The Abandoned Swing

Chapter 17

Alby was waiting for the others at their usual place at the school parking. It was odd to be in school without Ryan. Luckily, Ryan survived the accident but he was in a comma for the past four days. Doctors told them that he was out of danger and there was nothing to worry. He would come around in a day or two. He had some minor injuries on his head, a broken arm and a fractured leg.

The school was just over and students weren't swarming out in groups. He saw Jessy and Airin walking towards him. Airin looked tired. Her eyes were dull and empty. Dark circle where clearly visible . Jessy's face was emotionless.

"How are we getting there?" asked Jessy.
" Let's take the bus, " replied Alby

They were heading to the hospital to visit Ryan.

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Airin's heart sank as she entered the hospital. The white walls looked taunting. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she neared Ryan's room. She tried to hide her tears.

Suddenly the door opened and out came Ryan's sister, Rebecca. Airin had met her only twice. She was four years older than Ryan but didn't seem so. She was of the same height as Ryan and had the same brown eyes. She even shared the same hair colour. Anyone looking closer could recognise that she was Ryan's sister.

As soon as Rebecca saw Airin, she came over and hugged her. The tears that Airin had been holding gushed out.

"He woke up this morning...." Airin pulled back before Rebecca could complete her sentence and rushed to Ryan's room.

She pushed the door open to find a wide awake Ryan talking to his mom. A faint smile appeared on his face when he saw her.

"Ah there you are. He has been waiting for you since he woke up." teased Ryan's mom.

Airin walked towards Ryan. "Have you been crying?" Ryan enquired .

" I will just be back", saying that Ryan's mom walked out of the room. Alby and Jessy was standing next to the door. That was when Airin realised that she had completely forgotten about them when she heard  the news that Ryan had woken up.

"I have been waiting to talk to you all", said Ryan impatiently.

"How are you feeling right now?" asked Alby. His voice was filled with worry

"I am feeling better since you are all here, perfectly fine. I was really scared for you all. I wanted to warn you before it was too late." said Ryan looking at the door. There was some kind of urgency in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Airin was totally surprised by his response.

Ryan began. " I will tell you everything that happened since I left you and then you will understand what I mean. As soon as I left you and walked away, I found Michael and borrowed his bike. Then I started having a different thought. I shouldn't have left you all and insisted on going straight away. But I was sure that you would catch up with me and agree to come along. I was thinking whether I should agree with you if you all still insisted on not going to Bella's place that day. That was when I felt something move swiftly beside me to my backside. I turned and didn't find anything. Then, I noticed a car at the far end of the road. So I just moved closer towards the footpath and resumed walking. I was deep in my thoughts when I saw something move on to the road just from beside me. Impulsively, I moved away from it. But then I heard the noise of the speeding car and turned back to see the car few inches from me.  Suddenly, I felt like someone pushed the bicycle and I fell back. That's all I remember."

"How does this explanation relate to our safety?"interrupted Airin.

"I am pretty sure that the driver of the car was planning on killing me. If I had not been pushed, you all would be at my funeral by now." replied Ryan.

"How could you be so sure of it?" asked Jess. "I mean, when you suddenly moved to the middle of the road, the driver couldn't have avoided hitting you."

"Although I didn't get time to see who the driver was, I saw him coming straight for me. Otherwise at least the driver would have tried to avoid hitting me by trying the brakes or turning the car away from me. I have been thinking about it since I woke up. And now I am completely convinced that he wanted to kill me." completed Ryan with a shaky voice.

Alby who was silent all this time spoke up." Michael told us that the car speeded away. It didn't stop or even try to slow down. So I guess, Ryan has a point there. And if what I have been thinking is correct, Bella was trying to warn us and help us." He turned to Ryan and stated, " It might have been Bella who pushed you out of the way. Only the bicycle was run down by the car. "

A shudder ran down her spine when Airin thought of how closely Ryan escaped death.

"And what the kids at school were talking happens to be right too. It might be them since they escaped prison. " added Jessy.

"But why doesn't Bella appear before us? She was with us when we saw the men for the first time. " asked Airin

"I have been thinking of the same thing. I am sure there is something preventing her from appearing in front of us. But I am sure she is always with us trying to help us." said Alby.

Jessy turned to Alby and said "I think it's better we tell everything to your uncle. We can get protection from those men. We can also lead them to the graveyard to retrieve the hard disk."

Just as she finished her sentence, Ryan's mom and sister came in.

"I hope you had enough time for your chit-chat. But since Ryan is not allowed to exert a lot of energy, I will have to interrupt you." proclaimed Ryan's mom.

"It's okay Ms.Rachel. We understand. We'll come back tomorrow." replied Alby. "Okay Ryan, see you tomorrow", he added

Airin looked at Ryan and whispered "I miss you. Get well soon!"

With that, three of them left the hospital room.