Chapter Three
Iwalked down the sterile, white hallway to Ryker's room with a nurse guiding me.
She opened the door to a small white room with seafoam green curtains and a disinfectant smell that only came from hospitals.
Ryker lay in a large hospital bed. Beeping machines were to his left.
His curls covered his forehead, and his face seemed so boyish as he slept.
Even though Mary had told me that he was alright, I still needed confirmation.
“Is he all right?” I asked, just an echo in the quiet room.
“He lost a lot of blood, and he has many infected wounds, some broken ribs, and a few broken fingers as well.” She reached for his chart and flipped through the pages.
“You are his sister, right?” she asked with a raised brow, directing her attention away from his medical chart and over to me.
I didn’t know why she assumed that, but if I had to be his sister to see him, then his sister, I was.
I nodded. “I am Emma.” I held out my hand.
Instead of shaking it, she nodded. “Oh, you are Emma,” she smiled. “He is still very weak and needs rest, but he has been asking for you.” She gave me another quick smile and walked out of the room without another word.
I sat in a chair near his bed and looked at him.
I watched the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.
I was so grateful for those breaths. The last conversation we had on the phone was not the kind of last conversation anyone would want with a person they love.
I was so grateful that it would not be our last. I hoped we never had to have one—a last conversation.
Ryker, my oldest and dearest friend in the entire world, and in all the realms, I guess.
He meant so much to me. I was then aware that there were many past experiences, which had formed our relationship during the years when my soul's melody had been shielded by my parents.
I could not remember them all, but I still knew with every fiber of my being that Ryker had always been there for me.
When my parents died, and I was recovering in the hospital, wasn't he there with me?
Wasn't he there, holding me in his arms so the broken pieces of me wouldn't fall apart? Yes. I may not have all of my memories, but I had that one, and it was seared into my soul. I knew when I awoke, even when I could not actually see him, just knowing that he was there and feeling the tears he shed for me and the shaking of his body as he sobbed, that we both had lost something great. Yes, I loved that boy. I loved him, and I didn’t think I would or could ever stop.
When I saw him back there, broken and bloodied in that cave, I wasn’t sure that he would ever recover.
He could barely speak, and when he did, it was only out of concern for my safety, telling me that I should not have come, that it was a trap.
I tried to rub his limbs to bring back some warmth into the blueness of his skin, but it had been a futile effort.
His face was swollen, and blood spread out in puddles beneath him on that cave floor.
He should have been dead. We shouldn't have found him alive.
But we had, which proved to me that he was incredibly strong.
But there he was. He isn't in that cave anymore, I told myself, trying to make the images that flashed through my mind go away. He had cuts and scrapes and bruises all over the exposed parts of his body that I could see. Still, he was alive and safe. I cried, seeing the injuries that had been inflicted upon him. All that torture, because of me—because of my melody—no, because of Cade. The monster roared again within me, and I wanted to fight. I wanted to scream and howl, but I tamed the angry beast for a few minutes. I needed to control myself. I played my melody loud and locked up the monster, telling her that she would have her vengeance on Cade–justice for Ryker and Shad–but not yet. I looked at Ryker’s face and stood, slightly bent over the bed to move a few curls from off his brow.
He moved a bit at my touch, and I sat back down.
I saw his hand resting on the edge of the bed, and I held it; his soft warmth calmed my nerves.
This is home.
Tears sprinkled down my face and onto our joined hands: tears of sadness, of hope, of sorrow, of pain, and of relief at seeing Ryker again.
“Emma, you are safe,” I heard a faint, gruff whisper, and I moved in closer.
“I am here, Ry,” I said, tears falling faster as his eyes fluttered open.
“I am so glad you are safe,” he said, giving me a soft smile.
“Ry,” I whispered as he squeezed my hand.
I smiled at him, and before I realized what was happening, he pulled me into his arms, and I rested there beside him on the bed, my face upon his chest. “I thought I lost you,” I sobbed, releasing so many fears, the relief falling from my eyes as salty tears.
“Never,” he said as I sat up in his arms to get a better view of him. “You could never lose me,” he said, his eyes so full of conviction.
“Ryker,” I said, as my melody swirled around us. My love for Ryker was glowing around us like a beacon in the darkness. I wanted him to know, to understand, just how happy I was that he was there, that he was going to be okay.
“Emma—”
“Ryker, oh, Ryker, I am so, so happy that you are safe.”
“Me, safe? Princess, of course! I was about to die when Keil pulled me away from the cave, but then I passed out. My body is weak,” his voice broke as if it pained him to remember that he had left the cave before me, but I was glad that he had.
I wanted him to go. There was no way he would have survived for much longer if he had remained there.
Ryker pulled me back to him, and I lay against him.
“But not too weak for this.” Ryker's lips connected to my skin, sending warmth bubbling through me, and I melted against him as his lips lingered on my cheek then down my jaw. Our relationship was never like that, but I understood how close we had been to never seeing eachother again. This wasn’t anything romantic, only him being grateful we were together again.
“I was so afraid, afraid I had failed you yet again.” His voice was rough but familiar, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth that was Ryker, the warmth that was home in his presence and in his arms. He kissed the top of my head, his face buried in my hair.
I was so happy he was safe. If I still had Mary and Ryker, I still had a family.
“I love you so much, Ry,” I kissed his cheek and then his forehead, so grateful for him being alive.
Quickly, the warmth was gone. Shad’s arms wrapped around my waist, his touch intoxicating and all I wanted.
But he was pulling me away from Ryker. I turned to look at his face.
His expression was guarded, and I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Why was he there? Was he okay?
“Emma, get away from him,” Shad snarled.
“This is none of your business, Prince,” Ryker grunted.
He tried to sit up, and the machines beeped as if in alarm.
He needed his rest. I had already caused him to use too much of his energy and his recently regained strength; he needed to heal.
Shad pulled me closer to him, his arms wrapped around my waist, his head on my shoulder, our cheeks touching, and I wanted to turn and just kiss him right there. I stopped. I needed to focus.
“I think you need your rest, Ry. I am so glad that you are okay,” I said with a sad smile.
I did hope that he would heal as fast as possible.
I didn’t want him to be in any pain, and I could tell that he was.
I wondered if me being so close to him had injured his ribs more?
I was worried that, perhaps, I should not have visited him, not until he was fully recovered, so that I couldn’t cause any more damage.
“Emma, you don’t have to go,” Ryker said as Shad moved me closer to the door. Looking up at the clock, I realized that I had been in there for longer than I thought. My stomach growled as I realized that I had missed lunch—and dinner.
"Mary wanted me to go back to our room a long time ago, anyways. I will come see you tomorrow."
“Keep your hands to yourself, Shad,” I heard Ryker growl as the door softly closed. I pulled myself away from Shad in irritation. Although I did need to leave so Ryker could get the rest that he needed, I didn't need Shad annoying him and grabbing at me.
“What on Earth was that about?” I asked.
“I would like to know the same thing,” he retorted, folding his arms across his chest, standing regal and tall.
“I was—he and I—”
“Exactly,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me down the hallway. “I realize that this isn’t a dream. None of my dreams with you in them have you in another man's arms.”
What was he talking about? I followed him as he made left turns and then right turns. I wondered if he was unstable. Where were Mary and Keil? Why was Shad not with them? We walked outside into the cool night air, and I tugged my hand out of his.
“Let go,” I said, stopping.
“Mary wanted you to come back,” he responded, pulling his hand through his hair.
“I will go back, but in a minute,” I said, walking past him. “I want to go alone.”