Loving Lily Lavender

by Deanna Kinney

“It looks like December might be the best month to have our wedding,” I commented out of the blue.

  “So soon? I hope that’s not our fault,” Vicky teased.

  “Lily, today’s August 30th. That just gives us less than four months to plan,” Lisa commented.

  “You guys would help me plan?”

  “Of course. This is a big event in our lives too,” Rebecca answered.

  “Wow, thanks. That means a lot to me.”

  “Speaking of the wedding, I’ve been wondering, how are you planning to do that?” Lisa asked. “I mean, I grew up in a Christian home, believe it or not, and I thought that believers were only supposed to marry other believers, something about being equally yoked, or something like that. I didn’t think Lucas was a Christian.”

  My face froze in shock as the realization of what she said sunk in. How could I have not thought of that? Did that mean I couldn’t marry Lucas? My heart pounded anxiously at the thought.

  “Lily, are you okay?” Lisa asked, breaking me from my train of thought.

  I didn’t answer. I couldn’t manage to erase the horror from my face, and Lisa seemed to recognize it.

  “You know, I think perhaps I’m wrong about that. I’ve never actually read that, and now that I think about it, I believe that’s just a saying that people made up. Don’t worry about it, Lily.” She took my hand in hers. She meant it as a reassuring gesture, but it did little to ease my panic.

  I began to realize that I was alarming them, so with much effort I regained my composure.

  “Yes, I’m sure you’re right,” I assured Lisa, but the worry never left me.

  As soon as I returned to my room, I pulled out my bible and searched until I found the verse I was looking for. My heart sank as I read 2 Cor. 6:14. I began to cry as I closed my bible and fell helplessly across my bed.

  Before long I felt a hand on my back. “Lily—honey, are you okay?” Lucas asked.

  I sat up and peered at him through wet lashes, not sure what to tell him. “Lucas, I don’t think I can marry you,” I whispered.

  “What? Why do you say that?”

  I reached for my bible and flipped through it, finding the verse again. Pointing to it I said, “Look.”

  He took it from me and began to read. “I don’t understand. What does this mean?”

  “I believe it means that as a believer, I’m not supposed to marry an unbeliever!”

  “Lily—don’t worry. I’m sure this will all work out. Based on what you’ve told me about God, do you believe He would allow you to fall in love only to break your heart?”

  “I’m not sure—I don’t think so, but we don’t always understand why He allows things. What if this is punishment for something I’ve done wrong?”

  “Lily,” he laughed, “I’m sorry, but I’ve never met anyone as close to perfect as you.”

  “Luke, I’m far from perfect. I struggle with things you don’t even know about.”

  “Well, if God loves you, like you say He does—”

  “He loves you too, Lucas.”

  “Well, if that’s true, then He wouldn’t punish us like that—that would be cruel.”

  My expression lightened as I realized he was right in that. God wasn’t cruel.

  “You see—everything will work out.” He wiped my tears from my face with his hand.

  “Lucas, if you choose my faith it will have to be your choice and yours alone. I would never force you, you know that, right?”

  “Of course, I know that. Like I said—close to perfect,” he teased, forcing a smile to my face.

  I was aware that our roles had suddenly reversed and he had become the encourager. It felt good, natural even. It was exhausting trying to be strong all the time and it felt nice to let go for a change—to let him step into that role, and it suited him.

  I drifted off to sleep that night praying that God would work it all out.

  The next morning was August 31st and a beautiful, but extremely windy, Monday morning. The events of that day would forever alter my life and the lives of those I love.

  Lucas was still in the hair and makeup trailer, so I decided to go on ahead and see what Lisa, Vicky, and Rebecca were up to. I was told they were all in wardrobe. With time to kill, I walked back past the set they were scheduled to film on and noticed crewmembers scattered all about, working feverishly, tying some things down against the wind. I waved as I spotted Sylvia sitting a ways down the path in a chair, making notes. “Good morning, Sylvia. Did you sleep well?”

  “Oh, good morning, Lily. Yes, I slept great, thank you. I hope you did.”

  “Absolutely.”

  I really liked Sylvia a lot. She was kind of like the big sister I always wanted. She seemed to watch out for me more than the others, except for Lucas, who barely let me out of his sight, but I’d be a fool if I said I didn’t love it.

  I turned and headed back toward the set. As I was approaching a high scaffolding, Sylvia called out to me, “Oh, by the way, some of the crew sent orders for us to stay away from there until they secure everything. Apparently the wind is making things dangerous.”

  Just as she finished her sentence, I heard a noise above me. I glanced up just in time to see the scaffolding rock from side to side and a piece of equipment, of which I couldn’t identify, begin to fall. Suddenly everything in my world slipped into darkness.

  The next account is not my own, but I’ve heard the story recounted so often that I feel as though I was aware of every moment.

  “Lucas!” Lisa tried to remain calm but to no avail as she and Vicky rushed into his trailer. “Lucas, come quickly! There’s been an accident on the set, and Lily’s been injured!”

  “What!” Lucas responded, horror on his face as he leaped up frantically from his chair and raced out of the trailer, with Lisa and Vicky tight on his heels.

  Soon they reached the crowd that had gathered around me, which instantly parted as Lucas plowed through them. “Lily—Lily!” he called to me, panic stricken, as he knelt down beside my motionless form. He was horrified at the scene before him. I lay unconscious in a pool of blood pouring from a wound to my head.

  “The ambulance is on the way,” Jared encouraged.

  “Lily honey, wake up,” Lucas called to me as he grabbed both of my hands and held them to his lips. “Someone give me something to put on the wound to stop the bleeding!”

  “Here, take this,” Randall said, handing him a towel.

  “Thanks.” He took the towel and pressed it firmly against the open wound. At that moment the sound of sirens could be heard. An ambulance pulled up and two EMTs jumped out and made their way over to me. One ushered the crowd back while the other gently moved Lucas aside so he could have access to me.

  “What happened here? What hit her?”

  “This piece of equipment fell from up there and hit her on the head,” Sylvia responded, pointing, as a heavy stream of tears began to flow. “I saw the whole thing, but it all happened so fast.”

  “Is she going to be all right?! Why isn’t she waking up?!” Lucas asked, his panic rising.

  “We need to get her to the hospital as fast as possible.”

  Quickly, they secured my neck with a brace, putting me onto a stretcher and loading me into the ambulance.

  “Can’t I go with her?” Lucas asked the EMT, holding his hand out to stop him.

  “No, I’m afraid not,” he responded apologetically.

  “That’s not good, right? I mean, she’s going to be okay isn’t she?” he asked again.

  “I wish I could answer that. She has a severe head wound.”

  “What should I do?” Lucas pleaded.

  “The truth? Pray,” he responded compassionately. “You can follow us to the hospital, if you wish.” Then he jumped in the ambulance and it sped quickly away, sirens blaring.

  There were cries coming from the spectators in the crowd. “I’m so sorry, Lucas,” someone said, patting him on the back.

  “We’ll be praying
,” someone else said.

  “We’re coming with you,” Lisa, Vicky, and Rebecca agreed.

  “We’re coming too,” Jared and Jordan piped in.

  “After all, we love her too,” Lisa said, her voice still shaky.

  That seemed to pull Lucas from his frozen state. “Let’s go,” he demanded, running to the parking lot, the others trailing closely behind him.

  “We’ll call you as soon as we know anything!” Lisa yelled to the crowd.

  “I better drive,” Lisa remarked, climbing into the driver’s seat. Lucas entered the passenger side while the others piled into the back. Once inside the others watched helplessly as Lucas fell to pieces.

  “I’m sure she’ll be fine, Lucas,” Lisa encouraged, though she didn’t sound convincing.

  “You heard the EMT, he said we needed to pray,” Lucas said after regaining some control, anguish still visible on his face. “Will you guys please pray with me?”

  “Yes, of course,” they all agreed.

  He bowed his head as he began, tears still streaming down his face. “Dear Lord, I don’t know if you can hear me, but please save my Lily. She is the most amazing person I’ve ever known. She cares more for others than herself, and she forgives without thought. I know I don’t deserve to ask this, but I can’t live without her. She loves you, and she said you loved me. If that is true please don’t take her from me,” he cried. “If you save her—I promise to love and serve you for the rest of my life. I’ll do whatever you ask of me. I promise. Please,” he finished, burying his face in his hands.

  There was a silence and then Jordan spoke, “I promise too, Lord.” Then the others repeated the same statement, one—by—one.

  Lucas looked up in disbelief at his five friends. “Thank you.”

  “Like Lisa said, we love her too,” Jared responded.

  “Okay, lets go see her,” Lisa said, driving out of the parking lot with fervent speed.

  When they arrived in the emergency room, Lucas grabbed the first person he could find who resembled a doctor.

  “We’re here to find out about Lily Spencer. She came in about five minutes ago with a serious head wound.”

  “Okay, I’ll go find someone who can answer your questions. Just take a seat in the waiting room and someone will be with you in a moment,” the woman kindly answered.

  The six of them walked to the waiting room where Lucas proceeded to pace back and forth, his hands balled into fists. He was so desperate for news he was about to snap.

  The nurses behind the desk began to gather and whisper, starring at the six of them, concentrating most of their attention on Lucas. He knew they recognized them from the movie, but, at that moment, he couldn’t even begin to care.

  He approached the desk, tears flooding his eyes. “Can someone please tell us about the young woman who arrived here with a head wound? I need to find out if she’s okay.” His tone was desperate. “Please!” he begged, his voice growing louder.

  “The doctor is coming in now to speak to you,” one of the nurses answered.

  Lucas turned to see the doctor entering the room. “Is she okay?”

  “Let’s go in here.” The doctor pointed to a room across the hall.

  Lucas began to shake. His friends put their arms around him, escorting him into the room.

  “Please, Doctor, just tell us how she is.”

  “Well,” the doctor began, “first, I’m Dr. Ron Peterman, and let me start by saying, she’s fine now.” He paused.

  Everyone let out a sigh of relief and patted Lucas on the back. He looked at them with a smile, but his expression changed to nervous anticipation as the doctor continued.

  “But something happened in the ambulance that even had the EMT’s baffled. She—died.” Lucas gasped. “They pronounced her dead at 8:21 a.m. and then at 8:24 her heart started beating again—totally on its own. Anyway, she’s fine now. She took a serious bump on the head, so we’re going to keep her here for observation until the morning. I gave her seven stitches to close the wound. She’ll be sore, but all in all, I’d say luck was on her side today.”

  “Doctor, in my experience there’s no such thing as luck.” Lucas laughed in relief. “Can we see her now?”

  “They’re getting her situated in her room, but in about thirty minutes I’ll come and get you so you can go see her.”

  “Um, Lucas,” Lisa interrupted, “after we finished praying in the car, I looked at the clock, it was exactly 8:24,” she said, wide-eyed.

  Lucas’s expression was one of shock, his eyes once again filling with fresh tears. He turned back to face the doctor, “Doctor, do you have a chapel here? We have a promise to keep.” He turned to gaze at his friends, the look of wonder on his face, to match with their joyous smiles.

  So yes, what you’re thinking is true. I died that day, but God saved me as a result of the sincere and desperate prayer of six wonderful people. They reached out to Him, out of their love for me, and my life was forever changed.

  They flooded into my room, all of their faces filled with indescribable joy. The face I wanted to see the most was right by my side. My heart jumped at the very sight of him.

  Joy and tears covered his face as he recounted the events of the morning. I wept as my mind re-enacted the scenes he described. My death, his desperation, I could hear it in his voice still, but the part that touched me the most was in the chapel where they thanked God and bound themselves to Him forever. Now, I could share my life, and my God, with the man I love.

  My room was flooded with cast and crewmembers for the following two hours. When they all finally cleared out, I was exhausted but thankful to have Lucas all to myself.

  He approached me, taking my hand in his and kissing it. “You know, I almost lost you today. I’ve never been so scared in my whole life. And well, it got me thinking—Lily, will you marry me?”

  “Of course I will. I already told you I would. I’m wearing your ring, silly.” I reminded him, holding up my left hand.

  “I mean, will you marry me—now—here, in this hospital?”

  As the realization of what he was asking hit me, a smile stretched widely across my face. He took that as a yes and bolted from the room. A few, short minutes later, he was back, holding the arm of an older gentleman dressed in a gray suit and a red and white striped tie.

  “Lily, you will never guess who was just coming to see you. I ran into him in the hall. This is the hospital chaplain,” Lucas said, his smile wider than I’d ever seen.

  Needless to say, we got married in the hospital that afternoon, and it was the sweetest moment of my life.

  Lucas had promised me a wedding ceremony when we returned home. He wouldn’t deny me my dream wedding, and now that we were married, what was his was also mine, so he encouraged me to spare no expense. But, of course, I would.

  We spent the next hour calling our friends and family and telling them the good news. Everyone was very happy, though I got the impression from Lucas’s family that they had wished to meet me first.

  Meagan was so happy for me you would’ve thought it was her that got married. She was unhappy, though, that she couldn’t be with me to nurse me back to health, a natural gift of hers.

  “I can’t believe we’re married. So much has changed in just twenty-four hours.” He was wrapped around me in my small hospital bed. He wanted to use his influence to upgrade me to a bigger room with a bigger bed, but I refused.

  I had insisted that he go home and get some rest, after such an emotional day, but he refused to be away from me, saying that nothing could take him away from me—now or ever, especially given the fact that it was our wedding night.

  I went as long as I could without pain medicine because I knew it would make me sleepy and wanted to spend as much time with Lucas as I could. However, by the time ten o’clock arrived, the throbbing in my head was unbearable.

  “Hello,” Lucas said, answering his cell phone. “Oh, hello, Landon….Yeah, she’s doing fine. Thank you for
asking….What?....Great,” he grimaced, grabbing the remote and turning on the T.V.

  There it was, on Entertainment Tonight, news of my accident. Oh well, at least they called me Lucas Lavender’s girlfriend, which meant they didn’t know we were married yet. Jane was still upset that Lucas hadn’t consulted with her first. I guessed she was worried about his sex symbol status, but Lucas couldn’t care less about that. She would come around he had said.

  I couldn’t help wondering when we were going to make love. The thought of it created butterflies in the pit of my stomach. I knew it wouldn’t be on our wedding night, not with me in the hospital and all. Our first time had to be special. I just decided to get brave and ask him. He had just turned off the T.V. and taken a sip of his soda when I said, “So, when should we consummate this union?”

  He coughed, choking on his soda, and looked at me in surprise. “Oh—well, I thought you might want to wait until after the wedding ceremony, you know, so it feels more real.”

  “No, I don’t want to wait that long.” He smiled at me in response. “After all, our union isn’t binding until it’s consummated, right?” I asked, unsure.

  “Umm, I don’t really know, but I’m ready as soon as you are, just as long as you’re well enough.”

  “Good, well that shouldn’t be too long, right?”

  “I would say a few days, to make sure.”

  “Okay then, I’ll see you in bed, naked, in a few nights from now,” I said, smiling, my eyes drifting closed. “I can say that to my husband, can’t I?”

  He laughed softly. “I like the sound of that.” He wrapped his arms tighter around me, pulling my head against his chest. With a contented smile on my face, I slowly drifted off into a sweet and highly sedated sleep.

  Chapter Twelve

  The release forms were signed, and Lucas and I headed back to our hotel room, the one we would share together as a married couple. Once I was tucked into bed, he proceeded in telling me how he was going to spend the entire day taking care of me. Instead, I insisted he go to work. There was no need for him to miss two days of filming on my account. I assured him I’d just be sleeping anyway. So reluctantly, and with lots of persuading, he left for work.