The Rebel's Own(34)

Ryan nodded, afraid if he opened his mouth it would be another yelp.

“I’ll go get your mother.”

“No, I’ll go,” Rebecca volunteered. “You stay here with your family. Welcome back Ryan.”

Ryan smiled, unsure how to handle a kind Rebecca. He protested as Riley and Kennedy were also ushered out so the doctor could look him over. For a second, all he could think was that he was alive, that his family was fine. But then fear gripped him as he thought of his father. No, if he were dead, Kennedy would have told him. He tried to sit up, but a heavy weight on his leg stopped him. He looked down at his cast-enclosed shin and groaned.

Right after the doctor left, Kennedy and Riley came back in. A few minutes later Matt, Rebecca, and his parents followed. Senior was in a wheelchair and Ryan couldn’t get over the guilt of seeing his father hurt.

“I’m sorry, Dad.”

“It’s alright, son. I wasn’t awake for most of it, so I guess I lucked out.”

“I had to push them out of the way,” Ryan explained. “I’m sorry we didn’t make it clear too.”

“It’s fine. I would have done the same thing.”

Ryan’s gaze shifted to Kennedy and Riley, “I just couldn’t watch them get hurt. They are my life now.”

Kennedy choked on the emotion clogging her throat. She gripped his hand for dear life. There was no way anyone was going to separate her from this man.

“That’s fine. Kennedy has something to tell you about the baby,” Elizabeth put in.

The fear of loss claimed his heart once more. He shook his head in denial. But Kennedy didn’t look like she was sad at all. In fact, she was smiling. “What is it?”

“We’re having twins!” She smiled and cupped his cheek. “So it looks like you are going to have to come up with another name.”

Gratitude filled him once more and Ryan pressed a kiss into her palm.

“Thank you.”





Chapter Fifteen





“Are you nervous?” Matt asked, beads of sweat lining his forehead.

“Apparently not as nervous as you are.” Ryan stared at his uniform. This would be first time he wore it since the day of the accident. That day would forever be marked in his heart; he almost lost everything that day. “This is stupid, Matt. My leg is in a cast, I can barely move around without help. What makes you think I want to go to this stupid party wearing my jersey?”

He looked down at the stiff brace that was supposed to free him to him walk around without crutches while still protecting his healing leg. He hated feeling so inadequate. “I just got out of surgery.”

“It wasn’t such a big surgery and that was four weeks ago. Besides, all they did was take some of your bone marrow. And before you say it, you are not going to use Riley as an excuse.” Matt waved his finger sternly at him. “He’s already out there, giving the guys hell.”

“My wife is pregnant, and she can’t handle a party.”

“Funny, I think she’s looking forward to the party. She was the first one at the barbeque.”

“She’s pregnant,” his lips parted into a slow, proud smile, “with twins.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You are the best stud this side of the equator.” Matt rolled his eyes. “But, uh, apart from the physical stuff, how are things between you guys?”

“I think she loves me; I know I love her. She knows I love her. Why else would I drive in front of a truck?” Ryan felt an ache in his soul that no amount of drugs and physical therapy would help. The fear of losing his family still haunted him. He would wake up in the middle of the night, plagued by nightmares, only to have Kennedy calm him down. She had been his strength and his source of comfort. But he was still waiting for her to admit that she loved him.

“Have you told her that?”

“Yes, at the championship party before a truck almost flattened me,” he teased. “What I did to her in high school was wrong. What we did in high school was wrong, man. Being popular and accepted wasn’t worth what we did to those girls.”

“I was there too, Ry. I feel terrible.” Matt dropped down on the sofa. “But she’s forgiven us. I look at your family and I can’t help but feel jealous. You have a wife, a son, and twins on the way. I have my Ferrari to go home to.”

Ryan stretched out his leg as it began to throb again. “Alright, you didn’t just come here to convince me to throw a birthday party, did you?”

“Actually, I just have some endorsement contracts for you to sign. I was hoping you wouldn’t be opposed to doing a commercial with your crutches.”