Page 114 of Finding Wonderland

Even with the warning, nothing could have prepared them for seeing Chase in the hospital room. There were more IVs and wires hooked up to her than Isla knew was possible. Her face was swollen, as were her hands. If it weren’t for the tubes and wires all over her face, Isla might have convinced herself she was sleeping.

“Chase,” Mason hesitantly walked over to the side of the bed. Tears were streaming down her face as she tensely reached out and took Chase’s hand, careful not to disturb the oxygen monitor on her hand. “Chase? Hey. It’s me, Mason.”

Vera was standing behind Mason, with Isla behind her. Isla gently wrapped her arms around Vera, who turned into her embrace as they watched Mason talk to Chase. With each beat of Chase’s heartbeat on the screen, Isla felt herself fully ready to come undone. Chase was like another child to them. She had been Mason’s best friend for years and was always around their house. Seeing her in such pain was almost more than Isla could bear.

After nearly an hour in the room with Chase, Isla and Vera left Mason in the room with Chase’s family as they stepped out for breakfast. Neither of them was hungry but knew they needed to eat. They called the families their kids were staying with and asked them to keep them a little longer. As Isla sat her tray down on the table, she sighed. Vera did the same.

“So,” Isla swallowed hard as she popped the top of the can of Diet Coke, “how bad is it?”

“Bad.” Vera looked up at Isla, shaking her head. “I took a look at her chart. She’s going to need a hip replacement and a knee replacement, and that’s if they don’t amputate.”

“Do you think that’s a possibility?”

“I don’t know. This isn't my specialty.” Vera winced. “I wish they had consulted me before they did the hysterectomy.”

“Baby,” Isla reached out, taking Vera’s hand in hers, “you were in no place to make that call. And you know Stacey wouldn’t have done that unless she absolutely had to in order to save Chase’s life.”

Stacy Jameson had been one of Vera’s coworkers for years and was one of the best. She’d helped Vera deliver Ellie and Brayden, so Isla trusted her as much as she did Vera.

“Chase is alive. That’s what matters right now.”

“You’re right,” Vera said, letting out a long sigh. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“It will be.”

“It has to be. Mason can’t handle much more. This almost killed her.”

Isla couldn’t protest the fact. It was true.

“But do you know what makes me so mad I can feel smoke coming out of my ears?” Vera didn’t wish for Isla to respond. “The fact that dirt bag fiancé of Chase’s hasn’t shown his grubby little face.”

No one in the Mackenzie family liked Shane; Vera was probably the least of them all. From what Isla knew, he was a perfectly fine man, but he wasn’t right for Chase. And no matter how much Chase tried to say otherwise, Isla knew she wasn’t truly happy with him—not that she’d ever tell Chase that she thought that.

But Vera did have a point. It had been Mason crying at Chase’s bedside, not Shane. Isla picked up her turkey sandwich and took a bite as she shrugged.

“Maybe you’re right.”

“About what?”

“About Mason and Chase being made for each other.”

“I just hope this makes Mason realize that.”

“Me, too,” Isla smirked, making Vera smile. “I’d love to have her as a daughter-in-law.”

Chapter 40

Vera

2020

Along day at work followed by picking up all three kids from their various after-school activities meant fast food burgers for dinner. Vera had been too tired to cook, and with Isla working late at the bar, burgers seemed as good of a meal as they could get. After dinner, she’d helped Brayden with his math homework while Ellie helped Everleigh prepare for her spelling test. The end of the school year rush was creeping up on all of them, but Vera was ready to have the kids home for the summer.

Even if it meant more chaos than usual in the Mackenzie house. Which was nothing new for them. With two fourteen-year-olds, an eight-year-old, and two dogs under one roof, it was always crazy at their house. Not that Isla and Vera would have it any other way. The chaos that was their lives was what they had longed to have for years before they finally had it. Vera wouldn’t change a thing.

By the time she finally plopped down in bed to catch up on the reality TV Isla detested, she was almost too tired to watch it. She sank into the pillows and yawned as she started her show. Nearly an hour later, she heard the front door open. It wasn’t unusual for Isla to stay late at work, but it was rare for her to be coming home so close to midnight. The bedroom door creaked open as Isla stepped into the room.

“Hey,” Vera turned off the TV, “you’re home late.”

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