Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,85
“Bryson is in the very best place for him right now. Try not to worry too much and get some sleep tonight. You need rest so that you’re able to deal with everything.”
She nodded, and from the tiredness apparent on her face, Ryker hoped that meant she’d be able to sleep despite the interruptions that would likely come as the nurses checked on Bryson throughout the night.
“I’m going to go, but text or call if you need to talk to me, okay? Don’t worry about what time it is. Just call.”
He could see the emotion on her face, and he wanted to be able to comfort her more, but that really wasn’t his place. So rather than prolong his departure, especially since he wanted to make a couple phone calls on his way home, he gave her hands another squeeze then said goodbye.
Walking away from Bryson’s room was the hardest thing Ryker had done in a very long time. It felt wrong, even though he knew it was what he needed to do right then.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
As soon as he got into Sophia’s car, Ryker phoned Michael, putting the phone on speakerphone so that he could talk while he drove.
“Sorry to call you so late,” Ryker said when Michael answered. “Hope I didn’t wake you or the princess.”
“Nope. You’re fine,” Michael assured him. “What’s up?”
Ryker explained what had happened with Bryson as he drove out of the hospital parking lot.
“That’s terrible that he’s so sick,” Michael said. “Is what he has contagious? Should I be taking Vivianne to her doctor? I don’t suppose you’d know. Sorry.”
“Actually, they said they wouldn’t know if he was contagious or not until they got the test results. But because this developed after an ear infection, they think that’s what caused it. In the meantime, it probably wouldn’t hurt to contact her pediatrician, just to be safe.”
“Okay. I’ll do that.”
“In the meantime, you’ll need alternate childcare. Bryson will probably be in the hospital for a little while.”
“Really?” Michael sounded shocked. “Is he like…really, really sick?”
“Yes. This is pretty serious, but the doctors are hopeful that he’ll make a full recovery since they caught it in time.”
“I’m so sorry to hear this has happened to him, and to Sophia as well. I know she dotes on that boy.”
“Yes. Sophia is taking it quite hard. And that’s the second part of my call. She’s not likely to leave Bryson’s side any time soon. I was hoping that Lani might be willing to meet me at Sophia’s house tonight or tomorrow morning to pick out some things for me to take to her.”
“I can call and ask her, if you’d like,” Michael said. “Or would you rather talk with her yourself?”
“If you could call her, that would be great since I’m on the road at the moment.”
“Sure. I can do that. I’ll give you a call back.”
Ryker let out a sigh as Michael ended the call. Though it had been a long day already, he kind of hoped that Lani might meet him that night. If she could, that would mean he could leave early the next morning to get back to the hospital.
Thankfully, when Michael called him back, he said that Lani would meet him at Sophia’s in an hour.
“Thank you so much,” Ryker said. “I appreciate her help with this.”
“Please keep us informed about what’s going on with Bryson. We’ll be praying for him and Sophia.”
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.”
“Take care, my friend,” Michael said.
After he hung up, Ryker instructed his phone to call Sophia. When she answered after the first ring, he let her know that he’d be meeting with Lani in an hour.
“Do you think you’ll still be awake then?” he asked. “So you can tell her what you’d like her to pack for you?”
“Yes. I’ll still be awake.”
From the sound of things, Sophia didn’t seem to think she’d be able to sleep at all that night. He hoped that wasn’t the case, but he understood why she might feel that way. Maybe he’d be able to encourage her to rest when he got back there the next day. He liked to believe that she trusted him enough to sleep, knowing he’d wake her if Bryson needed her.
“Okay. I’ll have her call you when she gets to your place.”
“Thank you for doing that, Ryker,” she said.
“You’re welcome. I’ll talk to you in a bit.”
He made it to Sophia’s place with a few minutes to spare and used the key Sophia had shown him that was