A Tragic Hero

Chapter 7

Blackness enveloped Sky. Her head was pounding. Her palms were sweaty. She tried to focus her eyes on what was in front of her.
A steering wheel. A melting steering wheel. Turning her head, she discovered she was in a burning car in the middle of nowhere. No buildings or roads where in sight. She was alone.
"Momma."
Sky's heart skipped at the sound of her precious son's voice. Swiveling her head, she found that in the backseat of her smoldering car was her little boy. He was smiling, not a care in the world. It was like he didn't even notice his surroundings.
"Jake?" She whimpered, not believing her eyes.
"Momma, I love you."
Her tears began to flow as she laughed aloud. This was not real. It couldn't be. But, what if it was?
"Jake baby, I-"
A tapping sound stopped her trembling words.
Shooting her gaze to the surprisingly intact passenger window, her eyes widened.
Noah, standing in a blue jogging jacket and wearing black jeans with white slides, smiled back at her. What?
"No...Noah?"
More tears began to stream. She missed her husband so much.
"I love you too."
This was too much for her shattering heart!
"What-what is-happening? What is this?"
"It's time," Noah said.
He then grabbed the ignited handle and opened Jake's door. Her one and only son hopped out and hugged his father, laughing with pure glee. She tried to open her door. Locked. Locked?! Noah and Jake turned and started walking away from the car, leaving her to perish she realized. Alone and abandoned, like she had been most of her life.
"Wait, wait! Don't go! Please, wait!"
Her car jolted then began to fold in on itself. Panicked, she yanked her car handle with all her might but could not open her door. The two people she loved the most were now tiny spots in her vision.
"Wait! Don't go! No, please, please don't go!"
The fire rose and came at her. She screamed as it consumed her.

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"No!"
Sky jerked up right, cutting her cry off when she realized she was in a hospital room. The sun was just beginning to rise outside her single window. She couldn't remember when she had fallen asleep. She rubbed her hand down her face, trying to shake all the sleepiness away. She couldn't stop the mad quiver that over came her. What a terrible dream. She had lost Noah yes, but if she lost her son as well, she would feel exactly like that, trapped and defeated.
Where was God in her situation? Why had He let this happen to her? Why had He allowed her son to become a paraplegic? The peace that she usually felt was gone, now a sinking feeling taking its place.
"Why?" She muttered aloud, not really expecting an answer from the Man Upstairs.
Her door knob rattled then, cutting off her question. She pulled up her blanket that had fallen down around her tightly, coving herself. Who would want to come here this early?
Her door creaked opened and there stood Ryder Clinton. A sudden sense of comfort filled her. He wore an emergency vest and tan cargo pants along with some black work boots. He held a small tray in his hands. She finally reached his eyes and saw he was watching her with a slightly quirked eyebrow. A grin played on his lips.
"Good morning," he spoke up as he approached her slowly.
"I didn't know you were up. I brought you something to eat. Hopefully, you're hungry enough to eat this world famous hospital food."
She gazed up at Ryder as he put down a pull out table across her bed and placed the tray with steaming food on it.
"Thanks."
He must have heard the catch in her voice. His eyes locked with hers, searching.
"What's wrong?"
He reached out and wiped a stray tear off her cheek with his thumb. Yesterday, she had jerked at his touch, almost braking one of his gentle fingers with her kick. Now, she eased some at the contact, it pushing away some of her fears.
"Nothing."
"Don't give me that," Ryder huffed. He scooped up his fold out chair that had been put back in place and set it down next to her bedside.
"Come on," he leaned forward, holding his head up with his palms as he placed his elbows on the handrail of her gurney.
"You can tell me."
The sincerity in his eyes almost started up another flood of tears.
But Sky contained herself, too exhausted to cry anymore.
"I-I had a bad dream,"she whispered quietly, slightly embarrassed to be sharing this with Ryder.
"Okay,"He smirked at her,"wanna talk about it?"
"No, not really."
"It may help."
"I don't know."
"You'll never know unless you try."
She couldn't help but smile back. He was just so-determined.
"I'll be fine."
"You sure?" He questioned, still trying to get her to open up.
"Yes," She answered him, being completely honest.
"Okay then. So, do you wanna eat this or...?"
He handed her a plastic fork. Breakfast was bacon, eggs, and biscuits. More like facon, jeggs, and slim-cuits. But she indeed, ate it all, just for his sake.
"You know, if you didn't want to eat it, you didn't have to," Ryder grinned as he passed her her cup of OJ she had wisely saved till the end of her meal. Hey, she needed to wash all this down some how.
"No, it wasn't...that bad."
"Really?"
"No," She chuckled.
Ryder laughed deeply, shaking his head at her blunt honesty.
"I'll have to pay you back then."
"What do you mean?" She glanced back at his beaming face.
"I'll have to make you some real breakfast one day since you ate this junk for my sake,"He said as he stood up and tossed her plastic fork away.
Sky was speechless. A good speechless though. Ryder was truly a blessing to her in her time of need. Maybe...maybe God hadn't completely left her as she felt He had. Maybe, He was just- working.
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Ryder had worried about Sky when he had first stepped in her hospital room just minutes ago. She had been crying. He didn't want to see her cry anymore. So, he began to cheer her up, which he did. Sky reclined in her bed, smiling sweetly at him. What was going through her mind at this very moment?
"Well," he stuck his hands in his pockets,"I have to get going. My shift starts in half an hour. I'll talk to you after I'm finished, see if you could be released today."
He flashed her one more smile then spun on his heels to exit her room.
"Wait! Please don't go!" Sky suddenly cried out.
He halted mid step. He slowly turned back to face her, giving her a slightly concerned look at her sudden outburst.
"I mean," she could do nothing to hide her blush, which he didn't mind staring at at all.
"I-I don't wanna be alone here. I've only had...bad experiences in hospital when no one else was around."
Her eyes puffed and she wiped her nose with her wrist, braking eye contact with him. Just like before, he didn't want to see her cry anymore. Before he fully registered what he was doing, Ryder plopped back down onto his chair, completely taken by the woman in front of him. He couldn't leave now though, unless he make a complete fool of himself. He cleared his throat.
"Did your...husband pass away in a hospital?" He asked, immediately  regretted it.
Sky's hazel eyes welled up once more. Who was he to ask her such a personal question? Before he could apologize though, she spoke.
"Yes, Noah died in a hospital," She answered him as she gazed into his eyes, sorrow and a hint of anger filling hers. Was she angry at him? Or was it something deeper?
"Denver, Colorado," she began, "that's where me and Noah use to live. We had a beautiful home, great jobs, big plans. He always dreamed of having a son. He use to say,'if I had a son, I'd truly be the happiest man alive'. Then, one blessed afternoon, after waiting so long and praying even longer, I found out I was pregnant. I scrambled home from work as fast as I could after I got the call from my doctor. Noah was ecstatic. He wouldn't stop smiling. We laughed for hours."
He watched as Sky smiled wishfully, recalling all her sweet memories.
"But then, the coughing started, then the headaches, and then the vomiting. I was at work when he collapsed at home. He told me that morning that he would be fine, to go to work and enjoy my day. I should have never listened to him. If I would have just...just stayed that morning, maybe he wouldn't have..."
Sky paused, closed her eyes as she pulled herself together, then continued.
"I found Noah in the bathroom, passed out and pale as a ghost. He was barley breathing on his own. I- I dragged him to the car, fumbled with my keys, then sped off to the hospital. After they took him, I sat in a waiting room for 8 hours pleading, pleading with God that they would find a way to help Noah, to save his life. I couldn't imaging raising our child without him! We had so many plans, so many goals we hadn't achieved yet. The doctor stepped into the room. I just remember hearing three sentences.'Mrs. Evergreen, I'm sorry. We tried everything we could. Your husband is gone.' I'm pretty sure I passed out then. The following weeks where hell. Everyone left me. My house got taken away. My car got totaled. All the while, nobody could tell me what had happened to my husband. It was a mystery, they said, a complete disaster."
She sniffed, a sad grin appearing on her face.
"Do you know why I'm still here today, Ryder? I'm still here because of my little boy. If it weren't for him, I would have killed myself. But now that my boy is hurt and may even be on the verge of death, I don't feel like I have anything to live for. I feel so...so alone. Has God left me? Why don't I feel him? Have I been totally abandoned?"
"No."
Ryder couldn't take it anymore. Sky's story had tore a hole in his heart. This beautiful woman who had snatched his total attention was broken. She had no one, and he would not, could not, walk away from her.
"No Sky,"he continue,"God is here. He's always here. He's here when we're at our best, when we're consumed with worried, when we're shattered, and even when we stray from His goodness. You just have to keep believing that He knows what He's doing and walk with Him as He walks with you."
Ryder stood up from his seat. Sky's shoulders had slumped at one point and she now shook with sorrow. He leaned over the guard rail without any hesitation and pulled her gently into his arms, carful to not move her injured arm.
"You're not alone. God is here. And I'm here for you too."
Sky wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned her head against his chest. This felt- right. Not just him holding any woman in his arms. No, holding Sky Evergreen in his arms felt right. And, to be completely honest, he had no problem with that whatsoever.