Finding Destiny by Christa Simpson Page A

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