Raina's Story (17 page)

“It's your story, Raina, not hers,” Vicki said curtly the one time Raina mentioned it to her mother.

“You shouldn't keep it from her. She should know about him.”

“She has a father in Carl. Why burden her with another? Besides, she has enough to think about at the moment.”

Raina backed off, but she knew that one day when this was all over, she would tell Emma about Dustin St. James.

On Saturday, Raina and Vicki ate lunch in their room while Raina channel-surfed and watched time crawl by on the bedside clock. Two hours before the wedding, there was a knock on their door. Raina leaped to answer it.

“Don't! What are you thinking? Never open the door until you know who's knocking. Look through the peephole first.”

Vicki's irritation scraped across Raina's nerves. She peeked through the hole that gave a fish-eye view of the hallway, let out a squeal and jerked open the door.

“Surprise!” Holly and Kathleen chimed in unison. Evelyn, Holly's mother, stood behind them, waving.

The three friends rushed to hug each other. Raina pulled Holly and Kathleen inside the room. “How did you get here?”

“We drove.”

“All the way from Tampa?”

Evelyn nodded. “It's a twenty-hour trip, if anyone ever asks. We started early yesterday. Kathleen and I did the driving. Actually,” she added dryly, “I brought them to keep Holly from stealing the car and coming on her own.”

“It was a plan.” Holly grinned. “You didn't think we'd let you go through this all by yourselves, did you?”

Evelyn looked at Vicki. “Plus I figured
you
might need some company.” The two women held a silent conversation with their eyes, as only women can.

“Thank you,” Vicki said, embracing Evelyn.

Kathleen added, “Mom wanted me to come, but she couldn't. She said it meant the world to her when everybody showed up before her surgery last year. So we ditched our classes and here we are.”

“Didn't want to miss out on anything,” Holly said, bouncing on one of the king-sized beds.

“We have our own room upstairs,” Evelyn said. “They brought plenty of schoolwork to do, so you won't be tripping over us. We thought we'd stay through Raina's surgery.”

Raina almost wept with gratitude.

“That would be wonderful,” Vicki said. “I know things will go well, but still it's nice to have friends with us.”

Raina went to the closet. “Come see my dress for the wedding.”

“You can't come to the ceremony,” Vicki said to the others, almost apologetically.

“We know. We'll wait here and we'll do dinner, maybe a movie when you come back.” Evelyn kicked off her shoes and wiggled her toes in the carpet.

Holly and Kathleen looked at Raina and in unison shouted, “Heated pool!”

Evelyn rolled her eyes. “These three are inseparable. You'd think I'd be used to it after all these years.”

Raina caught sight of the clock. “I'd better get dressed.”

“You can come up to Emma's floor with us,” Vicki said quickly. “Meet Emma's parents and fiancé. She's a pretty special girl.”

“I don't doubt it,” Evelyn said. “I know her mother and sister. They're both pretty special too.”

E
MMA'S HALLWAY
had been turned into a wedding chapel by the nurses. White crepe paper hung in streamers from ceiling to floor. Large white and silver paper wedding bells were strung across the entrance to her room. In a spacious private waiting room, a small reception had been arranged. A table was spread with a white cloth and held a two-tiered wedding cake, bowls of nuts and mints, cans of sodas and a big pot of coffee. Music played in the background. Baskets of silk flowers filled the occasional tables. “How beautiful!” Evelyn exclaimed as they entered the room.

A number of guests were already gathered, and all turned when Raina came inside. For a moment no one spoke; then a woman said, “For a minute, I thought you were Emma… you look so much alike.”

Raina smiled self-consciously and went to stand beside Janie and Heather, dressed in their long mauve gowns. Kathleen and Holly tagged
along and Raina introduced them around. Janie handed Raina a small silk bouquet. “She can't have real flowers today. The water can breed germs; silk is safer.”

Heather said, “Janie and I had them specially made up for all of us.”

Dr. Wingate swept into the room with Jon-Paul, causing Holly to whisper, “He's cute.”

“Which one?” Raina whispered back.

“Both of them,” Holly said, making Kathleen jab her with an elbow.

“Listen up,” Dr. Wingate said. “Only the principals are allowed in the room. Jon-Paul's set up a video camera, so the rest of you can watch on the closed-circuit TV.” He gestured toward a big-screen television on the far side of the room. “There's a camera in here too, and Emma will be able to visit with all of you after the ceremony. Just stand in front of the camera and wave, and she'll see you on the TV set in her room.”

Raina spied a camera high on the wall in the corner near the table.

“Are we ready?” Everyone murmured, and Dr. Wingate stood in the doorway. He passed out surgical masks to Emma's parents, the bridesmaids and Raina. Raina tied hers around her mouth and nose expertly, for she'd worn masks many times when handling the more fragile newborns. “You too, Mrs. St. James,” Dr. Wingate said.

Vicki looked surprised. “Are you sure?”

“I have a list from the bride,” Dr. Wingate said, patting his breast pocket and smiling.

They walked down the hall to Emma's room. A minister stood waiting just outside the door. He also wore a mask. Dr. Wingate opened the door and let everyone pass him, single file.

In the center of the room, sitting in a wheelchair, gowned in white and wearing a white satin surgical mask across her mouth and nose, Emma waited. An IV pole on the side of the chair held a bag of clear fluid. The tubing looped to the needle taped to her arm. She wore lace gloves and held a gorgeous cascade of silk orchids, calla lilies and satin ribbon that spilled onto her lap. Her head was covered with a crown of tulle, pulled back to expose her beautiful eyes. White satin slippers peeked from beneath the hem of her gown.

Raina's eyes grew misty and she heard Helen stifle a sob. Janie and Heather took their positions on Emma's left, leaving room for Raina to stand beside the chair. Jon-Paul came quickly to stand on the other side. The minister took his place in front of them both, and Dr. Wingate stepped back to join Emma's parents and Vicki.

Raina had a perfect view. What she saw was a look of pure love in Jon-Paul's eyes, a look of pure happiness in Emma's.

“Who gives this woman to this man?” the minister asked.

“Her mother and I,” Carl answered from his place near the door.

Raina's hands trembled and her throat closed up as she heard Emma and Jon-Paul repeat their vows.
“Till death do us part …”
The words took on a powerful meaning for her. Most couples married in glowing health, expecting to stay healthy well into old age. Emma and Jon-Paul had no such illusions. Dr. Wingate handed Jon-Paul the wedding band, and he slipped it onto Emma's gloved finger with a promise to cherish her forever. The simple band of gold sparkled more beautifully than any diamond.

With the vows completed, the minister said, “You may kiss your bride.”

Jon-Paul knelt in front of the chair, took Emma's hands in his and kissed her softly through both masks, on the backs of both hands and on her cheeks. “I love you,” he said.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said the minister when Jon-Paul stood. “May I present Jon-Paul and Emma Franklin.”

Emma waved to her wedding party and then to the camera. Raina heard clapping and cheering coming from all the way down the hall. Janie and Heather bent and kissed Emma's forehead, and so did Raina. She caught the heavy chemical odor of the medications and felt a stab in her heart. “Not the best perfume, is it?” Emma whispered. “I was afraid to wear any perfume because
I'm real sensitive to smells, and wouldn't it be gross if I threw up on this beautiful dress?”

“Gross,” Raina said.

Raina stepped aside so that others could come up and congratulate the couple. She watched Vicki especially, saw that her eyes were filled with tears. She heard her mother say, “Thank you for letting me be a part of this.”

“You gave me life. How could I have not invited you?”

Dr. Wingate called, “Everybody out. There's a party waiting. Let's let the bride and groom be alone for a while.” And like a shepherd, he ushered the wedding party out of the room and down the hall while music swelled and nurses tossed handfuls of confetti on them.

“I cried like a baby,” Kathleen said over the top of her cola can.

“It was the most beautiful wedding
ever,
” Holly said, sniffing hard. “I want one just like it. Except not with the hospital, IV and wheelchair.”

“You're so picky,” Kathleen teased.

Raina drew patterns across the frosting on her piece of wedding cake with the tines of her fork. She wasn't hungry for the sugary concoction. She felt melancholy. What a way to begin a marriage—facing a bone marrow transplant.

“When's your big day?” Kathleen asked.

“Monday. Dr. Wingate says it won't take too long for the radiation treatments to destroy Emma's marrow. I'll do a couple of days of testing, and when Emma's ready, Dr. Wingate will extract the marrow. While I'm in Recovery, they'll begin infusing her.”

“And then?”

“And then I have to go home and we wait to see if it works.”

“How long?”

“About a month if there are no setbacks. If there aren't any, she'll transfer to an outpatient care facility where they'll look after her until she can leave. I was told it could take a hundred days before she can actually go home.”

“Long time!” Holly said.

“Can we talk about something else?” Raina asked. She set the uneaten cake aside and turned to Kathleen. “How's it going with you and Carson?”

Color crept up Kathleen's neck. “I did something… brave. For me, that is. I—um, sent him a big bunch of flowers with a note saying, ‘Miss you.’ ”

Raina grinned. “Way to go, Kathleen! What happened?”

“I don't know. We left to come here the day they were supposed to be delivered.”

“I'll bet he'll be waiting on your doorstep when you return,” Holly said.

“How about you? Anything new?”

Holly shrugged. “Same old, same old.” In truth, she'd received two more e-mails from Shy Boy, and she'd answered the last one. “
Who are you? Can we meet?
” But she'd left town too, so she didn't know if he had answered. For all she knew, it was a hoax, someone's idea of a sick joke.

Just then, there was a commotion at the door and they looked up to see a hospital security guard in the doorway. “What's up?” Dr. Wingate asked as the guests grew quiet.

“I have a kid out here who claims he's one of the wedding party. He's real insistent. I brought him up just in case he's telling the truth.”

The guard moved aside and Hunter came forward, looking rumpled and in need of a shave.

Raina cried out, jumped up, knocked over her chair, ran and threw herself into his arms. He locked his arms around her, buried his face in her hair. She began to weep, her whole body shaking with emotion. “You're here! Oh, Hunter… you're here!”

“I guess he was telling the truth,” the guard mumbled.

“Seems so,” Dr. Wingate said.

Hunter kissed Raina's mouth, her eyes, her throat, and she returned his kisses, like a starving person suddenly thrust before a banquet table. She was oblivious to everything except the feel and taste of him, her love, her wonderful love.

And even when Holly and Evelyn came over and hugged them both, neither let go. They just held on tight while the people in the room burst into spontaneous wild applause and camera flashes went off all around them.

T
HE PARTY
was over, and the guests were gone. Raina and Hunter sat alone in the waiting room on a vinyl couch, the remains of the celebration all around them. The lights were low, the music silenced, the door closed for privacy. “How did you know how much I wanted you here?” Raina asked. “Did you read my mind?”