Текст книги "Vintage (Volume Two)"

Автор книги: Lisa Suzanne

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Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

twenty-nine

Certain moments in life define us. They define who we are, what we stand for, and what matters most.

Some are moments we never want to forget. Others are moments we wish we didn’t remember.

My wedding day was supposed to be the former—a day I never wanted to forget.

Instead, it became a moment I wished I could erase from my memory. Instead of the romantic delights that create the fantasy of a perfect wedding day, it became the living nightmare that would haunt my dreams.

It was a moment in time where I panicked, where I froze, and where I couldn’t react because I was too frightened.

Katie and Damien were in the room with me, ready to take me with them.

Parker’s face ran through my mind.

How would he react? Would he move on? Would he be okay?

What about my dad? He’d never get over losing his CC. He’d only have Jadyn to take care of him.

And what about my mother? Would she even miss me? It was a horrible thought to have, but I didn’t know the answer. And maybe I never would.

But Parker. He didn’t deserve to lose what he’d just found in me. I didn’t want to die. Even through the indifference I’d latched onto when Damien had left me, death was never one of my options. I had trudged through life, careless and ambitionless. And now I had cares. I had ambitions.

But more than that, I had love.

These were the thoughts that ran through my mind as I stared down the barrel of the gun pointed at me.

Time was momentarily suspended as a quiet moment hung between the three of us.

Where the quiet moment had meant peaceful serenity only seconds before, this new quiet moment turned into a cacophonous discord of loud silence.

And the loud silence was shattered when Randy flicked the safety on the gun in his hand.

thirty

“You think I don’t know how to pay off the right people? Besides, how many times have we hidden shit from the cops here? You think I don’t know my way around?”

My eyes moved from the gun to his face.

The memories of Randy from my childhood didn’t match the train wreck in front of me.

He’d always been heavy-set, but he’d managed a charm that made him somewhat less repulsive—at least up until the night he’d hit on me.

The man standing in front of me looked thinner than I’d ever seen him, but instead of it looking good on him, he looked greasy. He looked as if he hadn’t showered in a few days. Deep shadows circled his eyes. His hair was too long and hung in stringy cords around his face.

It hit me that it was because he’d been running. He had to have been. He’d killed a man. Even if he hadn’t done it himself, he’d paid someone to do it.

He was responsible for it.

And he was going to pay.

Or maybe he wasn’t.

Some people just got away with the things they did. Some people worked hard for success, while others pushed their way to the top and stepped on everyone who helped them get there.

Randy made a lot of money because of my dad and his connections, but none of that mattered.

The second Damien had threatened him, Randy became a different man.

He didn’t care who he had to run over to protect himself, and in doing that, he’d caused a lot of turmoil…specifically in my family.

And now he was pointing a gun at me.

My eyes met his for just a second. I saw everything I needed to there.

He would pull that trigger in a heartbeat. There was no remorse behind his dead eyes. No sympathy or love or friendship despite the fact that Randy had known my dad since before I was born.

No honesty.

No empathy for the girl he’d watched grow from a newborn into a toddler, a toddler into an adolescent, an adolescent into an adult.

His eyes were full of hatred, vengeance, and confidence.

And it was the confidence that scared me the most.

You could talk a person out of hatred if you knew the right thing to say. You could even battle vengeance for the right price.

But confidence was unshakable.

He’d come to do a job, and he wouldn’t leave until it was done.

My eyes moved back to the gun in his hand.

My dad and I both remained completely still, both of us frozen in fear.

I noticed absently that my dad’s tumbler was still raised in the air.

I wasn’t sure what could be done to stop Randy from shooting that gun.

“Randy, let’s just talk about this,” my dad said, reason hiding the fear. He was used to his onstage persona, and I could tell he’d slipped his mask on. He was acting.

Unfortunately, Randy could also tell. He knew my dad better than most.

My dad didn’t move, but something in the room changed ever so slightly. He had a plan, but he couldn’t inform me. He always came through, and I knew he would now, too.

Randy’s eyes focused in on me.

“Nothing to talk about. You know what I want, but you’re too goddamn stupid to give it to me. First you stole Jadyn from me, and then you got your hands on that DVD. You made a copy, hid them all over town, wherever the fuck. So now you pay the price.” He cackled a twisted laugh and his eyes landed on me. “Get it? The Price. Like Roxy Price? Good thing you’re not married yet, sweetheart, or that line wouldn’t have worked so well.”

I looked at him like he was deranged. Because he was.

He was absolutely fucking psycho, and he had no qualms about killing me. That twisted laugh even prompted a smile on his lips. He was enjoying this.

He was finally getting his revenge.

“You’re a fucking idiot if you think you’ll get away with this. I’ve got security everywhere. You can’t just shoot someone and walk off.” My dad was trying to reason again, but he wasn’t getting through to Randy.

“I’m done, Gideon. I give up. I know I won’t get out. I’m going to kill the one you love, not the one you fuck. Let’s get this over with.”

He brought his other hand up to steady the gun just as my dad threw his tumbler at Randy’s head with all of his might.

Randy was quick, though, despite all signs pointing to the opposite. He ducked out of the way and the glass hit the wall behind him, putting a dent there with the force before shattering to the ground. He cackled again. “That was really fucking dumb. You’ve always had poor aim, though.”

“Not when it comes to your women,” my dad retorted, incensing Randy.

His face turned a purplish-red in anger. My dad had pushed him over the edge.

He’d already been teetering there, anyway. All it took was a few words, a reminder of what my dad had taken from him.

Randy’s eyes shifted back to me.

My eyes moved down to the gun, focusing in on his hands.

And then I watched as his finger pulled the trigger.

I screamed a blood-curdling scream and closed my eyes, waiting for the impact of the bullet. I wasn’t quick enough to turn away from the bullet speeding toward my torso.

He was aiming for my heart. If he was a good shot, he’d end my life with one bullet.

I heard a grunt and then a loud thud.

I didn’t feel any pain.

Doors were opening and people were screaming and the silence of the office and the quiet moment between my father and I was long forgotten.

My eyes flew open, and I focused on the scene before me. The police officer was running toward Randy.

I didn’t see what happened to him next because my eyes swung down to the floor in front of me.

All I saw was the pool of blood and the man on the floor clutching his arm.

My dad.

Randy had shot my dad.

thirty-one

“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”

“A man has been shot.”

It was a blur of sound in the room, but for some reason, the voice coming through someone’s speakerphone stuck out to me as I stared down at my dad in horror.

I collapsed to the floor beside him.

His eyes were closed, clenched tightly shut, but he was breathing.

“Dad, what can I do?” I yelled. I lowered my voice. “Dad, stay with me. It’s okay, Daddy. It’s your CC. I’m here, Daddy.” I tried to keep my voice soothing, but it sounded like a shrill mixture of panic and fear.

I brushed his hair away from his forehead. I laid my hand over his where he was clutching his arm. I couldn’t tell where the bullet had hit him. It was either his chest, his arm, or his shoulder. All I knew was that he’d saved my life. He dove in front of Randy’s bullet to save me.

And he was bleeding everywhere.

He was so handsome in his tux.

My last words to him crashed over me. I’d thanked him for being the best dad a girl could ask for.

I couldn’t lose him.

My dream…

My dream flashed back through my mind.

I knew Katie and Damien had been in the room with me. I’d wrongly assumed it was for me.

But they were here to take my dad.

They couldn’t have him. It wasn’t his time. It couldn’t be.

“Dad, stay with me,” I said again, my voice desperate as I tried to hold onto him.

I couldn’t lose him.

He wasn’t responding. I couldn’t tell if he was awake. I just watched the slow rise and fall of his chest, a reminder he was still breathing. He was still alive.

A flurry of activity in the doorway pulled my attention away from my dad, and I saw Jadyn rush in with Parker right behind her.

“Where is that son of a bitch? I’ll fucking kill him myself!” Jadyn screamed.

I looked at her in horror.

Who was she talking about?

She looked over at me, and I saw the anger in her eyes turn to pure love when her eyes met mine. She saw me holding my dad’s hand, brushing his hair back, and she came and knelt on the other side of him. She looked beautiful in a dignified lavender gown.

“Gideon, you’re not leaving me, baby. I love you.” She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead, the same forehead I’d just brushed his hair back from.

I felt Parker kneel beside me. He gently touched my shoulder.

“An ambulance is on its way,” he murmured next to me. “Are you okay, Jimi?”

I lost all control of my emotions at the raw and genuine affection in his voice.

Sobs racked my body as I fell into Parker. His strong arms encircled me as I cried into his chest. I heard Jadyn crying quietly across my dad from me.

She reached one hand across my dad, and I took her hand in mine.

We held hands over my dad, a silent prayer and a silent truce that had been a long time coming.

Stolen journals and material items and money no longer mattered.

All that mattered was that my dad made it through this.

George’s voice broke into our private moment. “I need some space.” He held a cloth in his hand, and Parker pulled me up from the floor and into his arms. I watched as George applied pressure to the top left side of my dad’s body. I still didn’t know if he’d been shot by his heart or his shoulder. Either way, I knew that the damage could be fatal.

I glanced beside Jadyn, where Randy had been standing moments before. He was gone. The knowledge hit me, and I feared that he got away.

I started trembling.

“Baby, they got him. Randy’s going to prison for a long time,” Parker whispered quietly into my hair.

I nodded, but I couldn’t stop shaking.

“You’re dad is going to be okay. He’s a fighter.”

I knew he was a fighter, but I wanted to scream that Parker wasn’t a doctor and there was no way he could possibly know if my dad was going to be okay.

But my dad was still on the floor. I needed to stay positive, to send out positive vibes while he was in the room, because I couldn’t risk my dream coming true.

It wasn’t time for Damien and Katie to take him.

“Parker, toss me a pillow,” George said, and Parker let go of me for only a second to grab one from the couch.

George was talking quietly to my dad, but I couldn’t hear him over the loud rushing in my ears. I thought I saw my dad nod at something George asked. Relief coursed through me. It didn’t mean he was out of the woods, but a response was better than nothing.

Guilt washed over me. This was my fault.

It was always my fault. I somehow always managed to hurt the people I loved most without even trying.

If he’d have just stayed where he was, it would be me on the floor. And I’d take that bullet so that he didn’t have to. I’d take it for him any day of the week.

I looked down at my dress for the first time. Blood was splattered all over the white fabric. My dad’s blood.

I didn’t see Parker hand the pillow to George. I just knew that Parker’s arms were around me and I was staring down at my dress.

When I’d envisioned this day, it had a much different ending than reality.

I heard sirens in the distance, and paramedics were rushing through the door to my dad what seemed like seconds later.

They made quick work of asking him questions. He was awake enough to whisper through gritted teeth what had happened. They secured an oxygen mask over his face and strapped him onto a gurney. They wheeled him out to the ambulance. Jadyn rode with him. George drove Parker and me. I wasn’t sure what happened to the rest of our guests, but I had much bigger things to worry about.

Parker was quiet beside me in the back of the Tahoe. He knew everything I needed. Always. And he knew that I just needed quiet time to process everything that had just happened.

“You look beautiful,” he said as we got closer to the hospital. His voice was low. “Even better than I ever could have imagined.”

“I love you.” My voice came out in a whisper.

He squeezed my hand. “I know, baby. And I love you.”

thirty-two

Checking Gideon Price’s status was harder than it sounded. He was in the ER, and they were pretty strict about allowing visitors back there in a normal situation. But considering his celebrity status, hospital staff was vigilant not to bend any rules.

Jadyn was in the ER room with him. When Parker and I had rushed through the front doors of the ER, people kept looking at us with sympathetic eyes. The poor girl in the wedding dress with blood all over it. I couldn’t take it.

We were ushered to a private waiting room. George was out front making calls, presumably to my dad’s publicist.

I wondered briefly about the wedding guests back at my dad’s house for only the second time. Did they know he’d been shot? Most of them were there for him, not for me. Were they as scared as I was?

I thought back not for the first time to those days of apathetic indifference. If only I was still floating numbly through life, I wouldn’t feel the heavy burden of guilt and fear that weighed on my chest. It was crushing me. It hurt to take deep breaths.

I paced back and forth. The room was a tiny box, but at least it was private. It was ten steps in one direction and then ten steps back in the other. I walked from wall to wall. I felt Parker’s eyes on me, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop.

I wanted to do something. Anything. I wanted to see what was going on. I wanted to make sure my dad was going to be okay. I wanted to make sure my dad would still be able to play the guitar and hug me close and walk me down the aisle.

Down the aisle.

The place where we should have walked just moments after Randy appeared in my dad’s office.

Instead we were at this place, and I wasn’t sure if my dad was going to live or die.

I couldn’t stop thinking about how fragile life was. One minute I was telling my dad he was the world’s greatest dad as we toasted to my wedding, and the next minute my dad was lying on the floor as blood oozed from a bullet wound.

Life wasn’t just unfair. It was cold and cruel.

It should have been the happiest day of my life. I still wanted to pledge my life to Parker’s. I didn’t think it was possible to want to marry him more, but I did. He was my steady rock. He understood everything I needed and selflessly gave it to me.

I could wish our day had gone off without a hitch until I was blue in the face. It wouldn’t change a goddamn thing.

Even amidst the fear and panic, just having him near me was helping me keep my sanity.

Parker finally broke the silence.

“Babe, come sit.”

I shook my head and kept walking.

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

I stopped midstride. I turned to face him. “He was aiming for me,” I whispered.

Parker was on his feet and in front of me in two strides. He took my chin in his hand and forced my eyes up to meet his. “This isn’t your fault.”

I never said I thought it was, but Parker could just tell. That’s how it was with us. That’s how it would always be.

I shook my head free of the grasp he held on my chin. “Yes, it is. You can’t convince me otherwise. That bullet was meant for me. My dad dove in the way and literally took a bullet for me.” Saying it out loud for the first time caused a violent rush of fear searing through me.  I started sobbing uncontrollably. I tried to voice my thoughts through my tears. “Goddammit, the idiot took a fucking bullet for me.”

Parker held me in his arms, held me tighter than he’d ever held me. I felt the breath squeezing out of me, but I needed it. I needed him. I needed his arms to hold me up, because I was sure I’d fall without them.

We had to have been sitting in that room alone for an hour. Maybe more. I lost track of time.

The door finally opened. Both my head and Parker’s swung toward it.

Jadyn walked in, her face pale and her eyes wide. Her beautiful lavender dress had blood all over it.

I left the comfort of Parker’s arms to give Jadyn a hug. It was the first time we’d ever hugged. Ever. I didn’t even hug her when she had married my dad.

“How is he?” I asked, my voice small as tears continued to stream down my face.

“He’s okay, Roxy. They treated him for shock and then took him into surgery.”

I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

She continued, “I guess they don’t always remove bullets, but this one is lodged in his shoulder and is resting near a nerve. They need to get the bullet out to protect the nerve. The good news is that if he’d been hit a few centimeters either way, the damage could have been much, much worse. Fatal, even.”

I felt the “but” coming. “And the bad news?”

“Well, potentially bad. It all depends on his recovery.” She took a deep breath, and when she spoke again, I could hear the pain that she felt because she loved my dad so deeply. “The doctors aren’t sure if he’ll be able to play guitar again.”

thirty-three

I had no words.

Nothing I could say could make any of this better.

What if my dad couldn’t play guitar again?

It was his life. It was his first love. And it would be because of me if it was all taken from him.

The surgery was short, under an hour, and it was another hour before my dad’s room was ready. He was in recovery, but visitors were strictly prohibited back there, wives included.

In the meantime, my mother had arrived, and so had Kimmy, Mikey, Carlos, and Johnny. George came back in, too, with a change of clothes for Jadyn, Parker, and myself.

The nine of us sat in the tiny waiting room. Silence descended on us. No one knew what to say. Jadyn told the story each time someone new arrived, and since there was literally nothing else to do—I didn’t even have my phone to play Trivia Crack or Words with Friends against Parker—I observed.

I watched Jadyn talk to my mom. I watched my drama queen mother fall apart as Jadyn picked her back up and put her back together.

Kimmy was a bright relief for Parker, who was suffering in his own way after seeing the man he considered a hero and a father lying shot on the floor. I was of no comfort to him since he was working so hard to comfort me.

Jadyn told the members of Black Shadow that Gideon Price might not be able to play guitar again. I saw the anxiety turn to fear as all three grown men looked like lost little boys, unsure of their future. She hugged each of them, and I saw a nurturing, caring woman emerge from the façade she’d hidden behind.

I finally saw who she really was inside. For the first time, I saw the woman my dad had fallen in love with.

I’d judged her often and I’d judged her ruthlessly. She hadn’t deserved it. In times of tragedy and times of panic, people’s true colors always shine through. Jadyn responded with love for my father and everyone he loved. She showed me who she really was. Whatever I thought of her before didn’t matter. Clearly I had judged a situation I didn’t know anything about. Going forward, I knew who she was. My dad didn’t need my approval, but he had it.

“Does he know?” Mikey asked.

She nodded. “The doctor informed him of all of the risks before the surgery. If he decided not to get the bullet removed, he’d be even less likely to play again.”

We all absorbed that information in a silence that stretched across all of us. A nurse entered the room, finally breaking the tension. She informed us that visitors were limited to four at a time, but my dad was in a room resting comfortably and we could go back to see him.

We decided that Jadyn would go in first with George, Parker, and me.

A police officer was sitting outside of his room. He looked up at the four of us before we entered, nodding his approval.

I stared at the man who was always such a picture of strength to me. He looked weak and pale in a hospital bed. He was under some blankets, but his abdomen and chest weren’t covered. A large gauzy bandage stretched from just above his left nipple toward his left shoulder.

Machines beeped behind him displaying his heart rate. An IV ran from his forearm to some liquid in a bag hanging next to the bed.

“I think he’s still asleep,” Jadyn whispered.

I trembled next to Parker, and I felt his hand tighten over mine.

We all turned to leave so my dad could have some peace when we heard his voice. It was soft and scratchy, but it was him. “I’m awake.”

Jadyn turned around and ran to his side, taking his right hand in hers. She leaned down and kissed his forehead, and he reached up with his good hand to gently stroke her face with the back of his knuckles. “I love you,” he murmured, and she leaned down to kiss his lips. He grabbed the back of her head and gave her a lingering kiss. I looked toward Parker, smiling in embarrassment at the man who should have been my husband by that point.

Jadyn pulled back and whispered something to my dad that I didn’t catch, but it was their moment. His wife needed a moment with her husband.

“Someone else is here to see you,” she said, nodding over to me with a smile.

Parker let go of my hand and I walked to my dad. Jadyn moved over to allow me some space.

“How are you feeling?” I smiled down at him and took his hand in mind.

His hand was freezing. For the first time, I noticed the how cold the room was.

“Okay,” he said, his voice honest. “I’ve been better.”

“Why did you jump in front of me?” I asked, tears filling my eyes.

He stared up at me for a moment, and I bent closer to him as my tears spilled over. He brushed one away, comforting me even while he was the one relegated to a hospital bed. When he spoke, his statement was simple but clear. “Because I’d rather be holding your hand from this bed than standing where you are.”

In his mind, I supposed he thought that jumping in front of a speeding bullet and taking that impact would hurt far less than watching his daughter take the bullet.

“I don’t know what to say, Daddy. Thank you doesn’t seem like enough. It’s my fault you’re there.”

“Stop it, CC. It’s Randy’s fault I’m here. I love you. I would do anything for you.”

“I already knew that. I didn’t need you to prove it.”

“Well if this doesn’t prove it, I don’t think anything will.”

We both laughed, and my dad winced in pain. “Okay, no laughing for me for a while.”

“Noted. I’ll try not to be so adorably funny.”

Parker moved to stand next to me.

“Hey, PJ.” My dad smiled weakly at him.

Parker grinned back. “Dude, if you wanted to stop the wedding, you could’ve just said something. You didn’t have to be so goddamn dramatic.”

My dad laughed again, heartier this time, followed by another wince.

George came up beside us. “You had us all worried, sir.”

“Skip the formalities, Georgie. It’s good to see you here.”

I always thought it was funny to hear George call my dad “sir.” He had probably ten or fifteen years on my dad, but he was my dad’s employee. A trusted one, at that. After the events of the past year, particularly this past summer, I considered George family. I knew my dad did, too.

George smiled tightly. “Glad you’re already back to your old self.”

“How bad is the damage?” my dad asked.

George resumed his professional persona, the smile disappearing from his lips as he slipped back into work mode. “Media was already watching your place because of the wedding. They saw the ambulance, so none of this is a secret. Keith’s working to minimize damages and rumors with publicity. They’ll issue a statement within the next hour. Rebecca is updating social media. Studio time is on hold during your recovery.”

My dad nodded. “And Randy?”

“The investigation is underway. I spoke with police, who interestingly informed your lawyers that you’ve already negotiated with them.” He paused to glance over at Jadyn, who grinned at my dad. Apparently there were more secrets and more to this story than I knew. “And, perhaps most important and most comforting, Marino is behind bars.”

“You’ve already spoken to the police?” I asked.

My dad nodded and glanced at his wife. She smiled.

“It’s actually how Jade and I became close. We started seeing each other, and one day she told me that she didn’t trust Randy. I didn’t either. We’ve been working with the police to take him down ever since.”

My jaw dropped. This was certainly news.

“The cops even showed up on our wedding day,” Jadyn said. “Randy did, too. Luckily George staffed extra security who took him out.”

My dad chuckled at some memory between the two of them. I thought back to the conversation I’d overheard when I assumed—wrongly—that she was using my dad or trying to gain information to use against him.

“Roxy, I’m so sorry we didn’t get along at first,” Jadyn interjected. She handed my dad a cup of water, and he took a sip. He handed the cup back to her. “I had to make you think I was using your dad. I had to make everyone think that. But I swear to all that’s holy, I love him. He’s my life.”

My dad stared lovingly at her. “And she’s mine. I’m never letting her go. I realize it all happened fast, but it was for a purpose. We fell in love. We committed our lives to each other. And then we both realized that together, we could draw him out. We could take him down and get him behind bars. So I went to the police.”

George even looked surprised at his revelations. Apparently my dad was a good secret-keeper even from the head of his security team.

“Randy’s not a good man,” Jadyn said, a dark shadow crossing her face.

My dad reached out for her hand, and I saw him squeeze it. He winced again, and then he continued talking.

I had no idea what that meant, exactly, but if anyone knew what Randy was really capable of, it was probably the woman who had dated him.

“He did some real shitty things, but he never actually killed anyone. But when I took Jade from him, he was pissed. It didn’t matter that we grew up together or that we’d been friends for a lifetime. And after he killed D, he went on the run. No one had seen him in a few weeks, and none of us can figure out how the fuck he dodged everyone. If he hadn’t been so fucking dumb to show up at my house, he probably would’ve gotten away with it.”

A doctor entered the room, interrupting story time.

“Mr. Price, I’m Dr. Carter. How are you feeling?” he asked.

I glanced over at the good doctor. He looked to be in his late thirties, and he looked like he knew what he was doing.

“I’m alive,” my dad responded.

“I performed your surgery, and everything went very well. I was able to recover the bullet, which was resting next to your brachial nerve. The bullet did not fragment, which bodes well for your recovery.”

“What’s the brachial nerve?” I asked.

Dr. Carter looked at me. “It controls movement in the hand and arm. The good news is that the bullet didn’t damage the nerve, but the bad news is that since it was resting right on it, the bullet may have agitated it.” Dr. Carter turned back to my dad. “If it did, you’re susceptible to palsy in your arm, which means you may have limited mobility. Your injuries will require you to wear a sling for a few weeks. Your muscles have been weakened, and to build that back, you’ve got some PT ahead of you.”

“Will I be able to play again?” my dad asked. Ten hopeful eyes turned to the doctor for his response.

“The next month will determine that. Your recovery is dependent on your therapy. With hard work, your chances are much greater. You’re a strong, healthy adult, and I know what your career means to you. A potential palsy is likely to be temporary. I fully believe you’ll put in the effort to give you the best chance of playing again.”

That didn’t really answer his question, but I supposed it was the best the doctor could do. He couldn’t predict the future any more than I could.

After the doctor left, George, Parker, and I headed back to the tiny waiting room to allow Mikey, Carlos, and Johnny to visit. Jadyn stayed with my dad.

We filled in Kimmy and my mom while George went off in search of something to eat. It was well past dinnertime, and once we found that my dad was going to be okay, our appetites returned with a vengeance. After we ate, Mikey, Carlos, and Johnny came back into the waiting room to let us know that my dad had summoned George, Parker, and me back to his room.

My dad looked exhausted.

“Maybe we should leave him alone,” Parker murmured beside me. “He needs to rest.”

I had to admit that I agreed with him. “Dad, we’re going to head out so you can get some rest.”

“Nonsense. I’ll sleep when I’m dead. Besides, we’ve got something we need to do.”

“Oh?” I asked. “What do we have to do?”

My dad smiled. “Today is your wedding day. We were moments away from walking down the aisle. I feel terrible that your day was interrupted.”

“Oh my God. Dad, is this what you’re sitting in bed thinking about?”

He nodded, a touch of sheepishness on his face.

“You have nothing to feel terrible about. You just focus on your recovery.”

It was a sweet sentiment, really, but it was a little ridiculous that he had even thought about it considering he was lying in a hospital bed.

“The way I see it, we’ve got a couple of choices. We’re all here. We can do it right now. Or as soon as I’m sprung from this place, we can do it at home. CC, I know that the guest list was bigger than you wanted. I know you wanted a small affair. We’ll do it however you want.”