Celeste took her place in the center of the room. “Cam, would you wheel Zach over here so that everyone can see?”
“I can walk,” he grumbled.
“No!” a dozen voices said at once.
“Nurse Ratchet will have our asses,” Cam added as he hurried to do Celeste’s bidding.
She took a small silver box from her bag and smiled at Zach. “My dear, dear Zach. As you know, I award the official Angel’s Rest blazon to those who have embraced love’s healing grace. The friends who have gathered with you today to witness this presentation each overcame great wounds of heart to earn their wings. One might argue that you’ve been blessed to avoid such emotional heartache.
“However, I contend that sometimes, wounds exist that remain hidden even from ourselves. If you look deeply, you may recognize such injuries within yourself. They may be different, more subtle, but just as real.”
Zach leaned toward Savannah, who had taken a seat beside him, and spoke from the corner of his mouth. “What is she talking about?”
“Hush,” his beloved scolded. “Pay attention.”
Celeste continued, “Zach, I award you these wings today in recognition of the innate strength of character you possess that has allowed you to overcome these lifelong trials and to acknowledge that love’s healing grace isn’t limited to emotional wounds. Is there any doubt that love compelled you and assisted you in your fight for survival?”
“No,” he answered honestly. “Not at all.”
Celeste opened the box and removed the angel’s wing pendant hanging from a heavy, masculine silver chain. She bent and fastened it around Zach’s neck, murmuring in his ear, “Feel the weight of this award in the coming hours, my friend. Draw strength from the knowledge of the joys that life has to give … if only you’ll open your heart to it.”
She kissed him on the cheek, then swept from the cafeteria. Zach sat in his wheelchair pleased, a bit embarrassed, and more than a little confused as, couple by couple, his friends from Eternity Springs offered their congratulations and wishes of good luck as they followed Celeste from the cafeteria.
“Okay, that was weird,” Zach said once he and Savannah were alone. “Why do I get the feeling that something else is going on here? What’s up, Savannah? Did the doctors find something unexpected when they were digging around inside me? Am I dying, after all?”
“No. That’s not it at all.” She wheeled his chair around and began to push him back to his room. “However, once again, your instincts are spot on. There are some people waiting for you back in your room.”
“People?”
“It’s a good thing, honey,” Savannah said as they approached his door.
“What people?”
She sucked in a deep breath, then said, “Your blood type is AB negative, which is quite uncommon. Have you stopped to wonder where they got all of that rare red stuff that they pumped into your body?”
His hospital room door opened to reveal an obviously nervous Gabi Romano. Savannah squeezed Zach’s shoulder and guided him on into his room where three men stood in front of the window. Zach recognized them all. Max Romano had come to his office. Anthony and Lucca Romano were college basketball coaches of some renown. Lucca Romano had been on the news quite a bit last year when he’d been involved in a tragic team bus incident that had taken the lives of two of his players.
Zach braced himself against the expected pain and stood. “Deputy Romano, why are your brothers congregated in my hospital room?”
Gabi clasped her hands in front of her, drew a deep breath, and said, “Because our blood runs in your veins, Zach.”
“Oh.” He smiled and extended his hand. “You donated blood for me. Thank you.”
“Yes, we did, and you are welcome,” Max Romano said. “But that’s not why we are here. Zach, we are your birth family. You are our brother.”
Savannah watched his face grow pale. She stepped forward, saying, “Why don’t we all sit down.”
Zach resisted returning to his bed—the hardheaded idiot—so she shot the Romano men a glare. Once they took seats in the three additional chairs that had mysteriously appeared in Zach’s room during lunch, Gabi sank into the bedside chair. And Zach chose to sit on the end of the bed, probably because that kept him higher than the others, Savannah thought.
Leaning against the door, Savannah glanced from one Romano man to the next. Wow. They do look alike. Even Gabi. She and Zach had the same eyes. How had she missed the family