Her Return, His Regret by Natie

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 did Ryan

Ryan's back and the paramedics quickly performed first aid

rushed to help Lora up, his face full of

Lora, looking her over. He held her in his arms, frowning when

he got hurt because of me," Lora said instead, her eyes following Ryan who was placed on a stretcher,

and you need to

go with Ryan. I need to make sure he's ok," Lora pleaded with

go alone

the

quickly and pulled away

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,

Ryan! I want to know why you did that! Why did you act so recklessly?" She cried,

his back and arms. Intense guilt crept into her Things between us

en

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

is that why

Ryan

as his skin grew paler

she said in her mind, tears rolling down

his eyes and found himself in a hospital room, the smell of antiseptic seeping into

feeling like he had been hit by a truck. Images from earlier flashed through his mind and he remembered the fire, his

The heart monitor's beeping

bed despite the sharp pain that shot through

sure she was out of the warehouse