Free Dr. Noah and the Sugar Plum Fairy by Carla Rossi

her neck. “Let’s walk down the street and look at the lights. We have time. The Murray’s house is crazy with decorations.”
    Her first few steps were shaky. A case of nerves had settled in her knees and made her legs near useless. Anxiety bubbled in her chest. “Don’t keep me in suspense. What do you want to talk about?”
    “I had a terrible Christmas last year.”
    “You mentioned it. Your girlfriend broke up with you. What happened?”
    “Her name is Skye.”
    “Pretty. I like that.”
    “We got engaged around Thanksgiving. Her parents and mine decided we should all go skiing near my parents’ cabin in New Mexico around Christmastime to celebrate and talk about wedding plans. My parents are all about appearances. They loved that I was engaged to a people doctor like them. Somehow, it made me and my choices more acceptable to them. They wanted this big trip they could brag about to their friends at their New Year’s Eve party.”
    He paused to take a breath. She waited.
    “Everyone was arriving and flying in at different times because of full flights and busy schedules. I was the last one in. They were all at my parents’ cabin. The weather was typical but turning. Skye said she’d pick me up. I said to wait until the weather cleared. She started anyway and her mother insisted she come along. They had an accident. Skye didn’t have much practice driving in those conditions. She should have never left the cabin. I should have insisted she stay put.”
    “You can’t predict these things.”
    “Her mother died at the scene, despite Skye’s medical training. And she was injured herself.”
    “That’s devastating, Noah. For her to not be able to help her own mom. To be away from home...”
    “I kept calling. The news started to get around. My parents came to get me at the airport and took me to the hospital. It’s a blur. It took several days to get Skye stable enough to travel and to send her mother’s body home.”
    “This is horrifying, but how did the relationship end in the midst of all this?”
    “Pretty simple. Skye blamed me for everything. If I hadn’t proposed, if I hadn’t flown in late, if I’d arranged for my own car, and so on.”
    “That’s the grief and shock talking. Surely she didn’t believe any of that.”
    “She did at the time and decided we were through. The worst part was her mother’s funeral. She didn’t want me there. I loved that woman, and I didn’t even get to say a proper good-bye.”
    “Noah, please tell me you understand none of this is your fault. You can’t accept the blame for this.”
    “I know that. But when you love someone, you want to ease their pain. You take responsibility for stuff so maybe they’ll feel better. It doesn’t work. I know it doesn’t.”
    They reached the end of the street and hadn’t looked at a single festive yard. She took his hand. “We might as well make the block.” They took a few steps in silence. “I don’t want to sound harsh or anything, but I’m sure deep down Skye was really blaming herself. She was driving, she couldn’t save her mom. She couldn’t face that, so you got the brunt of it.”
    “Yeah, she told me as much last night.”
    There went her knees again... “That was Skye last night?”
    “Yep. She and her dad are on some cathartic journey to keep from spending Christmas at home without her mother. They’re trying to move on. Her mother was born in Louisiana so they decided to get in the car and take this trip across the southern United States all the way to Florida. I was shocked when I saw them. I had no idea.”
    “But she made peace with you?”
    “She’s dealing with her issues. Trying to forgive herself. Letting me off the hook.”
    “I’m glad. You needed to be let off the hook for that. Are they still here?”
    “Oh no. They’re gone. I won’t see them again.”
    “So what now?”
    They stopped at the top of her street. “Now nothing. Now everything.”
    “Are you about to