Here Comes The Bride (26 page)

I called Aidan and caught him right before he was about to take off.

"I thought I told you not to—"

"Like I'
m going to leave you there alone."

"I have Dixon and Phoebe."

"Yes, who I made sure got there until I could arrive," he informed me smugly.

"Thank you." He was killing me. I wanted to kill him two days ago for being a jealous idio
t. Now I wanted to kill him for giving me, yet another, reason to fall in love with him.

Damn thoughtful, sexy Aidan Iverson.

"Don't thank me. There isn't anything that I wouldn't do for you." He paused, almost as if he was going to say something else, but didn't. "I'll see you soon."

We said goodbye and hung up.

Millie and Phoebe were going to take Phoebe's rental car back to the house to collect some things before heading to Eastern Maine Medical Center. I was leaving immediately, so I could be there as quickly as possible. I knew that I should have left before they took Donald to the rooftop, but I couldn't leave him until I knew he was on the move. They were pulling him out of his room when I stopped them.

"Wait," I shouted and ran to him. I pressed my lips firmly against his forehead, tast
ing my own salty tears as they ran down my face. "I love you, daddy," I whispered into his ear before I let them pull him down the hall toward the elevator.

Once I was in my car
, I sucked up my tears and began my journey. When I saw the signs informing me I was only fifteen minutes away, I got extremely anxious.

Switching lanes for my exit
, I moved over. All of a sudden, a large truck swerved into my lane, I gasped.

I slammed on the breaks. The breaks squeezed before
the sound of crushed metal and shattered glass resonated. Then there were blackness, the smell of gasoline and burnt rubber. The last thing I heard, before succumbing to the darkness, were mumbling voices.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Aidan

As soon as I touched down
, I went straight to the hospital. On the way my phone cell phone rang. I grabbed it from the seat next to me, Dixon.

"I should be there in
—."

"Aidan, there's been an accident.
" He sounded like he was going to break down at any minute.

"What happened
, Dixon? Is Don—?"

"It's Lilli." Dixon choked.

"What happened, Dixon?" I shouted into the phone and accelerated the car dramatically.

"She was in a car accident on the way to the hospital," that was it, Dixon couldn't take anymore, he broke down. I heard shuffling on the other end of his phone.

"Dixon! Dixon?"

"Aidan, she's alive...but just hurry here
, okay?" Phoebe had taken over the phone.

"I'll be there in less than twenty minutes."
Hanging up, I sped to the hospital.

I had Phoebe back on the phone before I arrived
. She was waiting for me at the entrance.

"Oh
, Aidan," Phoebe threw her arms around me. I could feel the sobs ripping through her.

"Where is she
, Phoebe?" I pulled back, holding Phoebe by her shoulders so I could see her face.

She sniffed.

"Come on," she grabbed my hand and pulled me through the hospital and to the elevator. When we stepped off, I realized that it was the intensive care floor. My heart dropped.

"Phoebe—
"

"She's okay," before I knew it
, Phoebe was in front of me holding me by my face. I looked down at her grief stricken face. "She’s alive. They are watching her closely due to the head injury. Come on."

"Head injury?" She didn't respond. Phoebe pulled me through some double doors an
d past the nurses' station.

"Excuse me?" the nurse stood, but Phoebe kept moving with me.

"She is in there, room 425." Phoebe motioned.

"Excuse me!" The nurse was now at my side and grabbing my arm.

"He's her husband," Phoebe pulled the nurses hand from my arm.

I moved quickly into the glass room and saw a much paler Lilli
, lying lifeless on the hospital bed. Machines beeped and blipped around me as I moved closer to her. If it weren't for the rise and fall of her chest, I would’ve never believed that she were alive.

As I got closer the scratch on her
cheek became more evident and I could see the hint of brownish red seeping through the white gauze wrapped around her head. I took in a sharp breath and swallowed the large lump in my throat.

Placing my hand on her arm
, she felt cool, not like her normal warm self. Without thinking twice, I slid into the bed next to her and laid my head on her chest. As her heart beat filled my ears I finally broke down. Sobs ripped through my chest as I wrapped my arm around her waist and held her tightly.

"Sir?" "Mr. Iverson?" I woke up with blurry vision from having
cried myself to sleep next to Lilli.

"Yes?" I croaked out.

"Visiting hours are over and—"

"I
’m not leaving." I said sternly.

"I'm sorry
, sir, but the rules for the intensive care..."

"I don't give a shit about your rules." I snapped at her and stood from the bed. "If need be
, I will have my wife moved to a private care center where I can be with her. But I will not leave her until she wakes up." I glared at the nurse, daring her to attempt to send me away again.

"I understand your circumstances, but we have oth
er patients as well to consider—"

"I have made myself clear. Call security
, if necessary, and I will call the board for the hospital!"

"Whoa, what is going on here?" A large man in a white coat entered the room with a heavy set nurse on one side and Dixon on the other.

"Doctor Sherman," the nurse sighed in relief, "I was simply explaining to Mr. Iverson our policy of visiting hours for intensive care." She turned to eye me smugly.

"And I
, was simply stating, that I could buy the hospital by tomorrow morning if need be, which would make it no longer her concern that I was here with my wife." I spat back in her direction.

"Okay..." Dixon pushed into the room, "Aidan
, calm down." Dixon put an arm on my shoulder in attempt to relax me, but I shrugged him off.

"Nancy, I think we can make a small exception for tonight. Mr. Iverson only got her
e a few moments ago and has two family members on this floor." The nurse, who was clearly Nancy, looked from him to me and then left the room.

"Thank you," I sighed out and sat in a chair closest to Lilli.

The doctor went about his routine of checking her over.

"Doctor..."

"Sherman," he smiled.

"Doctor Sherman, is she going to be okay? What happened? What's wrong with
—?"

"Dixon
, could you please give us a moment to talk privately?" He looked at Dixon. Dixon seemed to hesitate. "I know you are like family; however, I do need to follow some rules tonight." He smiled and Dixon nodded in understanding as he left the room.

He took a large breath and I stood to look straight at him over Lilli's still body.

"Mr. Iverson, your wife was side swiped by a large road construction vehicle. He did not see her in the lane as he attempted to move over too quickly, which resulted in the left front end of the vehicle being crushed into itself." He paused. "Now, her ankle is bruised with a slight fracture, but should be fine in a couple of weeks. The major injury is her head which hit the driver's side window and lashed back against the headrest. Thankfully, the airbag prevented her from the front windshield or the steering wheel. Though, the jolt to her head has caused some swelling around her brain." He saw my face tense up. "It isn't anything to be too concerned about." He reassured.

"Is she in a coma?"

"Medically induced. This is to allow her brain to heal. Tomorrow I will run her through another scan to see if the swelling is improving on its own." He smiled and then joined me on the side of the bed I was standing on. "Rest assured that we are doing everything we can and being very mindful of the baby."

"Thank you
, doctor. I.....wait...what?" I turned. I had to have heard him wrong.

"What?" He seemed as confused as I felt.

"Did you say the baby?"

He nodded slowly.

"You were unaware." It wasn't a question. He could clearly tell I'd had no idea.

"She's pregnant?" I swallowed hard.

"Yes...uh...her blood work came back positive. Her uterus is measuring far enough along I would have thought for sure that you knew."

"Far enough along?" I looked
at Lilli. "She doesn't look far along." I motioned to her stomach. "Are you sure the test is accurate? She is on birth control pills."

He looked at me confused.

"Mr. Iverson, I assure you that it's accurate. The emergency room did a scan and found the fetus and the heartbeat. Your wife is pregnant." Then he looked over her chart and seemed perplexed. "I also don’t see any signs of birth control medication in her system." He looked up at me. "Are you sure she's taking something?"

Had she stopped? No, Lilli was so unsure about having a baby there was no way she would just stop taking them. Wasn't there? I mean
, she would have no reason to hide that she stopped. She knew that I would be more than happy that she was going to provide the last condition of my inheritance. Hell, I would hope she realized that her agreeing to have my child, children, would make me the happiest man alive.

"Mr. Iverson?"

I'd taken way too long to respond.

"I'm sure doctor. She was adaman
t about taking the pill."

"Hmm...well
, the OB/GYN will be coming to visit her after the last of her blood work is complete, as well as her scan." He smiled halfheartedly. "Do you have any questions?"

"When will you take her out of the coma?"

"Hopefully we can let her regain consciousness tomorrow after her scan in the morning."

"And you are sure that the drugs aren
’t hurting the baby?"

"I assure you that we ar
e taking all the precautionary measures." He patted my back and then cleared his throat. "Um...congratulations." He left the room quickly.

I climbed back into bed with Lilli and placed my hand over her stomach.

Lilli was having my baby. We are having a baby. I am going to be a father. The woman I love is going to give birth to a child that we created together.

I stayed lost in my thoughts until I finally reconciled that Lilli would know that I was in love with her before we left. I drifted off to dreams filled with a small girl that looked exactly like Lilli, but with my hair color.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Lilli

Beeping. More Beeping. Muffled voices. What the hell was going...ow, my head. I groaned.

"Lilli? Lilli, love?" Was that Aidan?

"Lil?" Dixon?

"Oh
, Lilli, please be awake." That was definitely Phoebe.

I groaned again, though I had meant to speak.

Damp warmth spread on my forehead and I pried my eyes apart to blaring white light. I squinted and cringed back from the brightness.

"W-where..?"

"The hospital. Shh...take your time, love." I smiled slightly at the new little name Aidan seemed to have developed for me.

"W-what..?"

"You were in a car accident, everything is fine," Phoebe spoke and I could tell that it was her squeezing my hand.

My mind was spinnin
g, finally catching up with everything.

"Donald!" I shouted and tried to sit up.

Aidan held me down.

"He's fine
, Lilli, he is in recovery. Everything went perfectly."

I sighed in relief.

"My head," I groaned out.

"You hit your head hard, but you will be fine." Dixon was patting my leg as he spoke.

"I want to sit up."

I felt movement around me and then my bed was slowly moving up.

I rubbed my eyes and looked around the room. Celia, Phoebe, Aidan, Dixon, Viola, Liam, Maggie, and my mother were all standing around me with smiles on their faces.

"Oh
, baby," Sarah moved quickly to me and leaned over, kissing my cheek.

"Mom?" I questioned.

"Yes, baby."

"You're here?"

"Of course I am. Did you really think I wouldn't be?" She sounded shocked.

"Thank you." I said.

"Oh, baby, don't thank me. I am so happy that you’re okay." I could see the tears slipping down her cheeks.