The click and then hiss of the ventilator was almost to much from Abi to bear as she gently stroked Riley's dark hair with her fingertips. Her face was red and blotchy from crying. The doctor had briefed her on her so call 'nephew' only moments before. Riley had suffered from being poisoned with Cyanide. They had almost lost him, if the doctor's had come a second to late, it would have been the end of Riley's young life. Now there was a tube emerging from his pale neck. It had been inserted in his trachea due to his breathing difficulties and his wind pipe was swollen to twice it's size. Abi couldn't bear to look at Riley's still body, not to mention the reminder overtime she looked at him that he couldn't even breathe on his own, the ventilator had to pus the air into his lungs. This all went along with the already battered state of his body. He still had various bruises along his face, and the large gash still shown on his head. Many other scratches had been added after the crash. The back of his head had to be stapled since he had cracked his skull. His wrist was in a bulky cast that went all the way up due to his broken elbow. All Abi could do was sigh. She couldn't believe the person in front of her was Riley Poole, the loud, obnoxious, lively man she came to know, and though she would never in a million years come to admit it to him, love. To Abi, Riley was like a pesky little brother. The police were now investigating the poisoning. Abi gave as much information as she could but she felt that this was all her fault. If only she had stopped Ian at the house, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Then again she thought, it had to have been one of Ian's cronies who poisoned Riley's IV bag. Abi once again heaved a sigh and leaned back in her chair. Sleep began to overwhelm her. Her eyelids felt heavy and began to droop before her eyes shut and she fell asleep.
Coldness and darkness. That's all that Riley Poole felt. And then is hit him. The pain and the unfamiliar rush of the ventilator, pushing unwanted breathes into his chest. It was painful and made him feel funny. All he knew was that he didn't like it. He slowly allowed his eyes to flutter open only to quickly squeeze them shut from the bright light throughout the room. Where was he? What was happening to him? Was he dying? Panic rose up in him. He tired to breathe but he couldn't. The only way he could was if the horrible contraption pushing air into him gushed oxygen. What was happening?
Abi heard the sound of beeping and it was becoming faster. She opened her eyes to see that Riley was awake. His eyes were wide she realized he was hyperventilating."Riley sweetie calm down," she said leaning over him and running her fingers through his hair in an effort to calm him. Riley opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out."Don't try to talk you won't be able to for a while," Abi said. "Calm down, it's okay, your okay." Abi's eyes rose to the machine that monitored his heart. His heart rate had grown rapidly, but as she soothed him it began to drop. A few moments later a nurse rushed in.
"Well, Mr. Poole good morning," she said happily. "Your awake a bit earlier then we would have liked so were just going to give you something that will help you rest." As she said this, she poured a liquid sedative into his IV. She then looked to Abi.
"He'll be more comfortable soon," she smiled. Abi smiled weakly back. She then looked down into the confused eyes of Riley Poole.
"Hey Riley," she smiled. 'It's good to see you awake."
Riley just looked drowsily up at Abi. His eye lids began to flutter and soon he was back in a drug induced sleep. Abi sighed, rising from her place to check on Ben.
"Hey Ben," Abi said as she sat down beside the treasure hunter.
"Hey, how's Riley doing," Ben asked with concern.
"Better then before,"Abi replied honestly.
"Well, that's good," Ben smiled. He smile soon faded from his face. "I swear, as soon as I'm well I'm going to kill Ian."
"I'll join you," Abi said bitterly. Ben chuckled a little.
"I wonder why Ian poisoned Riley and not me," Ben wondered out loud, confused.
"Hey tried," Abi answered. "But they changed Riley's IV first and that's when he went into Respiratory Arrest so they checked all the IV bags before administering them and found Cyanide in yours also."
Ben sighed. "That right there is Ian's deathwish,"
PLEASE R&R!