Page 92 of Through the Snow Globe
The corners of his mouth flicked into a maybe smile.
Meeka burst into the room a moment later. “You okay?”
“He’s awake! Linus is awake!” Diana shouted as hot tears streamed down her face. She could barely see from the cloud of them filling her vision.
Meeka stepped over to look at Linus and gasped as well, confirming that Diana wasn’t imagining this. “Youareawake. Linus, can you hear me?”
His brow furrowed in that Linus way as if to say,“You’re acting bizarre.”“Yessssss,” he croaked.
“His first word!” Diana jumped up and down on the balls of her feet. It was like he was a child who’d never uttered a single syllable.
“I’m getting Dr. Romani. I’ll be right back.” Meeka rushed out of the room.
Diana stepped back over to Linus. He was still watching her. He tried to sit up. “No, don’t. You need to rest.”
His brow furrowed again. “How long?” he asked in a scratchy voice.
“Hmm?”
“How long . . . have I been . . . here?”
She hesitated to tell him. He’d missed an entire month. One that felt like one long run-on day. “Since early December. Well, you were at the hospital for two weeks before coming here.”
Linus frowned, his gaze sliding over to the tiny twinkling tree with tinsel and ornaments on his bedside table. Diana had been meaning to take that down. “What day is it?”
“December thirty-first,” she told him. “It’s New Year’s Eve.”
She saw the awareness pass through his eyes. He’d missed what was going to be their first Christmas together.
“Wow,” he finally said.
“The only thing that matters is that you’re back. You’re awake.” She laughed out of sheer joy. She almost couldn’t believe this was real.
He narrowed his eyes. “I told you I would come back, didn’t I?”
Diana’s lips parted. “You remember that?”
“Hmm,” he groaned weakly. “I remember . . . everything.”
Diana was just about to clarify what he meant when Dr. Romani walked in. He looked surprised when he saw Linus as if he hadn’t believed Meeka.
“Mr. Grant, how are you doing?” the doctor asked.
“Stiff,” Linus said, making them all chuckle.
“Well, trust me, your fiancée here stretched your arms and legs every day,” Meeka told him. “She deserves an award for how well she took care of you.”
Linus slid his gaze to meet Diana’s. Was this real? What had he meant by saying he remembered everything?
“The stiffness will go away,” Dr. Romani said. “You’ll need some PT to get up and moving again.”
Diana raised her hand. “I think I know someone for that job.”
Linus cast her a full smile now. That’s when Diana knew, even before the doctors and nurses had run any tests to confirm. He was there, all there, and he was going to be just fine. Scratch that. He would be better than fine. And so would she.
Chapter 27
Winter Wonderful
