Chapter 89 089
RYAN
Pain has a way of snapping you back into reality.
And the last thing I remembered before everything went black… was Zara in my arms.
That alone was enough to make me move.
I woke up with a groan stuck in my throat, my head pounding like something had cracked open inside it. My vision blurred for a second before slowly clearing, and the first thing I saw—
Was Aaron.
And doctors.
Too many doctors.
They were hovering over me, voices overlapping, hands moving, checking, adjusting, asking questions I couldn’t even process yet.
“Ryan, can you hear me?”
“Stay still.”
“Don’t try to move—”
“Zara—”
My voice came out rough and urgent.
That was the only thing that mattered.
I turned my head slightly despite the protest from my body, and that was when I saw her.
Zara.
Safe.
In Aaron’s arms.
She looked scared.
Her little face was wet with tears, her small hands gripping Aaron’s shirt tightly like she was afraid to let go.
The sight hit me harder than the pain in my head.
“I’m here,” I rasped, trying to sit up immediately.
“Don’t move,” one of the doctors said firmly, pressing me back down. “You just had a fall. You need to stay still.”
“I’m fine,” I snapped weakly. “I need to—”
“Daddy…”
Zara’s voice broke through everything.
Small.
Shaky.
I looked at her again, really looked this time.
Her eyes were wide.
Terrified.
“I’m okay,” I told her quickly, forcing my voice to soften despite the pain. “I’m okay, baby. I promise.”
She didn’t look convinced.
Her lips trembled slightly.
“You fell,” she whispered.
And just like that—
It all came rushing back.
The IV.
The urgency.
The need to get to get out of the room.
Standing up too fast.
The sudden loss of balance.
And then—
Impact.
But before I hit the ground…
I remembered something else.
I had turned.
Instinctively.
So that Zara wouldn’t hit the floor.
My chest tightened.
I would do it again.
Every single time.
“Is she hurt?” I demanded, my eyes snapping back to Aaron. “Zara—did she get hurt?”
“No,” Aaron said immediately, shaking his head. “She’s fine. You protected her.”
Relief flooded through me so quickly it almost made me dizzy again.
“Thank God…”
“Mr. Thompson,” one of the doctors said, drawing my attention back to them. “We need you to focus. Can you tell us where you are?”
I exhaled slowly.
“Hospital.”
“Do you remember what happened before the fall?”
I hesitated.
For a second.
And then—
It hit.
Not in pieces.
Not in fragments.
Everything.
All at once.
Emily.
Her face.
Her voice.
The way she looked at me.
The things I said to her.
The things I did.
My chest tightened painfully.
“Ryan?” the doctor pressed.
I swallowed hard.
“I… I remember.”
“Everything?” he asked carefully.
A deep, splitting headache followed that question, making me wince as I tried to shift slightly.
“Don’t move,” another doctor warned, holding me down gently.
“I got flashes before the fall,” I said, my voice strained. “But now… it’s all back.”
Every single thing.
And God—
I messed up.
Badly.
The last two weeks replayed in my head like a nightmare I couldn’t escape.
The confusion.
The distance.
The coldness.
The way I treated Emily like she meant nothing.
Like she was a stranger.
My stomach twisted.
What had I done?
“Your memories returning suddenly can cause strain,” the doctor explained. “You need to take it slow.”
“I don’t have time to take it slow,” I muttered, already reaching for the IV in my arm.
A hand stopped me immediately.
“Ryan, no.”
“I need to go,” I insisted, trying to pull away. “I have to see her.”
“You’re not in any condition to move.”
“I don’t care!” I snapped, my patience gone. “I need to see Emily.”
“Daddy…” Zara’s voice came again, softer this time.
I paused.
Just long enough to look at her.
She was still in Aaron’s arms, watching me carefully.
Worried.
Confused.
“I’m okay,” I told her again, gentler now. “I just… I need to fix something.”
She didn’t fully understand.
I could see that.
But she nodded anyway.
Like she trusted me.
Like she always did.
And that only made the guilt worse.
The doctors exchanged looks before one of them sighed.
“We’ll give you a moment,” he said finally. “But do not remove the IV. And do not attempt to stand.”
I didn’t respond.
Because the second they stepped back—
I was already trying again.
“Ryan—”
“I need to apologize to her,” I said, cutting them off as I looked at Aaron. “I need to fix this.”
They tried to stop me again, adjusting the IV, keeping me from moving too much, but I barely registered it.
My focus was elsewhere.
On one person.
Emily.
After a few more warnings and instructions I didn’t fully listen to, the doctors finally stepped out.
The room felt quieter.
But the tension didn’t leave.
I turned to Aaron.
“I’m sorry.”
The words came out low.
Real.
For a second, he just looked at me.
Then he shook his head slightly.
“I’m just glad you’re back,” he said.
Back.
Yeah.
Too bad I came back to a mess I created.
“Please,” I said, my voice dropping. “Take me to her.”
Aaron hesitated.
“You’re not strong enough.”
“I don’t care,” I said immediately. “I can’t be okay if I haven’t seen her.”
That was the truth.
Nothing else mattered.
Not the pain.
Not the fall.
Not even the memories.
If I didn’t fix things with Emily… none of it meant anything.
“Ryan…”
“I’m begging you.”
The words surprised even me.
But I meant them.
Aaron exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair.
“Fine,” he said eventually. “But I’m not taking you there like this.”
My chest tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll call Morgan,” he said. “We’ll ask Emily to come here.”
Not ideal.
Not what I wanted.
But—
It was something.
"Okay." I nodded quickly. “Okay… thank you.”
Zara shifted slightly in his arms.
“I want to see Mommy,” she said softly.
I looked at her.
My heart softened immediately.
“Soon,” I promised. “We’ll see her soon.”
Aaron pulled out his phone and dialed.
It rang.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
“Morgan?” he said. “Where’s Emily?”
There was a pause.
And then his expression changed.
My chest tightened instantly.
“What?” I demanded. “What is it?”
He looked at me.
“She fainted.”
My heart dropped.
“What?”
“They rushed her to the hospital.”
A cold wave of panic hit me.
“Which hospital?”
Aaron hesitated.
Then—
“This one.”
Everything inside me went still.
For a second.
And then—
“No,” I said immediately, already reaching for the IV again. “No, we need to go. Now.”
“Ryan—”
“I said now!” I snapped, my heart racing. “She’s here? And you want me to sit here?”
A nurse walked in just as I started pulling at the IV.
“Sir, you can’t—”
“Please,” Aaron cut in quickly, stepping forward. “Can you help us? He needs to be moved. Just to another floor.”
The nurse looked between us.
Then at me.
Then at Zara.
Something in her expression softened.
“…Alright,” she said slowly. “But carefully.”
Relief hit me instantly.
“Thank you.”
Zara wriggled out of Aaron’s arms and came closer to me, her small hand reaching for mine.
“Daddy…”
I squeezed her hand gently.
“I’m okay,” I told her again.
Even if it wasn’t entirely true.
Because right now—
I was angry.
At myself.
At everything.
At the past two weeks that felt like a lifetime.
At every single moment I hurt Emily without even knowing it.
I messed up and I knew it.
The worst part?
I didn’t know if sorry would be enough.
But I had to try.
I had to.
Because losing my memories was one thing.
Losing Emily for real?
That was something I wouldn’t survive.
As the nurse started preparing to move me, I tightened my grip on Zara’s hand.
“Let’s go see Mommy,” I said softly.
And this time—
I wasn’t going to let anything stop me.