Page 77 of Refuge for Ailsa

“Everything looks good.”Dr.Cobb locked the screen on his tablet and took Ailsa’s wrist between his thumb and fingers, checking her pulse. “Seems to be stable. We’ll be watching her, but we’ll scale the sedative back and see what happens. You call the nurse as soon as she wakes up.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll be back at the end of rounds to check on her.”

“Thanks.” The doctor stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. It was just Tavish and Ailsa, and he took her hand. “Wake up, beautiful. I need you to wake up.” She didn’t move a muscle, so he just stood there, her hand lying limp in his.

Before long, he got tired of standing, so he pulled his chair over to the side of the bed and took her hand through the rails. Watching her sleep made him sleepy, and he let his eyes close, praying he didn’t fall out on the floor if he fell asleep.

“Tav?” He sat bolt upright. “Tav, is that you?”

“Yes, baby. It is.” He grabbed the call box.

“Can we help you?”

“She’s awake. Dr.Cobb said to tell you and?”

“We’ll be right there, sir.”

Ailsa’s groggy voice asked, “What happened?”

He squeezed her hand and that time, she squeezed back. “You’ve been asleep. Like Sleeping Beauty. I kissed you to wake you up.”

She glanced around. “I’m in the hospital.”

“Yeah. Where did you think you were?”

“Nightmares. I had nightmares in the water.”

“Babe, those were hallucinations.” Tavish stroked her cheek. “You were having some trouble thinking.”

“Oh. Why?”

“Long story.” There were footsteps behind him and he stood. “I’ve gotta move back. They need to check you over, but I’m not going anywhere.”

She was still in a fog, but she knew him. That was good. Dr.Cobb stepped into the room. “Well, there you are! You have the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen. I’m Dr.Cobb. Do you remember me?”

“No, sir. I don’t.”

“Do you know what year it is?” She told him both the year and the month. “Who’s the president?” The name came right out of her mouth. “And who are you?”

“AilsaMacDougal. And that’s TavishStewart. I’m gonna marry that man.”

Well, there goes my big fancy proposal, Tavish thought, laughing. No point. She’d already spoken it so.

And the runes didn’t lie.

* * *

He couldn’t believehow fast she improved. They released her on Monday, and he took her to the houseboat. Starlight made a fool of herself when they stopped on the way and picked her up, darting around and doing her best to keep Ailsa’s attention. It was plain to see that as long as Ailsa was around, Tavish was just the bankroll for the dog.

As the days and weeks went by, he kept tabs on Bridget’s proceedings. It was moving along. Her father had known all along how unstable she was. He’d encouraged her to plead guilty, and she had. Her sentencing would follow two weeks later, and she was going to a mental hospital first and then to prison, unless she was simply too mentally ill to be transferred.

It was clear that under no circumstances would Ailsa go to the courthouse, but their attorney came to the marina store and brought all the paperwork for them to file a civil suit against her and her parents. As Tavish put it, when she told her mother to call the wedding planner, they should’ve known something was up, especially since they didn’t even know his name. They’d helped her almost killed Ailsa through negligence, and he wanted to make them responsible for what their obviously-ill daughter had done without their intervention.

In the meantime, they’d gone to the house to work on it. While they were there, a home improvement store truck pulled up and delivered a huge, elaborate table saw. It was ridiculously nice. The note was simple:Consider this a wedding gift. – Mom and Dad MacDougal.

When the papers came in the mail, Tavish wondered how she’d react. He’d managed to talk to the entire family without her knowing it, and wondered if he was about to do the right thing. After he’d taken care of the details, he set a date for the following Saturday.

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