Chapter 79: Between Confusion And Pain

Ten Years Prior...

 Hilton Memorial Hospital, Baltiney, New York...

 Frantic movements had abounded as many a doctor scrambled to bring in the survivors of Fight 126 and the subsequent victims that hadn't made it. The Kennison family had been listed as D.O.A but the on-call doctors and nurses had elected to humor the distraught wealthy businessman Ryker Kennison as a favor to his friend Malcolm Reeves. Ryker paced the sterile halls unable to breathe as those around him attempted to come to terms with what to tell him when the time came. He'd been looking for answers but not the ones that would bring him any satisfaction. The three separate gurneys barreled through the long and winding hall with everyone on high alert since getting the news of the incoming crash victims. 

The Ramos family had been among the many that had been ushered inside with Hector Ramos being the most critically injured as a result of the crash along with his eldest daughter Valencia, who'd been the fourth wheeled in after Sera, Kevin, and Carter Kennison. 

Ryker had been devastated upon his arrival as Malcolm attempted to keep his friend under control, Coleman and Mildred arrived later with a younger Jeff sitting in the lobby. Evelyn Towers had gotten the call and came along frantic as she attempted to get any news on Sera and the boys. 

One of the doctors. Dr. Marshal had come out with a grim expression on his face as he got ready to deliver the bad news. Ryker had been standing with the family as the doctor approached him the terror on his face had been evident to the point that even Jeff had been shaken. 

"Mr. Kennison, I...I am sorry to have to tell you this but your sons, Kevin and Carter didn't make it...the injuries from the crash had been too much, and the blunt force trauma...They died rather quickly as a result and we have no reason to believe they suffered any unnecessary pain."

The news of losing the boys had made it difficult for Ryker to stand as it was but he attempted to see some kind of silver lining in the fact that they might not have suffered. Mildred had been at a loss for words, her grandsons had been gone within the blink of an eye and now the doctor had yet to give word on Sera and the baby. 

"Mrs. Kennison....as you well know had been pregnant but due to the accident lost the baby...I'm sorry to say...and...Mr. Kennison, I'm so sorry to say she's gone as well." continued Dr. Marshal as delicately as he could manage. 

Ryker however wasn't hearing any of that. 

"No," he said walking away from them as he moved to go toward the room where Sera had been held. "No, she can't be...No...she's fine...I'll go see her myself."

Malcolm grabbed him as he stumbled backward. 

"Rye..." he began with tears streaming down his cheeks. 

"NO!" shouted Ryker more adamant than ever. 

"She's gone, they're gone." Malcolm insisted attempting to get his best friend to see reason finally. 

Ryker couldn't see past his anger and attempted to push past Malcolm who tackled him onto the ground in a bid to keep him from assaulting the doctor. 

"Rye stop....they're gone." Malcolm insisted once more as he pinned Ryker onto the hospital flood following their brief physical altercation. 

Mildred had never seen her son so devastated and she had no idea how to help him or make it right. 

Evelyn Towers had come in at that moment and the family filled her in on the terrible news. She could see the anguish on Ryker's face as she attempted to hold back her own tears to no avail. 

The poor man had swung from denial to anger and back again as he struggled to make sense of all that happened. He had failed to save his family after all and as a result, his boys and his pregnant wife had been gone. To make matters worse, he'd been the reason they had gotten on that flight. His insistence that they fly out to her parent's house in Oregon without him had been the reason they were gone and he'd still been alive. 

The realization shattered what had remained of his fragile psyche and he collapsed with Coleman and Malcolm attempting to get him aid. 

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Random Hospital Room, Hilton Memorial Hospital, Baltiney, New York...

 Ryker Kennison had found himself in a hospital room of his own as he noted the beeping and clicking of machines. He'd been severely dehydrated and skipped out on meals for the past two days since the plane crash after focusing his efforts on finding his family, when he passed out in the hall Dr. Marshal had expertly gauged that something had been wrong with him. He'd been alone in the room amid the beeping and clicking as he stared up at the ceiling. He had a vague recollection of the events that led to his being brought here.

He had thought he'd been out of it when the image of Sera had been before him but wanted so badly to believe otherwise. 

Slowly, Ryker stripped himself of the tubes and patches as he set off the machines and made his way through the hospital collecting his nearby attire before exiting his room. He avoided the nurses and other staff due to them all being preoccupied with what was happening to another series of patients. 

There was a frantic coding for one particular patient, a young girl of about twelve years of age who'd lost a good deal of blood. Her father had been unable to give blood due to his medication and injuries and they'd been scrambling to find a new supply with the waiting list being so long due to the other crash victims. 

Ryker had learned from a few chatting nurses that the girl was AB negative and as a result was in dire need of a transfusion that might not ever come. The image of Sera had taken off and he followed behind unsure of what she wanted him to see. Before he knew it, he'd been standing just outside the hospital room of the ailing Valencia Ramos while her family had been taking a moment to brace themselves for the bad news. Ryker had at last understood what Sera wanted him to do, she wanted him to finish what he started when he pulled the girl out of the wreckage of the plane. 

He made his way toward the nearest on-hand nurse. 

"I hear you have a patient that needs a donor," he said meeting the surprisingly grateful young nurse's eyes. 

"The patient in need is AB negative and it's rather difficult to get blood for her, especially with this plane crash emergency," she said sadly. "The poor thing's barely even begun her life and now she's about to lose it if there's nothing we can do."

"Not to worry, I'm O negative," replied Ryker. 

The nurse got all misty eyes as she escorted him toward where she'd be drawing his blood. 

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Room 24, Hilton Memorial Hospital, Baltiney, New York...

 Valencia Ramos, age twelve had been lying in her hospital bed in an involuntary slumber since falling into a coma while the machines kept her alive. Her parents had been frantic about her chances given the degree of her loss of blood but news of a donor who had been at the hospital had given them hope when everyone else had nearly given up. The nurse who had done the transfusion had gleefully given the information as to the donor's identity in a bid to cheer up the family, she'd been just as shocked as anyone to know that it had been none other than Billionaire Ryker Kennison himself.

Especially after the losses he suffered the previous afternoon. 

Valencia had never forgotten that it had been Ryker Kennison who saved her life and neither had her family.