Page 2 of Christmas in His Arms

"He's in the hospital, dear. It's not looking good." Mom started crying again, and my stomach clenched. They were hours away and I didn’t own a car.

"Mom, what's happening?" I stepped back as the train whooshed past me to a stop and the doors slid open. People poured out as my mind started to race. All I could think about was putting one foot in front of the other. "Mom, he's not dying. He can't die."

"You need to come home, baby. I don’t know how much time he has left."

Tears welled up at her words, and I stepped onto the train and slumped into an empty seat next to a man who looked homeless. I didn't even register the smell, which I was certain was very rank. My mind was in overdrive and when I blinked, my cheeks were soaked with emotion.

"I'm coming. I'll come right away. I'll have to get a flight out. I—" I choked back a few sobs as Mom spoke over me.

"I have to go, honey. The doctors are calling me in again."

The line went dead, but I held the phone to my ear a few seconds longer, now feeling hysterical. The man next to me pressed a tissue into my hand, probably the only clean thing he had on him. I looked at him blankly as my gut hollowed out and I felt like I'd throw up. Dad was in the hospital? Maybe dying? This couldn’t be happening.

2

RYAN

When Helen called me, I couldn't believe it. I hadn't heard from Walter in days and now I knew why. I stepped off the elevator on the fourth floor of the hospital and turned toward the nurses’ station. I'd been tense ever since I got the call this afternoon. She told me I didn't have to rush over right away, but when something like this happens, you don't wait around. I had Sam cover my responsibilities and left the dealership right away.

"Can I help you?" A polite nurse with bright eyes smiled at me as I rested my hands on the high counter. My suit jacket, clutched in one hand, was wrinkled and a bit moist from the light rain falling outside, but I never bothered to put it on. My shirt was damp now too. In my haste to get here quickly, I neglected my own self-care. Minnesota in November was cold, and now so was I.

"I need Walter Bennett's room. His wife called me." I watched the woman type on her computer, and her expression grew serious as she looked back up at me.

"Mr. Bennett is in room 4022. You have to go this way" —she pointed with a single finger— "and turn left past the drinking fountain. Third door on your right." The nurse's lips were pursed in concern, and that was all I needed to see to know Walt wasn't in a good way.

"Thank you," I told her, nodding. Clutching my jacket in one hand, I walked up the hallway, following her directions. The idea that at fifty years old, Walter could have a stroke and be on the edge of death frightened me. I knew he suffered from high blood pressure. We all had a few things we dealt with as we aged, but Walt seemed to be in good health otherwise. He ran a few times a week, and we went golfing every Saturday through the good-weather months.

I was just five years younger than him, so this wasn't just a scary moment for my best friend and his family. This rattled me too. It made me see how vulnerable I was too.

"Helen?" I said as I stepped through the door. The first thing I saw was her hovering over Walter's bed. The next thing I saw was how pale and sick Walt looked. He had tubes and wires coming out of every surface on his body. His eyes were shut, and a heart monitor beeped rhythmically, matching the clicking sound from one of the machines along the wall.

"Oh, Ryan," she sighed, and an almost whimpering sound came from her mouth. She rushed away from her husband's side and clung to me. I wrapped my arms around her reassuringly and let her soak up any comfort she could from my embrace, but my eyes stayed fixed on my best friend. He looked so weak and frail. "We almost lost him. He's not out of the woods yet."

I took a deep breath and helped her toward the sofa bed on the far side of the room. She stumbled a bit, and I noticed how sunken her eyes looked, dark circles ringing them.

"Have you eaten? Are you tired?" I helped Helen sit down and handed her my handkerchief. I had to force myself to stop thinking about how scary it was that Walter had almost died and try to think of Helen and how she was faring. It had to be scary as hell for her, not to mention lonely.

"I don't know. I had some toast. I'm exhausted, but I don't want to sleep quite yet. Carrie's coming home. She'll need me to be strong for her." Helen blew her nose in my handkerchief and then dabbed her eyes.

"Nonsense. Don't worry about being strong for anyone. You just feel what you feel, alright? This is a very scary situation. Let me be the strong one." I knew more than ever that Walter's family would need me. When he'd leave town on business or have to travel for other reasons, he always asked me to look in on them and make sure they had what they needed. I knew if he could ask me, he would be saying they needed me now too.

"Ryan, I don't know what we'll do. Walt is everything…" Helen couldn't stop crying. The tears just kept coming no matter how many times she wiped them away, and I could tell by the bags under her eyes that she'd been crying a lot.

"What happened? When did they find him?" When I got the call earlier, I never got details. Now I felt like I had to know everything.

"It was first thing this morning. I almost called you last night, but I just thought… Well, I don't know what I thought. Walt didn't come home from work. I thought he was working late. Itried calling, but he didn't answer." She sniffled and looked up at him with a pained expression. "I went to bed without him and when I woke up, it was to Jerry's call."

It turned out Jerry, Walt's general manager of his hardware store here in Evergreen Falls, had found Walt passed out behind the building. He was almost hypothermic and on death's doorstep. He was locking up after work yesterday and never quite made it. Jerry found him when he came in this morning and called the squad.

"And Carrie?" I asked, thinking of Walt and Helen's twenty-something daughter who lived out of state. She had to be frantic too. I knew the relationship wasn't fantastic between her and her parents—Walt confided in me about it several times—but I knew she'd be worried.

"On her way." Helen's soft reply came with her head drooping and a yawn. My heart went out to her. She had to be so worn out from emotion and the weight of everything.

"Thank you for calling me, Helen." I stood, but I grabbed a blanket and pillow and helped her lie down. "I'll wait for Carrie. You should rest. She'll want to spend time with you when she gets here, and you're too tired. Have a short nap."

"But Walt… I mean, I know they've sedated him, but what if he wakes up?" Her eyes searched my face, and I could only purse my lips and sigh.

"I'll stay right by his side. I'll wake you up if anything changes." My soft grip on her arm loosened as I backed away. "Please try to rest, and when you wake up, I'll go down to the cafeteria and get you something to eat."

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