Chapter 27
When Lucy woke up, she thought that she was dreaming. I must be…
She had no idea where she was. Her body was so weak that she could barely move. And her eyes… as she slowly opened them, the soft light in the room burned, and her eyelids were heavy, refusing to open all the way.
For a moment, she simply lay there.
It took her a sometime to understand where she was… her bedroom, she came to realize. Her thoughts were clouded, she could not remember how she had come to be here, again that sense that she was dreaming.
That was when she heard… she was not sure.
She lay perfectly still. She listened. It sounded like someone was giggling, light footsteps, a gasp, and then deep laughter. It came from just beyond her bed, on the floor below where she could see. Lucy grimaced as she slowly pushed herself up, trying to see what was the cause of the noise.
Once again, had she not known any better, she would have sworn that she was stuck in a dream.
What is this I see…
It was unlike anything she could have ever imagined. Even in her wildest dreams, such a scene would have been unfathomable. Perhaps that was how she knew that she was not dreaming? Because she never could have come up with something like this.
She saw Marcus first. He sat on the ground, his legs spread before him, his back to her, and his focus on something in front of him.
It took her a moment to see it, not sure what could have possibly captured his interest like this.
And that he was laughing… who is this man and what has he done with my husband?
That was when she saw James. He crawled between Marcus’ legs. He climbed over them. Marcus lifted him into the air, spun him about, placed him down, and James took off again.
Lucy gaped openly. She stared blankly. She tried to unpack whatever this was. Still tired. Still confused about what had happened. All of that took a back seat as she observed a scene that made her heart soar and her smile grow beyond comprehension.
Suddenly, James stopped crawling. On the floor, facing Marcus, he looked up and found Lucy watching. A smile took his little face, he made a sound of joyous laughter, and he even pointed.
“What is it…” Marcus turned and his eyes widened. “Lucy!”
He was up and on his feet, about to rush to her, only to remember James. He bent down and lifted James into his arms without any sense of awkwardness or reservation. Why, it looked like a most natural thing.
“You’re awake!” He swept toward her.
“And just in time,” she said with a grin.
He fell onto the bed right beside her, James still in his arms. James reached for her, but Marcus held him tight. Marcus’ eyes searched her, she saw his worry and his fear, just as she saw his relief.
“I did not know… I thought…” He stammered and stuttered.
“What is this?” Lucy looked between Marcus and James. “How long was I sleeping for? Years, maybe?”
Marcus smiled. “Too long, Lucy. We did not know if you would ever wake. Or if you would… if you might…” James squirmed in his arms.
“Here…” She reached out and lifted James free. She was still so weak, he was heavier than she remembered but feeling him in her arms gave Lucy strength.
Marcus exhaled. “I thought I lost you.”
“And would that have upset you?”
“Lucy…” He grimaced with shame. “I never… what I said… and did…” He looked away. “It should not have taken something like this happening for me to realize how much I care for you. Truthfully, I am ashamed that it did. But now that it has, I know one thing to be true.”
“Which is?”
“How wrong I was,” he said. “About everything. I…” He reached out and took her spare hand, as the other clutched James to her chest. “I have been a fool, Lucy. A damn idiot for the way I acted. You might not want to believe me, you might never want to trust me again but know that I speak the truth.”
“You have said as much before.”
He winced. “This time, I will do whatever it takes to prove it to you. As long as it takes. I don’t expect you to forgive me right away.
I do not deserve it. But I want you to know that I am here for you and James.
Today. Tomorrow… forever.” He met her eyes, he held them, and determination burned hot and true.
Lucy’s memories slowly came back to her. And not just those right before she passed out, but the days before it.
She remembered their fight. She remembered the promise she had made to herself. Most of all, she remembered how much it had hurt when Marcus had once again gone back on his words.
Good sense and self-preservation told her not to trust him. Not again. Not after all that he had done. But she was feeling weak. Emotionally fragile. Also, and this was what truly resounded within her, she could see with her own eyes the truth of Marcus’ words.
Even as he spoke, she felt James twist in her arms and try and reach for Marcus again.
She saw him glance at the baby, worry behind his eyes, a desire to reach out and take him.
He wasn’t playing at being a father, and he wasn’t pretending for her sake.
Finally, Marcus was doing as he had always said that he would. Finally, he was being a father.
Slowly, she handed James back, and Marcus took him immediately.
“He likes you,” she said.
“As I like him,” Marcus said. “Something I wish I had learned sooner about myself.”
“You had plenty of opportunities for that,” she said with a soft sigh.
“Opportunities wasted,” Marcus said with obvious shame. “But I am done running from what I know in my heart I want now, Lucy. These last few days, they have shown me who I can be, when I am not so scared to admit it. They have shown me what I want.”
“And what do you want?”
“I want you.” He held her eyes now, the shame gone completely. “I want James. I want you both in my life, whatever that might look like. I want a family, Lucy.”
Lucy knew it was too early to take Marcus at his word just yet. They had been here before, multiple times, and always he pulled away just when she thought that he was ready to finally accept who he was.
This time, it also felt different. Just seeing him with James was proof of the difference from the last time he had said these same words to her. He was trying, was the point. What was more, it looked to her eyes that it was having a real effect.
“I want to believe you.” She held his hand and looked right at him. “Just as I don’t want to give you a reason to pull away from me again.”
“I won’t –”
“But you must understand where I am coming from,” she spoke over him, her voice still soft. It hurt to talk, she realized, just as it hurt to do much of anything. “It will take time, Marcus, before I am ready.”
“I understand.”
“That does not mean I do not want you to keep trying,” she assured him. “Just as I promise to do the same.” She was sure to smile then, so he could see the truth in her words, and so he might feel it in his heart.
“We have the rest of our lives, Lucy,” he said. “And if it takes that long to prove to you that I am capable of change, then that it how long it will take.”
She laughed… and then coughed. “Hopefully, it won’t take that long.”
For a moment, they simply looked at one another. The atmosphere between them was easy, it was gentle and companionable. Most of all, it was real. There was no sense that Marcus did not want to be by her side right now, and no indication that he was having second thoughts.
He does want this, I know it. I just pray he knows it too.
“How about you tell me what happened,” she started then. “How long has it been? And how…” She exhaled, the energy in her body think and weak. “How am I here?”
“It has been three days,” he said, his voice cracking. “We do not know what happened. You were with your stepsister, and she claims that you just collapsed. The doctor thinks that you ingested something, some sort of sleeping agent. Although the dose was such that it was almost lethal.”
“Ingested…” Lucy trailed off as it came to her.
She remembered it now. Amelia coming to see her. How nervous she had been, how she had fidgeted and worried. Lucy had thought at the time that it was to do with her fear of betraying her mother, paired with the belief that Lucy would not want to forgive her.
And then there was the tea had insisted that Lucy drink…
“It was Amelia,” she sighed, pain in her heart. “She must have put something in my tea.”
Marcus’ expression hardened. “Why would she do that?”
“Oh, I have my suspicions,” Lucy said. “Even if I cannot believe them fully. She and I have always been combative. But this… I do not think she meant to kill me.”
“She came awfully close.”
“In truth, I cannot imagine what she wanted. What she expected.”
Marcus went to stand. “How about we find out.”
“Wait…” She pulled gently on his hand to keep him sitting. “We cannot go accusing her, Marcus. Not without proof.”
“Proof? The proof will be when I force her to admit what she did.”
She smiled at him. “I will speak to her. Alone…” She looked pointedly at Marcus so he would not argue. “I do not believe she did this on her own, and if I press her gently, perhaps I can learn her true intention.”
“That is too dangerous,” he said. “I will not allow –”
“Excuse me?”
He grimaced. “I just meant…”
“Let me speak with her,” Lucy said again. “Let me find out the truth, for I am sure there is more to it than we can guess. Once I do, maybe then you can take your revenge.” She laughed.
“Not now,” he said. “You are still weak. You need time to recover.”
“And I will,” she assured him. “Only once I am healed, will I go to her. I promise.”
Marcus did not look happy about it, but he did not argue. He was clearly worried about fighting her, causing an argument. His desire to stay on her good side would ensure that he let Lucy do as only she could.
Amelia… what have you done? I refuse to believe you wished me dead, but then why? What was this for?
As tired as Lucy was, as physically broken, her heart ached as she thought about what was to come and what it meant. For so long, she had wanted a relationship with Amelia, believing that such a thing might one day be possible. Now, as sad as it was to admit, that would never be.
Her stepsister had done this, she would have to pay a consequence, and it was sure to burn the final bridge between herself and her family.