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By the Saturday before Christmas, Brett was emotionally exhausted. Andrew and Lacy left him alone in the room with her for a few hours, coming back later with arms full of boxes.
“What’s going on?” Brett asked, looking between his brother and adopted daughter.
“If you’re going to spend Christmas here with Carol, Daddy, we’re going to bring Christmas to you!” Lacy said excitedly, putting her much smaller box on the floor next to Andrew’s. Andrew opened the large box, pulling out parts of a Christmas tree.
“I found the tree I used to put up in my dorm room, thought we could decorate it in here, make it feel a little less hospital-y and little more festive,” Andrew explained, looking to Brett for approval before he did anything else.
Brett looked to where Carol was lying on the bed and he couldn’t deny it—the room was awfully dreary for it only being a couple days until Christmas. “Alright, let’s get decorating.”
Lacy began unpacking her box, putting little red bows all about the room with Scotch tape. “Not as good as Carol’s decorating, but I’m getting better!” she said happily, pulling a teddy bear dressed up as Santa Claus out of her box. She tucked the bear into Carol’s arms so that it looked like she was holding it, making an awfully cute picture if it weren’t for the fact that she was in a coma.
Andrew plugged in the lights on his miniature Christmas tree, putting it in the center of the table by the window. “Come on, Lacy-bear, time for ornaments!” he said with as much excitement as he could muster, meeting Brett’s slightly sad eyes over her head.
The two brothers watched as Lacy decorated the tree, being extra meticulous about where she placed the ornaments based on where she thought Carol would want them. Finally, she put the angel on top of the tree, looking at it with pride.
“That’s much better, Daddy. Now when Carol wakes up, she’ll know it’s Christmas.”
Brett pulled Lacy into his side, hugging her to gain comfort as much as he was giving comfort. “I think it’s perfect, Lacy-bear,” he said sadly, looking at the tree.
Little did the Carlingtons know, but she was standing in the doorway watching with a sad look on her face as well, Wade by her side.
* * *
The night of Christmas Eve arrived, and still Carol wasn’t awake. Brett had become so attached to her bedside that Andrew was worried for his brother, afraid that she’d never wake up and Brett would spiral downward into a place none of them wanted him to go. After dinner, Brett insisted that Andrew take Lacy home, wanting her to be asleep in bed for when Santa came.
When Lacy was ready to go, thoughts of Santa exciting her to go home, Andrew paused in the door.
“WillSantabe coming home tonight to put out the gifts, or should Santa’s brother take care of it?”
Brett looked over at Andrew, knowing exactly what his brother worried about. He sighed heavily. “Yes, Santa will be coming home. I just need a bit longer here.”
Andrew nodded, pulling the door closed behind him and leaving Brett in the room alone with her. He immediately grabbed her hand, holding it between his own.
“Carol, I don’t know what I’m doing here anymore,” Brett said, talking to her unresponsive form. “Until you came along, I thought I had everything under control—granted, the shop was having some trouble, but I knew I’d pull through.”
Brett’s thumb began tracing patterns on the back of her hand and his eyes followed the movement. “Then you came along and turned my world upside down. Even before you–before we found out you were here, you were rocking my normal. I don’t know…”
A single tear slipped from Brett’s eye and fell down his cheek. He sniffed once before he kept speaking.
“I fell in love with you, Carol, and now you’re just… gone.”
On the other side of the room, she gasped. Carol turned to look up at Wade, the two of them invisible to everyone around. She’d spent the past few days watching Brett, Andrew, and Lacy in her hospital room, seeing how much time and energy they’d put into visiting her and decorating the room. It was more than she ever would have imagined, but she didn’t know what she could do to fix it.
“Wade,” Carol said, her hand landing on his coat. “What can I do?”
Wade’s eyes were locked on Brett, his best friend in life. He’d never seen Brett cry, never heard Brett utter those words to anyone, even his own family. The fact that Brett just admitted to her prone body that he loved her…
“Carol, this was never in the plan,” Wade said without emotion, trying to keep to his job. “You were successful in your task; you saved Brett Carlington, his family, and his business. I do not fully understand why we are even still here, as we should have both moved on by now.”
Her eyes widened, realizing that he meant she was supposed to be dead. “Wade, I can’t leave them, I can’t leave him now. You heard what he said, I haven’t saved anyone, I’ve only just begun!”
Wade looked at her then, a recognition forming on his face.
“Oh, Carol. I see now what has to be done.”
She waited for Wade to elaborate, holding her breath.
“You now have a choice, Carol. You may go to heaven and live in everlasting peace, leaving this world and all its hardships and woes…”
