Part 9

"Mum, Dad, " Nick said and then hesitated as he stepped in the large kitchen of Kilarney to face his mother and father who were sitting together sharing dinner. "I have to tell you something, but please stay calm."

"What is it, darling?" Liz asked innocently.

"Alex, mum!"

"What happened to him?" Harry asked, strangely as if he knew something was wrong.

"He had an accident. He is in the hospital now. But I talked to Tess, he is alright," he lied, trying not to make his parents more anxious.

"Oh god!" Liz shouted. "How did it happen?"

"I don't know. I think he was driving Tess's car," Nick kept talking but Liz didn't hear the rest of it because of the humming in her head. The room was turning around. Harry grabbed her before she collapsed on the floor.

"Nick and I are going to the hospital," Harry said, clutching her wrist to steady her. "You wait here."

"NO!" Liz shouted. "I am coming with you."

"But Liz..." Harry said as he tried to convince but Liz cut him off.

"No, Harry. I am coming and that is it."

((When they arrived to the hospital))

"Tell me, is he alright?" Nick shouted, running towards Tess who was trying to calm her sister down in the corridor.

"Nick, we are still waiting for news," she answered. "They dont tell us anything."

"Why is it taking god damn long?" he cried as he hit the wall.

"Nick!" Tess yelled, holding his arm, "Don't! Look what you did to yourself!"

She pulled out a hankie and placed it on Nick's bleeding hand.

"Why don't you tell us something? How long do we have to wait here?" Claire yelled to a passing doctor. Tess had left Claire alone for a moment to fix Nick and she turned to see her sister calling out to the retreating doctor's back. He looked back slowly and smiled sadly.

"Claire, please calm down," Tess said, tightening her grip on her shoulders.

"Somebody please tell me something. Anything. Tell me he is dead, I don't care! But tell something. I can't breathe in here," Claire gasped as she cried.

"Get a grip, Claire," Tess said, trying to snap her back.

"God, I can't go on like this," she gasped, slowly gulping back the tears.

Nick and Tess both tried to sit her down and finally they succeeded, as Harry and Liz looked on in shock. But when Claire saw the doctor coming from Alex's room, she rushed to him again.

"Is he alive?" she asked, hysterically.

"Yes Mrs. Ryan, your husband is alive," the elderly doctor answered gently.

"Thank god," Claire muttered to herself.

"Can we see him?" Harry asked this time.

"I'm afraid you cant," the doctor said and turned to him. "He is in Intensive Care now and is in a critical but stable condition. That means he's in a good condition but it could go either way so we have to wait for a while to see if everything works out for the better."

"What do you mean?" Liz asked, anxiously, between her sobs.

"I mean he might not make it. It's still a little risky," doctor explained. "But we are doing everything we can."

"God," Nick cried out.

"You should go home and have some rest, Mrs. Ryan," the doctor told Claire.

"No way," she shot back. "I want to be here for my husband."

"There is no need to stay here" he replied.

"He is right, Claire," Tess said, agreeing with the doctor.

"Come on," Nick grabbed Claire's arm, "I'll drive you home. Doctor Robert's will call us if anything happens."

"Okay," Claire said giving in at last.

"Wait!" Doctor Robert's called after them. "Sorry I forgot to ask. Does anyone have O negative blood?"

"Why?" Claire asked, puzzled.

"We need some for Alex," he said. He looked at Claire's worried face and smiled kindly at her. "It's just precautionary."

"Mine is AB positive," Nick said. He turned to his parents. "How about you?"

"A positive," Harry answered. "And Liz has O positive blood."

"What?" the doctor asked. "Aren't you Alex's father, Mr Ryan?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, are you sure your blood type is A positive?"

"Of course I am", Harry replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Me!" they finally heard Tess yelling further down the corridor. "I have O negative blood."

"Great, Ms McLeod. Please go with the nurse, she will tell you what to do," Doctor Robert's smiled.

"Yeah, okay," Tess said, and turned to face Claire. "Wait here for me, okay? And be good."

She gave her sister a supportive squeeze on the arm and left.

"Mr Ryan, can you please come to my office? I need to talk to you for a moment," the doctor said to Harry. All polite pretenses were gone now and he was deadly serious. He had a look on his face that said business.

"Ok," Harry replied, as walked with the doctor to his office. "I'm right behind you."

Liz panicked as she realized what that all 'blood thing' was about. She began shaking and decided she needed to leave.

"No, no, no!" she cried madly as she ran down the corridor. Nick could hear her sobs and was confused.

"Mum!" Nick called out to her, but she was already gone.