Waking Up For Christmas

by Jill James

  Margaret grabbed her forehead and her face went white. "My head. I think I have a migraine coming."

  He looked to the others, but they all heaved a sigh or looked away from Mrs. Bennett. Naomi muttered under her breath and he missed most of what she said after, "oh, brother."

  Darcy's face turned pale and she rushed to her mother's side. "I'm so sorry, Mom. Let me help you to your room."

  Margaret pushed back her chair and leaned on Darcy as they made their way to the door. The woman turned slightly. "Carry on. I'll be fine."

  The two left and a hush fell over the room until Darcy’s father pushed back his chair. "I'll leave you youngsters to it. The pool is heated and you should all go have fun. Margaret will be herself by morning."

  As soon as he left the room, Roni threw down her napkin and laughed. "Aunt Margaret will be fine sooner than that. Probably as soon as she gets done having Darcy fetch and carry as much as possible."

  "She's faking?" His voice cracked.

  "Probably," Roni admitted. "At least the doctors never find anything wrong with her. She complains of a headache and poor Darcy comes running. It's like a test."

  "A test of what?" he asked.

  "A test of how much Darcy loves her mother," Roni answered.

  Roni, Brock, and Naomi pushed their chairs back. "Let's go swimming," Brock announced.

  He thought back to the chill outside. "Isn't it a little cold to go swimming?"

  "It's inside," Naomi said.

  "I didn't bring a suit," he answered.

  "Don't worry about it," Roni told him. "We keep extras in the pool room. I’m sure we’ll find something in your size."

  "Shouldn't we check on Darcy and her mother?"

  Roni grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room. "They'll be fine. Once Darcy plays the dutiful daughter she'll meet us at the pool."

  He shook his head and let the woman drag him to the pool. Just as they'd said he found a suit and had barely put a towel on a lounge chair when Darcy showed up.

  His heart raced when she took off her robe and he spotted the deep-green swimsuit plastered to every curve. He hadn't known she had that shape hiding under her sweatshirts and jeans. The dress earlier had highlighted her but nothing like the skintight swimsuit. He found himself regretting his quick assertion they would not make love under her parents' roof.

  A horn honked and brought him speedily back to the present as a car wanted his parking space. He groaned. He should have foreseen what Margaret Bennett would do to Darcy and his marriage. That Christmas had been the beginning of her manipulation of their entire relationship. He huffed and turned the key on the car. Hindsight was always 20/20.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  "What in the hell is going on?" His voice started as a yell and ended on a loud whisper as he realized he was in the hospital and everyone was staring at him. Chase glared at Margaret and Steven over Darcy's hospital bed. The hiss of the ventilator set his blood to thrumming in his veins. A pulse throbbed in his temple. He was going to throw up.

  Margaret moved closer to the bed and placed a hand on Darcy's. She stared at him dry-eyed. "We did what is best for Darcy. Her breathing was labored and the doctor recommended the ventilator."

  He choked over the lump in his throat. Darcy's body seemed to have shrunk in the bed, surrounded by wires and machines. "She never wanted to be kept alive with machines. You knew that."

  The woman glared back at him. "I know no such thing. I will do whatever it takes to keep my daughter alive."

  His hands fisted at his sides. "This isn't alive," he whispered. His gaze traveled over Darcy's face, the tube breathing for her as her chest rose and fell in a regular, mechanical rhythm. It isn't.

  Steven grabbed Margaret's shoulders and pulled her away from the bed. He looked up at Chase. "We'll leave you to say your good-bye. I don't expect to see you here again. Darcy is our responsibility. Just as she always has been."

  He nodded through his anger as they walked past and left the room. His chest caved as his pent-in breath left him. Collapsing into the chair, he reached for his wife's hand. He didn't care what the papers said or whether they were forged. Darcy was his until death parted them. She'd rushed into his heart and she wouldn't leave it until he left this Earth.

  Tears streamed down his face, blurring his vision of her hooked up to machines. A part of him wanted to rip the offensive plastic out of her mouth. To unplug the machines and let happen what would happen. His spine stiffened and his fingers locked onto the blankets. It took everything he had to be still and let calmness fill him.

  He leaned over and brushed the hair back from Darcy's face. The strands caught the light from the window and shimmered in his fingertips. His fingers grazed her cheek and traveled along her jaw. He knew every inch of this woman, from their first time to the last.

  "Darcy, do you remember our first time? Do you remember the magic? Do you remember the love?"

  * * *

  The silence echoed in the large guest room. His limbs grew heavy. Hours of swimming had worn out his body, but not his mind. In his mind's eye, he saw Darcy in the skintight bathing suit, her long arms cleaving through the warm water, her body moving in perfect motion. The others splashed at the shallow end of the pool as he and Darcy tread water and circled each other at the deep end. She moved closer and closer to him until her limbs wrapped around him, pulling them in close. Her lips found his, tasting sweet and slightly tangy of the pool water.

  "I can't believe we are swimming in December. In Lake Willowbee the lake is probably half-frozen."

  "I want to see your lake sometime," Darcy whispered as she nibbled on his ear. "I've always wanted to skinny dip in a mountain lake."

  His legs stopped moving and they sank slightly before he remembered himself and kicked his legs to hold them steady in the water. "You are being bad." He smiled at her.

  "Not as bad as I want to be," she replied.

  He glanced quickly to the other end of the pool to find it empty. "Where did everyone go?"

  "To bed, I imagine." She looked at the poolside clock. "It's almost midnight."

  "It's almost Christmas Eve," he said.

  They moved to the side of the pool and she lifted herself up to sit on the side. "What are your Christmas traditions, Chase?"

  He hauled himself out of the pool and sat beside her. The warmth of the room surrounded them. "When my parents were alive we would get one present on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas morning. I never could figure out how I always got pajamas. I had to grow up to realize my mom knew which package it was and handed it to me."

  "I like that," Darcy said, a wicked look in her eyes. "One present for Christmas Eve. I know what I want for Christmas Eve." Her gaze traveled over his wet body, heating his blood to boiling. She reached out and trailed her fingers down his chest to the waist of his swimsuit.

  He caught her fingers before they could go any further. "Don't start something we can't finish."

  Her head swiveled around. "We could finish. Everyone is gone and in bed."

  Taking her hands in his, he stared into her eyes. "We are not making love on cement beside the pool for Edgar to find."

  "Fine, spoilsport," she said, a sexy pout on her lips.

  Darcy jumped up and grabbed a couple of towels. Chase ran it over his wet hair and wrapped it around his waist. Darcy did the same. He moved to gather his clothes in the changing room but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Leave them. The staff will get them, clean them, and get them to our rooms."

  He shook his head, marveling at her lifestyle. What must it be like to live this way your entire life? You would think Darcy would be a spoiled brat, but she was a sweet person. Like taking care of her sick mother in the middle of everything.

  Chase walked with Darcy across the cold marble foyer and up the stairs to her room. She tried to pull him in, but he managed to kiss her good night and leave. It was the hardest thing he'd done in his life. Every urge demanded he discover all of th
is warm, wonderful woman.

  So now he laid in his big, cold bed and wondered what he'd been thinking. "You were thinking this was what you wanted, remember?" he muttered to himself, listening as his voice echoed in the enormous room. The rattle of his doorknob cut through the berating of himself.

  She stood there, silhouetted in the open doorway. The light from the hallway etched her body into his mind with searing heat. His memories of seeing her like that would remain with him forever. He sat up and threw off the covers as she closed the door and returned the room to moon-lit murkiness. What his eyes couldn't see, his other senses more than made up for. The scent of wildflowers wafted across the room, bringing corny images of running across a meadow toward her as if they were in a sappy commercial. The whisper of silk against her skin hit his ears as she walked across the room toward him.

  "Chase," she whispered in a sexy tone. "I'm not leaving this room until I've given you your Christmas present.”

  As she finished the wild promise, her arms reached out and her soft hands touched him. Her fragrance surrounded him as he took her in his arms and his lips claimed hers. Like magic, her silky nightgown lay in a pool at her feet. The clouds about the Moon parted and a glow filled the room, gilding her body in molten silver. His breath caught and his heart raced. Darcy was here, where she belonged—with him. Forever.

  They fell to the bed and claimed each other as lovers.

  * * *

  Chase shook his head and the hospital room came into view through his blurred vision. He wiped hot tears from his face. "Do you remember, Darcy?” His harsh whisper broke in the silent room.

  Chase, are you there? I remember. I do. Why can't I tell you that? I can't move. I can't see. She sank deeper into the warm darkness. Sometimes love just isn't enough, she whispered in her thoughts. Sometimes, it just isn't enough.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The pine board crashed through the window with a satisfying thunder and the tinkle of falling glass. Chase followed it with another and another until the opening stood bare. As bare as his soul. He'd begged the Bennett’s to take Darcy off life support. He'd promised them anything. Just let her go. They'd laughed at him and called security. He wasn't good enough to take care of his own wife. He never had been, as far as they were concerned. No matter the big house, the elaborate vacations, the fine jewels, and artwork. It was never enough. He was still the wood-carver from Lake Willowbee and she was the Bennett princess.

  He dropped into a chair with a sob. His face fell into his hands. What hurt the most, was they were right. If he'd taken better care of her, she wouldn't be in the hospital in a coma. She would have been safe and sound in their home. Far away from a drunken driver with three DUIs to his name and still wreaking havoc on the roads.

  Footsteps tramped across the concrete floor with the crunch of glass as the person made their way to Chase's side.

  "Are you done with your childish behavior?"

  He winced as Uncle Dimitri slapped him upside the head. No matter how old you got, that slap brought you right back to being an angry young boy of twelve. Chase sat up and looked around at the damage he'd caused. The factory was empty except for him and his uncle. He vaguely recalled the workers fleeing when the wood started flying. That should have stopped him right there, but it hadn’t.

  "Uncle Dimitri, I'm so sorry," he whispered with a voice hoarse from screaming. "I'll get this cleaned up and someone out to fix the window."

  Dimitri wrapped an arm around his shoulders and hauled him out of the chair. "We'll clean this up and put plywood on the window. We're not getting anyone out here this close to Christmas."

  The older man sighed. "I've failed you, Chase."

  His mouth dropped open as he picked up broken boards and threw them into the trash pile. "How can you say that?"

  "You should have been able to come to me, to let me help you."

  Chase couldn't help it, he smiled. "You do know I'll be forty on my next birthday, right? A little old to still need you to fix things for me."

  Dimitri sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I still see that little boy. Angry with God for taking his parents. Angry at living with an uncle he hardly knew. Chase, you will always be that little boy to me." He put his hand over his heart. "In here."

  He shook his head. Dimitri took that angry young man and raised him as well as his parents could have done. He'd been strict when he'd needed to and loving all the rest of the time. If Chase believed, he would think his parents looked down on them both and smiled at how well they'd done.

  His ringing cell phone broke into his thoughts. San Francis Hospital appeared across the screen. He took the call with his heart dying in his chest. They had to be calling to let him know Darcy was gone. He searched his mind and his heart and his soul. Wouldn't he know if she were gone? Wouldn't he be hollowed and half-alive if his love was gone?

  "Hello, Mr. Thanos? This is nurse Ann from the hospital."

  "Yes," he whispered.

  "Your wife is fading. Mrs. Bennett collapsed and they left. Please get here as quickly as you can if you want to be with her at the end."

  "I've said my good-byes."

  "Mr. Thanos, I've been doing this a long time. You will never forgive yourself if you let your wife leave this life without you holding her hand to let her go."

  He took a deep breath. "I'll be there as quickly as possible."

  "Thank you," the nurse said and hung up.

  "That was the hospital," he told his uncle. Tears filled his eyes. "Darcy is…is dying. I have to be with her."

  Uncle Dimitri hugged him and then stepped back. "Of course you have to be with her. Your place is at her side. You bring her back. You tell that woman it isn't time to go yet. You two have too much to do yet—together."

  The last words were garbled as Dimitri grabbed his chest and fell to the floor. Chase slammed to his knees beside the older man. His uncle's face had lost all color. His blue eyes stood out from his ashen skin tone and a whisper came from his blue lips. He cradled him in his arms as he pushed the buttons for 911. He didn't know what he said, but in minutes the sound of an ambulance's siren and the flashing red lights filled the factory room. The door swung open and crashed against the wall. Chase was pushed aside as the paramedics worked on his uncle. He stood there at a loss until they got him on a gurney and headed for the door.

  "Are you coming with us?"

  "Of course," he stammered, rushing to hold his uncle's hand as they got the gurney to the ambulance.

  Mumbling came as Dimitri tried to remove the oxygen mask.

  "Darcy," he whispered, his lips barely moving.

  Oh my God. How could he have forgotten so easily. He couldn't be in two places at once.

  He breathed deeply and felt his heart shatter into a million pieces.

  He watched as they put Dimitri into the ambulance and shut the doors.

  He got into his car and followed the ambulance to the Lake Willowbee hospital.

  * * *

  The pacing wasn't helping. Chase's mind still raced. His heart pounded in his chest. Uncle Dimitri had been yelling at him until the doctors booted him from the curtained cubicle. The swing of the ER door had him whipping around and staring at the doctor. Trying to read the man's face was impossible.

  "Mr. Thanos?"

  "Yes."

  "Your uncle is resting comfortably right now. We'll run some tests, but all signs point to a weak heart. From the answers to my questions he’s known about the problem for a while."

  "Can I see him?"

  The doctor stared over his shoulder. "He's refusing to see you. I believe his words were, 'he better not still be out there, he has places to be'."

  "My wife is at the hospital in San Francis. She's dying and I was going to be with her before all of this happened with my uncle," he explained.

  "He'll be fine here with us. All he needs is some rest and monitoring," the doctor said. "The nurses have your cell-phone info. Go. Be with your wife."

  He stoo
d a few seconds as the man went back through the swinging door. Taking a deep breath, he squared his shoulders. He'd listened to Uncle Dimitri for most of his life. He wasn't going to stop now.

  Getting into the car and watching the hospital recede in his rear-view mirror was the hardest thing he'd ever done.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Chase let himself into Darcy's room. Nurse Ann had promised to stand guard outside. His eyes filled with hot tears that rolled down his cheeks. Her body seemed to have shrunk in the short time he had been away. He took her hand, the skin dry and wrinkled. He ran his fingers across her knuckles, the bones sitting just below a thin layer of skin.

  "Darcy, how did we get here?" His voice cracked and broke as he leaned his forehead to their joined hands. "We had such dreams and hopes. From the moment I made you mine, we have been together. Through good times and bad times. The ups and downs. Always."

  He laughed through his tears. "Do you remember our wedding?"

  Like it was yesterday, he could still picture how Darcy looked on their wedding day. When their wedding day finally arrived after a multitude of false starts.

  * * *

  "Darcy, honey, the guests are waiting," he called to her through the half-open door. "The minister wants to start."

  "I can't do this. Not without my mom," she cried, her voice barely reaching him.

  "We discussed this." He tried to be patient, but his patience had worn thin after the tenth attempt to plan and have a wedding. Along with three trips to the ER and canceled photographers, caterers, and florists.

  "She should be here."

  "Yes, she should be. But she made her choice. Your father is here. Your cousins are here. My uncle is here."

  "I'm here," he said, his voice firm and full of the love he felt for this woman.

  "But what if she really is ill this time? What if she has a tumor or something?"