Author's Note: just to let you know, this and the next few chapters are short. So sorry about that but I made them like that so my story was planned the way I wanted it to go.

Chapter 8

Ben sat in the waiting room. He had been there for 2 straight hours. He called Abigail and told her. She said she didn't care what would go wrong with the wedding plans; she was going to be out there. She arrived an hour later.

"Any word?" she asked.

"No not yet," said Ben.

"Oh honey I'm so sorry," said Abigail hugging Ben.

He hugged her close. Tears threatening to fall. Just then a doctor came out and walked over to them.

"Are you here for Mr. Riley Poole?" he asked.

"Yes," said Ben, "How is he?"

"My name is Dr. Howard. I am sorry to say that your friend is not doing that good. He has a cracked rib that punctured his left lung. His other ribs are bruised. He did lose a lot of blood. But there is some good news. The bullet that hit his stomach only scratched him and missed all the major organs. He is lying in a coma right now. I'm sorry to say this but he only has a 25 chance of living," explained Dr. Howard.

Ben and Abigail's faces fell.

"I can arrange for one of you to stay here with him," said Dr. Howard.

"I will," said Ben.

"May we see him?" asked Abigail tears streaming down her face.

"Yes of course. He's up on the 4th floor in the ICU in room 235," said the doctor.

Ben and Abigail made their way to Riley's room. When they got there, Ben had to bite back a gasp of surprise. Riley lay in the bed surrounded by machines. Each making a beep or a hum. Each machine was hooked up to Riley in one way. Riley looked so lifeless and pale lying there. Ben could barley see Riley's chest rise and fall.

"Ben I'm gonna run to bathroom and freshen up. I'll be right back," said Abigail.

When Abigail left, Ben pulled a chair up to the side of Riley's bed. He hated seeing his best friend like this. Especially when it was his fault. He gently picked up Riley's hand, carefully so not to disturb the IV in Riley's hand. He held Riley's hand in between his own.

"Riley, it's me Ben," whispered Ben.

Ben looked at Riley's face.

'How could Ian do this and not feel anything?' he wondered.

"Oh Riley I'm so sorry. This is entirely my fault. If I just went with you when you went to the car, none of this would have happened," said Ben, "Please wake up Riley."

The only response Ben got was the beeps and hums of the machines and the sound of his own breathing. Ben was on the verge of tears. Abigail walked back into the room.

"Honey I just got a call. They need me back at the house to take care of something," said Abigail, "You gonna be okay here?"

"Yes. You go and finish the plans. I'll call you later," said Ben.

Abigail walked over to Ben and gave him a kiss and a hug.

"I love you Ben. And don't worry, Riley will be fine," she whispered.

Abigail left. Ben sat there for the rest of the day, begging for Riley to wake up.