Chapter Ten

The next few hours passed by in a whirl of confusion.

The man that was driving the van called 911 and the ambulance was there in a matter of minutes. When they arrived I was holding Greg's head in my lap. Tears were streaming down my face. Greg's eyes were closed and he wasn't moving.

"Greg, please, open your eyes," I begged.

He didn't open his eyes. My heart was beating so fast. I sat there with Greg sobbing until the paramedics arrived.

"Miss, let us do our job," the paramedic said when I wouldn't let go of Greg. Finally I unwrapped my hands from his neck and stood back to watch them bring Greg back to me. I prayed silently as they loaded him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.

"I need to come," I cried out.

"We'll be at Victoria Hospital, follow behind us," a paramedic said. He jumped into the ambulance just as Greg's heart monitor let out a fast beeping sound.

"No!" I cried. The tears kept flowing as I ran back to Fred's house. I burst into the house and yelled out, "Ryan, FRED!"

"What is it?" Fred came racing down the stairs. He looked so frightened.

"Greg got hit by a car, we have to go to Victoria Hospital," I wiped away my tears so I could see more clearly. I had to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.

"Oh no," Fred gasped, "Lets go,"

Ryan came down the stairs behind him. He looked at me with such sorrow in his eyes that I almost stopped to ask him what was wrong. But I didn't, Greg was my priority right now. I had to be there for him.

We sped to the hospital, Fred driving Greg's truck. We were lucky we didn't get in an accident ourselves because we were going so fast.

I rushed through the hospital, not really knowing where I was going. I couldn't let Greg be alone; I had to be with him.

Fred found out where he was and we were outside his room in seconds. The doctors crashed through the doors pushing Greg on the stretcher quickly.

"Where are you taking him?" I asked loudly.

The female doctor stopped, "Get him up there fast," she told the others.

"Are you family?" she asked me. "Yes," I told her.

"We have to operate on him, he has a few broken ribs that have punctured a lung," she said. I looked at her nametag and saw that her name was Dr. Lewis.

"Is he going to be alright?" Fred asked.

"We don't know that yet, we will do all we can," Dr. Lewis told us. She led us up to the surgery waiting room and left us to our own devices.

I sat in the corner staring down at my hands. I felt so responsible for this. If he died I would never be able to forgive myself. I loved him so much and I never wanted him to be hurt. I didn't know what I would do without him.

"Hope?" Ryan said. He was standing over me.

"Not now Ryan," I told him. It came out sounding harsher than I intended it to.

He sat down beside me anyway, "I have to tell you something," he said.

"Ryan, I don't want to talk right now, I need to pray for Greg," I said firmly. I felt even guiltier sitting and talking with Ryan. I felt like I was betraying Greg again.

"No, you need to hear this, even if this is the worst possible time to tell you," he said. To my surprise he took my hand in his.

"Ryan-" I started.

"I think I love you Hope," he interrupted.

I stared at him in absolute shock. This could not be happening right now. I couldn't deal with this on top of everything else.

"You are the most selfish person I have ever known in my entire life," I said in a low voice. I was furious.

His face contorted into a look of surprise.

"Greg is in there right now, he could be dying and it is our fault. He saw you kiss me and he walked into the street because he was so angry," I informed Ryan.

"What-" Ryan tried to defend himself but I wouldn't hear of it. He couldn't get out of this now.

"I liked you when we first met yesterday but now I know what you are really like. How could you possibly be in love with me when we have only known eachother for twenty four hours?" I asked.

"You are an incredible person," he said.

"Don't give me that crap," I growled, "you just want to make trouble for Greg and I. We are a couple now. We have loved eachother for so long. We are meant to be together. You are just someone who is too selfish to realize that the whole world doesn't revolve around you. What did you think telling me this would do?" I asked. "I don't know, I-" he stared. He let go of my hand.

"Did you think I would just fall into your arms and tell you I felt the same way? Did you think I would leave Greg when he was in the hospital and run away with you? Because I won't. That will never happen," I finished finally. It felt good to get everything out. I needed Ryan to know that I would never be with him. We weren't even friends anymore as far as I was concerned. I would do anything it took to help Greg get better. He had never liked Ryan and now he wouldn't have to worry about him anymore.

Ryan stood up and looked towards the door.

"You don't have to feel obligated to stay. I don't want you here and I doubt Greg does either," I told him.

"Well Hope, it was nice knowing you, give Greg my best," he said and he went to the door. He looked back once before pushing the door open and disappearing into the world.

Fred looked at me in surprise. He hadn't known I could be so angry with one person. I had a lot of anger bottled up inside me from everything to my stepfather to Ryan. I took it all out on Ryan but I didn't have time to feel regretful right now.

Dr. Lewis came out of the operating room and came over to me. She sat down beside me and smiled tightly. Fred came over and took my hand.

"Greg is going to be okay, we managed to repair his lung and he will be taken down to recovery soon," she said.

I let out a long whoosh of air that I hadn't realized I had been holding. I sighed in relief and hugged Fred.

"Thank you so much," I gushed at Dr. Lewis. I was crying in happiness and relief now. I hadn't killed Greg; everything was going to be fine.

I had to call my mother for the second time that day and I was just thankful that I wasn't calling with bad news. She told me Erin would be at the hospital as fast as she could and she said she loved me about a thousand times.

"I love you too Mom," I said. I really just wanted to go home now. All my anger was gone. Some of it might have been aimed at the wrong person but right now I didn't care.

I was allowed to see Greg a couple of minutes later. I crept into his room and almost cried when I saw how small he looked in the hospital bed. There was an IV in his arm and a white bandage around his head. I sat down on the chair beside his bed and took his hand.

"Greg?" I asked, "It's Hope,"

He opened his eyes into tiny slits and whispered, "Where is he?"

"Ryan is gone, I'll never see him again if we're lucky," I said.

He smiled a little.

"Greg, I'm so sorry about this," I said. Tears came to my eyes again.

"I love you so much, I want to be with you and nobody else," I told him.

"Me too," he whispered. I leaned over his and hugged him gently so I wouldn't hurt him. I gave him a soft kiss on the lips and I heard something very quiet come from his lips.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"Will you marry me?" he asked.

I stared at him.

"Of course I will Greg," I said smiling, "There is nothing I would like more,"