She opened her eyes.

Everything was just white.

Lights blinding her.

A veil of silence draped around her.

Like in an air tight container...no sound getting in, no sound getting out.

No sense screaming?

Then she got scared...is this death?

This is what she imagined dying would be like...the involuntary silence; the color white; the lights.

Solace.

She felt unable to move, but her eyes were able to search the surroundings. She saw white walls; white lights...a row of windows on the right wall.

Empty windows.

No one looking in at her, she was all alone.

Closing her eyes, that's when she heard a familiar voice.

"Are you awake pumpkin?"

She knew that voice.

It was her dad.

"What happend daddy?" She asked him, immediately recognizing the fact, that she never called him daddy, unless she was really scared. She was - but at least now she knew - she wasn't dead. She looked at the windows again, he was standing in the middle one, looking like his usual chipper self. That was one of his good sides. Dave rarely lost his cool. When she was a kid, she had seen him loose his temper several times, but not now...he had changed. She figured he had gone through hell and back by now. He had seen it all, and he wasn't easily shocked anymore.

"You gave us quite a scare...you've been out for 3 days now" he said, and knocked the palm of his hand against the glass.

She realized, she was in intensive care...probably isolation. It had happend once before, but she was just a little kid then, and somehow she managed to wipe that memory from her mind. But now she remembered, and somehow she realized, this might be the way she would eventually leave this world?

Without her realizing it.

"Is he here?" She asked him quietly, but he heard her.

By the look on his face, she realized he wasn't.

Her dad wasn't one to beat around the bush, so he blurted it out:

"I haven't seen him for a couple of days...he isn't at any of his regular hangouts. He took it pretty hard. I mean, when he realized there was a possibility you weren't going to wake up".

And her heart just sank.

She had been given a second chance...in a way so had he, and she didn't want him to throw that away.

If he violated his parole, he would go to jail, he would have to do the time.

"Please go find him daddy...I might know where he is" she figured he'd be with Charlie, or at least she hoped he was smart enough to choose that, instead of less smart choices! Her dad hadn't been able to locate him at any of his old hangouts, and so she had hope!

"Do you like this guy?" Her dad asked her candidly.

"I don't know...maybe...I mean...he is not just this bad guy, racing and drinking. He is actually really smart...and kind" she said, looking at her dad long enough to see him nod.

"I know. I was hoping you would be a positive influence on him, do you know he actually has a College degree? Apparently he is quite the technical wizard, but he is about to throw it all away. They offered him a full scholarship, he had the chance to get his Masters degree, but he dropped out, and it was just a downward spiral from there on" he said, sighing.

"I know...it's a shame...all because of the burden he is carrying...the burden of circumstance and neglect. I hate that...please find him daddy! He has to be at his friend's Charlie's house. Go now...please!" She felt herself tearing up, she felt overwhelmed by it all. Waking up, thinking she had died? Waking up thinking about Ryder. Realizing he was gone made the familiar knot reappear.

"Take it easy honey. I'll go by his friend's place now...I'll come back" he said, and blew her a kiss as he left.

Not seeing her tears.

Dave knocked on the door. The house was real nice. Big. Almost too big. Even the door seemed huge. Dave wondered who lived behind a door like that. As it opened, he realized, he had no idea what kind of people lived there...it was a guy Ryder's age, and he just assumed this was Charlie.

"Hi! I'm Dave. I'm looking for Ryder...is he here?" He asked somewhat impatient, as he thought of Skylar waiting for his return.

The guy extended his hand to him.

"I'm Charlie...yeah, he's here, he has been crashing on my couch for two days now. You must be his parole officer?" Charlie said, and moved away from the door, allowing Dave to walk inside the large black and white hall.

He felt like an elephant in a porcelain shop. He was walking a straight line after Charlie, he could never afford any of the things he passed...designer lamps and antique artifacts.

Charlie led him to the garage, there he was. Ryder was sleeping on a couch, standing by one side of the room.

"I'll leave you two to talk" Charlie said, and made a smart retreat back into the house.

"So this is where you have been hiding?" Dave said in a deliberate high note, causing Ryder to wake up with a similar motion, as if he had a nightmare or something. He sat up quickly, looking like he considered making a run for it. But he just sat there.

Frozen.

"You can't just leave like that! You're lucky I didn't report you to the authorities" Dave said. Ryder didn't contract a single muscle...he just sat there.

Still frozen.

"Is she dead...is...she?" Ryder mumbled.

Dave sat down next to him. Unable to pretend like he was going to yell at Ryder for bailing like he did.

"No!...Skylar just woke up, and for some reason she is asking for you. For some reason she cares about you. I wish I could say the same about you. You just do what you always do...you get up and leave, if you can't deal" Dave was seemingly annoyed.

"I'm sorry" Ryder said, and his firm stance suddenly collapsed. He was cupping his face with both hands, as if he didn't want Dave to see the tears on his face.

"It's okay...she'll be fine, this happened once before" Dave explained.

Ryder wondered why he was so calm.

"You like her, don't you?" Dave was almost challenging him.

"What if I do? Why did you even let me meet her? Why do you trust me around your daughter?" Ryder said, sounding almost desperate.

"She needed you...and you need her! Don't you get it? You are stuck in the freaking past...stuck on some sorry excuse of a man, who left his kid behind...always wondering if it was your fault...it's not your fault. Some people are assholes, and they JUST leave, but that does not give you the right to throw your life away! That does not give you the right to push good people away! Skylar is going to leave...me...you. I came to terms with that, so will you. I realized, I was focusing on the wrong thing here...I was angry, because I don't want to loose her. I don't want her to leave, but I realize now, that I was making her feel f...... guilty! It's not all about her leaving, sometimes people just do, and there is not a damn thing you can do about it! Except - understanding it is not about them leaving...it is about what they leave behind...what they leave behind for you. She is your second chance! Don't you get that??" Dave said and got up.

"Now...get your shit together, and come back...I'll wait for you in the car" Dave said, and he walked inside the house again, gently closing the door. Dave wasn't mad, he just wanted Ryder to wake up...you gotta wake up to get your chance, or it will pass you by...Just like that.

Ryder sat there for a while. Unable to move, but eventually he did, and when he came outside, he could see Dave behind the wheel eyeing him. And as Ryder started to walk towards the car, he saw him nod.

Finally Ryder was ready for his second chance. But he couldn't help wondering...what Skylar would leave behind for him?