Page 89 of Coastal Rewind

“Damage?” I croaked.

The doctor turned to me. “I’m sorry, son, but the pregnancy wasn’t viable. Ryleigh had an ectopic pregnancy and a sizable tumor that appears to have ruptured, which is what caused the bleeding.”

I froze. She was pregnant? Did she know? I felt Mr. Kelly’s hand close around my shoulder as my breathing rapidly increased.

“We are going to do everything we can to save her ovaries, but we’ll know more once we get her on the table. I’ll update you when I can.”

He walked away, and my vision started to blur. This couldn’t be happening. She told me about her condition, but it was my fault I hadn’t done enough research to know this was a risk of unprotected sex. I shouldn’t have put her in that danger. I should have known.

Mr. Kelly stepped in front of me and put his hands on my shoulders. “This is not your fault. It comes with the diagnosis. There’s always a risk.”

I nodded, but I still felt the guilt creeping into my mind.

Keegan stepped up behind me. “What do you mean diagnosis?”

Mr. Kelly opened his mouth to speak, but Owen cut him off. “She has what Mom had. That’s why she left.”

Keegan went pale and Maeve’s bottom lip started quivering to the point that Colin wrapped his arms around her.

“What Owen kindly left out is that Ryleigh doesn’t have cancer.” Mr. Kelly turned to his son. “Don’t create any more panic than there needs to be right now.”

Owen raised his hands defensively. “It’s time everyone knows about the tumor. This secret has gone on long enough.”

I whirled on Owen then. I was really over his bitter attitude, and Ryleigh didn’t deserve any of it.

“You got a problem, Saxley?” He crossed his arms and cocked his brow in challenge.

“I do, actually. You say Ryleigh should’ve stayed for you. You say she should’ve told everyone about her diagnosis like it was anyone’s business but hers. You say that you weren’t good enough for her to stay. But during your little temper tantrum, did you stop for one moment to think about how hard this has been on her? How hard it was for her to leave you all for so long? How scared she was that you were all going to get married and leave her behind? Did you stop for one second and think about her?”

Owen’s face went sheet white at my words. He opened his mouth but I raised my hand to stop him.

“No. Don’t even bother. I’m not the one you need to defend yourself to. I’m going to sit here and wait for news about the love of my life being cut open, and I don’t want to hear another selfish fucking word from you.”

I pushed past him toward the emergency room doors. I needed some fucking air. After a few steps, I turned back to him. “She didn’t tell me any of those things. I spent a few months with her and figured it out on my own because I listened to her. I listened when she talked about your family. I listened when she told me about her diagnosis and your mom, and I read between the lines when she told me about her travels. It isn’t anyone else’s fault that you have known her for thirty-one years and didn’t take a few seconds to actually see her.”

I spun back around and marched out the doors. I sank down onto a bench a few feet from the entrance and dropped my head into my hands.

Nolan walked up slowly and sat next to me. He leaned in and whispered, “Bro, that was fucking awesome.”

I laughed lightly but choked on it as the tears started to fall. I felt so powerless. Ryleigh needed me, and the best I could do was yell at her pompous brother. My shoulders shook and I gripped my face hard to hide Nolan from the sight. I felt his hand rest on my back but he stayed silent, letting me just sit in my grief.

“She’s going to be okay.” He finally broke the silence but his voice was hoarse.

“What if she’s not?”

“She’s a fighter. She always has been. She’s going to be okay.”

I sat up and looked over at my best friend. His eyes were red rimmed and glassy.

“I need her to be okay. I love her, man.”

“I know you do. She loves you too, even if that’s a hard thing for her to grasp.”

I nodded and sat back against the bench, taking my first deep breath since I watched Ryleigh fall.

Maggie, Maeve, and Keegan walked through the doors then and approached us. I stood, prepared to have to defend my girl against her family. I gasped in surprise as the three girls wrapped themselves around me in a tight embrace.

“Thank you,” Keegan whispered.