Liam's Best

by Grace Kagni

  They were in the car Liam rented, driving to Rachael’s place when he received a call from his brother Dalton. It was about the tabloid and Liam didn’t want Milania to hear so he told Dalton he was driving and he’d call him back when he arrived at James’ place.

  Rachael was ready when they arrived and as soon as she got in the back seat, the women talked the entire time to James and Serena’s place. They talked about how their lives changed since the flood and then they talked about the wedding. Rachael asked if they’d decided where they would have the reception and Liam told them they could have it at the new Miller Hotel and Resort. The inauguration was set for New Year’s Eve so he didn’t see why they couldn’t have it there. He would talk to James about it. The location would make everything easy for them.

  When they arrived, the women went into the living room to discuss the things they needed to do while the two men went to James’ study to call Dalton.

  “Hey, guys. How is Rome?” Dalton asked.

  “The weather is great.”

  “How are the hotel inauguration arrangements proceeding?” Dalton inquired.

  “Everything is on schedule,” James said. “You’ll love the place when you see it.”

  “I can’t wait to see it,” Dalton continued.

  “Well, we were thinking of holding the wedding reception there. What do you think, James?” Liam asked.

  “Yes, absolutely. What a wonderful idea. I’ll book you the ballroom for the reception and get you some rooms. We’ll all be staying there for the inauguration so we’ll stay on for the wedding. The women are in the other room right now planning so as soon as we find out what they have in mind, we’ll give them a hand from our side,” James said.

  “Okay, well I’m calling to tell you that the tabloid refuses to retract the piece on Liam and Milania, and now they are hounding you for another story. They know you’ve left the country and they presume you’ve gone to Italy so watch out for these photo reporters that may be already there looking for you,” Dalton said.

  “These guys never give up, do they?” Liam asked as he blew out a breath.

  “No, they don’t until they find the picture or story to tell so stay out of sight as much as you can,” Dalton continued.

  “We will. Thanks for telling us and we’ll be in touch with news about the wedding,” Liam said before briefly telling Dalton about Milania’s upcoming surgery.

  “Oh, poor Milania. Give her my best wishes and let me know if there is anything I can do for you from here,” Dalton said.

  They hung up and went to join the women in the living room. As soon as Liam noticed Milania’s face change color, he decided it was time for them to go.

  The women had a list of things to do and they decided to meet again in a few days to talk about the progress. They said goodbye and drove Rachael back to her apartment before returning home. As soon as they stepped into the apartment, Milania felt dizzy and cold so she went to lie down on the bed. She fell asleep and stayed in bed the rest of the day until the evening when Liam was making some dinner in the kitchen and he heard her shouting. He ran to the bedroom and found her crouched down on the floor near the bathroom.

  “Baby, tell me what’s wrong,” he said anxiously.

  “Pain in my stomach. Ahhh,” she said, closing up in a fetal position.

  He picked her up and brought her to the bed. Then he pulled out his phone to call James.

  “James, I need an ambulance. Milania’s in a lot of pain,” Liam said, stroking her back as he spoke with James.

  “I’ll call the ambulance and I’ll be right over.” James hung up.

  Liam turned back to Milania who cried hysterically, “The ambulance is on its way. Baby, I’m here with you,” he said, pulling her into his lap as the pain worsened.

  She doubled over in agony and he didn’t know how to stop the pain so he tried to keep her calm. “You’re going to be okay, Baby Doll. I’m here with you.” He held her close as he stroked her back waiting for the ambulance. He rocked back and forth as he held her in his lap, trying to comfort her but the pain got worse. “Hang in there, Baby. Help is on its way.”

  A few minutes later, the ambulance rang downstairs so Liam laid Milania down on the bed and went to open the door. The attendants came upstairs and in very little time moved her down the steps on the gurney. Just as they were exiting the building, James showed up.

  “Come with me in the car. They won’t let you ride with them.” James led Liam to his car and they followed the ambulance to the hospital. “She’ll be okay, Liam. Serena was calling Dr. Frizzi to ask him to meet us at the hospital.”

  Liam didn’t say anything. His head was spinning with worry and all he could think of was how much he loved Milania and he would die if anything happened to her.

  They reached the hospital and Liam was asked to fill out some forms, which James helped him to do. He was in no mood to deal with paperwork at the moment.

  Serena called James to tell him that Dr. Frizzi was already at the hospital and he would go directly to the emergency to prep Milania for surgery. James told Liam this but it didn’t seem to sink in until he felt sick to his stomach.

  “I need to go to the bathroom. I’m going to be sick,” he told James.

  “Sure, I’ll call you if anyone comes out with some news,” James pat Liam on the back and watched as he walked to the men’s bathroom.

  It was going to be a long night but James was glad he was there with his brother.

  Serena called back an hour later but there still wasn’t any news. She was worried for her sister-in-law but had faith in Dr. Frizzi.

  Liam constantly paced the length of the waiting room as they waited for news. Finally four hours after she’d been brought to the emergency, Dr. Frizzi came out to tell him she was out of surgery. He’d had to remove the tube, which had ruptured, leaving her only a fifty percent chance of pregnancy in the future. Dr. Frizzi told Liam the nurse would take him to see his wife briefly but then he would have to let her rest. They shook hands and then the doctor left.

  James and Liam hugged, relieved Milania was out of surgery although there was a cloud because she’d lost a fifty percent chance of having children. While Liam went in to see Milania, James called Serena.

  The nurse showed Liam to the private room he’d arranged and told him he had five minutes with her. He took a deep breath before walking in but it wasn’t enough to calm his nerves for when he walked in and saw how small she looked in the bed with the tubes in her arm, he wanted to curl up and cry. He needed to be strong for Milania so he took a few steps forward and when he reached her bedside, he took her hand. It was cold and when he bent down to kiss the back of her hand, he felt her fingers move.

  “Sweet Pea, you’ll be better in a few days. It’s all over now. All you need to do is rest,” he said as she opened her eyes.

  A tear fell from her eyes as she looked at him. She didn’t talk or move.

  He bent down to kiss her forehead and tell her he loved her very much. “We’ll have a lifetime together to try again but now you need to get better so we can get married.” His heart was breaking at the sight of her and by her silence but he knew she needed time to heal. He would be there to help her heal and he would make it his mission to make sure she did the right things to help her get better. Her wellbeing was the most important thing in his life and he would show her how important she was to him.

  The nurse came in to tell him he needed to leave so he bent down once more to kiss her tenderly on the forehead and tell her he would be back in the morning. Before leaving, he whispered in her ear that he loved her to the moon and back.

  Milania watched as he left the room and her heart ached to have him hold her. She needed him now more than ever and she hoped she would be able to overcome the emotions that were silently racking her body.

  Chapter Seven

  Liam stopped at the florist before going to the hospital to see Milania and while he was there, he saw a large white bear
that he had to buy for her. He put everything into the rented car and went to the hospital.

  When he walked into her room, he could sense there was something not right. He found her on her side, facing the window and when he approached, her eyes were open but not responding so he bent down to kiss her hairline. Then he crouched down and looked into her beautiful emerald green eyes that lacked the spark he normally saw. He waited for her to focus and when she didn’t, he gently stroked her cheek hoping his touch would awaken her from her spell.

  Milania had been pensive when Liam walked in and didn’t notice he was there until he touched her cheek. She looked at his blue eyes and saw the ocean sparkling back. “How long have you been here?” she asked, trying to sit up. The stitches pulled, causing discomfort.

  Liam helped her sit up and then placed the huge bear on the bed with her. “I just walked in. How are you feeling?” He noticed her color had improved although there was something troubling her emotionally. He would find out soon enough.

  “I’m all right. The stitches pull and cause discomfort but aside from that, no more nausea or pain.”

  “It’s a start and hopefully you’ll be out in a couple of days so we can finish planning our wedding.” He pulled up a chair and sat down beside her. Then he took her hand and brought it to his lips. “It’ll give us a chance to start over in every sense of the word. I want you to experience marriage as it should be and not backwards as we’ve approached it.”

  She smiled at the thought of having a fresh start. “Yes, I’d like that very much.” The surgeon had told her that one tube was removed, making it harder to conceive. The thought made her sad, knowing it would be difficult to have children. It was something she’d hoped to have one day and now that she found a husband who was caring, affectionate and patient, it didn’t seem right not to have children when they were ready.

  “Baby Doll, tell me what’s making you sad,” he said, holding her hand.

  She hesitated, not wanting to cause him more grief.

  “I can’t help you feel better if you don’t talk to me.” He waited patiently.

  “Why do you always have to fix everything? Some things just can’t be fixed even with the best intentions.” She looked down at his fingers as they stroked the back of her hand. She looked up and saw his loving expression and couldn’t put off telling him what she worried about. “You do realize that our chances of having children have been reduced by half at best. At worst, it may happen again and our possibilities of having a child will disappear.”

  She said it with such detachment that he worried for her mental state more than the fact if they could or could not have children. He stood up and got on the bed beside her, holding her. “Sweet Pea, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, I’m more concerned about your mental and physical wellbeing. We have plenty of time to figure out what we need to do if having children proves to be a problem. I’ll take you to see the best fertility specialists to know what we need to do to increase our chances.” He felt her let out a long breath and then he remembered he left the flowers he brought on the table near the door. He got up to hand her the flowers.

  She thanked him and was grateful to have him there with her. She felt weak in spirit and needed someone to carry her forward, mentally and spiritually. “I need to call Rachael to tell her I’m here or she will think I’ve disappeared again.”

  “Give me her number and I’ll call her to explain what happened. You need to rest, Baby Doll.” He stroked her cheek and moved a strand of hair away from her eyes. “Are you hungry? Will you eat something for lunch if I order food from the restaurant?” He really wanted to do everything possible to help her get better and decent food was on top of his list.

  They talked for a long time while he reassured her of their future and as the hallway started to fill up with visitors, James and Serena walked into the room.

  “Hey, we need to plan a wedding so hurry up and get better,” Serena joked as she hugged Milania. “My sister-in-law, Leena, made some home cooked food for you when she heard you were in the hospital. There’s enough for the both of you,” Serena said, turning to Liam.

  “Please thank Leena for us. It was really nice of her,” Liam said, lifting the foil covering the food. The delicious scent came up, making him smile. “You’re going to love this, Milania. It smells wonderful.”

  The women talked about the wedding plans as the men talked in the corner in hushed voices about the tabloid. Dalton had called again to tell James that the photographers apparently knew Milania was in the hospital so they were most probably parked outside waiting for the opportunity to take their shot.

  Liam was furious when he found out the news and if it weren’t for James, he probably would have blew his top. James told him he would take care of it, knowing Serena’s family was well connected and could stop the photographers from invading their private life. It was worth a try so James would speak to Serena’s brothers as soon as Serena was out of earshot.

  James and Serena said goodbye, wishing Milania the very best for a speedy recovery. James told Liam he would call him later and Serena told Milania that she and Rachael would deal with the wedding arrangements while she was in the hospital.

  When they both left, the nurse came in to tell Liam visiting hours was nearly over. Liam sat with Milania a few more minutes and then told her he would run some errands while she was resting. He kissed her on the lips and left.

  Milania watched as Liam walked out and wondered when her life would start over. She’d always been a fighter and done what she’d wanted in life but now she felt extremely helpless which was a terrible feeling. She didn’t recognize herself anymore and needed to toughen up so she decided she would change as of that very moment. She’d had enough of moping about and she decided no more what ifs. She was starting a new life with Liam in less than two weeks and she wanted to be the person she used to be when she walked down the aisle on her wedding day – her second wedding day! Milania turned over and went to sleep, knowing that rest was the first step in getting better.

  Liam went to the apartment to start making the arrangements for the honeymoon. He needed to give her the trip of a lifetime, where she could rest and enjoy the beginning of their life together. He thought long and hard on a location and decided on one that had a Miller Hotel and Resort. It would give him the safety of tight security as well as the luxury services in a resort location. He called his assistant to book the honeymoon suite for two months, giving Milania enough time to rest after her surgery. It was something he felt he needed to give her.

  ~~~

  The next few days passed quickly as Milania got better while Liam took care of wedding plans with Serena and Rachael. James had spoken to Serena’s brothers who miraculously made the photographers outside the hospital disappear. The police patrolled the hospital entrance, making sure the photographers did not return.

  The day Milania was released from the hospital, she was grateful for the help of friends and family who’d helped her cope with change since the surgery. She was waiting on the bed for Liam to pick her up when she planned in her head what she needed to do for the wedding. Only one week was left and she still needed to get a wedding dress, not to mention everything else. She’d been completely out of it for a week since being in the hospital but she was sure that Serena and Rachael had taken over more than she believed.

  Liam saw she was pensive when he arrived and grinned as he walked to her. “Hey, are you ready to go? You’re all packed?” he asked, noticing the bags on the bed. She must have been waiting a while by the look on her face.

  She smiled back at him, happy to leave. “I’m ready to leave. Do you know there is only one week left before our wedding and I still haven’t looked for a wedding dress?” She got off the bed slowly, holding the stitches as she moved.

  “Is it painful?” he asked, wondering how she felt.

  “No, I just feel it pulling right now.”

  He took her bags and they walked
out to the car. “Serena and Rachael will pass by the apartment later to take you to chose a wedding dress so how about we go home so you can rest for a little while.”

  “Rest? I’ve done enough of that in the hospital. I want to get my daily routine on track and get back to a normal life again.”

  “Baby Doll, you’ll need to take it easy for a few days so why don’t you let us do the running around. The girls have already dealt with a lot of the arrangements and today they will take you for your wedding dress. They will most probably fill you in with what has been done and what is left to do.”

  “Have we secured a place to hold the wedding reception? I imagine there will be many people attending from your side so you’ll want to do something nice.”

  “Darling, we have the new Miller Hotel and Resort in Rome for our wedding. James has booked the ballroom and suites for our guests so there’s nothing for you to worry about. As far as I know, the girls have ordered the cake and flowers,” he said, helping her into the rented car.

  “What about a honeymoon? Will we have a chance to go somewhere after the wedding?” she asked, wondering how much time Liam could take off from work.

  “Baby Doll, I’ve already arranged that so don’t worry your pretty little head about it,” he said. Then he went to put the bags in the back of the car before getting in the driver’s seat.

  “Where are you taking me?” she asked, excitement building inside at the thought of going away with him on a trip.

  “It’ll be a surprise, Sweet Pea, so don’t try to squeeze it out of me.”

  “I might try to tickle it out of you. Are you ticklish?” she asked before becoming pensive. She suddenly realized there were lots of things they didn’t know about one another.

  “What’s going through that head of yours now?” he grinned, knowing she was pondering over something.

  “We really don’t know much about each other aside from more important events of our lives.”