Who Loves Them? (Who--? Series) (17 page)

Christina had to put the wedding off until the next day.  In truth, she didn’t want to, but she knew she had to think about the health and safety of her friend.  If anything bad happened to Lilly, well, anything worse, than she would never forgive herself.  She knew she and Gordon had to get married as soon as possible, but while Lilly was still in the hospital, she had to put it off.  So Gordon drove her to the hospital at around nine in the morning.

St
.  George Hospital was stark, sterile, and intimidating.  It had that unexplainable smell that was in every hospital: overly clean, yet sickly.  Lilly’s room was white, and her bed sheets pale turquoise.  There were two other people in the ward, one of them a teenage boy who hadn’t taken his eyes off his book for the last twenty minutes, and the other an elderly man with hair that resembled a monks’.

Lilly was awake, although it looked like she
had just woken up.  Her face was pale and her eyes were droopy.  Christina sat on the edge of the bed and gently took her friend’s hand in her own.

“How are you
doing?’

Lilly smiled
.  “I’m fine, really, I am.”

Christina
nodded.  “Do you know what happened?”

Lilly shook her head
.  “I have no idea.  I’ve only just woke up, and I’ve not seen anyone yet.  This place gives me the creeps.  It’s like death itself has set up residence.  It gives me the heebie-jeebies.” She laughed softly.

Christina
frowned.  “As long as you’re being taken care of, though.”

Lilly nodded
.  “Yes, of course.  I’ve had people waiting on me hand and foot.”

Christina
wanted to tell her about Peter, but she didn’t know how to broach the subject.  How could she tell her friend her future husband might have poisoned her?  It sounded like something out of a daytime soap, like
Days of Our Lives. 
Nobody would believe them, surely.  But she had to get Lilly out of the marriage.

They talked for a while until Lilly fell asleep
.  Then they made their way back to the car and drove home.  On the way, Gordon reminded her that he had seen her on her wedding day.

“
It’s not lucky to see a bride before the wedding!”

Christina
rolled her eyes.  “I’m pretty sure that superstition is only about seeing the bride’s dress.”

Gordon raised his brows
.  “Don’t come crying to me if you slip and rip your dress.”

Christina
laughed.  “Now I know why I’m marrying you.  You’re so nice to me!” She looked out the window and sighed, and Gordon drove over the bridge.  “I really hope Lilly is going to be alright.  In a selfish way, I wish this had happened after the wedding.”

Gordon coughed uncomfortably
.  “I would have thought you’d wish it didn’t happen at all.”

Christina
smiled.  ‘You know what I mean.  It’s such bad luck.”

Gordon turned the corner and smiled
.  “It’s not bad luck, darling, just an inconvenience.  You’ll see.  Lilly will be right as rain and we’ll get married and everything will be perfect.”

Christina
nodded.  “You’re right.  But you’ve got to admit it
is
kind of a coincidence.  Like someone doesn’t want us to get married.”

Gordon chuckled
.  “Yeah, the people who don’t know we’re getting married tomorrow.”

He glanced at
Christina, who looked absolutely horrified.  “I’m not saying my mother poisoned Lilly, although I’m sure she’d love to, since they get along just famously!” He turned the corner as they drove towards the gates to the house.

“Now that
makes me doubt my own mother!”

Christina
laughed.  “Relax.  Let’s just get married, and we’ll sort it all out afterwards.”

****

This was it.  The day their lives changed forever, whether they liked it or not.  So much planning had gone into this day and she could hardly believe it was finally here.  All the waiting, all the anticipation and it was today.  Just a few more hours, that was all.  She could barely wait.  Everything would be perfect, they made sure of it, nothing was left to chance, nothing at all.  Even their contingency plans had contingencies.  They were going to make this the best day of their lives, even if it killed them.

She woke before
the alarm went off, rolled over, smiled, and decided it was not too early to get up.  She turned off the alarm and got out of bed.  She could take her time, have a nice, long shower then a pleasant breakfast.  Everything was ready; there was no need to rush today, no need to panic.  Nothing could go wrong.  She got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, running through the day’s events in her mind.  As she stood under the water, she wondered what her life would be like.  Today their lives would change, completely change.  Nothing would ever be the same; nothing could ever be the same.  She finished showering, and then dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

It was still dark outside when she entered the kitchen, so the lights needed to be turned on
.  It was supposed to be a nice day, but she was not relying on that.  It was all indoors, outdoors had been suggested, but too much could go wrong.  She made herself French toast and bacon, and then ate it slowly, savouring each bite.  She could hear people getting up, getting ready.  They were excited too, but for different reasons.  They couldn’t know what the day meant to her, they would never know.  She went upstairs to her room, holding a mug of tea between both hands.

Everything was coming together, there had been no problems yet
.  It had surprised her.  She expected something to go wrong, but no, everything was on track.  Still, something would.  It had to.  It was a wedding, no one had a perfect wedding, and something always went wrong, no matter how big or small.  She had prepared herself for this and whatever it was, she could handle it.  She knew she could.  She was with Gordon, and they were going to be together forever, like they should.  The dress was surprisingly comfortable, she had tried it on before and she had thought after a little while it would start to be too restrictive, too heavy, but no.  It was perfect.

She went back into their room and looked over at
Gordon, who was hogging the bed.  He was sleeping in the middle with one arm thrown over the side of the bed. The knocking started again, and this time Jacqueline yelled, “Get up!  We’ve got to get this party started!  Get up.  We have a little problem and we have to talk.”

Adrenaline
suddenly kicked in, and her heart started beating harder.  She was to be married today.  Today her life was about to change.  She dreamt this day since her childhood.  The typical “Knight-in-the-Shining-Armour-on-a-White-Horse” dream…so what could be the problem?  She rolled over as best she could, all thoughts of having a little fun before the wedding forgotten.  “Gordon, wake up.  Wake up!  Jacqueline says there’s a problem.  We have to get up!”

Gordon groaned
, grabbed her, and tightened his arms around her.  He nuzzled her neck.  “It’s our wedding day, don’t I get what I want on my wedding day?” he mumbled against her neck.

Her pulse sped up and she really wanted to give in,
but she knew they had to get going.  She kissed him and said, “After we’re married, we can both get what we want, but for now, we need to get up.”

Grudgingly, he rolled over, sat on the edge of the bed and stood up
.  He raised his arms above his head to stretch.  Christina watched every move of the muscles in his back and arms.  Her hands itched to touch him and drag him back to the bed.

With his back to her, he turned his head and grinned, knowing she was watching
.  “Do you like what you see?” he asked flirtatiously.

Christina
realized she was still sitting on the bed staring at him, and she grinned back, “Well, to tell you the truth…the show would have been a whole lot better without the boxers.”

“I can fix that,” Gordon replied and began to take off the offending garment
. 

“No, no, don’t do that
.  If you do that, we will never get out of this room.” She stood quickly.  “You have to go back to your room until the wedding.  Otherwise, we are both going to be late for it.”

She grabbed his clothes, and pushed him out the door
.  “Go to your room, put your clothes on and then we will go find Jackie and Lilly and see what has happened.  Lilly should be home from the hospital by now.”

Twenty minutes later, they were both sitting at the kitchen table while Jackie fixed breakfast again
.  Bless her.  Lilly was washing up the pan while nibbling on a piece of bacon.

“Wow…you look fantastic!”

Lilly turned around and frowned.  Christina had lied.  She looked horrible.  She was pale and sickly looking.  There was no color in her usually chirpy and bright face at all.

“
I was worried you would still be in the hospital.”

Lilly smiled weakly
.  “Well, I should be.  Thankfully I only got muscarinic poisoning.  That is not very bad,” she added, to everyone’s blank stares.  “The main thing is that I’m fine, but you better believe that Peter, the dirty cretin, will be far from fine when I get my hands on him!”  She smiled.  “But after your wedding, of course.”

“Are you sure you’re ok
ay?  Because you can go home if you want to…or back to the hospital,” Christina suggested.

Lilly shook her head
.  “No way.  I’ll get my revenge.”

Ch
ris paused.  “So the reports were conclusive, then?  Peter poisoned you?”

Lilly
nodded.  “Yep.  One hundred percent.  I cannot believe I was going to marry that man.”  She began to tear up and Christina stroked her hand comfortingly.

“I know
.  But don’t worry.  He’ll get what he deserves.”

Jacqueline
looked over at them.  “We’ve got more pressing issues than poisoning!”

Christina
frowned.  “What do you mean?’

“Ok, here’s the thing
.  Somehow, Christina, your grandfather found out about our plans.  It must have had something to do with getting your birth certificate.  That old man is smart, and he must have put two and two together.  He is on his way here right now to stop this because it is not what he wants.  The only reason I know he’s on his way is because Chris’s father called and told me.  Apparently he is fine with the whole thing as long as it is what Chris wants.  Well, that and there’s no love lost between him and your grandfather.”

As soon as she heard that,
Christina stood up.  “What are we waiting for?  We should move up the ceremony.  We shouldn’t be sitting here eating breakfast.”

“Settle down, settle down
.  The ceremony is actually going to be in about forty-five minutes.  So, now that you have finished eating, you both need to shower, change and meet in the library in exactly,” she stopped and checked her watch, “forty-two minutes from now.”

Christina
just stared at her.  “I’m supposed to get ready for my wedding in forty-two minutes?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes,
that’s exactly what you are going to do.  Don’t worry.  I will give you fifteen minutes to get a shower and then I will be along to help with your hair and makeup,” Jacqueline responded.  “And I am sure Lilly will help you as well.  Don’t forget, you have two able-bodied women here who will gladly help you.  This is your special day, Christina.  You’ve no need to worry about anything.”

Lilly nodded, finishing off her bacon
.  She stared at Christina, feeling guilty.  “Christina….I might have tipped your grandfather off about your wedding….”

Christina
’s face turned a whiter shade of pale.  “What do you mean?  What did you say?”

Lilly frowned
.  ‘Well….  I phoned my parents at the hospital.  I asked to speak to Angelique, as she and her mother were having lunch with your mother.  Anyway, the topic of marriage came up.  Your mother was boasting about how fantastic the union between you and Gordon would be, and how you would have to accept it, no matter your feelings.  It was like the fact that I had just been poisoned was less important than marriage!  Anyway, I said that you had grown to like Gordon, and even love him.” Lilly frowned.  “Your mother was naturally suspicious.  She called your father out of his study and told him, and then he said that perhaps you and Gordon had grown fond of each other.  I…I told them you had, and that you loved one another.  Then your mother went on about my wild ways and my influence on you.  It was your father who suggested the prospect of you and Gordon eloping.  He seemed to see right through my lies.”

Christina
frowned.  “How could they guess all that from a simple conversation over the phone?”

“Well, your mother and father excused themselves for a moment, but
I could hear them over the crap my mother was mumbling on about, and your mother suggested that perhaps you were up to something, and that you were going along with the wedding only to back out of it at the last moment and embarrass them all.”