Her Return, His Regret

Lora's heart dropped to her feet when Ryan's eyes closed. She panicked, her stomach churning with fear and worry. Was he dead?

She shook him slightly and called out with a trembling voice. "R-Ryan..."

Silence.

"Ryan... wake up, you're scaring me!" Lora cried out, her voice hoarse from the smoke she inhaled.

She couldn't move because of the heavy oak beam that had pinned Ryan and herself to the ground. It was supposed to fall on her but Ryan used his body to prevent that from happening and got hurt instead.

When Lora tried to move the beam, she felt a warm liquid on Ryan's back and her heart raced like a galloping horse, worry and fear creeping into her. He was bleeding heavily.

"Ryan!" She called out, tears rolling down her cheeks when she realised he had put his life on the line for her.

He was willing to die... for her.

Lora's heart clenched in pain, her tears soaking her face. She felt helpless.

Luckily, help came quickly. Firefighters barged into the warehouse with hoses and axes, tearing away the debris that had closed the way. They made quick work of putting out the fire and removing all sharp objects that were threatening to fall. "Ryan!"

"Lora!"

Lora heard familiar voices and her heart jumped with hope. She looked up and through the haze, she saw Jason and Adan running towards them with worried looks on their faces.

"Help, please! Ryan is dying!" Lora cried, her heart feeling like it was a foreign object in her body.

It hurt so bad, she wanted to cut it out of her chest.

Why? Why did Ryan do this?

Adan and Jason rushed over and removed the beam from Ryan's back and the paramedics quickly performed first aid before carrying him to the ambulance.

Meanwhile, Jason rushed to help Lora up, his face full of worry for her.

"Are you ok?" Jason asked Lora, looking her over. He held her in his arms, frowning when he felt her trembling body.

"I want to go with him... he got hurt because of me," Lora said instead, her eyes following Ryan who was placed on a stretcher, an oxygen mask over his mouth and nose.

"You're hurt too and you need to have a medical checkup-"

"No. Adan, I want to go with Ryan. I need to make sure he's ok," Lora pleaded with Adan, her eyes brimmed with tears.

She couldn't just let Ryan go alone knowing he almost died because of her.

Adan sighed and nodded, "Sure, you will go with him in the ambulance. We will follow closely behind and I'll call Grandpa Charles."

Lora nodded quickly and pulled away from Jason's arms.

Hurt flickered through Jason's eyes but he didn't stop Lora. He had no choice but to let her go... after all, Ryan did save her and she just wanted to make sure he was ok. However, he still wished he had been the one to save Lora, not Ryan. On the way to the hospital, Lora held Ryan's hand, praying silently for his recovery.

"Wake up, Ryan! I want to know why you did that! Why did you act so recklessly?" She cried, holding his hand tight.

Her eyes felt on the wounds on his back and arms. Intense guilt crept into her Things between us had ended a long time ago, Ryan. Why did you put your life on the line to save me?'

Lora couldn't fathom why Ryan would save her. His words as he tried to keep her awake flashed through her mind and her heart raced...

He found out about her... is that why he saved her? Because she's Larisa?

Lora had so many questions but Ryan couldn't hear or answer them right now.

She glanced at him, her heart breaking as his skin grew paler by the second.

'Please be ok,' she said in her mind, tears rolling down her cheeks.Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

Hours later, Ryan finally opened his eyes and found himself in a hospital room, the smell of antiseptic seeping into his nose.

He groaned, feeling like he had been hit by a truck. Images from earlier flashed through his mind and he remembered the fire, his heart jumping to his throat. "Lora!" He called out in a hoarse voice, his throat burning.

The heart monitor's beeping

accelerated and Ryan attempted to get up from the bed despite the sharp pain that shot through him. He wanted to make sure Lora was ok!

How could he lose consciousness without making sure she was out of the warehouse first?

No... he had to see with his own eyes that she was fine.

"Ryan..." a soft voice stopped Ryan's unrest. He turned his head to the side and found Lora seated next to his bed, a few bandages on her arms. She still had dark smoke on her face and a few scratches indicating that she hadn't left his side or gone to take a shower.

"Larisa... you're alive!" Ryan said, relief flooding him.

She looked a bit worn out but she was safe regardless. He tried to raise his arm to touch her face but he groaned, pain shooting through his body. "Careful... you were hurt badly. Why did you do that? You could have died!" Lora remarked, looking at Ryan.

Although she appeared to be upset, relief flickered through her eyes. She was worried he wouldn't wake up since he had lost a lot of blood. Ryan glanced at Lora, his heart feeling warm. He asked, "Are you worried about me?"

Lora frowned and questioned, "What kind of question is that? You almost died because of me, why wouldn't I be worried?"

"I guess I should get hurt more often to see that look on your face," Ryan remarked and silence fell over them.

"Why didn't you tell me you're alive? Or that we have beautiful kids together?" Ryan suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

Lora gulped, averting his gaze. "Let's talk about that when you get better."

"No... I want to talk about it now. I

held back because I didn't know you were Larisa, my wife... but now that I know, I won't ever let you declared.

Ryan