Page 10 of Through the Snow Globe
“Merry eve of Christmas Eve! Santa Claus comes tomorrow night!” Meeka Jamison said. The charge nurse was wearing Frosty the Snowman–themed scrubs this evening.
“Ho-ho-ho!” Dr. Romani said in passing. There were no cartoon characters on his scrubs, but his scrub top was bright red and his pants were green.
“Happy holidays,” Diana said, politely. She wasn’t in the mood to be merry, though. She picked up her pace as she made her way to room fourteen and dipped inside, closing the door behind her and fleeing from all the good cheer. A steadybeep, beep, beepgreeted her from Linus’s equipment. Her heart seemed to take on the same rhythm.
Beep, beep, beep. Thump, thump, thump.
She pulled in a breath, walked over to the bedside chair, and sat down, inspecting him for a long moment. His dusty brown hair was neatly combed, which was never the case in real life. The man was always running his fingers through the unruly waves. He was also clean-shaven tonight, thanks to one of the aides. They’d done a good job, no nicks, which wasn’t like the awake version of Linus either.
“Hey. It’s Di.” She reached for his hand and held it in hers. It felt foreign, not like the hand she’d been holding for the past nine months. The muscles were soft from three weeks of not using them. There were no calluses along the palm from where he rode his bicycle every day to work.
Diana leaned forward just a touch and watched his face, looking for any sign that he knew she was here. She had this fantasy that one day Linus would just open his eyes and look back at her. How long had it been since she’d stared into those blue-gray eyes of his? Would she ever again?
His lips were a straight line. There was no crooked smile that came with his witty one-liners. He just looked like he was sleeping. No, not even that. Linus wasn’t a peaceful sleeper. He typically tossed and turned, making creases and sporting laughable bedhead as he slept. She loved those things about him. She loved everything about him.
Wake up, Linus.
Resigned to the fact that his eyes weren’t going to pop open and greet her this evening, she reached into the large canvas bag she’d carried in and pulled out the tiny Christmas tree she’d bought for his room. Linus professed to love Christmas more than anyone else. Not having a tree would kill him a lot faster than the delivery truck that had knocked him off his bike three weeks earlier.
“I brought you this tree to cheer you up.” She looked at Linus, speaking to him as if he could hear her. Maybe he could. Meeka had told Diana it was possible, at least. “I know, I know. You would prefer the real thing, but they wouldn’t allow me to drag a Douglas fir in here. I asked.”
She dipped to plug the little tree in and straightened, watching the colorful lights twinkle festively. “Multicolored lights,” she said, glancing over at him. “I’m not sure, but I suspect this would be your preference.” Next, she pulled out a box of silver-toned tinsel. “If you don’t open your eyes, I might have to decorate you as well,” she warned, remembering a similar threat he’d made just before his accident.
Linus didn’t flinch. Didn’t smile. The only reason she knew he was even breathing was because of the obnoxious beep of his bedside machines.
She ripped open the box of tinsel and added a few strands to the tree’s plastic branches. “It’s gotten colder outside,” she said as she worked. “Too cold to ride your bike, although I’m sure you’d disagree.” She waited a beat, carefully draping a single silver strand at a time. “Maria is doing well. Her ankle is healing up well since her fall. You should see her house. It’s likeNational Lampoon’s Christmas Vacationinside, thanks to William.” Diana rolled her eyes. She was still bitter about William being made supervisor over her, and about him going to her patient’s home to decorate it for the holidays. That wasn’t his job. If anything, it would be Diana’s.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she told Linus on a sigh. “And yes, it was nice of William to help Maria, but it crossed a boundary. I mean, we’re professionals. We don’t spend our spare time decorating a stranger’s home. I have my own place to decorate.” Not that she’d done any such thing this month. She had an excuse though. Her fiancé was in a coma.
“And my patient Addy is still trying to figure out what’s going on with us,” Diana told him. She set the box of tinsel down and worked to fan out the limbs of the tree that had gotten smooshed in her bag. “She’s sixteen going on thirty. Andsonosy. She reminds me of you in that way.”
Linus would balk at that comment. He prided himself on keeping his nose out of other people’s business. It wasn’t his way. He was a proper gentleman, through and through. Before him, Diana had always gone for the bad boy type. The ones who rode a motorcycle instead of a Schwinn ten-speed. The bad boys Diana had gone for had never been any good for her, though. They’d just wanted a physical relationship, which was all Diana had thought she’d wanted too.
Falling for Linus had come as a pleasant surprise. She’d gone inside the Toy Peddler to buy a gift for one of her coworker’s children. Linus had taken his time in helping her, suggesting only the worst toys first—dolls that peed or pooped. Or puke-themed slime. He’d later confessed that was his tactic in getting to know her. By the time he’d rung up the doll she’d eventually decided on—one that laughed and sang—he’d asked her to have dinner with him. She’d agreed, of course, and the rest, as they say, was history.
Linus was what she never knew she needed: a good guy with a big heart and more love than she knew what to do with—literally.
Diana sighed and turned away from the tiny tree. She could add the ornaments tomorrow. Taking a seat in the chair beside his bed, she took hold of his hand and squeezed. “Come back to me,” she finally whispered, leaning over to give the back of his hand a gentle kiss. “Please.” She didn’t believe in Christmas miracles beyond the ones that happened in movies, but she needed one this year. She needed this one.
* * *
By the time Diana had gotten back into her car, it was dark and the roads were slick. She drove ten miles below the speed limit, anxiously clutching the steering wheel the entire way home. When she arrived at the apartment, she walked straight into the laundry room and hung her winter coat on a hook. Then she headed into the kitchen, swung open her fridge door, and inspected a carton of half-eaten take-out food that was probably no longer safe to consume.
Diana sighed, her gaze wandering to the empty wine rack on her counter. She didn’t have any merlot either. She’d drained the last of her supply last night while watching the one and only Christmas movie she could stomach this year:Christmas with the Kranks.The Krank family had nothing on her lack of Christmas spirit.
Settling for a glass of water, she gulped it down and then stripped off her scrubs as she walked down the hall to her bedroom. She wanted to feel close to Linus tonight so she veered in the direction of his closet for an old T-shirt and oversize pair of sweatpants. If this was as close as she could get to him right now, she’d take it.
His SNOWHAVENHIGHSCHOOLshirt was lying on the floor where he’d last left it. He’d come to Snow Haven his senior year, which had been her freshman year. They’d attended the same school for only a few months, and Diana’s first year of high school had been rough. She barely remembered anything from that time, least of all an awkward boy with messy hair and glasses. Apparently, he remembered her, though. He’d told her he recognized her as soon as she’d stepped into the toy store that first day they met. He’d known exactly who she was and he’d wanted to know her better.
Diana picked up the Snow Haven High shirt and held it close to her nose, taking in a deep whiff. She’d turned into one of those people who smelled random things and tried to catch nostalgia. Pulling the shirt over her head, she turned and bumped against his curtain of ties. She stared at the goofy ties for a long moment. What thirty-year-old man owned such a ridiculous collection? One who worked at a toy store, she guessed. Linus had an adorable way about him. He was equal parts nerdy and sexy, like a Clark Kent, and she was his Lois Lane.
Her gaze fell on the tie with a print of little dogs playing fetch. It was one he’d worn often. He’d even worn it on the day of his accident. She’d taken it to the dry cleaners the next week because it had gotten bloodstained and dirty in the collision. It was his favorite tie—he adored it—and she’d wanted him to have it when he woke up.
She lifted her hand to touch the silk fabric before noticing that the collection of ties was lying funny on their rack. It was as if they were leaning against something stashed behind them.
Reaching past the ties, her fingertips tapped against a box.What is that?She slid the ties aside and realized the cube-shaped box was gift-wrapped in shimmery paper with a large red bow on the top. Her name was printed in neat block letters on the tag that hung off the front.
For several seconds, Diana forgot to breathe. He got her a gift? Carrying the box to the bed, she carefully set it down in front of her. She considered shaking the package before opening it, but that had backfired on her once—a tiny ceramic figurine had lost an arm—and Grandma Denny had never let her hear the end of it. Diana’s hand shook as she took her time breaking the tape seals on each side and then folding the paper neatly back. Who knew Linus was so meticulous with his wrapping?
