"Leo?"
"He's fine. He's safe. He's asking for you."
Ryder closed his eyes. A long, shuddering sigh left his chest. "Good."
He tried to shift his weight and winced.
"Don't move," Elena said automatically. "You tore the rotator cuff again. And you have aspiration pneumonia from the river water. You're going to be here for a few days."
"Tulsa," Ryder mumbled.
Elena stiffened. She pulled back slightly.
"What about Tulsa?"
"The contract," Ryder said. "It's in my jeans. In the pocket."
Elena frowned. She looked at the plastic bag of personal effects the nurse had left on the counter. His wet, muddy jeans were inside.
"You want the contract?" she asked, her voice cooling. "Ryder, the bus left yesterday. You missed it."
"I know," he said. He opened his eyes. They were clear now. The gray steel was soft. "Just... get it. Please."
Elena walked to the counter. She opened the bag. It smelled of river mud. She fished out the soggy, folded piece of paper from the back pocket.
She brought it to him.
It was a mess. The ink had bled. The paper was pulpy and fragile. But the logo was still visible:Red River Energy.And the number:$150,000.
Ryder looked at it.
"I was going to go," he admitted. "I was in the truck. I was driving away."
"I know," Elena said. The hurt was still there, a bruise on her heart.
"I thought..." Ryder swallowed. "I thought if I left, I wouldn't hurt him. I thought I was poison, Elena. I thought money was the only good thing I could give him."
He looked at her.
"But then I saw the river. And I realized that a check can't pull a boy out of a flood."
He tried to rip the paper. His good hand fumbled with the wet pulp. His immobilized arm was useless.
"Help me," he said.
Elena hesitated.
"Tear it up," Ryder said. "Please."
Elena took the soggy paper. She looked at the six-figure promise. She looked at the ticket to the life he had always wanted.
She tore it in half.
Then she tore it again. And again. Until it was nothing but a pile of wet confetti in her hand.
She dropped the pieces into the trash can.
"It's gone," she said.
