Six

Later that night after we had left the hospital, we were on our way home. The ride home was calm and quiet and I soon found myself falling asleep from the motion of the car, one minute I was talking to Ryan and the next I was going to sleep.

I kept on battling with myself to try and stay awake as Ryan was talking to me and telling me something but it was quickly becoming a losing battle, he was in mid-sentence when he must have looked over and seen my droopy eyes.

"It's alright Kalani, you don't have to fight it you can go to sleep I'll wake you up when we get home."

I felt bad for falling asleep but I was so exhausted I could no longer physically keep my eyes open.

"I'm sorry if it seems like I wasn't listening to you but I'm struggling to stay awake and it's been a long day."

"It's okay, you don't need to explain I understand it's alright, don't worry."

Hearing those words reassured me but I still couldn't help but feel bad, but having no more energy I soon passed out.

~

Twenty minutes later, I soon felt the motion of the car come to a stop. As a result, it quickly woke me up and I needed to stretch my aching muscles, with a pop and a crack I began to feel relief in my joints which in turn earned a giggle from Ryan.

"Someone's cracking a lot huh?"

I couldn't help but laugh at this statement.

"Yeah, well, I do that a lot so it probably won't be the only time you'll hear me popping and cracking."

"I suppose not. Right, I'll help you get inside because it's quite dark outside now and the ground is a little bit damp and wouldn't want you to slip or fall on anything then I'll come back for Jax and your backpack yeah?"

"Okay, sounds like a plan."

Though it seemed like a good idea to me it wasn't long before Ryan seem to panic for a moment.

"I'm sorry, was that too much was I being too forward? I -"

Quickly reaching out to him I soon found his hand hoping it would calm him.

"Ryan, slow down you don't need to panic it's alright I'm grateful for the help you have been giving me are doing right now. You've done more for me in these last few days than anyone else has in six months."

And at that moment with that being said, I knew if I could see him, that right now he had a small smile on his face.

"Thank you. Let's get you inside then."

In a matter of seconds, I had heard Ryan get out of the car and make his way around to the passenger side before opening the door.

"Okay, ready? It's a small jump down so you can hold my hands if you need to."

Not being confident to get out of the car myself I placed my hands in his without hesitation and slowly edged my way out of the seat.

Once on solid ground, it took me a moment to find my feet before he gently guided me down the path to the front door. When we got inside I instantly felt safe like I was home I wasn't sure how to describe the feeling but I knew that things were starting to look up for me.

He took me through to the living room while pointing things out and making sure I didn't hurt myself on any sharp edges such as door frames and the sharp edge of the countertop until we came to a stop to what I knew must be the sofa.

Sitting down on something as comfortable was such a relief after sitting and laying out in the cold for so long.

"Is that better for you are you comfortable?"

"Much. Thank you, Ryan, for everything it means a lot to me more than I could ever explain."

"You're welcome, I saw you and didn't want you to suffer alone, I knew I had to help you in some way. So now you know that you are not alone anymore."

He gave my hand a gentle squeeze before turning on his heel heading back to the car to retrieve Jax and my things, the sound of his footsteps quickly disappeared from my ears.