After one last peek out the window, I draped our bags over my shoulder and lifted Skylar out of safety. She nuzzled her head into my chest and wrapped her arms around my neck with a weak grip. Her weary eyes blinked around for a second in confusion.

"I'm sorry, Sky. We have to go."

She nodded against me and fell back to sleep in my arms. With my eyes subtly wandering over lights, doorways, and vehicles nearby, I carried Skylar to her car. No one was around, or so it seemed, and I sped from New Jersey as fast as I could get away with.

The sun rose to my right as I entered Massachusetts. I had lived to see another day. And with a morning of human challenges ahead, I stopped to make two phone calls before eight o'clock. I don't know who Skylar's headmistress thought I was, but she was very nice to me and seemed genuinely concerned about Skylar's health and wellbeing. So that call was easy. Unfortunately, when I called my boss to tell him I'd be late, he called me a pussy and told me to drive faster. Then he hung up on me. It was going to be that kind of week. I could already tell.

Later that morning, I was helping Skylar into my bed. Just as she appeared to get comfortable, she gasped in horror. "What time is it?" She reached for my clock with one hand and grabbed her foggy head with the other. "I have to call. . ."

"Your school? Don't worry. I took care of it."

She eased back on the pillow with a gasp of relief. "Thank you," she murmured around a hoarse cough. Then she watched me with a weak smile as I unloaded her full pharmacy of bottles onto my bedside table. "Did I ever tell you that you're my hero?"

"Please don't kid about that. If you had any idea what happened last night, you wouldn't—"

"Scott," she interrupted, her face sincere, "I wasn't kidding."

"Oh. . ." I could feel the start of a smile building even while trying to keep it contained. "And did I ever tell you that you're gorgeous even when you're sick?"

"Ahhh! Look who's joking now!"

I threw my hands up to free myself from blame. "It's not me."

When my hand went to stroke her cheek, she placed her hand over mine and held it there. "Are you sure you can't come to bed? You need sleep just as much as I do."

"I know, and I'd love to, but I have to go to work, or tomorrow there'll be no work to go to. Unless, do you think. . . ? Do you need me to stay?"

"No, go. I'll be all right."

"You sure?"

She nodded, and it pained me to leave her after all that had happened, but I couldn't lose my job. Not now. May was coming fast, and that meant the return of her somewhat ex-fiancé.

I would be up against an enemy I didn't know how to fight, and I didn't even have the resources to make a valiant effort. And with each day closer to this inevitability, I feared that whatever Skylar saw in me, whatever I was to her, that it would never be enough.

~~~

https://youtu.be/xMgKEh0lRMc

Creedence Clearwater Revival. Graveyard Train (1969).