A Tragic Hero

Chapter 25

Ryder had done it. He had taken the chance and given Sky a kiss. It had been on the cheek, and if he was being honest with himself, he really hadn't been aiming for that route. But when he had seen the sleepiness in Sky's eyes, he had chosen that path instead of the latter. He didn't need to have her running away from him, not when she had just laid herself down at his feet.
"Hey buddy."
Winston appeared next to him in his peripheral vision, snapping a finger in his face.
"Hey, Ryder? Hello? Come on back to the land of the living. You are oh so needed at this moment to save somebody's life."
Ryder blinked, finally shutting down his wandering thoughts about Sky and focusing in on his friend.
"There you are,"Winston smirked, leaning against the front desk of the nurse's station as he had been doing.
"I've missed you."
"What do you want Winston?"
"Nothing much," his pal said with a sigh,"just wanted to know why you've been acting...strange this morning. Strange as in you are smiling a whole heck of a lot more than you usually do. Not saying that's a bad thing."
"I'm just,"Ryder shifted his gaze from Winston's curious stare,"happy, that's all."
"That's a bunch of bull. You can't lie to me."
Winston grinned mischievously at him, pointing a stubby finger at his face.
"You got that woman on your mind. Sky, right? When was the last time you spoke with her, ole buddy, ole pal?"
"Last night," Ryder mumbled, not embarrassed, but more amazed that he had actually kissed Sky.
"Well goodness me, that sounds super."
Winston placed a hand on his hip, his gaze intent.
"So, when you gonna ask her out?"
"What?" Ryder sent him a stern glance.
"When are you gonna ask her out. It really is a simple question, Ryder."
"I...I don't know."
Winston chuckled lowly, covering his face with his palms.
"Stop laughing. It's not funny."
"Ryder, my man,"Winston reached out and gripped his shoulder gently.
"You like this woman, right? You wanna spend time with her and make her happy?"
"Yes," He replied back without hesitation.
"Then you gotta step up your game and ask her out to an official dinner date."
He stared at his friend for a second, forming his words.
"And how exactly should I do that?"
Winston went off into another fit of laughter. Ryder waited until he was done and asked again, this time with more seriousness.
"I never thought I would live this long, be alive the day that you would come to me asking about how to pick up girls."
"I'm not asking you to show me how to pick up girls, you knuckle head."
He frowned at his companion, beginning to doubt his friend's supposed concern.
"Hey, relax," Winston finally noticed the desperation and actual worry that must have been shining clearly in his eyes.
"I'm just a messing with you. I know you are only after one woman and I'm gonna help you."
Ryder nodded, giving Winston the okay to continue.
"It's all about your attitude buddy," Winston patted his shoulder, putting on his best relaxed and unmoving grin.
"You have to be calm and confident, never once reveling to your lady just how nervous you really are. Women don't want to date a weak man. They want a strong and unwavering guy who can keep them from all danger, you got me?"
"I got you."
"Alright then. Tonight, ask Sky out to dinner."
"Tonight?" Ryder felt his insides flip a little at the thought.
"Yes. Tonight."
Winston took a step away from the desk he had been leaning on.
"Don't wanna get cold feet now do you? So, ask her tonight."
Ryder watched as he friend began to make his way down the hall towards the ambulance garage.
"I can do this," he assured himself quietly.
"I can do this."
"Hey, lover boy!"
He jerked his head up to see Winston standing impatiently at the end of the hall, staring at him with one brow raised.
"Didn't you hear me the first time? We've been called to an accident scene. We gotta get moving."
"Oh."
Ryder hurried off towards his already moving friend, all the while thinking about how tonight would play out.

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Ryder gripped his steering wheel for dear life until his knuckles turned white, feeling a bead of sweat run down his neck. He didn't know why, but he was feeling quite terrified at the moment.
"Don't lie to yourself," he scolded his mind aloud,"you know exactly why you feel like this."
He sat in his silent truck, staring at his mother's house. He had been staring at it solemnly for the last 10 minutes. Time had seemed to stop.
After he had finished his shift at the hospital, he had quickly headed home, hopped in the shower, tossed on his best suit, and raced out to his mom's place. The suit he wore was making him hot and irritated now.
He should have gotten out of his car a while ago, but his legs just would not cooperate with him.
He was scared. Scared that Sky would bolt from him like she had done last night in her son's room as soon as he invited her out to dinner. He didn't want to see her go, not like that. He kept telling himself that things were different now, that Sky might actually want to spend a night out with him, enjoying each other's company as they ate dinner. But, there was still that tiny percent of him that felt like she would reject him. He didn't know if he could live with that, knowing that the only woman who had ever stolen his heart would completely turned around and chucked it back at his face.
The garage door ahead of him suddenly began to open up, its rusty frame letting out a loud creak as it came up.
Ryder watched as his mother stepped into view, a gardening hat on her head and a bag of mulch in her hands. She spotted him in his truck, sending him a cheerful smile.
Well, he would have to get out of the car now. He simply had no other choice, having been spotted by his mother.
Ryder sighed heavily as he stepped out of his truck. He fixed his turquoise tie that had moved out of place while he drove back to its correct spot and slowly headed over to his waiting mother.
"Well don't you look all handsome and grown up in that suit!"
He gave his mother a small smile as he stopped ahead of her. She dropped her bag of mulch on the ground and began dusting off her hands.
"I'm guessing you're here for miss Sky, right?"
"Yes,"he responded quickly, receiving a raised brow from his mother.
"Is she inside?"
"Actually," Ella's smile changed to a saddened expression,"she not here. She woke up this morning and looked like she was ready to explode into a flood of tears. I tried to talk to her but she put on a mask every time and said she was fine. But I know she wasn't. Just a little while ago, she told me she wanted to go out for a bit, that she was feeling a bit cooped up indoors and needed some fresh air to think about some things. I gave her the keys to my car and she left without another word."
Ryder's stomach dropped and he began to feel a deep sense of worry for Sky.
"Do you know where she went?" He questioned his mother, the worry in him becoming a raging fire of fear.
"No, but darling, I'm sure she's fine."
"I'm gonna go look for her. I'll see you later."
After giving his mom a quick hug, he sprinted back to his truck, his hands shaking slightly as he started up the engine.
As he drove, he pondered over where exactly Sky could have gone. Would she have just vanished? He thought she had finally had a brake through! Had he been wrong?
He almost ran a red light, slamming the brakes then began thinking again.
Would she have gone back to her apartment? He hoped not. Just the thought of Peter West made him growl. Maybe she had gone to the mall then. No, he knew she wasn't a woman who loved to shop when she felt stressed. Then...where?
A memory of Sky smiling at him at the park the first time they met came to the front of his mind. Could she possibly have gone to the park? Maybe to, as she had told his mom, think some things through?
He didn't know for sure what it was, but something inside of him, a still small voice, urged him to continue on to the park. He listened to that voice too and when he hopped out of his truck after he arrived at the park, he almost laughed aloud with relief.
There, under a enormous, ancient looking elm tree, was Sky. She sat criss cross style, the cool breeze that blew against his face lifting her silky curls in the wind. She had brought a blanket with her, but instead of using it to sit on, she had it wrapped around her small frame like a jacket.
He didn't know what to do. Should he just get back in his truck and wait till she headed back home? Would it even be right if he barged in and ruined her peaceful moment with his selfish request?
He thought on these things as he stared at her.
That's when he realized that her shoulders were trembling.
He would not leave her like everyone else had. He would be different.
Ryder cautiously made his way over to Sky, stopping only when he stood directly beside her. She still hadn't acknowledged that she knew he was here. He knew thought that she knew, even if she didn't turn to face him.
He took in a breath then settled down next to her, matching her sitting position.
Silence continued to loom. That is, until he broke it.
"You okay?" He asked, doing his best to not reveal just how relieved he was to have found her.
"Yah."
Ryder waited until Sky turned her gaze to him then kept waiting as her eyes began to fill with tears.
"No."
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. She leaned into him willingly, the pain from seeing her upset beginning to fill his chest.
"What's the matter then?" He whispered gently in her ear.
"I wish I could see them again,"she answered him slowly.
"I want to tell them that I did love their son with all my heart, that he told me to not worry about, to not send him to the hospital cause he thought he could handle it. I want to tell them that they have a grandson who would love to meet them, that Noah left them a piece of himself with me and that if they wanted to, they could share Jake with me too. I don't understand why they just...left! I want to tell them that I forgive them, that I've moved on now, but I don't think they are ever coming back."
"Sky," he leaned back just enough to catch her eyes with his.
" I wish I could give you all the answers, but I can't."
He grinned at her softly as she sniffed loudly next to him.
"I do know though who can give you peace of mind and rest for you spirit as you do finally let them go."
Sky caught on to  exactly who he was talking about and shut her eyes as he began to pray.
"Father, you know all things. Why the world spins, why the sun comes up every morning, why people will never find true peace without you. You are the almighty God. And you love us. We don't deserve your love, but you give it to us freely still. We thank you for that Father. Lord, we don't understand fully why Noah's parents left, why they pretended to care for and cherish Sky like they did. We don't know, but you do. Lord wherever they might be right now, we just pray that they are well. That they have found real love, your love Father, that they have been saved. We don't want to hold any thing against them now. With that, we lay our burdens down at your feet. Your will be done in our lives Lord, amen."
"Thank you Ryder."
He opened his eyes to find that Sky was staring at his face, a look of gratitude and something more glowing in her golden eyes.
"Anytime Sky. Anytime."
She gave him another warm smile then rested her head lightly on his shoulder as she had done yesterday while she dreamt.
He felt like they didn't have to speak now. All he wanted to do was recline back and continue studying Sky.
"Don't you look nice this evening."
He had complete forgotten about his outfit.
He glanced down at his suit, seeing that everything was still crisp and in its place, then let his eyes travel back to Sky's.
"Something fancy happen at work?" She asked, completely serious, not a single hint written on her face or glinting in her eyes to let him know that she knew he had dressed up for her.
"No," He answered her back stiffly, the nervousness he had failed to stuff back down inside before beginning to rise now with a vengeance.
Sky caught the hitch in his voice, scooting away from his arms to fully face him.
"Then...what are you wearing a suit for?"
Well, he had waited all day for this moment and now it had finally arrived. It was now of never.