A Tragic Hero

Chapter 8

Ryder had left hours ago, promising to return once his shift was over. Ten minutes after his departure, a nurse had come into Sky's room to check her vitals and change her bandages. She had developed a small migraine but ignored it as best as she could. Her nurse looked exhausted, probably ready to go home after working all night. So, she dealt with her pain on her own. Just like she always had. The nurse stepped out for a second then returned with a purse in her hands. She gave Sky a tired smile.
"Technician Clinton asked to return this to you."
She held out her purse and Sky gladly received it. A faint whiff of smoke arose to meet her as she opened her bag. Had her car caught on fire then? If that was the case, then that most likely meant she didn't have a car anymore.
She sighed. She couldn't even cry. She would just have to take it one step at a time.
"Thank you," She smiled kindly at her nurse.
She returned her smile then headed off to her next patient.
Sky laid back down on her thin mattress. She reached inside her purse and pulled out her surprisingly still intact phone. The top corner of it had been chipped somehow. Other than that, it was perfectly fine. She entered in her passcode. She had missed 32 messaged and 7 calls. Who had spammed her? She scrolled through them all, suppressing a chill. Peter West.
"Oh no," She wined. She just remembered she had not payed off her bills on time. Peter was probably wondering where she had vanished off to. He obviously wanted his money. She didn't think any excuse would satisfy him this time.
"Where are you?" The first message read.
"Hello? Are you there Sky?" The second.
"I can't wait much longer." Third.
"Your bills are due today, you hear? Today!" And so on.
She wanted to toss her phone across the room. That's exactly what she was going to do, but then, her phone began to buzz. If it was Peter, she would definitely chuck her phone.
She glanced at the caller name. Timothy Rakes. She quickly answered.
"Hello, Timothy?"
"Hey! Where are you? I came over to Mr. Willows apartment to drop off some left overs yesterday and saw you weren't home like you usually were."
Timothy's voice was soothing, familiar. It helped a lot to hear a friend's  voice.
"I got in a wreck yesterday. I'm at the hospital,"She answered quietly.
"Oh no. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just gotta a broken arm. It's Jake...he's not so fine. He's not  fine at all."
"What's wrong?" Deep worry filled his voice.
"He's...in a coma. Timothy, Jake's a-a paraplegic."
"What?! Sky...oh Sky, I'm so sorry," His voice cracked a little as he said this. She wasn't able to respond, her words suddenly logged in her throat.
"Why didn't you call me? Would you like me to come over there? Never mind, I don't need your permission. I'm coming."
"No," she blurted out, then recovered.
"No, no, I'll be okay. I don't want my problems to interfere with your life. You have a diner to run and a son to take care of Tim. You don't need to come."
"That's a bunch of hog wash. You're my friend and a friend doesn't leave his friend alone in their time of trouble."
Tell that to all her past 'friends'. She shook the thought out of her mind.
"I'm coming," Timothy repeated after a silent second.
"Timothy Fredrick Rakes, you are not coming. If you come, I will yell at the top of my lungs like a crazy woman and they will throw you out."
If he wouldn't listen to her when she was calm, maybe he would if she threatened him.
Timothy's deep laughter filled the line.
"You are a crazy woman. Fine, I won't come. That's only because you don't want me to. But...you're gonna be all alone there and...and I know how you feel about hospitals."
"I'm not alone thought," she recalled Ryder's words from their conversation this morning, smiling at the thought of his bright smile.
"I have...I have a friend here with me. He's one of the EMT's and he's helped me a lot already."
She may have imagined it, but she thought she heard a mischievous chuckle from Timothy.
"Is that so? Well, tell this mystery man I said thanks when you see him again."
"He's not a mystery man. I knew him even before yesterday. I actually met him a couple of weeks back."
"What's his name?" Timothy asked.
"Ryder Clinton," She replied.
"He sounds...dashing."
Timothy began to chuckle louder. So she hadn't imagine his laughter.
"Okay, why are you laughing?" She wondered aloud.
"I have my reasons."
"That's not good enough. Spill."
"Nothing," he answered back,"it's just, I thought we had both sworn off relationships and anything close to it, but I feel like you were smiling when you said this Ryder gent was there with you, helping you as you say."
How did he know?! She shot her gaze to her window, checking just to make sure that Timothy wasn't standing outside her hospital room, laughing at her.
"I'm just a close friend who knows things."
She could image the victorious smirk across his face at this very moment. He really was a true friend.
"Okay, I'm starting to think you're the crazy one now."
"Whatever."
Timothy would be rolling his eyes at her right about now, his grin still wide on his lips.
"I'll let you get back to your life now. Talk to you later Tim."
"Alright, ending the subject. I see what you're doing. I'll go with it though. Talk to you later too Sky."
She disconnected the call. She glanced back at her purse. Scooping it up, she rummaged through it. Wallet with a few bills and cards, a pack of melted spearmint gum, an empty bottle of lotion, her check book that now looked like a piece of trash. She couldn't even read what was written on it. Maybe if she squinted she could...
"Miss Evergreen."
She jerked at the new voice that had spoken from nowhere. Actually, not from nowhere. She realized her door was wide open and a doctor stood right outside, staring directly at her.
"Would you like to see your son now?"
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"You're driving a mega bus in London. The bus stop at five different destinations to pick up pedestrians. At the first stop, 10 people get on. One couldn't pay so he gets off. At the second stop, only 4 people get on. The third stop is empty so the bus continue onward to the 4th. A lady from the second stop realizes she left her groceries on the bus bench so she asked to go back. She gets off and so do 7 other people. The bus heads back to the forth stop. 5 people get on next and lastly, 9 people get on at the fifth stop, all of them waving farewell as 2 people get off. What's the name of the driver of the bus?"
"Ryder."
Ryder chuckled as Winston's mischievous smile fell. He had heard this riddle before, but still allowed his companion to finish speaking.
Winston smacked his palm down on the counter top he had been leaning on. The nurse's station was a buzz, but Ryder's mind was wandering elsewhere already. He glanced at the wall clock to his left. 6:45 pm. Time to sign out and go home. That is, after he got an O.K from a doctor to let Sky go.
"Okay, I give up," Winston  blurted out, running a hand through his frizzled hair as he frowned back at him.
"You win. Good job being a know it all. I'm going home."
"You're too kind," Ryder shot back at his friend with a cocky grin.
"Whatever old man."
Ryder waved once as Winston headed out then started to make his way down the halls over to Sky's room. As he walked down the white washed hallways, he let all his thoughts line up.
Today has been a pretty slow day, no one call being too extreme or deadly. Johnny had gotten a bad cut that needed stitches and Suzy had tripped and broken her finger. Nothing major.
All day though, he just couldn't seem to get Sky's image out of his mind. The way her left cheek dimpled when she smiled, how her soft curls bounced when she laughed, how her entire body sagged when she confessed to him all her worries and hurts. He hadn't really wanted to let her go this morning. The simple warmth from her as she leaned into him was a warmth he had never experienced before. A kind of-connection, a spark. A spark that had the ability to become a wild fire. Maybe. He still didn't fully understand his relationship with Sky. Heck, they had only really gotten to know each other a couple of hours ago! But, one thing he couldn't deny was this: He would not let anything happen to her, not while she was in his care.
He whispered a quick prayer for wisdom and strength as he approached Sky's door. He reached out, grabbed the knob, and let himself in.
"Hey," Sky's face brightened some as he walked up to her bedside. She had changed into a different hospital gown and had her phone in her lap.
"Hey. How was your day?" He gripped the side of her bed, staring into her caramel eyes.
"It was...fine, I guess."
Sky began to play with a loose curl that had fallen from her messy bun. Her phone chirped, but she ignored it.
"I've just been sleeping on and off. And praying, of course."
Her phone chirped again. She glanced down at it, frowned, then looked back up at him. Her eyes were so captivating, dollops of gold splashed here and there. Exceptionally beautiful they were indeed.
"What did you do today?" She asked quietly, bringing him back to earth.
"Well, I-" He was interrupted by the sound of Sky's now annoying phone ringing once more. She was beginning to look pretty frustrated as well.
"Are you going to pick that up?"
"No," She growled.
"Who is it?" He questioned, curious now to see who exactly was constantly texting her.
"Just someone who doesn't know when to leave me alone. Someone I regret ever giving my number to."
"Oh, so a stocker?"
Ryder smirked at her, coaxing her to smile too. She did.
"No, not a stocker."
"Then who? I wouldn't blame them, you are pretty amazing."
She laughed aloud.
"Stop trying to flatter me. It's my land lord, Peter West. He's...a very...interesting man."
"You don't like him?"
He had picked up the change in her tone at the mention of her supposed land lord.
"No, he's not that bad."
"So then, he causes trouble for you?"
Ryder watched Sky as she thought over what she wanted to say. She bit her bottom lip unconsciously as she pondered, a new discovery he could drop into his bucket of things he knew about Sky.
"He doesn't cause trouble. He is the trouble. He's asked me out once before and I declined. He keeps asking me still, on and off. He's just...very intimidating."
"I see."
Sky fiddled with her fingers, still thinking over something.
"Actually," she whispered,"I've been waiting for you most of the day."
"I feel so loved."
She glared lightly at him for a second.
"Jake's doctor stopped by this morning. He said whenever I like, I could go visit Jake."
"Oh, that's great."
He watched then as tears beginning to fill Sky's eyes.
"Hey," he reached out and captured one of her shaking hands with his,"what's wrong? That's good news, right?"
"Yes. It's wonderful news," She said, glancing back at him.
"Then what's the matter?"
"I'm... I'm too afraid to go alone."
She dropped her gaze, embarrassed he realized.
"And...and you waited for me to finish working so that I could go with you to see Jake?"
Sky continued to stare at her ruffled sheets.
"Sky, I'd love to accompany you."
She slowly met his eyes, surprised some.
"Really?"
"Of course," He gave her soft hand a reassuring squeeze.
A smile broke out onto Sky's face. It was a very contagious and heart warming smile. A tear spilled down her cheek.
"Thank you, Ryder."