Page 9 of Rescuing Ryder

He stared at the man behind the two women. The doctor smiled warmly at the redhead as she spoke.

“I appreciate the invitation, but I’m busy. Maybe next time.”

“What are you doing?” the blonde cocked her head to the side.

He huffed at her audacity. “I’m just…busy. I don’t tend to give my life story to someone I met within the last five minutes.”

The redhead sighed loudly. “Sorry, we’re a small town, and everyone knows everything about each other.” She smiled andhe found himself chuckling at her contagious laughter and the blonde with the prettiest green eyes.

“I know we’ve come at you out of the blue. We hoped you might want to visit and discuss your prognosis. I can have a ticket for you at the airport and will fly you home after you give me an hour of your time.” Kassie’s eyes widened, showing her hope and determination in getting him to agree.

“Lady, let me fill you in. My friend Tex failed to tell you I refuse to stay in another damn hospital and be hounded about how I feel. I’m sorry he wasted your time,” he sniped at her.

Dr. Meyers stared at him as he spoke. She bit her bottom lip as if trying to concentrate on a puzzle.

“He’s not going to bite, Kassie. He’s already determined he’s as good as it gets. Patch, it was great meeting you. I’m sorry we wasted your valuable time. Your friend must’ve not realized howbusyyou were.” Her cute little mouth almost sneered at him.

He yanked his head back in surprise. The other woman appeared crestfallen at her words. The man behind them frowned.

“Chase, please invite his friend back into the room. He’s already made his decision and doesn’t want help.”

“Listen lady, I don’t mean to sound like an ass, but I never asked for your help. You called me,” Ryder argued with her in shock.

“You’re correct. Your friend flew across the country and requested a last-minute meeting with us, and we agreed to talk to you. As we mentioned, it’s family BBQ night and the ribs are calling me,” she agreed with him. Her attitude took Ryder entirely aback.

She rose from her chair and left the room.

Kassie leaned into the phone screen. “It’s nice to meet you, Patch. I hope you change your mind. We can offer you something you haven’t felt for a long time…peace. Tex plansto stay in one of our cabins for our veterans who don’t need hospitalization. There’s an extra room if you decide to join him.” She shrugged her shoulders. “You have an invitation at any time. If you don’t like commercial flying, I can have my jet there in five and a half hours.”

He tilted his head back and gave out a full belly laugh. “You’re kidding me? You’d go to the expense of flying me to your mountain to chat with me for an hour.”

She pinned him with her piercing blue eyes. “If it meant saving you, yes,” Kassie admitted bluntly. “Although my pilot will need time to refuel, and I’ll need forty minutes to drive you into Seattle.”

He smirked. “Yeah, forty minutes of telling me how I’m making a mistake and all I gotta do is tell you to turn the car around.” Ryder rolled his eyes in disbelief.

“I can ask Leo if I can borrow a chopper. I’m not particularly eager to ride in them after Chase’s helo crashed. It will cut the ride down to twenty minutes, give or take. I’ll instruct the pilot not to converse with you.”

“Who’s Leo? And why the hell would he loan you a helicopter? Who are you people?” he asked, exasperated.

She beamed at him. “I guess to answer those questions, you’ll have to come here and find out.”

Kassie stood and exited the room as Dr. Winters and Tex returned.

“What the hell? Do you want to send me to a looney farm? The blonde’s freaking worried about her BBQ and red practically offered me a private jet and helo ride. Did you suddenly come into money I don’t know about? Did you forget my pay grade? Even if I considered it, I can’t afford it.”

“The foundation hosts veterans for free. Kassie’s offer stands. You’re welcome to come. I’ll need consent to transfer your medical records if you're considering it. Our team will haveoptions to present to you by the time you arrive,” Dr. Winters informed him.

“What kind of options?” he asked, now curious as he never received an offer to decide on anything.

“To begin with, you determine your plan of care. We find many veterans hate some of the medications prescribed because they make them feel strange. We review the medication lists and decide what can be changed or weaned off. Sometimes, it’s necessary to stay on something for a while. It all depends on the symptoms. Then we’ll work out a therapy schedule and assess any physical needs,” the physician explained. “I’ll give you time to discuss this with Tex and look forward to meeting you.”

He left the room, leaving Ryder for Tex to deal with.

“Why can’t you accept I’m done,” he whispered.

“Because you don’t have a plan, your choices seem to lead down one road. You asked me to stay out of this. After spending the day with these people, I believe they can help you. What do you have to lose? Take them up on the offer, and if you aren’t impressed, they’ll fly you back, and you’ve lost nothing but a day of staring at a blank wall.”

“You and I both know you won’t let this go,” Ryder held his head.

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