Blue Christmas (The Moody Blue Trilogy | Book One) (26 page)

Hannah wrapped a
wool scarf around her neck then pulled on her long black coat. “Kylie, I’m
really sorry. I hope you understand.”

“What’s not to
understand?
Out of the Blue
awaits you! Ha! Can you imagine? They’re
waiting on
you . . .
I never saw
this
one coming,
Hannah. Not in a million years.”

“We’ll talk later,
I promise,” Hannah called over her shoulder as she and Marissa hurried out the door.

Hannah and
Marissa walked briskly through the back corridors of the hospital. The routes
were all too familiar to them after the last few days. Hannah’s heart raced as
she followed Marissa down the long halls of the hospital basement. She prayed Marissa
was true to her word and she would not run into Jason.

They stepped into
a service elevator and rode silently up to the seventh floor where Jackson had
been moved. When the elevator doors opened, Hannah was relieved to see a
familiar hospital security guard. He recognized both Hannah and Marissa and
allowed them to pass.

The closer they
got to Jackson’s room, the more uncertain Hannah felt. She took a deep breath
as Marissa knocked gently on the door.

“Anybody home?”

Gevin appeared at
the door, opening it wider for his fiancée to enter. His serious face broke
into a wide smile when he saw Hannah behind her. “Ah, mission accomplished. It’s
about time, Hannah. Come here, girl,” he said reaching out for her. He gave her
a warm hug. “You okay?”

She had to take
another deep breath if she was going to answer. “Yeah, Gevin, I’m good. Your
girlfriend here doesn’t take no for an answer, but I guess you already know
that, huh?”

He draped his arm
over Marissa’s shoulder. “Yeah, I learned that a long time ago.”

“Hey, you guys
having a convention out there or what?”

Hannah followed
the sound of Jackson’s voice and peeked around the corner into the suite. An
explosion of color amid hundreds of flowers came into view. Huge bouquets of
roses, daisies, sunflowers and every other imaginable flower. Stuffed animals
and large fruit baskets dotted the floral scenery. It took a minute before she
finally saw him sitting up in the hospital bed, Alli seated on the foot of his
bed.

“Oh Jackson . . .”
Her tears gave way as she walked to his side, leaning over to hug him. They
were silent for a moment. She felt Alli’s hand on her back. Finally, she
laughed out of pure joy. “I was so happy when I heard the news.”

His eyes shone
bright and a little moist as well. “Yeah, me too,” he quipped. She laughed
again then turned to Alli who hugged her hard, laughing through her own tears.

Hannah pulled
back, wiping her eyes. “This is just so amazing. I’ve never seen such a miracle
in my entire life. Jackson, how are you feeling? Are you really okay?”

“I’m feeling good.
It’s like every hour I feel a little stronger,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Everybody
has been incredible around here. Do you believe all this?” He waved his hand
across the massive sea of flowers.

“Hannah, you
wouldn’t believe it,” Alli jumped up. “There are flowers here from all over the
world! Look at this gorgeous bouquet. It’s from Elton John! There must be three
dozen roses in there!” She continued around the room, pointing to various
arrangements. “These are from Sting, and this ficus tree is from Will and Jada Smith.
Do you believe that? And look—these iris are from Julia Roberts. Aren’t they
beautiful?

“But this is my
favorite—check out this card.”

Hannah noticed the
royal imprint on the card. She slid the card out and read the enclosed note
aloud. “
‘Best wishes for a full recovery. Sincerely, William and Kate.’
Are
you serious? Wait—did he sign this himself?”

“Yeah, we’ll be
putting that up on eBay by the end of the day.” Jackson smirked.

Alli playfully
swatted him. “No we will not! This one goes in our scrapbook, thank you very
much. Along with pressed flowers from the arrangement. Imagine, Will and Kate
sending flowers? He is
so
fine.”

“Excuse me?” Jackson
protested.

“Sorry, babe. But
he’s royalty. What can I say? Oh, and Hannah—look at this poster Jay Leno sent
over. It was taken of him and the guys about a year ago when
Blue
played
the Tonight Show.” Hannah noticed the hand-written message on the lower end of
the poster:
Prayers & best wishes, Jay.

“That is so—”

“Yeah, yeah, but
show her
my
favorite,” Jackson interrupted.

“Oh yeah.” Alli
leaned behind the desk and pulled out a large box. Inside was a basketball
autographed by Michael Jordan. “Isn’t this incredible?”

“You better keep
your eye on that one,” Gevin warned. “I’ve already had some interest on it on
eBay.”

“You touch it and
you’re history,” Jackson teased.

“Well, Jackson, it
looks like you made out pretty good, all things considered,” Hannah said,
taking a seat on the other side of Jackson’s bed.

“Not too shabby, I
guess. But this is all I really care about, to tell the truth.” He reached for
Alli’s hand. “They told me she never left my side, except maybe when they
changed my diapers.”

“You weren’t
wearing diapers. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

He tried to sit up
taller, and grimaced at the effort.

“Are you okay?”
Hannah asked.

“He’s still really
tender where the wound is. I keep telling him to take it easy, but that’s
pretty much a waste of my time.”

“Jackson, did you
remember what happened that night?” The question slipped out before Hannah
realized it. She studied her hands, avoiding his eyes. When she heard no
response, she looked up again.

Jackson looked at
Alli, giving her a tired smile. “I’m afraid so. Not entirely at first, but it
came back to me. I still can’t believe it. I was really worried about Sergio,
but we had a good talk earlier. It’s gonna take some time, but I think he’ll be
okay. I’ve slept through all this, but it’s still so fresh for him, y’know?”

“We’re just glad
you’re here. That’s all that matters,” Gevin said.

“What a month this
has been, huh?” Marissa added. “I don’t know about you guys, but I think we
could all use some peace and quiet.”

Hannah looked back
to find Alli and Jackson watching her. The concern in their eyes touched her
deeply. She felt her face warming.

“Hannah, are
you
okay?” Alli asked.

She knew it was
useless to attempt to speak and simply looked up at them again, nodding her
head slowly.

“It’s gotta be so
awkward,” Jackson said quietly. “It was such a surprise to hear that—”

“No, please. I’d
rather not talk about it right now, okay?” Hannah answered with a hoarse
whisper.

The silence hung
in the air again. Jackson winked at her, expressing more than any words could
say. “Just know we’re here for you. Nothing has changed that.”

“Jackson’s right,
Hannah,” Alli said. “Nothing will
ever
change that. It feels like you’ve
been part of our little family here forever.”

Hannah sat up,
taking a deep breath, waving her hand through the air. “I know, I really
appreciate—”

The door swung
open and Hannah’s heart stopped.
Oh God, please no.

“Hey! You guys
having a party in here? How come we didn’t get an invitation?”

Hannah let out a
sigh as Frank McKenzie strolled in behind Laura.

“Hey guys,” Jackson
welcomed them. “Come on in.”

Laura bee-lined
for Hannah’s side. “Ohhhhh, I was hoping we’d run into you!” She buried her
head against Hannah’s, embracing her warmly. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“Laura, I’m fine.
Really. It’s so good to see you.”

Frank gave her a
hug as well. “We’ve been worried about you.”

“We need to talk,”
Laura whispered maternally.

“I know . . . we
will.”

Laura smiled with
such kindness. Memories of her first night at the McKenzie’s came flooding
back.

The noise level
grew as the conversations multiplied. They laughed mostly, the relief so genuine
it covered them like a soft blanket. Hannah absorbed it all, loving these
people. When thoughts that she might never be with them like this again began
to seep into her mind, she shook them off.

Later, she looked
at her watch. She felt the unease creeping back in. Maybe those five or six
hours Jason went home to sleep were only two or three? What if he were to show
up? She couldn’t risk it. She began to say her good-byes. More hugs. More
promises to talk.

She gave Jackson
one final hug. “I’m so glad I got to see you again,” she spoke for his ears
only.

He looked at her
quizzically. “Come back soon, okay?” He gave her a long kiss on her cheek. She
just smiled, not at all sure that would ever be possible again.

As she turned to
leave, Gevin followed in step behind her. “Hannah, I’ll walk you back to the
limo.”

She said good-bye
to everyone then slipped out the door. Gevin rested his arm over her shoulder
as they walked. “You know, Hannah, I really think that—”

“Gevin!”

They stopped in
their tracks. At first Hannah wasn’t sure who had addressed them. The baseball
cap and glasses caught her off guard. Then her heart stopped.

“Uh . . . well,
hey Jennifer,” Gevin stuttered. Hannah felt his arm tense against her shoulder.

“So how’s Jackson?
Jason was still asleep so I just called a cab and came back over. He’ll
probably sleep for a month after all that’s—”

“Jackson’s doing
great,” Gevin interrupted. “In fact, I’m sure he’d love to see you. So why
don’t you—”

“I’m sorry, have
we met?” Jennifer asked Hannah as she pulled off her ball cap. Her long blonde
hair fell down on her shoulders. She shook her head and it fell perfectly into
place.
Of course.

Hannah took a deep
breath, straightening her shoulders.

“Oh, sorry, Jennifer,
I apologize,” Gevin said. “This is—”

“Hi, Jennifer. My
name is Hannah. I’m a friend of . . . Alli’s.” She held out her
hand. “We’re friends from way back.”
Way back last week.

There was an
uncomfortable pause, then Jennifer’s face broke into a dazzling smile. “Oh, don’t
you just love Alli? She is so down to earth and so
amazing.
I can’t
imagine what this has been like for her. But how nice of you to be here for her.
You all must be very close.”

Time simply
stopped. Hannah watched this remarkable young woman in front of her. She was
warm and friendly, her clear blue eyes conveying a depth of character that
surprised Hannah. No wonder Jason had loved her. She remembered Christmas Eve,
that first night at Jason’s when she’d looked at the gallery of pictures on the
McKenzie’s game room wall. The one of Jason with Jennifer.
You’d have liked
her,
he’d said.
She’s terrific . . .

She snapped back
to reality, realizing Gevin and Jennifer were waiting for an answer. Problem
was, she couldn’t remember the question. “Um, well . . . Jennifer,
it was really nice meeting you, but I’ve got to run.”

Gevin came to her
rescue. “I’ll ride with you downstairs, Hannah. Jennifer, just go ahead up to
the room, and I’ll see you in a little while, okay?”

“Sure, Gevin. It
was really nice to meet you, Hannah. I hope I’ll see you again sometime.”

Hannah nodded,
producing the best smile she could. She and Gevin walked toward the elevator
which opened immediately. They stepped in, turning around as the doors began to
close. Jennifer waved at them, disappearing around the corner.

If only she had
been
obnoxious.
If only she had been some kind of ditzy blonde or arrogant
or rude. It would have been so much easier to hate her. To despise her for
coming between her and the man Hannah had grown to love. But she was none of
those things. In fact, Hannah realized that Jennifer was the kind of person she
would be friends with. The thought unsettled her.

And it grieved her
more deeply than she ever could have imagined.

Chapter 19

“
S
ince we’re kind of slow right now, Hannah, go
ahead and take your break if you’d like.”

“Okay, Jim. I’ll
finish straightening these shelves then go.” The cereal aisle was in shambles
when Hannah arrived that morning. Some late night visitors must have ravaged
through the selections for their Cocoa Puffs. She only had one small section to
go. She reached for a box on the next shelf, but stopped. There on the
family-sized box of Wheaties were the smiling faces of JT, Sergio, Jackson, Gevin,
and Jason.

She slowly picked
up the box. How had she not noticed it before? She gently ran her hand across
their faces, the grief surfacing all over again. She sank to the ground, her mind
spinning.
Put it back and get back to work. It’s just a stupid picture.