to accept it.

"Look, I... I heard the doctors talking. And I heard them talking about what might happen when she's born. They think, since I'm already so weak, I'm going to be unconscious for most of it. And likely, one of us won't make it. They can only save one of us."

"No, Ry," he said, dread coursing through his veins. "Don't say what I think you're going to say."

"They might only be able to save one of us, Hunt," she said softly. "You know what you need to do."

"N-No. I can't. I can't choose. I love you."

"If you love me, then you know what to do. I will never forgive you if... if you save me instead of Robin."

"Robin can be replaced-"

"As can I."

"No! You don't understand! I'm not sacrificing you, Ryan!" He began to sob, uncontrollably. "See, this is why I didn't want you getting pregnant!"

"Bluejay-" she breathed, but he yelled, "NO! Don't say it! Don't say you're sorry!" He rubbed his eyes furiously, like a child throwing a temper tantrum. "I can't lose you, too... please, Ryan..."

"You have to pinky promise me," she whispered, and a tear escaped her eyes. "Pinky promise me... if it comes down to a choice... you tell them to save her."

"Ryan, I can't make that promise!" he cried. "I can't lose you!"

"It's all I want. Please, don't misunderstand. I don't... I don't want to die. Not the way Lilly did. But... but I could never live with myself if Robin didn't make it through this."