Waking Up For Christmas
Page 7
"Still, I'm sorry."
"No problem, Mr. Bennett."
The man winced. "You used to call me Stephen."
"You used to call me son." He wanted to pull the words back as soon as they left his mouth. Stephen's face paled sheet-white and his mouth trembled.
"I guess I deserve that. We deserve that. Margaret and I have not been as nice to you as we should have been. Now there's no time left to make it up to you. You and Darcy both."
He wrapped his arms around Stephen and held his shaking body next to him. As the shaking stopped, the man moved back and wiped his wet face. "I'll let you make that call before we go back to the room."
Chase nodded, moving across the room and calling the hospital. They put him through to Dimitri's room. His uncle's voice boomed through the phone.
"You're with Darcy, right?"
“Yes. We're getting some coffee while they run some tests."
"Who's this we?"
He smiled as Stephen dumped the awful drink into the waste basket. "Me and Darcy's father."
Chase finished the call quickly as his uncle's voice grew softer and tired-sounding and he spotted the doctor coming down the hall. He ended the call and slid the phone into his pocket as Dr. Jameson walked into the waiting room.
"I've taken Darcy off the ventilator. She's breathing on her own and frankly she seemed to be struggling with it. The next few hours we'll keep watch and see how she does. The brain scans have me puzzled." He scratched his chin. "I'm seeing increased activity but she isn't coming out of her coma. It's as if she doesn't want to wake up. Very puzzling."
The doctor left and the men stared at each other. Chase held his breath. It hurt to hope. It hurt to believe. They'd been down this road for weeks. She'd seem better and then slip deeper, but if ever there was a night for miracles, this would be it, right?
Hours passed in comfortable silence as he held one hand and Stephen held the other. The only sound in the room was Darcy's breath as she inhaled and exhaled. Her chest rising and falling was the only movement in the bed. Her fingers lay lifeless in his hand. Her eyes didn't move. Only the rising and falling of her chest reassured him that his wife still lived.
He glanced up to see Stephen asleep in his chair, his chin resting on his chest, a soft wheezing coming from his mouth. Chase scooted his chair closer to the bed. His fingers swept a loose strand of hair from her cheek. She lay there like a princess in a fairy tale, even though he knew in his heart that real life didn't always have a happily ever after like a child's story.
"It's midnight, Darcy. Christmas Day." His voice trembled. "Do you remember that first Christmas? And the next? And the next? So many Christmases together. You made each one special. You gave me a family, Darcy. When I thought I didn't have one, except for Uncle Dimitri. Just you and me. We're a family. Just you and me. I don’t need anyone but you."
His voice trailed off. "I love you, Darcy. Until the day we die—and beyond. Always."
You let me go. Why did you let me go? Find me, Chase. Bring me back. Please.
Darcy moaned. Stephen sat up with a start. "What's going on?"
"I don't know," Chase cried out.
Her eyes moved behind her eyelids and her moans grew.
Why didn't she wake up? Every comment he'd heard since her accident slammed into his head. He had to make her want to wake up.
He squeezed her hand and leaned over her. "Darcy, wake up for me. I need you. Your parents need you. Darcy, wake up for Christmas."
"Chase," she whispered on an exhale and then her chest fell.
His heart stopped. "No," he screamed. "Come back. You can leave me. Divorce me. It doesn’t matter. You can’t leave. You can’t die. Come back.”
She gasped a large gulp of air and opened her eyes. They stared at him, dazed and unfocused. "Chase," she whispered and started coughing.
The machines went off with loud beeps and a group of doctors and nurses rushed into the room. Doctor Jameson stopped and stared at Darcy. He smiled. "Look who woke up for Christmas."
Chase laughed until he cried. Tears burned his eyes as he let them fall down his face.
The doctor moved the others out of the room, and strode to the bed to check Darcy. He finished quickly and looked to Stephen and Chase. "I'll be back in a few minutes, we’ll need to run some more tests, but I think we're okay. Merry Christmas."
Stephen sat hunched in his chair, his shoulders shaking. Chase knew how he felt. He grabbed Darcy's hand and held it to his heart.
"You came back," he whispered, staring into her eyes.
"Because you told me to," she whispered in a cracked voice he thought he'd never hear again this side of Heaven. "Because you made me want to."
The End
I hope you enjoyed Waking Up For Christmas, my contribution to Christmas at the Inn on Main Street boxed set. This story is dedicated to the ladies of Authors of Main Street who, when I threw down the challenge, picked it up so enthusiastically and gracefully. I hope you will let me know what you thought of the story. You can find me at the following places…
Twitter – www.twitter.com/jill_james
Facebook – www.facebook.com/Jill.James.author
Website – www.jilljameswrites.com
Newsletter – http://eepurl.com/hvtn-/
Other books by Jill James
The Lake Willowbee Series
Divorce, Interrupted
Dare To Trust
Defend My Love
The Reluctant Bride – a Lake Willowbee novella
Shifters of San Laura
Dangerous Shift
Stolen Shift – coming 2017
Time of Zombies
Love in the Time of Zombies
The Zombie Hunter’s Wife
A Time to Kill Zombies
Zombies in the Grass – coming 2017