The Syndicate’s Bride

Chapter 6

Vanessa

My limps froze in fear and I didn’t dare to breathe as Ryan’s icy blue eyes flashed at me. I knew I couldn’t rule it as a figment of my imagination this time.

We stayed that way for a few seconds, our breaths mingling, until he suddenly gasped sharply and his icy blue eyes turned crimson.

Pulling away till he was sitting on his knees, he groaned in pain. The veins on his forehead and arms bulged and he grinded his teeth. Alarmed, I examined his body, searching for the cause of his pain until I sighted a silver piece of metal stuck in his arm, almost fully covered with blood.

“Jesus Christ, Ryan!” I panicked as I reached for his arm. It must have come off of the mechanical arm when it landed on the ground, and pierced him.

Quickly, I shouted for Thomas, who watched the scene with wide eyes, and asked him to get help. He was out in a flash.

I held Ryan’s arm, examining the object and the bleeding in a panic. From the dot of sweat on his forehead, I could tell he was starting to run a fever, and that only alarmed me more.

“Help’s on the way, Ryan.” I said as firmly as I could. “Just hold on a little longer.”

Thankfully, Thomas soon came back with the medical staff, and Ryan was carried away.

At the hospital, the nurses wheeled him away in a hurry, speaking to each other in medical terms. Below them Ryan was now unconscious, his arm a bloody mess that did nothing for my growing dread.

Getting to the operation room, one of the nurses stopped me from getting past the door, telling me I wasn’t supposed to be in there and that it was necessary to also check me for injuries. I insisted I was okay but he was persistent so I wordlessly followed him to the doctor’s office.

Once confirmed I was uninjured, I raced back to the operating room, praying that some sort of miracle had brought Ryan back on his feet.

However, my prayer was unanswered as I glanced at Ryan through the operating room door, still unmoving and even paler than before. From what I could tell, the bleeding still hadn’t stopped either and the number of medical staff around him only fuelled my fright.

A nurse, pushing a cart of medical supplies, was about to walk past me and into the operating room when she stopped and turned to me.

“No one’s allowed her ma’am so I’ll have to ask you to step aside.”

“Oh,” I said sadly. “I’m sorry, I’ll take a seat then.” I turned to leave but stopped. “The patient, how is he?’

She sighed in defeat and my heart pounded faster. “To be honest, his condition isn’t great but we’re doing all we can,” she sighed again. “I don’t want to have to say this but his family should be prepared for anything.”

At that, she nodded goodbye and walked into the room.

I froze in shock as her words echoed in my head. His family should be prepared for anything. My stomach churned. Was Ryan going to die because of me?

I shook my head and willed my worry to subside. No. I refused to let him die when there was a chance he could respond to treatment.

I pulled out my phone from my pocket and dialled my assistant’s number.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Alice,” I said smoothly. “I need you to get me the best doctor in the country.”

There was a pause. “Are you hurt, ma’am?’

I sighed. “No, no, not me, it’s Ryan, there’s been an accident. Get back to me immediately, and send two guards to the hospital. I’ll text you the address.”

“Sending the guards will alert Mr. Logan, ma’am. Should I still proceed?”

He was the least of my problems right now, and besides, he would find out one way or the other. “Yes.”

With that, I ended the call and finally settled in one of the seats outside the operating room resting my head in my hands and tapping my feet against the tiled floor.

The gratitude I felt towards Ryan wasn’t something I could simply put in words. The man had jumped in to save my life without giving it much thought and to be honest, it wasn’t something I could do for him seeing as we were nothing more than strangers simply cohabiting together.

At least until this incident.

There had to be something I was missing. An ulterior motive. Ryan was rumoured to be a very calculative person and surely such rumours had strong foundations.

Was this an attempt to gain my sympathy? And maybe even my trust? I shook my head. I didn’t know what to believe. If his aim was to lower my guard, I was ashamed to admit it was working, partly.

Growing up, Father had drilled it into my head constantly that the beginning of a man’s fall was his will to trust, because to keep one at arms length was to survive, to trust was to die.

To trust a man like Ryan would certainly be to die.

I always found it easy to live by that teaching, but with Ryan, I could feel my resolve melting. It was dangerous, that much I knew. But when I thought of him lifeless on that hospital bed, my chest squeezed in agony and guilt. After all, I was supposed to be on that bed, not him. Yet, he rushed his life for me without a second thought.

How could I ever repay him?

I got a text from Alice that a doctor with the name “Miller” was on his way to the hospital. I thanked her and waited.

The surgery went on for about three hours. I waited patiently, taking quick naps in between, until a nurse informed me that Ryan was now stable enough to be moved to the ward and I was to see the head nurse. I thanked her and left as instructed.

At the head nurse’s office, the nurse welcomed me with a pitied smile and I realized in my hazard looking and worried state, I easily fitted into the role of a fiancé worried about her fiancée. I wasn’t sure what to do with that fact.

“That must have been quite the shock...” He trailed off.

“Miss Logan.”

“Ah yes, Miss. Logan. The nurses tell me you’re the patient’s fiancé. Is this right?”

I nodded. I was, technically.