Million Dollar Christmas Bride - Holly Rayner Page 0,60
at her, he felt sure he was the luckiest man in the world. He couldn’t help it—he leaned down and kissed her again.
Chapter 21
Bianca
A sensation of giddy happiness filled Bianca as Jackson wrapped his strong arms around her. The fatigue she’d struggled with just moments before was gone, and she felt like she was waking up after a good night’s sleep, not standing in an ICU after a catastrophic day!
Her stomach fluttered with butterflies and her heart pounded out a happy rhythm as she let herself melt into Jackson’s strong chest. He reached for her hand once they parted and wove his fingers between hers as they walked together toward the hospital bed.
Danielle grinned. “Good for you two,” she said. “Maybe the whole wedding hoax was a good thing, after all. It gave my little brother here a chance to get to know you.”
Bianca nodded. “I think so,” she said. “But I’m sorry that you traveled all this way for nothing.”
“Not for nothing,” Danielle said, with a shake of her head. She reached over and smoothed the edge of the blanket that covered Mary.
Bianca noticed, for the first time, that Mary’s eyes were closed. She was breathing in a slow, steady manner. It was obvious that she’d drifted off to sleep.
“It’s good to see her after so many years,” Danielle said in a hushed tone. “If it weren’t for you two dreaming all of this up, I might not have made the trip.”
Just then, a man in a white doctor’s coat stepped through the doorway. He held a file folder in his hands. “Mary Wylde?” he said.
Danielle spoke up. “She just fell asleep a few seconds ago.”
“Ah, I see,” the doctor said. “We can let her rest. She’s been through a lot today.” He eyed the monitor at her side. Bianca took a peek at the numbers, too, and quickly noticed that Mary was stable. Her blood pressure and pulse were both within normal limits.
“The medicine seems to be working well for her,” the doctor said. “I’d like to move her out of the ICU in the morning, to our cardiac unit for further monitoring. Are you her family?”
Mary stirred in the bed, but then settled down again.
Danielle raised her hand. “I’m her daughter. This is her son.” She gestured to Jackson.
The doctor nodded. His voice was quieter as he spoke again. “Would you two mind stepping out into the hallway with me? I’d like to talk to you about a few of her test results and our plan for moving forward.”
“Of course,” Danielle said.
“Sure,” Jackson seconded. He gave Bianca’s hand a squeeze.
Bianca felt happier than she had in ages as she watched him step out into the hallway. He loves me! she thought giddily. She knew she’d be reminding herself of that little nugget of information frequently over the next few days.
A nurse entered the room and bustled around the many monitors. When she noticed Bianca standing, she darted out into the hallway and returned with a chair, which she set by Mary’s bed. “Here you go,” she said. “And how about a drink? We have water, juice, sodas…”
“I’m all set,” Bianca said. “Thank you.”
On her way out of the room, the nurse turned off one set of lights and dimmed another. In the absence of the harsh, bright fluorescent lighting, the room took on a new feel. It no longer felt like a cold, sterile hospital room. A row of glowing, yellow-gold lights along one wall gave off a residential atmosphere.
When the nurse pulled the door partially closed behind her, Bianca sank gratefully down into the chair. She was reading numbers on the monitor by Mary’s bed and watching the bright green symbol of a heart flash rhythmically, when she heard Mary clear her throat.
“Oh!” Bianca let out a little utterance of surprise as she looked over and saw that Mary had woken up. “I thought you were asleep. Are you feeling all right?”
“Fine,” Mary said. She studied Bianca for a moment.
Bianca began to feel uncomfortable. She shifted slightly in her seat. “You know, I’m really sorry about all of this,” she said. “If it wasn’t for the whole staged wedding, you might not have forgotten to take your medicine.”
“Ha,” Mary said. “I wish that was the truth. But honestly, I tend to forget now and then regardless of what’s going on. It just caught up with me; that’s all.”
“Still,” Bianca said. “This day turned into such a crazy disaster. Your Christmas was ruined. I’m truly sorry.”
“Please don’t