Chapter Six
“Steven is being transferred from ICU this afternoon,” Dr. Myers said.
Rose looked up from her chart. “What time?”
He shrugged. “It depends on when they can find him a bed and get him moved, but I would imagine around lunchtime.” When she didn’t respond, he raised an eyebrow. “You can take your break then if you want.”
As much as she knew she should visit him, part of her didn’t want to. As if his reaction to being discharged to a rehab facility wasn’t bad enough, he’d then had the audacity to ask his sister to bring work by on a daily basis—right after Dr. Myers had told him he needed to take it easy or risk another heart attack. Though she tried to see things from Steven’s perspective, she couldn’t help being frustrated. Was he in denial about the reality of his situation?
She understood his desire to go home. He was getting restless after being cooped up in the hospital. And the idea of continuing that existence probably sounded like a prison sentence to him. But throwing himself back into work when he was still healing wasn’t going to get him out of a facility any faster. In fact, if he didn’t give himself time to heal, his stay might just be extended.
With a forced smile, Rose nodded. “Thanks, Dr. Myers. I’ll do that.”
He leaned back, assessing her. “Trouble in the love nest?”
“Not at all,” she said with feigned sweetness. “We all want him to get better so he can come home.”
“It should only be a couple more days here, assuming everything goes well.” His expression turned stern. “But I wouldn’t expect him to be home anytime soon, and the recovery is likely to take months, if not longer.”
“I know.” Her tone hardened as her patience wore thin. Who does this guy think he is? Like she didn’t understand how varied the recovery timeline could be for heart attack survivors, let alone the other injuries Steven had sustained.
“Oh, I have no doubt you understand, but does he?”
She glowered at the doctor. “I will ensure he follows all of your advice.”
To her surprise, he laughed before turning to leave, calling over his shoulder, “Good luck with that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded, her hands on her hips.
Glancing at her with an impish grin, he said, “Just that I’ve seen his type before. Workaholics don’t like to be kept away from the thing they love most.”
“That shows how well you know him.” She stomped away, heading to the nurses’ station. His laughter followed her down the hall.
Her irritation rose when she realized Dr. Myers was right. Steven was a workaholic, and he’d already demonstrated that he would resist the changes his doctors had suggested he make. Rose sighed, leaning against the wall. Convincing him to take it easy would be a battle, but she was ready for it. At least, she hoped she was.
But she didn’t need to worry about it yet. Steven would be in the hospital for a few more days. With that in mind, she started her rounds, all while mentally preparing herself for when she saw Steven again.
At lunchtime, Rose went up to the ICU and was surprised to find Steven already gone. The nurse at the station gave her his new room number, and she took the stairs to his floor.
Steven was propped up in his bed when she entered, watching something on the television on the opposite wall. His room already had several flower arrangements set up on the limited furniture, and the scent reminded her unnervingly of a funeral home. She knocked lightly on the door, and he turned toward her with a lopsided smile. His face still had angry scratches from where it’d been cut by glass, and a bruise bloomed on his forehead. But they’d removed the IV from his arm.
“How do you like the new digs?” he asked.
The tension in her shoulders eased as she took in his expression. No furrowed brow, no sense of frustration. Maybe moving out of the ICU was what he needed.
“Much less restrictive.” She stepped over to his bedside and took his hand. “How do you feel?”
“Not as bad as yesterday.” He gestured to his lunch tray. “Is the food served here different? It sure tastes better.”
Rose laughed. “It all comes from the same place.”
“Maybe it’s just that I’m that much closer to freedom.”
“You’ve got a few more days,” she warned, trying to keep her tone light.
He waved a dismissive hand. “I’m hoping to be released early for good behavior.”
“That’s not really how it works.” Panic swirled in her gut. “And even if that were true, you agreed to two weeks of inpatient rehab.”
His face contorted. “Yeah, definitely not looking forward to that. But I’m not worried.”
That made one of them. Swallowing her fears, Rose pulled a chair over and set her lunch box on her lap.
He peered at it. “What are you eating?”
“My usual ham sandwich.”
His face clouded. “They won’t let me have any meat. Can you believe that?”
“It’s temporary,” she assured him. “They’ll start varying your diet more the better you do in recovery. But don’t expect to have steak anytime soon. Red meat isn’t good for your cholesterol.”
“I know,” he snapped.
Stop nagging him. He’s been through enough.“I’m sorry.”
He heaved a sigh. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry.” He held out his hand, and she slid hers into it. “I know things are going to have to change, but sometimes, it’s a lot to take in. One minute, I’m young and healthy, and the next, I almost die.”
“We’ll get through it, I promise.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he said, and the warmth she’d seen earlier returned to his eyes.
“Same here,” she said, her throat thick with emotion. The knowledge of how close she’d come to losing him weighed heavily on her heart. Clearing her throat, she tried a lighter tone. “But in order for me to not have to find out, I’m gonna need you to take it easy.”
Closing his eyes, he nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
She squeezed his hand. “That’s all I can ask for.”
His breathing slowed as he fell asleep. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead before returning to work. At least while he was in the hospital, she found it easier to check on him. She also found comfort in the fact that he was limited in what he could get away with there. Things would be a little more relaxed in rehab, but once they discharged him home, she wouldn’t be able to keep as close an eye on him. She suspected he would go right back to working himself into an early grave.
Rose drummed her fingers on the table as she stared at the door to Bea’s Diner, willing Lanie to walk through it. The longer she sat there waiting, the more she feared she might lose her nerve. Usually, the restaurant was comforting, with its nostalgic 1950s theme and the familiar scent of fried food, but not even the swaying Elvis figure on the wall or the miniature jukebox on the table could distract her that day.
When a familiar blond head cleared the entryway and swiveled to look for her, Rose breathed a sigh of relief before waving her friend over. Lanie smiled and slid into the booth opposite Rose, setting her purse beside her.
“So, what’s up?” Lanie asked as she opened a menu, though Rose couldn’t imagine why. Her future sister-in-law had been coming to the place her entire life, and as far as she could tell, the options hadn’t changed in that time. “More wedding details?”
“Actually, I wanted to discuss that with you.” Rose hated how hesitant her voice sounded. She squared her shoulders. “I think we should postpone the wedding.”
Lanie’s eyes widened. “What? Why?”
“We don’t know how long Steven’s recovery will take, and it’s smarter to start taking action now rather than move forward in the hopes he’ll be recovered enough to go through with it.” Rose removed her tablet from her bag and tapped the screen until she reached the document that contained their vendor contact information. “I figure between the two of us, we can call everyone this week and—”
Lanie raised her hand. “Wait. Have you talked to Steven about this?”
“Not yet,” Rose admitted, dropping her gaze. “I didn’t want to add to his stress level. But honestly, postponing the wedding will help alleviate his stress. Then he can focus on healing.”
“Except that it may be more stressful for him if you postpone.”
Rose frowned. “How do you figure that?”
“I know my brother,” Lanie replied with a shrug.
“But he hasn’t actually said that, has he?” Worry gnawed away at Rose’s gut, but she worked to keep her expression neutral.
“Not in so many words, but he has seemed rather preoccupied with something lately. I thought it was the law firm, but I spent a good hour going over his cases with him yesterday.” Lanie frowned. “While he was in better spirits by the time I left, I could tell something else was on his mind.” Her hazel eyes narrowed. “You need to talk to him before you do anything.”
The mood at the table shifted, and Rose struggled to regain control of the situation. “I’ll discuss it with him, but don’t you think it would be better if I could tell him I was taking care of it? Then he’d have less to—”
“No. Going behind his back isn’t going to help. You need to have a frank discussion with him.” Lanie’s tone softened. “I know you didn’t come to this decision lightly, and I’m sure Steven will understand that.”
“You think he’ll agree to postpone?” Rose was unable to keep the skepticism out of her voice.
Grinning, Lanie shook her head. “Of course not, but he might at least appreciate a well-reasoned argument.” When Rose didn’t respond, Lanie leaned forward. “Look, I agree with you that he has a lot of stress, and the wedding planning is unlikely to help, but before you go trying to convince him, I’d like to propose a counterpoint. It’s early in Steven’s recovery, and we don’t know enough at this point to make such a decision. What would you say to monitoring the situation and deciding what to do in a couple of weeks? At the very least, we could talk to Carissa to get her opinion. She might have an idea of how to approach the vendors to give them a heads-up.”
“I just hate to leave things up in the air. If it was only the heart attack or the spinal contusion alone, that would be one thing. But patient recovery is often unique to each individual. I’m not sure if we’ll get a clear timeline, and the wedding is in almost three months.”
Lanie pursed her lips. “Are you sure there aren’t other reasons you might want to postpone?
That caught Rose off guard. “What other reasons would there be?”
Her future sister-in-law shrugged. “Maybe you’re concerned about what Steven will be like once he’s released from rehab. How it might place you in a caregiving role again.”
Rose swallowed, reminded of the comment her patient had made about her being the perfect candidate to care for Steven. Although there was a trace of truth in Lanie’s words, Rose shook her head.
“All I want is for Steven to focus on recovering, and I believe postponing the wedding will help him to do that.”
For a moment, Lanie studied her, then she nodded, seeming to accept Rose’s explanation. “I agree. But you should still talk to Steven before you do anything. I’ll even try to help him see reason.” She bit her lip. “Just as long as you remember, his whole world—both of your worlds—have been turned upside down. It’s not a bad idea to take some time and let the dust settle before rushing to a decision.”
Rose nodded. “I can agree with that.”
Lanie turned her attention back to the menu. “Let’s discuss our options with Carissa first. Once we have a clearer picture, we can go from there.”
The next day, Rose walked into the hospital with her heart pounding in her chest. With Carissa’s help, she and Lanie had contacted all of the vendors and had a better understanding of the situation with the wedding. Their responses, though not unexpected, were disappointing.
Most had pointed to the contract and the deadline for cancellation, which had already passed. If she canceled now, she would lose her deposits, which were too large to swallow. The one bright light was many of the vendors were willing to work with her on a postponement using what had already been paid to secure a new date. However, the vendors weren’t willing to commit to altering the contract itself until the new date was determined. They all sympathized with her, but sympathy went only so far.
The only place that had extended her a month’s grace period to decide was the church. She supposed they were doing Steven and her a favor since he’d been a member of the congregation since childhood.
Though Lanie had cautioned her against talking to Steven about a postponement while he was in the hospital, Rose had decided to go ahead with the conversation. It didn’t seem appropriate to wait until he was discharged to the rehab facility. She hoped he would listen to reason. Her arguments were sound, and she’d even chosen a few potential dates for next summer.
But she wouldn’t settle on one until they had a better sense of Steven’s prognosis or until she spoke with her mother. She hadn’t mentioned the possibility of buying her parents’ plane tickets herself because she didn’t want to risk upsetting anyone. It still felt selfish to postpone the wedding so her parents could attend, and she didn’t want people to think her parents were her driving motivation to postpone. Because they weren’t. Steven’s recovery was her main focus. Yet the more she considered it, the more she hated the idea of her parents not being there for the wedding.
When she entered Steven’s room, he was watching television. As he turned his head, his face lit up in such a way that it broke her heart, and she faltered in her resolve. But they needed to have that discussion, and with the wedding date rapidly approaching, the time to decide had arrived.
“I missed you yesterday,” he said as she kissed his cheek in greeting. “I thought you’d stop by after work.”
“I had a few things to take care of, but I wanted to see you before my shift this afternoon.” She nervously pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “We need to talk.”
“The dreaded words,” Steven joked, then his smile fell. “What’s wrong?”
Steeling herself for his reaction, she took a deep breath and met his gaze. “I want to postpone the wedding.”
Several emotions flitted across his bruised face. His eyebrows jumped up in surprise before furrowing with concern. As the reality of what she’d said sank in, his lips turned down, and his eyes widened. “No, Rose, I—”
“Let me finish!” She raised her hands to stop him before he could derail her carefully rehearsed speech. “We don’t know what will happen with your recovery or how long it will take. And we’re losing money every day you’re in here.” He opened his mouth as if to protest, but she hurried on, determined to show him she’d considered his counterarguments. “It’s not just that you’re not working right now.” She waved a hand around the room. “The hospital bills are going to be high as well.” Thanks for nothing, US health care. “We have enough on our plates right now without throwing the wedding into the mix. It makes sense to postpone until things are better. That way, you can focus on your recovery.”
“But we’ve already put so much work and money into planning this wedding. At this point, we’re just making final payments to the vendors, aren’t we?”
“Yes, but with what? I can’t afford to pay for it all myself on my salary, and since you don’t have a partner, there’s no one who can cover for you while you recover.”
“We could ask our families for—”
“We agreed we would pay for this ourselves,” Rose retorted. “And I don’t need to remind you my parents are struggling to make ends meet as it is on the other side of the world. My mom told me they’re putting my grandparents into a nursing home, and the last thing they should be worrying about is funding our wedding.”
“I understand, but I’m sure my dad would be more than willing to contribute—er—loan us the money in the meantime.”
Her facial expression must have caused him to change direction. But she shook her head. “We can’t guarantee we’d be able to honor that loan. What if the law firm doesn’t survive without you? That’s not something I’m willing to risk or how I want to start our lives together.” Without waiting for a response, she continued, “Now, Carissa and I have spoken to our vendors, and most of them are willing to honor the deposits we’ve made on a new date, provided they’re available.”
“So, that’s it, then?” His voice was filled with pain. “You no longer want to marry me?”
Her heart sank, and she put her hand to her chest. “Of course I want to marry you!”
“Then why wait? If money’s a concern, we can cancel some of the more extravagant aspects of the wedding and have a simpler affair.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. “I just want to marry you. I don’t want to wait another year to start our lives together.”
“It’s not that simple, Steven.” After rummaging through her bag, she removed a folder filled with vendor contracts and shoved them into his hand. “You’re a lawyer, so I know you understand contract law. If we cancel now, we forfeit what we’ve paid. And in some instances, we’d still have to fulfill our financial obligation regardless of whether we cancel or not.”
His heartbroken face caused a chink in the armor of her resolve. Maybe Lanie was right. Maybe postponing the wedding would cause him more stress than forging ahead. But she couldn’t see how that was possible when nobody knew what his recovery would look like.
She took a deep breath and pressed on. “Whereas, if we postpone, we might be able to salvage what we’ve already paid.”
They were silent for a moment as she allowed her words to sink in. She hoped he would understand she wasn’t backing out of their engagement or putting a pause on their relationship, just the wedding itself.
Finally, Steven sagged back against the bed and stared at the ceiling. “It’s still early days. Why don’t we wait to make any decisions about this until we know more?”
“I don’t think—”
“You said the last day to cancel for a refund has passed, right?” He turned his head so he could look at her.
She nodded. “The only place that isn’t holding us to that is the church.”
“At least that’s something.” He sighed. “But if we’re already beyond the cancellation date, what would it hurt to wait and see how things go? Maybe my recovery won’t take as long as Dr. Myers expects it to.”
“We can only hope.” Her teeth worried her lower lip. Part of her wasn’t ready to give up the fight. First, she wasn’t sure the vendors would honor what they’d told her over the phone if she and Steven waited too long to make a decision. And second, she had been so sure he would concede to her arguments that she hadn’t considered the very real possibility her wedding would go forward without any of her family there.
But all of her reasons to postpone evaporated as she took in the pleading expression on his face. He’d been through so much, and she couldn’t bear to put him through any more pain, even if she believed it was for his own good.
“Please, Rose, just give it a bit more time.”
No! She wanted to scream it, but instead, she nodded again, knowing that wasn’t the answer he needed.
“And we’re okay?”
Her heart panged at the doubt in his voice. “Of course. We’re better than okay. Postponing had nothing to do with us and everything to do with aiding you in getting better.” She cupped his cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” He pulled her face down and brushed his lips against hers. “Promise me you’ll talk to me first before you do anything.”
She rubbed his nose with hers. “I promise.” Straightening up, she smoothed her uniform. “I’ll come back on my lunch break.”
“I can’t wait.”
As she left the room, she prayed she wouldn’t have to break that promise.