shut for a moment before she looked up at him. “Thank you for being here today.”
“I’m glad I was here for the good news,” he said with a smile as he lowered his hand. “I know you’re probably a bit worried about leaving the monitoring of the PICU, but they wouldn’t be moving Bryson to a regular unit if he wasn’t ready. Him eating and moving around more is a good sign.”
“I know.”
“Just think of it as one step closer to him going home, which is what we all want for him.”
“Yes. I really do want that.”
“Do you need anything from your house that I can get for you?”
She shook her head. “I think I’m okay.”
He didn’t know how she was for clothes, but he figured she wasn’t comfortable asking him to pick up more for her. Hopefully, now that Bryson was on the mend, it wouldn’t be too much longer until he could go home. Then they could move forward, and Ryker hoped that he and Sophia would be able to start to build something between them.
He could see that she wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted from her, and he knew that a lot of that came from her inability to trust herself after getting caught up in a cult the way she had. That was okay. They had time.
Though he was ready to acknowledge and embrace his feelings for Sophia, he still had some work to do emotionally in order to deal with his reactions to what had happened in Syria.
He knew that some might question his sense in starting a relationship while also going back to therapy. Callie would probably tell him that if he was trying to get better for someone else, it wouldn’t work.
What Callie wouldn’t understand was that yes, he wanted to get better for someone else. But it wasn’t just for Sophia or even Bryson. He wanted to get better for any children he might come in contact with in the future…whether that was in a medical practice or just in life in general.
Being around Bryson and Vivianne had reminded him just how much he loved children. The two of them had managed to break through the defenses he’d put up, making him more vulnerable to his nightmares, but also reminding him of the joy he felt when he was around children.
But more than that, everyone in his life deserved the best version of him. For years, the best version he could manage was the one that allowed him to function, even if it was just barely. Now, though, he felt like with God’s help he was strong enough to reach for an even better version of himself. To strive to become the man God wanted him to be.
He wasn’t going to leave Sophia alone while he did it, though. Doing that didn’t feel like it would help him be a better version of himself.
“Text me when you’re in the new room with Bryson, okay?” he said, glancing to where the boy slept. “And I’ll be back here as soon as I’m done work.”
This time, she didn’t tell him he didn’t need to come back. She just smiled wearily and said, “Okay.”
He slid an arm around her and let his cheek rest on her head for a moment. “If you need me for anything, call. And if you think of anything that you need from your house, text me what it is. I still have your keys.”
She leaned against him for a moment, and Ryker found that he enjoyed the feel of her body against his. He knew she could be strong when she had to be, but he appreciated that she seemed willing to lean on him when she needed to as well.
“Try and get some sleep,” he said, then pressed a kiss to her hair, waiting for her to straighten up before moving his arm from around her. “See you tomorrow.”
She nodded, and for a moment, he thought she might cry, but instead, she took a deep breath. “Drive safe.”
“I will.” He gave her one last smile, then left the room.
As he walked out to his truck, he was already counting the hours until he was back again and with a surprise that he hoped would brighten her day.
“You’re a sweet boy,” the older woman said as she reached over and patted his arm. “A real blessing to my Sophia and Bryson. I feel like I know you already because Bryson has talked about you so much.”
Ryker glanced at the