Page 70 of Through the Snow Globe
At five minutes till midnight, Diana sat in a chair watching the man she loved lying helpless in a hospital bed. Rochelle was asleep in the visitor’s chair by the window. Linus had been moved to a room on the second floor, which allowed more than one visitor. Diana was thankful for that because she didn’t want to be alone right now—even if her support system was snoring softly in the corner.
Who could sleep at a time like this? Not Diana. She was wide awake as the clock ticked closer to midnight. The only positive thing she could think of right now was that, in five minutes, she’d wake up as if all of this were a dream—it wasn’t—and then she’d see Linus. His eyes would open, his lips would offer a small smile, and the sound of his voice would fill the silence as he whispered, “Hello, sleepy girl.”
Diana waited for that. “Linus, I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m the reason you keep going through this horrible day. It’s all my fault.” She swallowed past the growing lump in her throat. “I just wanted to be with you one more time. That’s all. But I don’t even deserve that because when I had you with me, here, alive and well before the accident, I was too busy.” She swiped at a tear on her cheek. “I was too scared. Too cut off. Too everything.”
Diana jumped as Linus squeezed her hand. She blinked past her tears and looked at him, studying his face. “You squeezed my hand. Are you there? Are you listening? Linus?”
She watched his hand inside hers. He’d squeezed. She hadn’t imagined that. Her gaze swiped to the clock. Three minutes to midnight. She shook Linus’s hand and leaned over him. “Linus, wake up! . . . Come on, come on.”
His fingers flexed against hers once more.
Diana laughed out loud.
“What’s wrong?” Rochelle asked, opening her eyes and blinking sleepily.
“Linus is waking up. He’s not going to be in a coma this time. Maybe we’ll make it out of this okay.” And wouldn’t that be a Christmas miracle?
Rochelle stood and stepped over to look at him.
His eyes were still closed.
“He squeezed my hand. Twice,” Diana said, excitedly. “He heard what I was telling him.”
“What were you telling him?” Rochelle asked, looking confused.
Diana tried to remember. “That I was sorry. That I wished I had been there with him before the accident. I told him there was so much wasted time.” She looked at Linus and squeezed his hand. “I won’t waste another second if you wake up right now.” They would set a wedding date just as soon as they could. Maybe they’d even get married tomorrow.
Diana checked the clock. T-minus thirty seconds. “Right now, Linus! Please! Open your eyes!” she demanded. “Wake up!”
Chapter 19
Dashing Through the Snow Globe
“Wake up, sleepy girl.”
Diana’s eyes fluttered open to see Linus hovering over her with a lazy smile. He was already dressed and wearing his lavender tie with the dogs on it. “What?”
“You overslept. I would have woken you, but I assumed you would eventually get up,” he said. “If you don’t hurry, you’ll be late to see your first patient.”
Diana blinked up groggily. “I overslept?” She groaned and grabbed her head with both hands. “My head aches.”
Linus chuckled and straightened. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were hungover.”
Diana sat up in bed. She had drunk a lot last evening, but that should have been erased.
“I happen to know for a fact that you didn’t drink last night, though,” he said. “Instead, you went to bed without saying a word to me.”
Diana lowered her hands. “It’s still December fourth?”
Linus gave her a strange look. Then he bent to kiss her forehead sweetly. “Yes, and I’ve got an important meeting with a distributor. And you have your big interview with Mr. Powell this afternoon.” He pulled back from the kiss. “I hope it goes well for you. You deserve this promotion. It’s yours for the taking.”
“Fat chance,” Diana muttered.
“Hmm?” Linus turned back to look at her, his brow still deeply furrowed. “Did you say I look large in these pants?” he asked, one corner of his mouth quirking into a playful smile.
Diana burst into unexpected laughter. “That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. You wear your belt on the second to last notch to even keep the pants on.”
Linus grinned at her for a beat. “The fact that you’re laughing maybe means you’ve forgiven me for what I said?”
