Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,78

the moon could shine, and he’d seen stars glowing in the night sky like diamonds scattered across black velvet.

The light of the moon and stars was still there even when he couldn’t see it, and he had to believe the same thing about moments like these when it all felt very, very dark. There was still light in his life, even in the darkness. Even when the clouds covered that light completely.

Shivers raced over his skin the longer he stood out in the cool night air. The sweat from the nightmare had dried on his skin, making him feel the chill right to his bones.

With a shove, he pushed back from the railing and turned to go back inside. He didn’t know if he’d be able to go back to sleep, but since it was just after midnight, he needed to at least try.

As he lay under the blanket on his bed a few minutes later, trying to get warm, Ryker found himself praying. Something he rarely did anymore.

Once upon a time, he’d lived by the verse in First Thessalonians that talked about praying without ceasing. Throughout the day, he’d send up little prayers. If he was seeing patients as part of his residency, before stepping into the room, he’d pray for wisdom for himself and calm for the patient and their parents. Afterward, he’d pray for them regarding whatever concern they’d had.

Praying had felt like breathing to him. Something he’d done unconsciously but also with confidence in knowing that God was listening to him.

Until that day when he’d felt as if God had completely tuned him out.

What made him think that God was listening to him now? He could only hope that for Sophia and Bryson’s sake, He was.

When another nightmare woke him just before five, Ryker abandoned his bed and began to prepare for the day. The sooner he got it underway, the sooner he could get to Sophia’s to check on her and Bryson.

“Something wrong, man?” one of the guys asked when Ryker snapped at them yet again over something miniscule.

“Sorry.” Ryker pulled off his cap and ran his hand through his hair before replacing it. “I’ve got some stuff on my mind. I need to be somewhere this afternoon, so I just want to make sure everything gets done.”

“No worries.” The guy clapped him on the shoulder. “We’ll get it done.”

True to his word, the job was done by one-thirty. After apologizing to them for his impatience earlier, Ryker made sure the site was good to go then headed for the grocery store in town. Thankfully, they had everything he wanted to take to Sophia’s.

When he got to her place, he grabbed the grocery bags and got out of the truck. He hurried to the house, taking the steps two at a time before ringing the doorbell.

He’d thought she’d answer it fairly quickly, but when she didn’t, he began to get worried. He was just about to try the doorknob to see if it was unlocked when it swung open to reveal Sophia in obvious distress. As he stepped into the house, he was hit with the scent of sickness.

“What’s happened?” he asked as he took in the tears spilling down Sophia’s face.

“He’s worse.” She stopped to take a gulping sob. “His fever won’t go down, and he’s been throwing up.”

Fear wrapped its hand around Ryker’s heart and squeezed. He felt panic flutter at the edges of his mind, but he fought hard to keep it at bay. He couldn’t let it take over because someone needed him. Bryson needed him.

He could do this.

Taking a deep but shaky breath, he said, “Where is he?”

“In the bedroom.”

With no regard for the frozen items in the bags he carried, Ryker dropped them on the floor and followed Sophia down the hallway to a bedroom, trying to ignore everything but his need to help Bryson. His gaze landed on the boy where he laid on the larger of the two beds in the room.

Sophia crawled up on the bed beside him, then looked at Ryker. “I don’t know what to do.”

Ryker did know what to do. He just needed to move past the panic building in him, competing for space with the fear. He had to do this. There was a scared mom and a sick little boy—both of whom had come to mean an awful lot to him—and he couldn’t let them down.

The thing was, it wasn’t just fear over being faced with a sick child that had