The cold blustery wind came creeping from the Northeast, and the dark ominous clouds loomed over the rows of skyscrapers in downtown. Some would say when it rains, it will pours without no sunshine. And, this one was no difference as Ryan could feel it deep inside of his soul. A small droplet started to trickle down and then a few more came until his heart was flood like the Arizona landscape after the arrival of the Monsoon. This wasn’t just an ordinary flood, it was a flood that was last seen by Noah and his family where it rained for forty days and for forty nights.
“How could you do this to me?” Shouted Ryan, as he felt down on his knees.
“You were my heart, my soul, my love, and my flame.” The aching in his heart felt like a thousand needles had punctured it. Ryan was slumping just
trying to sit straight as he crosses his arms on his knees.
“Never again will I believe in love,” said Ryan with a flat, monotone voice. “These will be the last tears I shed for you or anyone else.”
For thirty minutes, Ryan just sat there in disbelief. He felt angry, hurt, deceived, betrayed, abandoned, and all the colors of the rainbow. He did his best to gather himself as he gingerly back himself to the concrete wall after pressing against it to get up from the floor. Ryan’s legs wobbled a bit before he was able to compose himself overlooking the night lit sky of the city. He leaned forward and shouted, “My heart might be in a coma but it is still alive. And no, you haven’t heard the last of me world.”
Panic set in as he looked as his phone. It was five before eight and James was waiting quietly outside his cubicle waiting to get a ride home because his car was in the shop. Ryan wrestled himself down the downstairs wall before reaching the seventh floor.
“Man, where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you,” said James.
“Nothing. Everything is alright, replied Ryan.
But James was not buying it as the two of them have known each other for a very long time. The sorrow and deep sadness in Ryan’s eyes were noticeable and it was as if someone had deflated his balloon.
“Don’t tell me bro. It’s about Jen,” said James, as his eyes widen. James gently tapped Ryan on the shoulder. “What did she say to you?”
Ryan just kept walking towards the elevator while trying to ignore all the questions that were coming from James.
“It’s not like you guys never had problems before,” nagged James. “This one is probably not that different.”
“WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP,” yelled Ryan. It was the first time he had raised his voice at his best friend. Ryan felt bad but he just wanted to reflect on the text message that Jen had sent to him two hours ago.
“I’m sorry man, I didn’t mean to say it like that, sighed Ryan.
As the two enter the car, James looked Ryan squarely in the eyes. “When you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here for ya man.”
Ryan clinches his fist into a knuckle and they both knuckle tapped each other to remind themselves of the friendship that they have for one another.
“I’ll let you know later,” said Ryan.
It was around nine when Ryan made his way through the front door of the house. Ryan body and soul just wanted to rest from the emotional roller coaster that had just transpired as he crept through the living room. Unbeknown to Ryan is that his mom had been waiting for him to come home and she had just prepared a big meal for him.
“Where do you think you’re going,” stated Belinda.
“I’m not hungry Ma,” replied Ryan, as he walks towards the stairway.
“I made your favorite meatloaf, chicken broccoli casserole, and Key lime pie.”
But Ryan just kept on walking with his head slump towards the ground without saying a word. Belinda noticed right away and was deeply concerned because Ryan would have never forgo his favorite meal ever unless something was extremely bothering him. Right before Ryan could take a step upstairs, his mom grabbed him by the arm and gently nudged him to the dining room table.
“Now sit,” said Belinda as she put a slice of meatloaf on his plate. “Don’t tell me that jezebel Jennifer broke your heart.”
Ryan just kept starring at the white table cloth as he rested his chin on the palm of his hand. His stomach was growling but his heart was lifeless like the Dead Sea.
“I knew it. She was trouble for you since you two first met.” Belinda slowly pours a glass of lemonade for Ryan. “The way she talks to me and your sister. Goodness graces! I’m glad she’s gone.”
Ryan just kept ignoring his mom while stabbing his meatloaf back and forth.
“Now, if you want an angel,” said Belinda as her eyes lightened up. “Daisy, Mrs. O’Brien’s daughter is just perfect for you.”
Ryan begins to shiver as the thought of dating Daisy from church bought terror to his eyes.
“What’s wrong with her?” asked Belinda. “Do you see how she treats her mom? Her elders?”
“You should see how she treated her friends at school,” mumbled Ryan. “Your angel might not be so innocent after all.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Ryan quietly whistle. “Nothin’ ma.”
“Well, finish your meatloaf. You don’t want to sleep on an empty stomach.”
“I’ll be all right ma. I’m not a little kid anymore you know.”
Belinda leaned on the chair and had one hand on her hip. “Even if you’re 30, 40, or 70. You’re always be my baby.”
Ryan slaps himself on the forehand as he lets out a deep exhale. “You just don’t get it ma. I’m a grown man now. I can blaze my own path.”
As Ryan walks off into living room, Belinda was stunned and flabbergasted at what had just transpired. What had happened to her sweet and caring son? What was the cause of all of this? It must have surely came from him spending all of that time with that Jennifer she thought.
The fog and the confusion was still lingering in Ryan’s head as he woke up in the morning. It was as if what had transpired the following day was a bad nightmare. Ryan’s body contorted as the fear finally crept in that Jennifer was gone from his life. The loneliness, the despair, and the abandonment was just to much as the wet warm tears ran down his cheek.
“Man, you gotta stay strong,” said Ryan as he wipes the tears from his face. “She’s gone. Gone.”
He gently crawls out of bed before stumbling to the foot of his mirror. “You” He pointed to himself. “You are nothing but a loser. His eyes redden. “You hear me.”
As Ryan continues to weep, Belinda could hear the sound of falling objects coming from his room.
“Ryan, honey, are you all right?”
All of a sudden, it became completely quiet. Belinda was starting to worry that he had done the unthinkable. “Ryan, open up.” Her eyes widen with terror as she pounds on his door. “Ryan, open up now.”
Ryan was lying face down on the ground as Belinda entered the room after remembering she had made a copy of his key to his room weeks ago. As she turned him on his side, Belinda could see that he was unconscious as white foams starting out of his mouth. Belinda grasps him in her arms as she dialed 911 for help.
“Don’t leave me now, Ryan,” she cried. “Tom, don’t you dare come take my baby boy. It’s not his time yet.” She rocked him back and forth as brushes his head. “You gotta hang in there honey.”
The dial on the clock ticked and ticked as Belinda paced back and forth in the ER. There were other people who were in the same precarious as they too were griped with fear as their love ones fight to survive their harrowing ordeal. As the minutes passed by, Belinda could no longer handle the frightening ordeal as they sat down on a chair covering her head with her hands. The pool of tears beneath her feet were puddles of misery.
“Mom, mom. How is he doing?” asked Jackie, as she consoles her mother.
Belinda slowly pull her head out of her hands as she tries to wipe the tears from her face. “We don’t know yet. They just took him in fifteen minutes ago.”
Jackie reaches over to give her mom a hug while rubbing her back. “I know daddy is watching over him. He’ll pull through ma.”
“Tom, do you hear this?” said Belinda. “You betta watch over our boy.”
Both mother and daughter patiently waited in the waiting room as nurses and doctors walked pass them in and out of the ER. Belinda was tense and her tired face spoke of a mother who in distraught and in need of an answer from one of the doctors walking by. Right before Jackie was going to ask the nurse on the counter for an update on her brother, a tall slimmer white breaded doctor walked towards the two of them.
“Are you the relative of Ryan Hoffenheim?”
Belinda and Jackie both shook their heads.
“Well, I have some bad news for you,” said the doctor as he flips through the results on his clipboard.
Belinda’s legs started to wobbled and then buckled upon hearing the word “bad.” Her vision became blurry as her head titled backward before passing out.
Jackie was fanning Belinda as she watches the ventilator move up and down as a lifeless Ryan was hooked up to it. Ryan was her baby brother and losing him would be devastating for her and her mother. The burial of her father was fresh in her mind as next month would be two full year since his passing.
Thirty minutes seem like an eternality as the sweats slowly runs down the forehand of Belinda as she regains consciousness. “Where’s my boy?” she whispered. “I just wanna hold his hands and tell him I love him dearly.”
“He’s not dead mom,” said Jackie. “See, he’s over there.”
Jackie held her mom’s hands as she led her over to see Ryan. “He’s just in a coma. We just don’t know when he will come out of it.”
“My poor Ryan,” said Belinda, as she rubs her hands on his hair and gently kisses his forehand. “You have to come back. At least for me.”
Jackie was conflicted as she sat on a chair next to her brother’s bedside. Does she tells her mother about Ryan’s long term prognosis or wait a few more days before Belinda could handle the news? Dr. Reynolds had informed Jackie that Ryan might not be the same ever again. He could lose functions in some part of his limbs. He could lose part of his memory in the short term or he could lose them all together. Ryan was clinical dead for ten minutes before a miraculous thing occurred. It was as if he was given a second chance from God to really find that true love that he thought never existed.
Days passed and then weeks passed before a tingling in Ryan’s fingers signaled to Jackie that Ryan was close to coming out of his coma. Days by days, Ryan’s condition starting to improve as he begins to move his toes, his feet, and his head. The progress was slow but it gave Jackie, Belinda, and James hope that he would pull of it eventually.
It was Friday night and James had just got out of work before heading to the hospital to see Ryan. Belinda and Jackie had just gone downstairs to the cafeteria to get something to eat and James was about to pick up an issue of Sport Illustrated before he noticed Ryan was slowly opening his eyes.
“Ryan, you’re back man,” James crying with joy. “We all misses you.”
As James padded his hands, Ryan glanced at James up and down. “Who are you? Do I know you?”
“You’re kidding right?” said James. “We’ve been friend since middle school.”
Ryan thought long and hard but he just didn’t know who James was. He tried again but this time, a powerful headache came over him and he screamed in pain.
There were terror in James’ eyes as he scramble to hit the emergency button for a nurse or a doctor to come to the aid of his friend. “GET SOMEONE IN HERE NOW! MY FRIEND, HE’S IN A LOT OF GREAT PAIN.”
“Hang in there buddy,” said James, as he held Ryan down so he wouldn’t move erratically.
Two nurses and a doctor could be seen running into the room to assist James in relieving Ryan of his pain. One of the nurses with dark brown hair and a lovely smile calmly escorted James into the hallway while the doctor and the other nurse work on Ryan. Bad thoughts raced through James’ head like race cars passing each other’s up in the Daytona 500. He was on his knee praying when Jackie and Belinda got out of the escalator.
“JAMES. What is going? What’s is wrong with Ryan, said Jackie as she tries to look through the glass door.
“He…he…He’s in a lot of pain right now.” James was still shaking as he rubs his hands back and forth. “I don’t know what happened.”
The three of them agonizingly waited as the doctor and nurses worked on Ryan to see what was wrong with him. Belinda just kept staring through the glass window as her the gleam in her eyes flickered with the hope that Ryan would pull through. Jackie was texting friends and family for their thoughts and prayers while James was texting his co-workers for support.
“Doc, is my son going to be all right?” asked Belinda as the doctor and nurses came out of the room.
“He’s gonna be ok,” said the doctor. “We just need to take his recovery progress slowly.” Filling out a slip for one of the nurse so they can get Ryan’s medicine from the pharmacy downstairs. “Let him think freely. If his brain becomes stressed, it will cause great pain again.” The three of them surrounded the doctor as he instructed them on ways to help Ryan from over stressing his brain.
Weeks passes by and Ryan was making significant progress in rehabbing his mind, body, and soul. He no longer needed clutches to walk and the painful episodes in his brain had subsided quite a bit. It was a battle but Ryan was a fighter and he was determined to come out on top. He did not quite know who these people were but Ryan knew that they loved him deeply and that was enough for him.
“What was I like when I was little?” asked Ryan.
“A pain in my butt,” laughed Jackie.
“I must have done a good job at it cuz you’re still by my side.”
“I remembered you tattling on me when I snuck out of the house, said Jackie, as she playfully pinches his cheek. “And I was grounded for a month.”
“What’s mom like?”
She cares about you a lot. You’re her angel and her favorite.”
“That’s not true,” said Ryan, as he got on the treadmill. “Maybe, she doesn’t have to worry about you like me.”
“How so?”
Ryan thought about it for a second. “You’re an executive at BKR Bank. And Joe and you are a perfect match.”
Jackie softly throws a small teddy bear at him. “Oh really. Who told you that?”
“Mr. handsome himself. Or should I say my future brother in law.”