Healing Hearts (New Hope Falls #6) - Kimberly Rae Jordan Page 0,94

still has a little way to go.”

“Why are you at the hospital so much?” she asked.

“He was just transferred here Saturday night. I’ve been trying to help her understand what’s happening.”

“Her?”

Ugh. That slip of the tongue was going to make his life even more difficult where his family was concerned. “The boy’s mother.”

“And where’s the boy’s father?”

“Dead.”

“Oh.”

The long pause that followed told Ryker his mom wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. She may have been caught off-balance, but it wouldn’t last long.

“Does she need someone to help spell her off?”

Huh. Well, that was a bit unexpected. “She probably does, but she won’t take anyone up on that offer.”

“Why not?” she asked. “She won’t be able to help her son if she burns out. We all know that no one gets adequate rest in the hospital.”

“She and Bryson are inseparable. I have a feeling he’ll have a meltdown if he wakes up and she’s not there. I’ve been trying to get her to sleep once I’m here since Bryson knows me and will at least accept my presence enough to let his mom rest as long as he can see her.”

“You seem…close to these two.”

And there it was. Not an unexpected conclusion, but one he would have preferred she not come to quite so quickly.

“I met them through Michael when I was helping him out by picking Vivianne up. Sophia is Vivianne’s babysitter.”

“How did you go from seeing them for a couple of minutes a day to spending hours with them in the hospital?” She hesitated. “Not that I’m not happy that you seem to be willing to be around children again and are back at the hospital.”

“Mom, don’t read too much into this. Don’t jump to the conclusion that I’m going back into practice just because I’m helping out a friend.”

“Ah, Ryker.” She gave a soft laugh. “That’s not the conclusion I’m jumping to at the moment.”

“Well, don’t jump to that one either,” he said. “Whatever it is.”

She sighed. “How have your nights been since helping out this boy?”

He could lie to her, but he doubted she’d accept his denial as truth regardless. “I’ve had a few nightmares, but I’m surviving.”

“Is he appearing in your nightmares now?”

Ryker leaned forward again, rubbing his forehead. “Yeah. A few of them. When I saw him Saturday, he was in bad shape. I knew we had to get him to the ER, or he was going to be in trouble.”

“Did you freeze up?”

“Yes, but not as badly as I’d always imagined myself freezing up.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Now get yourself back to Nick and see if you can get those nightmares under control. You don’t need your PTSD to have yet another source of inspiration, if you will.”

“I’ve been thinking about it,” Ryker confessed.

“Less thinking and more doing in this case, sweetheart.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“And if your friend needs a place to go for a few hours, our home is always open.”

“I’ll let her know, but don’t hold your breath.”

“In the meantime, we’ll be praying for her and her son,” she said. “And you too, of course.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“I’ll let you get back to them, sweetheart. Keep us appraised of the situation.”

“I will if you won’t give Callie details about what’s going on. This situation doesn’t need her barging into it.”

“I won’t.”

He was sure she still had a lot of questions, but she’d obviously picked up on his reluctance to talk more. Not that he thought this was the last they’d discuss the situation, but she was a good enough therapist to know when to push and when to pull back.

“Love you, Mom.”

“Love you too, sweetheart. Talk later.”

That was both a promise and a threat, but it gave him a sense of security as well. Whatever else he might be feeling about having revealed so much to his mom, he knew that she would keep his secrets, and she’d also pray for him.

With a long exhale, he leaned back and tipped his head against the wall, staring at the ceiling. He was tired.

His fragmented sleep, early mornings, and late nights along with his physical job, were all combining to leave him drained. If he could just get eight solid hours of sleep at night, he could handle everything else, but the chance of that happening was slim to none.

And he knew that his exhaustion wasn’t even close to what Sophia was experiencing. Her sleep was likely as fragmented as his, with the nurses coming in to check on Bryson every couple of hours through