He’d never find Lily if she were unconscious.
Fortifying his heart for the worst-case scenario, he stomped the fiery floor past the kitchen where the blaze raged.
She wasn’t in her room.
Nor his.
He checked the bathroom.
“Nick!
Thank God!
His knees felt weak while his spirit lifted. He closed the door to keep the flames out, then tore off the mask and crushed her in a desperate hug. She was wet and shivering under his flannel shirt. “Are you okay?”
“Yes!”
“I gotta get you outta here right now!”
“The window’s boarded from the outside.”
“I know.” Nick took aim with the axe. “It’s gonna be a tight squeeze, but I think you’ll fit.”
“No! I’m going with you.”
“No way.”
“I need you, Nick. We go together, or I’m not going at all.”
There was no use wasting time arguing. “Okay, okay.” Trapped, with no choice except to fight the fire on the other side of the door, he kissed her one more time. “Ready?”
She nodded, not knowing the hell she was about to go through.
“Wait!” She pressed her palms to his chest. “Nick, I didn’t take the pill. I could never do that. I got my period the next day. But I swear I didn’t take it.”
Confused and relieved by her untimely admission, he said, “Well, if we’re making confessions, I bought your house. I was gonna give it to you for Christmas.” Then he covered her head to toe with the blanket, tossed her body over his shoulder like a sack of sugar, and went back into the fire.
Blinded by thick smoke, he couldn’t pass the flames spewing from the kitchen. He held Lily tight, praying the water truck would douse the house any moment.
There was a terrifying crack over the din, then the frighteningly familiar shake, rattle, and roar of the walls coming down.
Chapter Twenty
“Wha…happ…?” Lily’s raw throat produced nothing but a painful whisper as she lie on a gurney in the hospital. She may not have remembered fainting the last time she was here, but this time she had a clear memory of the events that brought her to this place. Again.
What could have started the fire? Ancient electrical wiring? The hot oven? The candle and the curtain?
More importantly—
what happened to Nick?
She clawed at the tubes in her nostrils until the nurse anchored her arm to the mattress, while the other arm was already strapped to her chest.
“Take it easy. You’re going to be just fine,” the nurse said.
“What happened?” By the time she found her voice, it was too late. The nurse slipped a sedative into the catheter line taped to her hand. The overhead florescent lights flickered a few times before everything faded to black.
When she woke again, she was alone in a dim room, listening to the low beeps from the monitor beside her bed.
Lily didn’t need anyone to tell her the house had burned down. She smelled the char in her hair. Felt the sticky grime on her skin. Tasted the smoke every time she coughed.
If it wasn’t for Nick...
So, where was he now? That was all she wanted to know.
Please, God, let him be okay. Let. Him. Be. Okay. Please. God.
As the meds wore off, panic rushed in, making Lily’s heart race. The nurse dosed her again without explanation, and she fell back into a comfortably numb sleep without a care in the world, with Nick’s name as the last word on her lips.
****
Nick stood beside Lily as she slept peacefully in the hospital bed. White gauze covered the lacerations on her forehead. She’d survive the broken arm and second-degree burns on her lower legs and feet. Minor injuries that could have been so much worse.
Miraculously, he’d escaped without a scrape, just the wind knocked out of him from some falling sheetrock.
She suffered the brunt of the damage after he dropped her, then landed on top of her, protecting and injuring her at the same time.
Her house was old, but the solid framework held up better than he’d expected.
Thank God.
The girl got lucky.
So did he.
He stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers, and her eyes fluttered opened.
“Santa?” she mumbled.
He’d slipped back into the red jacket since he had no spare clothes in his truck. “Lily, it’s me, Nick.” Careful of the catheter line, he took her hand and kissed it. “How do you feel?”
“I’m fine…now that you’re here. I was so worried about you.” The monitor registered her rising heartbeat.
“You need to rest. They wanna keep you here a few days for observation. You inhaled some smoke. Got a few burns. But other than that we’re okay.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be so much trouble.”
“What are you talking about? You’re no trouble at all.”
She rolled her eyes. “Nick, I burned down the house.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just concentrate on getting better.”
“I feel better already with you here.” A tear rolled down her smudged cheek and he caught it with his fingertip.
“I know exactly how you feel.” He plucked a tissue from the box and dabbed her eyes.
“I need to tell you something...”
“You can tell me tomorrow.”
“No, I have to tell you now. I just want to say…I love you. I was afraid to admit it before, but I’m not afraid any more. I want you to know that. Because I’d regret never telling you how I feel.”
Maybe her words were a side effect from the drugs in her I.V. drip but he’d take them just the same. “That’s what I’ve been telling you all this time. But you didn’t believe me.”
The nurse came in, breaking up their conversation, and hustled him out the door. “Time for Mr. Claus to get back to the North Pole. It’s sleepy time for Mrs. Claus. He can visit again tomorrow.”
****
The next day, Lily felt a little better. It was Christmas Eve, and Nick was here.
He surfed the channels on the tiny television mounted on the wall and found an old time classic, “March of the Wooden Soldiers.” She hadn’t watched it since she was a little girl. It was the scene where the Crooked Old Man makes a claim for Little Bo Peep’s hand in marriage, and in exchange, he’d tear up Old Mother Hubbard’s mortgage.
She couldn’t thank Nick enough for lifting her out of her financial hole, although all that was left of her home was a big hole in the ground. But that was a discussion for another time.
“All I want for Christmas now is shower and a pair of pajamas.” Her gauze-wrapped hair reeked of stale smoke, and the mint-green hospital gown revealed more than it concealed.
“The doctor said to wait another day. How’s your appetite?”
“I can eat. What’s on the menu tonight?” She studied the piece of paper on her bedside table.
“Not hospital food, that’s for sure.” From behind the curtain, Nick rolled a cart with a cardboard box on top. “I know it’s not a traditional Christmas feast, but I figured a burger from the diner would be the next best thing. And some spring rolls from Zhang’s Chinese take-out.”
“How did you know about the spring rolls?” Maybe he was a mind reader after all.
“You mentioned it once.”
“Wow.” His attention to detail was impressive.
He cut her food so she could eat it with her one good hand. Then he popped the cork on a bottle.
“Champagne? In a hospital?”
“Non-alcoholic sparkling cider.” He flashed the label before filling two clear plastic cups. “Peach.”
“Yum.”
Then he set a small decorative tree on a spare table.
Her heart swelled at his thoughtfulness. “Gosh, I feel so special.”
“As you should.”
“You didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”
“What trouble?”
“The food. The cider.
And
a tree.”
“This is no trouble at all. You have to admit, it feels a lot more like Christmas, dontcha think?”
She nodded. He was right. The holiday bonsai tree was the perfect touch. “I’m just happy you came back to see me.”
“Lily, I wanna spend Christmas with you no matter where you are.”
At the end of visiting hours, the nurse came in to kick him out for the night.
“Merry Christmas, sugar.” He dropped a kiss on her lips. “I hope Santa brings you everything you want.”
Although she wished he could stay longer, she didn’t want to be greedy with all he’d given her, so she simply smiled. “He already did.”
****
Lily drifted off to sleep sometime before midnight and woke when the nurse made a final check of her vitals before the change of the guards.
After a few minutes of lying there, staring at the dark ceiling, the door opened again and someone entered. She recognized the red suit as anyone would.
“Hi, Santa,” she whispered.
Nick pulled off the hat, revealing his own dark locks, then yanked down the beard. He shut the door behind him and flicked on the soft light in the corner of the room.
“Ho-ho-ho,” he said in a low voice. He leaned over the bed rail and kissed her with his delicious cinnamon-flavored lips.
“You’re really getting some miles outta that costume, huh?”
“What do ya mean?” He smiled. “I’m just doing my job.”
“What happened to your belly, Santa?” Lily pressed the button that angled the bed so she could sit upright, getting a better look at him.
“Yeah, well…” He patted the red and white fur hanging loose around his middle. “What can I say? Santa’s been working out.”
“You know it’s too late for visitors. They’ll kick you out when they catch you in here.”
“Not this time. I’m not going anywhere tonight. The chief gave me an all-access pass for Christmas.”
“I’ll have to thank him.”
“By the way…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper, wrinkled yet recognizable. “He also gave me this. He thought Santa might know where to find an
emotionally available
man for a special young woman.”
She couldn’t control the stupid smile filling her face, no matter how hard she tried. “Um, what are you talking about?”
“Oh, so this doesn’t ring a bell?” He flipped the paper over, showing her both sides before handing it to her. “Maybe it’s from someone else from Barbieri’s Barbershop. Maybe Bob. Or Sophia.”
Her cheeks got hot. Caught asking for a man for Christmas was as desperate as it gets. “Well, maybe it’s mine. I mean, it could be mine. I don’t remember. An
emotionally available
man is quite a request for Santa to fill.”
“You’re telling me. But I think I can handle it.” He gave her a sideways glance. “Are you sure you can handle me?”
“God, I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with your Christmas gift.” He waved his hands down his body. “Considering what you did to the
other
gift...”
Hiding her face in her hand, she groaned, “Please don’t remind me.”
“We’ll talk about rebuilding once you’re outta here. In the meantime, as long as this emotionally available man is okay by you, I have something else...” He didn’t wait for her response. Just pulled out a red velvet box and flipped open the lid.
“Nick, really…I don’t need anything. All I want for Christmas is you.” Breathless at the revelation of the glittering diamond inside, the pear-shaped stone set high in the simple gold setting looked just like the ring her mother had worn before hocking her valuables to pay the bills. “Where did you get this?”
“The Swap ’N Shop.” His eyes twinkled.
“But
how
did you know?”
“Know what—that it was your mother’s? I didn’t. But the man who sold it to me did. I took a chance and looked into buying back Britney’s ring—the one she accused you of stealing—hoping she’d leave you alone. I didn’t know Mark’s full name so I mentioned yours. The owner said he knew you. He had this in the vault with your name on it. He’d been holding onto it all these years because he didn’t have the heart to sell it, in case you ever came looking for it.”
“I didn’t even know about it.”
“Well, it’s all here.” He put a small shoebox on her tray.
“All?” Joyful tears stung the backs of her eyes as she looked inside and found all the precious things she’d thought were long gone. “I-I don’t know what to say.”
“Just say thank you.”
She shook her head. “Thanking you isn’t enough.”
“Then spend your life with me and we’ll call it even.”
A nervous giggle escaped in response to his informal proposal, afraid to say anything in case it was his idea of an early April Fool’s prank.
“So, even when I’m standing here, fulfilling your letter to Santa in the flesh, you still doubt me?” Shaking his head disappointedly, he pulled out another little box and opened it.
Lily was breathless. “Oh, Nick. Is this for me?”
“Of course, it’s for you. Only this one didn’t come from the Swap ’n Shop. It’s brand new, never been worn, no history, no baggage, no nothing. But I can hold onto it for you until you’re ready to wear it.”
She took the box from his fingers to get a closer look. The center diamond was bigger than a sugarcoated peanut from Brawny’s Fall Festival. Now she really didn’t know what to say.
“If you don’t like it, you can always exchange it for something else, like a new car.”
Lily cut her eyes at him. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’s beautiful.”
“No.
You’re
beautiful. That’s just a ring.”
“Oh, Nick. I love it.”
He exhaled. “God, you have no idea how relieved I am to hear you say that. I was worried that you might throw it at me, then throw me outta here permanently.”
“I told you…” She dabbed her tears with a tissue. “I’m not afraid any more. I love you and that’s that.”
“You’re sure you like it?”
“I do,” she cooed, never so pleasantly surprised. “I absolutely, positively do.” She studied the diamond clusters through misty eyes. “Wait—is it an engagement ring or a…”
“Wedding ring?” A distinct blush crept upon his face that she hadn’t witnessed until now. “I just took a chance and bought both. In case you say yes. I don’t mind a long engagement if that’ll make you happy. Get to know each other better first like you said. But I saw the rings together and thought you’d like ’em.”