Page 42 of Wedding Bells in Silverwood

Holly covered her cheeks with her palms. “Oh, no.”

“So I called 911, and they gave him oxygen, then brought him here. The doctors are looking at him now.”

“Okay.” Rachel swallowed, nodding. “It’s going to be okay. He’s in capable hands.”

Nick bit his bottom lip, his head lowered. Holly touched his arm, and he pulled her closer for an embrace.

“Did you tell Eddie?” Nick asked his sister.

Rachel crossed her arms as she paced. “Yeah. He’s at home with Avery. I told him I’d keep him up to date.”

“I guess now we just wait.” Nick gestured at the chairs.

The three of them sat, not speaking. Holly interlaced her fingers, fighting off the feeling of her throat closing up. The weight in her chest was almost unbearable.

She could imagine what was going through Nick’s and Rachel’s heads. They had lost their mother at an early age, and now their father was in the emergency room. The thought of losing him had to be soul-crushing. As the child of a widow herself, having one parent left to cling to was a delicate thing. One day, she would grieve her mother, and it would hurt just as much as when she lost her father. Still, she dreaded the prospect of something happening to her anytime soon, and she was positive Nick and Rachel felt the same about Mr. Mason.

Holly’s phone buzzed. It was as if Vivian had known she’d been thinking of her.

“My mom’s checking in. She says she prays everything is going to be all right. She sends her love.”

Silence took over again. It seemed like they’d been there for ages when a doctor finally approached them in the waiting room. A surgical mask hung off her chin, and she had four pens sticking out of the pocket of her lab coat.

“Mr. Mason.”

Nick stood. “Dr. Kim, how is he?”

“We gave him a steroid to help his breathing. There was no sign of distress to the heart. Everything appears to be all right, but we’d like to keep him overnight for observation because of his condition. There doesn’t appear to be any jaundice, but it would be helpful to get a scan of his kidneys and liver just to be certain. We can check his blood count in the morning to ensure everything is as it should be.”

“Can we see him?” Rachel asked.

“Yes, of course. We’ve set him up in a room. I can take you there.” Dr. Kim gestured toward the hall.

Holly interlocked her fingers with Nick’s. Her head was riddled with memories of when her own father had been hospitalized.

This isn’t the same. Mr. Mason will be fine.

She frowned, trying to get her mind to stop racing through the possibilities.

When they reached the room, they found Mr. Mason lying in a hospital bed with nasal cannula tubes in his nostrils.

Mr. Mason smiled sheepishly and wouldn’t look anyone in the eye.

“Hey, what’s all this fuss?” Mr. Mason asked.

“Dad.” Rachel came forward and hugged him. “Are you all right?”

“Just had some trouble breathing. They want to keep me for observation, but Dr. Kim thinks I’ll be fine and can check out tomorrow.”

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Rachel said.

“You had us worried,” Holly said.

“No need to worry about me.” Mr. Mason winked. “I’m as tough as they come.”

Nick sat in the nearby chair and took his father’s hand. “That’s not something you have to prove, okay? You need to take it easy.”

Mr. Mason hesitated, his smile slowly disappearing. With a curt nod, he said, “Yeah. All right.”

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