Finding Destiny

by Christa Simpson

  They hadn’t discussed their plans after that, or anything else for that matter. After making love, they were so exhausted and content that they curled up together, and that was where they remained until bright and early this morning. Maybe she was waiting for him to bring it up, since they hadn’t discussed where each of them were from, and maybe he would grow a pair and say something before the weekend was up.

  After a moment of wordless canoodling, Skylar pulled her outside and locked the door behind them. He helped her with the helmet, and it was then that he realized just how strong his feelings for this woman were. Destiny was a game changer. She didn’t know the rules but, if she had, he was sure she would take that short list and shred it, right in front of him and his family.

  In an attempt to focus on Matty, he fired up his machine and checked all of the gauges. Without him even having to ask her, Destiny wrapped her arms snugly around his waist. He pulled away from the cabin and headed back the way they originally came, making tracks through the fresh dusting of snow that showed no sign of other human life.

  Snow continued to fall, but the flakes were much lighter than those from the other day, and it wasn’t blowing around like it had been. The flakes fluttered around in the sky and whipped past them, as Skylar sped back to where he expected to find Natalie’s truck. The closer they got, the worse the feeling in his stomach became.

  As he made his turn onto the main road, and at the sight of the emergency crews, his chest caved. With lights still flashing, at a location just beyond where they had picked up Destiny and her friends the other day, he could only think the worst. Destiny had peeked around him, and saw it too, her small hands gripping tighter around him as they waited to hear the fate of his family and her friends.

  He prayed that Natalie’s truck was empty when the other vehicle had collided into it, but then he saw his brother’s truck – or what was left of it – piled up on a flatbed tow truck.

  Skylar approached the scene and parked his snowmobile where he could be sure Destiny could not see the wreckage. The feelings coursing through his veins weren’t something he was used to. He had visited scenes like this on a regular basis, but never with a woman that he cared about and never with family involved.

  Adrenaline had always run high when he rescued victims from a car accident, but that wasn’t what was flooding his system right now. He turned his machine off and all but sprinted to the crash site, after ordering Destiny to wait there.

  Wait here? Skylar obviously didn’t know who he was dealing with. She was a grown-ass woman. She could handle the truth. Ignoring Skylar’s advice, Destiny followed after him. She tried to mimic his steps, but he had taken off so fast that his boot prints were too far apart for her to step in them.

  She saw him standing there already, talking to the EMS, his arms folded tight across his chest. A fire truck had just left the scene and a second tow truck was pulling away after it, with a scrap of metal from the road resting on its flatbed.

  “No!” she cried, when she recognized the red heap of metal. It was without a doubt Natalie’s truck, with its rear end wrapped right around the passenger door. She didn’t mean for her voice to croak so loud, but she couldn’t control the emotions now welling in her throat.

  Skylar immediately spun around to face her, and glared at her for a timeless moment. He continued to stare her down as he stomped in her direction. “I told you to stay at the machine,” he barked.

  She shrunk considerably beneath his stare, and began to wonder if she even knew the real him. Then she lifted her chin, not much caring about that at the moment. “I want to know the truth. Tell me what you know.”

  She kept her tears at bay, knowing that there’d be no way he’d share the news with her if she had shed so much as one tear.

  When he swallowed, she threw herself into his arms, knowing that it wasn’t good. “Matty,” he whispered, his voice clipped with emotion. “He was hit by a passing car, when he was working on your friend’s truck. I guess he was pinned between the vehicles for hours before the crews could get to him.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Destiny whispered, unable to keep the tears away.

  “There was a lot of blood, and the cop said he’d be surprised if Matty had any left. They can’t believe he’s still alive.”

  “He told you that?”

  “I didn’t tell him I’m related; only that I’m EMS.”

  Destiny’s eyes scattered all over his face, trying to decipher the look in his eyes, but she couldn’t read him.

  “Matty was still conscious when they got here, Destiny. Do you realize how much pain he must have been in? They had to induce him into a coma. He was in that much pain.”

  “It can’t be true. Matty was conscious. That has to be a good sign.”

  “His diaphragm is crushed. People rarely survive injuries like that.”

  Destiny threw her arms back over Skylar’s shoulders, with tears still streaming down her cheeks. “You have to stay optimistic.”

  He pried her off of him. “They’ve air-lifted him to a hospital a few hours from here. The medical team doesn’t seem very optimistic.”

  “Oh my God. My friends?”

  “They’re okay. A little banged up. But they’ll live. They were taken to the nearest hospital by ambulance.” He started to pull her closer to him, but she pushed him away. That was clearly the way he had wanted it. She wouldn’t confuse him anymore.

  “You should go.”

  Skylar shrugged his heavy shoulders. “I don’t know. What can I do for him now?”

  Destiny looked him in the eyes, and said the words that she hated to hear on her lips. “If he died today, and you didn’t go up to see him, would you regret it?”

  Skylar let a tear slip, but quickly masked it with an unwarranted frown. “I guess I should go. Maybe I can catch a ride to town with the crew. I have to call my parents.”

  He looked so worried and overwhelmed with responsibility for his brother, and yet he still cared for her safety. “Will you be okay?”

  And even though she wasn’t sure, she pasted on a fake smile and nodded her head. “Go. Matty needs you.”

  Skylar dipped down and stole the breath from her lips, with a kiss that seared her frozen nerves.

  When he pulled back, she smiled softly, even though she knew that they would probably never see each other again.

  With a single nod in response, Skylar ran back to the EMS, barking orders at them to haul ass. Then he leapt into the passenger seat and they took off with the lights flashing. Another emergency professional sauntered over to Skylar’s snowmobile and loaded it into the back of the rescue truck, while a police officer approached Destiny on foot.

  “I’m told you’re a friend of the two casualties that were taken in.”

  Destiny’s stomach dropped together with her mouth. “They’re dead?”

  “No, no, no!” the officer insisted. “I apologize. You misunderstand. They’re injured. I can take you to see them.”

  Destiny nodded and tried to pull out a smile, but failed miserably. She followed the officer and got into the back of his marked car. The tears started coming, as she waited for the car to pull away. This was officially the worst Valentine’s Day ever.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Skylar plowed into the front doors of the hospital, like he was on a rampage. Two and a half hours, it took him to get there, and the whole time he thought about the last words he had said to his brother and all the things he hadn’t said to Destiny. Once he was within a few miles of civilization, his phone had started to blow up with messages and Facebook comments. He didn’t want their sympathy, but Matty needed their prayers.

  He had seen photos from the crash site and a reporter had even managed to post a photo of Matty still pinned between the two vehicles. His blood was everywhere and Felicia was sprawled over the roof of the ruined truck, holding his hand. At least Matty wasn’t alone.

  As he rushed the window at the nurse’s station in the emergency
department, a young woman dressed in white stood from her chair.

  “My brother.”

  After giving his name, he was guided toward the trauma ward, where they burst into the emergency room and found his brother there. He was connected to every machine available, his face so scratched and bloody that he was unrecognizable. A tube delivered him air to breath, but he looked like he was already dead. Matty’s lifeless body was braced on a hospital bed and covered with blankets, with their parents hovering at his bedside.

  Skylar’s father turned toward him first. His mother instantly reached out for him and crashed into his arms. He smoothed his hand over his mother’s hair, barely hanging on to his emotions.

  A nurse approached them and cleared her throat, without being delicate about it. “We’re about to take him into the O.R. It’s time to say your goodbyes.”

  With that, Skylar turned into a teary eyed mess and he couldn’t even find it in him to approach his brother’s motionless form. His mother left his arms and squeezed Matty’s hand.

  “We’re here for you, baby. Mom and Dad and Sky. Don’t quit fighting. We love you and we know you can pull through this.”

  “Okay, we’ve got to take him now,” the nurse insisted.

  Another member of the ER team grabbed onto the other side of his bed and they urgently wheeled him off.

  After a moment of silence, Skylar followed his parents to the trauma waiting room, but he continued to be at a loss for words.

  “What did you do, Sky? Where were you?” his father barked, as if it were his fault his brother were now lying on his deathbed.

  His mother started to cry, and he wanted to soothe her, but there were other images that ate at his conscience and occupied his thoughts. Right when he felt like his life was starting to take shape, it was ripped out from under him, leaving him flat on his back. Was it his own damn fault?

  His father’s attitude hadn’t surprised him. It wasn’t anything different from what he had dealt with his entire life. But with all of the fuss, he hadn’t even thought to get Destiny’s number, let alone her last name. There would be no way for him to ever locate her. Skylar didn’t know how he was supposed to feel about that.

  Destiny had managed to convince the police officer to bring her back to Skylar’s cabin. She had even managed to scheme they keys from the fireman who had moved the snowmobile into storage. After retrieving her things, and clearing his place of their memories, she began to feel an emptiness that she couldn’t explain. She had already been filled with worry and regret, but the emptiness trumped all of those feelings times ten.

  After rummaging around the cabin, she located a small notepad that had the name Randy Knight scrawled across the top. She didn’t know who Randy was, but she figured it was a good start for finding Skylar in the future. She ripped off a paper and stuffed it into her pocket, then pulled a pink pen out of her purse. She scribbled her name and number onto the next sheet and left the pad in the middle of the table.

  Destiny was escorted to the hospital, and visited with her friends. Natalie had already been released, with minor scratches, but Felicia was admitted with a broken foot. After satisfying herself that Felicia would be okay, Destiny decided to figure out what she would do next. Her options were limited.

  She could take a taxi back to her lonely apartment and cry herself into oblivion. She could call her mother to come drive her home and rant it out. Or she could locate the man that had changed her life in one short weekend and tell him that she’s willing to take whatever he has to offer her.

  Realizing that the chances of actually finding him were slim, she broke out her phone and scanned over the list of hospitals within a three hour radius from there. As the taxi delivered her to her apartment, she called each and every one of them, asking for a random variation of names. The first two ladies on the switchboard seemed to think Matty was a nickname, so she switched it up, crossed her fingers and hoped that Matthew Knight would hit the jackpot.

  Destiny paid the taxi driver and lugged her things up the stairs to her apartment on the second floor. She punched the last phone number into her cell, only hoping she could locate Matty. If this last number did not pan out, she was certain she would never see Skylar again. And maybe that’s how he had wanted it.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Skylar buried his face in his hands. It felt like his life was in shambles. His youngest brother was dying and the doctors didn’t even have the decency to give him an update. The surgeon had told them it would take approximately six hours to perform the procedures to put Matty back together. They had explained that there was a very good chance that he wouldn’t make it, and even if he did, he’d have a hell of a time in rehab.

  A good seven hours had already passed and he hadn’t heard a single word. If Matty had died on the table, he only wished they would tell him so he could grieve properly. It was the not knowing that knotted in his stomach and took away his appetite. Despite the terrible feeling that something was wrong, Skylar had to step out. He couldn’t sit there another minute, waiting.

  “I’ll be back,” he said to his mother.

  “Do you want me to come with you?” she asked, almost begging for the distraction.

  “No.” He wanted to be alone.

  Skylar swiftly exited the trauma centre and grabbed himself a coffee. Not that he needed the caffeine. He was already trembling uncontrollably. After a few sips, he decided to walk. He couldn’t just sit there, watching the medical staff bustling around the halls and the distraught families congregating in the cafeteria. He was starting to think too much. He couldn’t lose his brother and his first love on the same day.

  He left the small metallic table and moseyed toward the gift shop. Pink hearts, chocolates and teddy bears were scattered all over a sales table. He tilted his head and swiped his hand over his face. Was he really that oblivious?

  A man, wearing dirty blue jeans and a torn t-shirt, was standing nearby. He had an old leather jacket tucked under his arm, and it didn’t look like he was going anywhere any time soon.

  “What’s the date today?” Skylar asked, forgetting about his manners.

  The man raised his brows, proving that Skylar was worse off than him. “You haven’t noticed the pink decorations and heart-shaped balloons everywhere? It’s February 14th, son.” And the way he answered made Skylar feel like he had lost his mind.

  He had lost all time since spending those days with Destiny, and he hadn’t even realized that it was Valentine’s Day. Destiny hadn’t said anything about it to him this weekend. What kind of woman ignored Valentine’s Day?

  His kind.

  A young woman stood behind the long rectangular table selling the dream. The fact that she looked so pleased with herself, made him angry. She was in a hospital for God’s sake. Her oversized smile irritated him, as she scoped him out and hinted for him to come see her.

  He tossed his coffee cup in the garbage and moseyed over to the table. Even if he was annoyed, he didn’t have anything better to do, and he could certainly use a diversion from his own tangled thoughts.

  “Would you care to get something for the lovely woman in your life?”

  He looked over each of his shoulders, as though he might find his beauty standing next to him. That wasn’t going to happen. She didn’t even know his whole name.

  He didn’t know how he found it in him, but he chuckled; laughing as his own stupidity. Skylar actually thought he had found himself a woman. She had opened his heart and he had opened his arms to her, in such a short time. And what does he get in return?

  He was a misfortunate soul, and to have a woman like Destiny in his life would be too much of a blessing for him. She deserved a better chance at life.

  “Unfortunately,” Skylar admitted to the saleslady, “there is no woman in my life.”

  The young woman looked up, but it was like she was staring right through him. “Is that right? Then I wonder who that woman is across the room shooting daggers at me.”

>   When Destiny entered the trauma centre, she had gone against everything she had ever believed in. Yes, Destiny Sanders wanted strings; the very ones that had initially terrified Skylar. She never had even an inkling of a care for strings in the past either, but with Skylar she wanted to be strapped down in a bad way.

  What if he was hoping she wouldn’t find him? Her anxieties had tried coaxing her to turn back many times on her long trip, but she had made it this far. There was no turning back now.

  After meeting Skylar’s mother, she was certain she was doing the right thing. Destiny rushed toward the cafeteria, hoping to catch Skylar before he took off. The steady click of her heels settled her nerves and encouraged her to keep walking, even though her weak knees were testing her balance.

  When she turned the corner, she was stunned to find Skylar so easily. She couldn’t forget those broad shoulders, even if she wanted to. He had his hands tucked in his coat pockets, and he seemed agitated, rocking back and forth, resting his weight on one foot then the other.

  What she hadn’t expected was to find him chatting with a young woman next to a table filled with Valentine’s gifts. The woman was selling the dream that Destiny was never allowed to sample. Her stomach lurched at the thought that maybe she wasn’t the only one sharing his bed. Had she truly believed she had captured his heart over such a short stretch of time?

  Destiny watched the way the woman devoured Skylar’s sturdy posture and stunning eyes, and she wanted to smack that flirty pout right off her face. When the woman flashed a glance at her, she could’ve ripped her heart out and fed it to her for breakfast. But then Skylar slanted his head to have a look, and suddenly her heart was in her throat, beating wildly with hope.