2. Chapter Two
Chapter Two
O h no!
A collective gasp came over the crowd. Lily made her way to the front of the audience. Owen Turner, one of the island’s trained medics, was ahead of her. He made his way onto the stage. She followed him.
Heading for Aster, he gestured for the mayor to step back. “Call nine-one-one.”
Lily came to a stop next to the mayor. Tony grasped his phone and dialed. “We need an ambulance at Beachcomber Park.”
While he continued to answer the operator’s questions, Lily couldn’t take her eyes off the hive of activity around Aster. There were so many people offering aid that she could no longer see her friend’s pale face. All she could do now was say a silent prayer.
Please, let her and the baby be okay.
Lily hated not being able to do anything.
And then she saw Aster’s husband, Sam Bell, being told to step away.
In his arms was eighteen-month-old George who had the most adorable chubby cheeks and big blue eyes.
Next to them stood Sam’s daughter, Nikki, who had long blondish-brown hair.
At last, there was something Lily could do.
She stepped forward. “Sam, I can take George and Nikki for you.”
He turned a worried gaze her way. They’d known each other their whole lives. Sam was the older brother of a good friend, Hannah.
“Thank you.” As Sam attempted to hand over George, the toddler fussed and clung to his dad’s arm. “It’s okay, George. I just need to check on Mommy. And you know Lily.”
Lily forced a big smile to her face. “Hi, George.” She reached out and gently tickled his tummy. “Remember me?”
A big smile came over the little boy’s face as he giggled. When she held out her hands to him, George willingly went to her.
Sam turned to his eleven-year-old daughter, who was growing up quickly. “I need you to go with Lily.”
Nikki vigorously shook her head. “But I want to stay with you and Mom.”
Lily thought it was so sweet that Nikki was so comfortable with her stepmother that she wanted to call her mom. A number of years ago, Nikki’s biological mother had tragically died in a farming accident.
“Please. I need to go with Aster.” Sam’s voice was soft but firm.
“Is… Is she going to be all right?” Tears rolled down Nikki’s cheeks.
Sam pulled his daughter into his embrace and held her tight.
Lily’s heart ached for them. She couldn’t make out the soft words he murmured into his daughter’s ear, but whatever it was, it seemed to help.
Nikki turned to Lily and took her hand. Even though it was a warm day out, Lily noticed that Nikki’s hand was cold.
Sam turned to Lily. “My mother is around here somewhere. She can take the kids. Thank you.”
And then he was off, following the stretcher to a nearby ambulance. Nikki wouldn’t move an inch until the ambulance drove away with sirens and lights. Lily couldn’t even imagine the depths of feelings Nikki was experiencing.
Mayor Banks stepped forward on the stage with the mic in hand.
“I know our hearts and prayers go out to Aster and her family. Hopefully, we’ll have good news soon.
Before you go, I just want to remind you that the first Bluestar Arts Festival is set to take place in September.
If you are an artist and would like to participate, please contact…
” He paused as though not sure who they should reach out to. “Contact my office.”
As the crowd departed, it was the quietest group of people Lily had ever experienced on the island. She understood. It was just awful seeing Aster collapse. Hopefully, it was just something minor like dehydration or exhaustion—something they could treat quickly and easily at the new hospital.
But right now, Lily had to concentrate on George and Nikki. The little boy was snuggled to her shoulder while his sister was mute. Lily had known Nikki since she was born, and the one thing Nikki loved most of all was to talk. So, her silence was worrisome.
“Why don’t we go find your grandmother?” When Nikki didn’t respond, Lily felt a need to fill in the silence. “I’m sure she’s around here somewhere. Which way should we go? Past the Ferris wheel? Or over toward the game booths?”
Her questions were greeted with more silence. Lily squeezed Nikki’s hand. “She’s going to be all right.”
Nikki’s head whipped around. “What about the baby?”
Lily knew she was referring to the unborn baby Aster was carrying. They hadn’t revealed the name yet. Aster and Sam were waiting until the delivery to tell everyone the name they’d decided on.
Lily didn’t want to get the girl’s hopes up, since they didn’t know anything about Aster’s condition. “They’ll take good care of Aster and the baby.”
The frown remained on Nikki’s sweet face. Her words weren’t enough to comfort the girl. As Lily tried to think of something else to say, she decided the best thing to do was distract the girl.
“Let’s see if your grandmother is around here.” Lily’s gaze was already scanning the crowd.
Five minutes later, she spotted Helen Bell, erm…
now Helen Campbell. The older woman’s face was creased with worry lines, but as soon as she spotted her grandchildren, her green eyes lit up.
A smile came over her face as she tucked a loose strand of her short auburn hair behind her ear.
“Nikki, I was looking for you and your brother.”
Helen’s husband, Walter, Bluestar’s former fire chief, stepped up to them and held his hands out to George. “Come here, big guy.”
Lily was tired from holding him on her hip. She handed over the smiling toddler. “Sam was hoping you could look after the kids while he went with Aster. But if not, I don’t mind spending time with them.”
“That’s so sweet of you,” Helen said. “But we’ve got it. Don’t we, Walter?”
Her husband nodded as he tickled the little boy’s tummy.
Nikki seemed relieved to be with her grandmother, and George was all drooly smiles. So, Lily felt okay about walking away.
With thoughts of Aster weighing on her mind, Lily was no longer in the mood for the carnival. Instead, she headed back to the Lily Pad. There was plenty of work there to keep her occupied while she waited for word about her friend.
He was worried. Really worried.
Mayor Tony Banks didn’t normally get worked up about things. He was more of a go-with-the-flow kind of guy. But in the past few years, he’d gotten to know Aster pretty well. He liked to think they were more than just co-workers—they were friends.
When she’d dropped onto the stage, he’d had a flashback to another poignant moment in his past. At least this time, the incident hadn’t coincided with the sound of gunfire.
He pushed the traumatic memories to the back of his mind. He pressed harder on the accelerator of his golf cart as he made his way to the new Bluestar Hospital. Since cars and trucks were banned from the island, with few exceptions, people got around the island via golf carts, bicycles, or by foot.
It usually didn’t take long to get from one end of town to the other.
However, with the vintage grand prix and carnival, there were a lot of visitors on the island, making the roads congested.
He was really happy the island had come together and rallied for this new state-of-the-art facility, especially for emergencies like this one.
The new two-story hospital came into sight. It was a stately building with a red-brick exterior and white trim as well as a light gray roof. Tony felt a ripple of pride go through him that he’d had some small part in its creation.
As he turned into the parking lot, his thoughts returned to Aster. He remembered how deathly pale she’d been when she collapsed. The image of her unconscious on the stage was permanently etched upon his mind.
Maybe this was his fault. Maybe he should have insisted she take maternity leave earlier. She’d been intent on seeing the carnival through to its conclusion as well as work on preparations for the upcoming arts festival.
He pulled into the first parking spot and hopped out of his golf cart. Guilt dogged his steps as he passed through the sliding glass doors of the emergency room. He doubted he’d get to see Aster, but he just wanted to pop in and let Sam know he was there for anything they might need.
The waiting room was busy as a murmur of voices buzzed in his ears. He looked around for familiar faces. Off in the corner, he saw a couple members of the Bell family: Hannah and her husband, Ethan. He headed in that direction.
Hannah Bell was the first to turn to him. She was lacking her usual friendly smile. It had been replaced with worry lines. She dispensed with the pleasantries. “We don’t know anything yet.”
He nodded, knowing too well it could take a long time to get answers. “I just came to uh, see if there was anything I could do.”
Birdie Neill looked directly at him. Her snow-white hair was pulled back in a bun. Her reading glasses hung from a chain around her neck. Her voice was soft when she said, “Pray.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
Birdie knew everyone who lived on the island or at least most of them.
People fondly referred to her as the unofficial mayor of Bluestar.
Even though she was starting to get up there in years, she didn’t let that slow her down.
And when something needed to be done, she had a long list of people she could contact.
His phone rang, drawing him from his thoughts. Normally, he would immediately take it. He liked to stay on top of things. He silenced it without checking the caller ID. Whatever it was would just have to wait.
Not good at doing nothing, he tried again and raised his voice. “Can I get anyone something to drink? Coffee? Soda?”
Hannah, Ethan, and Birdie each shook their heads.
He started to pace. After a couple of minutes, Birdie sent him a frown. He sat down. His knee bounced up and down. He really wasn’t good at waiting. It gave him time to think. And right now, he was thinking he should have insisted Aster lighten her workload.
He didn’t know how long he sat there, making small talk with Ethan Walker. They didn’t talk about Aster or what was taking so long for an update. Instead, they talked about the nice weather and how well the carnival went. They both chose to keep the subject matter light.
Tony’s phone chimed every couple of minutes. Usually he didn’t mind his phone constantly going off. His mother and sister called him a workaholic. But today, in this particular moment, with a good friend in trouble, he didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with business as usual.
Ding.
He looked at his phone’s screen. It was a message from Neil Adams, his best friend, wanting to know if he had an update on Aster’s condition.
He sent back a quick answer before he turned his phone over and rested it on his leg.
There was no point returning it to his pocket with it constantly going off.
When the inner door to the exam rooms swung open, all heads turned in that direction, just as they’d done numerous times in the past hour or so. Only this time Sam stepped into the waiting area.
Tony got to his feet. His gaze took in Sam’s face, which was pale and marred with worry lines. Things must still be tense for Aster and the baby.
Sam stepped over to the small group of family and friends who had gathered in the waiting area. He came to a stop and ran a hand over the back of his neck.
“Aster has preeclampsia.” His voice cracked with emotion. He took a moment to gather himself. “For the moment, her and the baby are okay.” Sam’s gaze moved to Tony. “She’s going to be on bedrest until the baby comes.”
Tony nodded in understanding. “No problem. We’ll cover everything at the office. Tell her not to worry.”
“Thank you. I, uh…need to get back to her.”
Before he walked away, Tony said, “If you or Aster need anything—anything at all—just give me a call.”
Sam nodded before he turned to his sister Hannah. Their conversation was brief and then he walked back through those Authorized personnel only doors.
The man looked like he was still in a bit of shock. Poor guy. Tony really hoped things worked out for them.
There didn’t appear to be anything he could do for them at that moment. He headed for the door. He would check back in on them later.