Flashback.......Ansel's POV

I came back from school, it was a Wednesday. I hurriedly changed into my normal clothes and wanted to head out to my friend's house next door. We were working on a school project together.

I got my books and as I got out of my room, I faintly heard, someone coughing. If the house wasn't so silent, I would have missed it. My stepfather was at home, so he must have been the one coughing.

I knew he was my stepfather cause they immediately told me when I became a teenager. My dad had died when my mum was pregnant, my stepfather was the cop assigned to the case and from there, they hit it off.

I quickly got a glass of water, but when I got in, I saw him throwing up.

"Dad, what's wrong? Should I...is it a hangover?", I panicked, but he shook his head no. "Okay, so we need to take you to the hospital. My friend Mike has a truck. I'll be right back okay.", I said and ran over to my friend's house.

"Hey, man what's. ...."
"I need your help, my dad's sick we need to get him to the hospital.",
"Oh okay. I'll get my keys.", he said and rushed in and seconds later we were heading back into my house.

When we got to the room, he had already passed out. We both carried him into the truck and Mike drove off. His body was hot, I'm sure his temperature was rising.

After some time we arrived at the hospital and got him admitted.
"And who are you two?", the nurse asked us.
"I'm his son.", I said and I thought about my mum and calling her, but I had to wait, this could be a small issue.

I filled out a form and waited for some time. Then I called my mum, and she said she was on her way. We waited for a long while before the doctor finally came back and Mike and I stood.

"Your father had a case of severe food poisoning. A very severe case. The food had already done a lot of damage by the time you brought him here. I'm sorry, but we couldn't save him in time.", he said and excused himself before leaving.

I turned and saw my mum standing there, looking devastated.
"Ansel what is the doctor saying, what does he mean by food poisoning?", she asked.
"He's.....he's dead.", I said with glassy eyes.

RILEY'S POV

I woke up feeling tired on Monday. The flight we had on Sunday was exhausting.

I stood and reluctantly went to the bathroom. My head was throbbing. I felt sick. Just as I was about to get my toothbrush I felt bile in my throat and I rushed to the toilet seat and emptied the contents in it.

Was I pregnant?

No.

I have been with Ansel for a long time now, and we haven't done anything of that sort so that couldn't be possible.

I puked once more and my stomach pain increased.
"Riley! Riley!!", Ansel said as he in and knelt by my side.
"What....what's wrong."
"My..my stomach hurts.", I said and bent a bit. This pain was unbearable.

"We have to get you to the hospital.", he said and I started feeling dizzy. He rushed around the room and all through the time, I kept feeling worse. The stomach pain was increasing banishing any thoughts of pregnancy.

He got back to help me up and out of the room, but as we reached the stairs, I lost footing and I heard bits of my name before I slipped out of consciousness.

ANSEL'S POV

I heard someone puking and I immediately headed into the room.
"Riley! Riley!!", I said as I entered the bathroom and found her hunched over the toilet seat.

"What....what's wrong?", I asked. She couldn't possibly be pregnant!
"My..my stomach hurts.", she said and she looked like she was in deep pain. This couldn't be pregnancy. Right?

"We have to get you to the hospital.", I said and hurriedly got dressed in casual clothing. I got back to help her get up, but as we reached the stairs she passed out in my arms.
"Riley!! Oh c'mon. Cecilia!! Nicola!!", I yelled as I carried her in my arms down the stairs.

Once I got down I saw them both.
"I don't know what's happening. I found her throwing up then she passed out."
"Then we have to get her to the hospital fast.", Nicola said.

Once we were out, she helped me get her into the back seat and Mekhi sped off. Her temperature was higher than normal. Her body felt warm, very warm.

I slowly panicked. She couldn't possibly be dying? What could this even be? I kept smoothing my hand over her face with mutters along the line of 'You'll be fine.' Though I was it was mostly directed to me than her, as she laid passed out in my arms.

We arrived at the hospital and after some shouting we got her admitted. I started pacing around. I couldn't stay still. I felt someone's hand on my shoulder and I turned to see Nicola.

"You should let her family know. You can't do this alone.", she said.

"Who.....who am I going to call?", I asked weakly suddenly feeling drained.
"Someone, you can't go through this alone, and they have the right to know.", she said.

"Yeah you're right.", I said and got out my phone and called May. She was in town. I also called Daphne who sounded genuinely worried but wasn't sure if she would be able to come. Not long after I got off the call, the doctor came.

"She has appendicitis. It's inflammation of the appendix and can only be removed through surgery."
"Okay, so how soon can it be done?" I asked.
"Very soon. We'll need some time to prepare the theatre. It's an urgent case and needs to be attended to as soon as possible.", he explained. "But for now, she's on heavy medication so she will probably be unconscious till after the surgery. You can head home for some time after filling out the required forms.", he said and excused himself.

"C'mon Ansel you heard the doc.", Nicola said after I had signed the form.
"I can't leave her here.", I said.
"There's nothing they can do till they're ready, are you sure you wanna stay?", she asked.

"Yeah. You and Mekhi can head home, I'll be fine.", I said and soon after they both left. I just prayed she would be fine too. I thought back to when something like this had happened, but I pushed the thought away as I dozed off by her side.

Very early the next morning I was woken up by the nurses. They had to take her to the theatre. My heart was beating irregularly. I had heard of people who went through this and it didn't end up well.

I don't know what I'll do if she doesn't get better or worse... I love her so much. I watched as they wheeled her away and suddenly the room was empty, except for the monitors and some other stuff.

I stepped out. It was only later in the day that some family members started arriving. Jamie, May, her dad, Theresa, Caleb and even Anika. Nicola must have called her.

"Has the surgery started?", Theresa asked her hands holding on to Riley's father's and eyes wide in question.
"Yeah.", I replied. She was a nice person and it was obvious she loved Riley like a daughter. I wasn't too aware of all that had gone down between the two of them, but from Theresa's point of view, the woman seemed genuine.

"Don't worry Ansel, it'll be fine.", Jamie said taking me to a corner of the lobby and handing me a cup of tea.
"Jamie. I'm worried... what if she doesn't make it out of this one, what if she ends up like my da...". The words got stuck in my throat.
"Don't think like that bro. You two just started to get better, there's no way she's leaving you now.", he said and patted my shoulder.

"Have you been here since last night?", he asked.
"Yeah, why?"
"So you need to go freshen up, eat, clean up real good and come back to see Riley well and good.", he said.

"No. I don't think... I can't leave her here. She's..."
"She's going to be fine, now we better go so we can make it back in time. C'mon.", he said and we left.

RILEY'S POV

I woke up with a slight headache. Everything was spinning. I heard faint voices and I blinked consistently to clear my vision. I looked to see my dad, Theresa and Caleb. What were they doing.....Am I in a hospital?

"She's awake.", Theresa said and breathed a sigh of relief.
"God, Riley you were out for so long, we were very worried.", Caleb said.

"W..what am I doing here, what happened?", I asked. The last I remembered was having a bad stomach pain and throwing up, before passing out in Ansel's arms.

"You fell sick. You had to go through a surgery. Ansel brought you here and he has been here since last night. Jamie just forced him to go home a while ago.", my dad said.

"Oh Ansel, where is he?", I asked.
"He'll be here soon.", Caleb said and as if practised the door opened and Ansel walked in.

"Oh. I..uh....", he stuttered.
"We'll give you two some time.", Theresa said and the three of them left Ansel and I alone.

"Ho..how are you feeling now, does anywhere hurt, do you feel pain. I can call the doctor if..."

"Ansel, I'm fine thank you.", I said sounding tired. I did feel tired.

He came closer and sat down before holding my hand. He then rested his head on it. He must have freshened up but he still looked tired.

"You have been here since last night.", I said though it sounded like a question.
"Yeah.", he said not raising his head. I used my other hand and played with his hair for a while before my hands went to his cheek raising his face to look at me.

"Why?", I asked.
"I...I was so scared Riley. I couldn't stop thinking. It reminded me of my dad. There was a day, I was supposed to go to my friend's for a project. I found him throwing up.."
"Just like I was.", I muttered but he heard me.

"Yea. We rushed him to the hospital and it was food poisoning. He died before they could do anything.", he said and I gasped. "I...I thought you were gonna leave me.", he said but his voice came out at a mere whisper

"Ansel, before I married you, I hated you. I did cause I didn't want to marry you. And I felt so angry with myself mostly and I took that out on you. But I guess things have changed and now I...Ansel, I'm not going anywhere. I promise you, I'll never leave you okay? I never will.", I said stroking his cheek.

Did I just almost say I loved him? No, I couldn't just have started loving him, in a few months, the first few I hated him.

He leaned in and captured my lips in his and I responded immediately. I held his face with my hands to pull him closer. He deepened the kiss, but then he came in contact with the lower part of my stomach, I felt a sharp pain and I groaned making him pull back

"What's wrong?", he asked moving to stand. "I should call the doc...."
"No.", I winced.
"I..what do you need, what can I do?", he rushed.
"Stay.", I breathed. "Stay here, that's all I need right now.", I said while stretching my hands out to him.

He took them in his and sighed before he sat. I closed my eyes, but I knew he was still awake, staring.
"You know you should sleep instead of watching me sleep.", I said and opened my eyes to look at him. "C'mon. Lay with me." I added.
"I don't wanna cause you any...."

"Oh don't be shy, we do it all the time.", I said with a smirk. He responded with a smile and then joined me on the bed. We adjusted for some minutes till we finally got comfortable.

"Ansel."
"Hmm."
"I won't ever leave you, never forget that.", I said and he looked at me.
"I won't.", he said and I rested my head on his chest to hear the faint beating of his heart.

I purposely made this chapter shorter than usual, but don't worry the next one is gonna be the usual length.

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The Sparkling Authoress
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