Never been FOUND

Chapter - 18

I stood there frozen. Tears formed in my eyes, from my blurry vision I saw Ryan shaking him and calling out Eric's name, hoping that he would wake up and reply but no he didn't. Ryan tore his white T-shirt from bottom and pressed it against Eric's head to stop the bleeding. Within no time the piece of cloth was drenched with blood too.

I saw Ryan as he turned towards me, his eyes were moisty and one thing that I hated the most, his eyes were helpless. I panicked and did the first thing that came in my mind. I immediately called the ambulance.

How and what happened to Eric?

I didn't try to stop my conscience that was screaming these questions with all its might because even I wanted to know the answer.

My eyes wandered around looking for any kind of answer they could find. From my peripheral vision I saw a familiar figure.
I turned to side for the proper view and I saw Rose at the corner. She seemed completely pissed off because of something. She was scolding a guy. I wasn't able to see his face because his back was facing me. His back seemed rather familiar.

I looked at Eric, who was still laying unconscious and then I looked at Rose who had her eyes narrowed and was continuously talking with the guy. Not being able to control my curiosity, I took a step forward towards Rose.

Just when I was about to see the face of the man. Rose saw me and she pulled the guy and went away. I wanted to chase her but I couldn't leave Ryan and Eric alone at situation like this.

Who was the guy and what was so important that Rose chose talking to him over being beside injured Eric? I was busy untangling the mess of questions that I had inside my head when someone knocked it all off.

"Ambulance is here," One of the student said out loud panting.

Ryan without a second thought immediately lifted up Eric with both his arms and rushed outside. I glanced one more time towards the side Rose disappeared to. Not seeing any trace of her I sighed and followed Ryan's footstep towards the ambulance.

I and Ryan sat opposite to Eric who was lying unconscious in ambulance. The nurse started to wipe Eric's blood while the ambulance started. I turned towards Ryan and saw his hands joint, eyes closed and his lips moving in an inaudible prayer. I immediately closed my eyes and started to pray too. Eric is such a cute and lively boy and seeing him hurt like this didn't feel good at all. And moreover I couldn't stop but think about how Ryan must be feeling. He has known Eric way longer since I did.

We reached the hospital soon and rushed Eric past all the glass doors. The doctors took over him and asked me and Ryan to wait outside. He didn't speak anything and neither did I. Silence rested between us.
I slowly put my hand in his, he turned aside and our eyes met. I could see the pain in his eyes with no hint of life on it.

I nodded at him trying to ensure him that Eric will be fine. He squeezed my hand and nodded in return. 20 minutes passed and we didn't speak anything, just sat there hand in hand praying for only one thing. One mutual thing.

I let go of his hands and stood up to bring some water.

"Where are you going?" He asked with his voice at its lowest.

"To bring some water," I said and he slightly nodded.

I marched off past the corridor in search of water. I spotted a filter, I started to fill the empty bottle beside it. My heart felt heavy and Ryan's sad eyes kept popping in my mind. I sighed and closed the filter.

Suddenly something shot the image. Finn. Where is he? Where is Finn?

I immediately took out my phone and texted him.

"Where are you Finn?"

"Hey Gia, I am in middle of something important right now. Anything urgent?"

"Yes. GreenAge Hospital. It's Eric."

He read the message but no reply came. I felt bad for telling Finn like this over the phone but situation would get better with his presence at least Ryan would feel better. And so would Eric, when he wakes up.

I start to head slowly towards Ryan. I saw him with his head down, eyes closed and his both hands joined.

I rubbed my hand against his back.

"He will be fine," I managed to murmur hoping that it would make Ryan feel a little better.

"It all my fault," I heard his broken voice. Ryan turned to face me and I saw his face damped with tears. Shit... He is crying. I wanted to hug him so bad.

"What exactly happened?" I asked pushing my urge to hug him at the moment.

"Eric knew that I was going to propose you today," He avoided looking at me and continued "I didn't want anyone to perturb us so I asked him to stay on a watch and not let anyone come to the terrace," He started to sob. I couldn't resist my urge anymore, I hugged him and he immediately hugged me back.

"He must have gotten into a fight trying to stop someone. It's all my fault," He cried louder over my shoulder.

I let go of our hug and wipe his tears.

"Shh... It's not your fault. It was just a bad timing. And Eric will be fine any moment. Trust me" I said looking at him. He lowered his gaze.

"And you will soon be frowning seeing him ruffle my hair," I chuckled a little and so did he. He smiled, yes he smiled. I hated to see him cry. He looked at me and held my hand tightly.

"What the hell happened? Where is Eric?" We heard Finn's voice shudder through the corridor.

_____________________________________________