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Lucy paced her office frantically. “Antonio. Oh, God! He must be going through hell." She picked up her cell phone to call him and realized she didn’t have his private number. She didn’t want to call the office.
“Listen,” Lucy sighed, “since Shelly called us, we’ll go to lend our support.”
Lucy’s stomach sank to her knees. So Antonio had been right about not letting his grandfather get involved with a high-risk wedding ceremony. Oh, God! What had she done? Why hadn’t she listened to Antonio in the first place and cancelled the whole darn thing in the beginning?
When Lucy and Maxine arrived at the hospital on the fourth floor, they were seated outside in the visitor lounge. Shelly had already brought them up-to-date with the events of the morning. Lucy could not believe how quickly things could change in a heartbeat. Literally. She had spoken to Toni and Shelly early that morning to confirm details of the placemats for their upcoming nuptials and now this.
Antonio was in the ICU with his grandfather. Lucy could see through the glass how broken and crushed he appeared. Guilt tore through Lucy.
Oh, Antonio. I’m so sorry for not listening to you. Please forgive me.
Tears stung her swollen eyes as she sat there, trembling under the air-conditioned area. It was the end of September yet the chill of early fall had already touched them.
Oh, why didn’t I listen to you, Antonio? Maybe he would have been resting in bed instead of dealing with last minute details of his weird wedding adventure. Maybe the thought of being up in a human slingshot got to him.
Lucy hugged herself while she gazed through the glass partition of the ICU. Hoping, wishing, praying that Toni would pull through.
“You know, he told me he still wants us to get married,” Shelly cried into her tissues. “I told him that I will always love him and it doesn’t matter about a piece of paper.” Shelly continued to sob as Lucy wrapped her arm around her.
“It’s okay. It’ll be alright,” Lucy consoled.
Just then, the temperature of the visitor lounge dropped significantly again when Mariam walked in. She eyed Lucy with such contempt she could have frozen under the icy gaze.
Mariam said nothing but spoke to the nurse who came in and was later escorted into the ICU after gowning up. Lucy remembered Antonio mentioning that Mariam had been a faithful assistant to his father and in the family for decades. Perhaps that was why she had the right to go into the ICU as a family member.
“Wow, she’s really nice,” Maxine commented.
“Maxine, shh!” Lucy shot back. “She’s probably upset about the whole situation.”
“So upset that she could not say hi? Is she blaming us?”
“Maxine!”
“Sorry.” Maxine shrugged her shoulders and reached over to console Shelly.
Then Maxine’s words dawned on Lucy. Having a high-energy wedding ceremony planned would be a lot of excitement for an old man. Was Mariam really blaming Lucy for what happened to Toni?
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The next few weeks were a blur…
Lucy saw Antonio quite a bit during that time period and they had time to date and get caught up with Toni’s progress as he moved from the ICU to the Coronary Care Unit then to the Medical ward where Antonio footed the bill for the best private care for his grandfather. Lucy had been as good as support as she could be while running her business.
She also had the opportunity to speak with Toni.
“I still want to do this, Lucy. Please help us make this happen. I want to marry Shelly. She’s truly amazing,” Toni pleaded. He was frail but his spirit was soaring through any weakness.
Lucy swallowed hard when Toni told her that from the hospital bedside. Antonio was standing close by leaning against the wall, his hands shoved into his pockets and his chin tilted upwards. Did he even care about his grandfather’s wishes? Even if it might be his last wish?
“Grandfather, you need to get some rest” was all Antonio uttered during that conversation. Ignoring anything else that was said.
Later, his grandfather became slightly more confused as the hospital staff tried a different type of medication for his nerve pain.
“Well, that settles it,” Antonio declared.
