The air was sticky.

Ruth remembered it being sticky, but not that sticky. Not the sort of sticky that stole your breath away and gathered sweat between rubbing thighs. No, this one left the air damp and her hair ready to curl around her head in a frizzy bundle. It was the humidity that was suffocating, making it much too hot to think clearly.

Or maybe she was suffocating for a whole other reason entirely.

Maybe it was the fact that she was in the same airport that tore her heart in two.

Maybe it was being back in Oklahoma after what happened three-and-a-half years ago.

Or maybe it was just the heavy pull of her heart, resting somewhere on the moving floor below her as she remembered why she was back.

Ruth sucked in a sharp breath and gripped onto her luggage a little tighter. No, she couldn't think like that yet. She had to focus on finding her ride—

"RUUUUTTHHIIE," a screech shouted behind her.

Before she knew what was happening, a pair of familiar arms tackled her from behind in what could only be described as a bear hug. Despite the conflicting emotions Ruth felt presently, a laughing smile graced her lips, and she found herself relaxing into the warm embrace. She wrapped her hands around her cousin's forearms and turned her head, giving Jana a partial hug and taking all the love she could get.

Another pair of arms grab at her shoulders from the front now, and she didn't have to look up to know it was Terry squeezing the life out of her. Though it wouldn't last long, everything felt right and comfortable. Like old times. In a time when all Ruth cared about was long roads, four seasons, and endless Buffalo or wild horses roaming free. She almost forgot how much she enjoyed the country life out there.

But in that one moment, she felt okay again, and even allowed the nostalgia to drift over her shoulders in a python-like grip. Before she knew it, tears had snaked down her cheeks and instead of Emily being there to wipe them for her with the sweetness of her kiss, she had her girls instead.

"It's been so long!" Terry laughed tearfully, pulling back and allowing Ruth to take her in.

Still beautiful, still kind, and still Indigenous.

"I know, I know," Ruth confessed, her nose sniffling. Jana moved to face Ruth, and she quickly caught sight of the glittering ring Eddie had molded onto her finger a year ago in a traditional proposal.

She remembered the hour-long phone call they had together about it. The woman was a blubbering mess at the time, and she painfully recalled the brief possibility of Mirana and Raffo helping Eddie with the engagement. It would make sense, seeing as how close they all were with one another, but it still irked her. That someone can still be friends with the person who lit a flame within her, only to snuff it out with a blow so devastating, she was indisposed for months.

Anyway, Jana was planning on getting married in two months time. She hadn't planned on coming back until the wedding . . . but now, now everything's changed.

Jana followed her eye and met her gaze with a glowing smile. "You know this means you're helping me get stuff together, right?"

"Hell yes! She's been driving me crazy with this wedding shit," Terry groaned, wiping away her wet cheeks.

"Oh, shut up. You know you and Johnny aren't that far behind! So what do you say, Ruth? You down to help me?"

Ruth laughed, croaking out a quick, "Of course."

Wrapping their arms around each other again, they walk to the car all huddled around her luggage. Even once they were in the car, Jana kept her hand tucked around Ruth's arm and Terry would continuously glance over every so often to make sure she was really there again. They hadn't been together for three years, and now that they were finally reunited, Ruth could breathe again.

"How . . . how is he?" Ruth asked, hesitant. The pain throbbed again.

Terry furrowed her eyebrows and swallowed thickly. "He's stable right now. Auntie's got him on liquids and has him monitored for now."

"He's as good as he can be. Chemo's really been intense this time around," Jana added quietly.

A douse of cold—blooded fear clutched at Ruth's chest. Her throat was closing fast and the lump clogging at the pit. "Can we see him? Before we head to Jana's, I just want to—to—"

She couldn't finish the sentence without her nose stinging and her eyes swelling with fresh tears. Jana squeezed Ruth's arm comfortingly, and Terry wrapped a hand around her knee.

"Of course," Terry murmured, her voice warm with understanding.

It was bittersweet, the moment of love, nostalgia, and shared pain they were all wrapped in. It was the triple trio of death to Ruth's soul. She'd experienced it once, four and a half years ago, when she first moved to Oklahoma, when she lost her grandfather. It had been devastating then, and her Uncle Rickey being sick was devastating now.

But she was here to be with Uncle Rickey now. She didn't get the chance to be there for her grandfather, but she was getting a version of it with his brother. His brother that was there for Ruth in any way he needed to be there for her for. Whether that was as a shoulder to cry on or a voice of reason to her unlistening ears, he was there.

And now she could be there for him.

Ruth didn't even know if her father was coming out. Last she heard from her parents was a year ago when Ruth had gotten into a fight with her mother on a drunken night. She had nothing to lose, and her mother wasn't accepting of her choice to live with Emily as a couple, so she wrote her off. She still loved her mother and her father, but as long as her mother continued to act how she was, she would not talk to them.

She texted her father that she at least landed in Oklahoma and that she was on her way to see Uncle Rickey, but that was it. That was all she'd allow.

Uncle Rickey's house was quiet when they arrived.

There was no life pouring onto the steps of the well-lived in house, no vibrancy of color that the exterior had once held the last time she saw it years ago, and no familiar draw to want to walk inside. A new fear drifted over the front of it like a relentless, eerie fog. Terror stroked the hearts of those who look upon it. And Ruth was not immune.

Her fingers shook at her sides. She didn't want to go in. Not when the guilt of leaving him tugged at the pit of her stomach. He'd told her to at the time, but she didn't know . . . she couldn't have known . . .

Ruth's bottom lip trembled as she forced herself forward, traveling over the front door steps until she got to the front door. She had passed through it so many times before, always willing to go in. Always excited to see him. But she was reluctant. Guilty and reluctant.

Jana nudged her back gently, and Ruth quickly snapped out of it. It was Uncle Rickey, damn it. Not some stranger. Sick or not, it was still him. She had no reason to be afraid of seeing him that way.

With that, Ruth rested her fingers on the chipped doorknob and twisted it open with a long creak. She sucked in a sharp breath, pushed away her fear, and stepped over the threshold. It was oddly quiet inside, her cousins not present momentarily. When she swiveled her head to the familiar rocking chair in the corner, she could have sobbed.

"Honey-Bee," Uncle Rickey breathed, his voice no higher than a tired croak.

Ruth booked it to his side immediately, kneeling at the side of his rocking chair like an eager child waiting to hear a story from her elders. She wrapped her hand around his brown-skinned one, noticing how much skinnier it was now versus three and a half years before. His long hair was thinner, though still long and present, and though he lost a decent amount of weight, he still felt strong. He felt like Uncle Rickey; he looked like Uncle Rickey, and suddenly she couldn't remember why she was so scared.

"Uncle Rickey," Ruth choked. She pressed the back of his hand to her cheek, her eyes overflowing for the billionth time that day.

Though it took much effort, he was able to offer her a genuine smile. It was small, just a simple tilt of the lips really, but it was his almond-shaped eyes coming to life that really grinned at her.

"Wipe them tears, vlla tek," he murmured, voice soft. "They have no business being here."

"Hattak sipokni, why don't you mind your business and they'll mind theirs," Ruth laughed. He cracked another tired grin, squeezing her fingers with the slightest pressure.

"Missed you around here, kid."

"Good. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, Uncle Rickey. I'm right here," she promised. "And I expect you to get well enough to cook me my Tanchi Labona soon. Otherwise, I'm rioting."

Terry and Jana joined in on the hoarse laughter that time. Terry voiced her agreement, grabbing his other hand.

"Taught you girls well," he chuckled.

Ruth put her head on his forearm. "That you did."

Uncle Rickey ran his thumb over her hand to capture her attention. "Now, tell me. How's that girl of yours doing?"

For the next hour, Ruth shared her New York life with her family. She last heard from Emily on the ride over, having texted and called her to assure her that everything was alright. A part of Ruth missed her girlfriend as she told her family how wonderful Emily's made their life together. They enjoy date nights every Friday, go into work together since they work on the same floor, and she even tried to get the book Ruth wrote published. Ruth only wrote it to cope with her past life just for herself, so she never went through with the publication of it. But she still appreciated the support Emily finally granted her.

Terry aww'd, Jana gave small smiles off and on, and Uncle Rickey looked content, knowing his niece was taken care of. And he should be. Ruth was comfortable and enjoyed the life they had in New York City. It was a good routine.

No—not good. Great. Yes, it was a great routine. One that Ruth wouldn't mind keeping for the rest of her life if she had to.

By the time they had left Uncle Rickey's and made their way to Jana's temporary apartment, it was late in the evening. Though Terry was living on her own, she still wanted to spend as much time with Ruth as possible while she was in town, so she decided to stay the night for at least the next few days. Ruth, having missed them both dearly, didn't mind.

They all ended up putting together two air mattresses beside one another and laid out in the living room, sharing the space. They didn't talk for the rest of the night, and instead fell asleep all huddled together.

*****