Every muscle in his body felt bruised from the wreck, but Hank’s thoughts were on the lady he’d hit. He’d left the librarian sleeping in the hospital. She’d looked so fragile. So alone. She might be an important lady at the college, but she’d needed someone to help her tonight. He was a loner, not a caretaker, but he’d have to do this for her. It was apparent that he’d been her only offer, and he guessed she’d be too proud to ask for help.

He wondered if he should tell her that the one pet he had as a kid, a puppy, ran off, and the cactus in his apartment died a year ago. Not much of a reference. He’d tried being a big brother to a kid in Houston whose dad had died, but they’d had nothing in common. The kid read biographies and played video games. When Hank took Simon to an Astros game, the kid was bored. About the third inning the kid turned backward in his seat and played games on Hank’s phone.

Hank smiled as he walked through the sleeping campus. If Simon hadn’t liked the action of a major league game, he’d hate this little town.

But then, Clifton Bend was growing. The place would have had only a two-room clinic off the one doctor’s office if the college hadn’t started a program of continuing education for healthcare workers years ago. They trained everyone from EKG technicians to phlebotomists and won a grant to build the ten-bed hospital.

Hank’s dad had told him every detail a few years ago when he’d circled by to visit. Since Pastor Norton had moved to the retirement home, his favorite topic, next to the sins of his son, was healthcare.

Hank unlocked his motel room, the last door on a long line of rooms for rent. Ten rooms, about the same size as the hospital. But the old motel was only stocked with the basics.

Out of habit he looked back for his bike. The old Harley was gone, hauled away after the wreck. He’d left home on it twenty years ago. He’d trailered it with his horse during his rodeo days, and now he pulled it out of storage every time he came back to Clifton Bend.

It had taken him five years to break his promise and come back to Clifton Bend. After that time, he made a point to call every few months to check on his dad and drop by now and then. He’d stay one night, maybe two, never three. He always came on his bike, to remind his father he’d never change.

But this time, Hank might not be able to fix the old bike. Maybe, like it or not, it was time say goodbye. Freedom was a drug he craved, but lately he wanted more in his life.