Damaged Before Christmas

Chapter Eight

That woman was going to drive me insane. I was waiting on Holly coming out of the bakery so we can get back to the hospital. I was a complete mess as I was annoyed when she called me up on being cagey with her but on the other hand, she had my blood boiling for a completely different reason. She had a fiery temper that I seriously liked and she was adorable when she got annoyed.

I looked at my reflection in the rear-view mirror and noticed that I had a sparkle in my eye that I thought I had lost years ago. I was also smiling which was something I hadn't done sincerely since my dad started going on about me taking over the other family business.

I knew that Iona, darn even her name sounded so right in my head as I hadn't spoken her name out loud. When she caught me sniffing the coffee and she thought that I thought that she had poisoned it, it threw me off completely. I mean Holly had been raving about the coffee that Iona had made her when she was waiting for me. I caught a quick smell of cinnamon and wanted to know if it was coming from the coffee.

I groaned as I rested my head against the headrest as I wondered what was holding Holly up. I had started doubting if I was wrong about the woman who had turned my life upside down. I closed my eyes and saw Iona standing there with her fist on her hip as she glared at me accusingly. I needed to keep my distance or I will find myself falling hard and fast for Iona and that was the last thing that I wanted.

I hadn't realised that Holly had climbed in the passenger side. "Wow, I haven't a smile that big on you for ages," she smirked making me open my eyes and look over at her. "Wonder who's got you smiling like that?"

"Nobody, I was thinking of something funny," I grumbled as I felt myself blush. "What's that you have there?" I pointed to the takeaway cup in her hands.

"It's your coffee you left at the bakery. I thought you may want to try it without insulting anyone else," Holly shrugged handing me the cup. "She's right you know."

I took the cup and took a sip and let the flavours burst over my tongue. "That's a good cup of coffee. That beats the coffee machine at the hospital," I said as I took a bigger mouthful.

"Told you, she makes the best coffee that I have ever had before. We should get mum to put it on the menu," Holly said clipping her seatbelt into place.

"I think mum needs to concentrate on dad this now, don't you," I said quickly finishing the coffee. "But we could've got another cup for mum and let her try it."

Holly squealed before unclipping her seatbelt and opening the door and climbed out of the car. "That would be perfect, I'll be back in a second."

I sighed as I watched my sister run back to the bakery and disappeared through the door. I should've got her to get me another one. Oh well, now I have an excuse to see Iona again. What was I thinking? As I had decided to avoid her. I sat in the car yet again as I waited for Holly to come back with the coffee for our mum. I was still sitting there when Holly came out of the bakery clutching a tray of coffee.

I leant over and opened the door for her which she smiled at. "Thanks, I knew you were still a gentleman," Holly said breathing heavily like she had run a marathon.

"Who else did you get coffee for?" I asked as I held the tray of coffees as she buckled her seatbelt again.

"Well, I knew that I wanted another cup and I'm sure you would've wanted another coffee, even if you don't want to admit it," Holly said taking the tray from my hands and placing it on her knees.

I smiled as I started the car and pulling into the road. "So what were you laughing back at the bakery?" I asked her wanting in on the joke.

"The tension between you and Iona is electric and I wish that you both would just give in and give up the hostility," Holly said waving her hand in front of her. "She's exactly what you need and you know fine I'm right."

I wanted to tell her that she was wrong but the next time she opened her mouth it completely floored me. "She already thinks your hot and I saw the way you were looking at her. You think she's hot so why p***y foot around and just ask her out."

I didn't know what to say. Iona thought I was hot. I have to admit that stroked my ego. I lifted one side of my mouth into a smile. I knew that if I was to start dating that Iona would be my ideal woman with her attitude and her looks. I knew Holly was waiting for me to answer her about Iona.

I looked over at my sister who sat staring at me. "I see where you're going with this. You know that I am NOT looking for someone at the moment. I will admit she has me curious and she is pretty. That is all you will get from me, Holly."

"Fine, but Iona is a great person and you need to grab her and not let go, before someone else gets her," Holly said huffing and shifting her eyes so she was looking through the window.

I sighed as I focused on the road. The rest of the drive was in silence with both of us deep in our thoughts. We arrived at the hospital and I turned the car off. I opened the door and stepped out of the car as Holly did the same on her side. As we walked to the hospital's automatic doors I turned to Holly who still clutched the trays of coffees. "Why don't focus on dad and him getting better, huh?" I said walking over to the lift.

"Sure," Holly said disappointed that she couldn't play matchmaker with me.

The lift doors opened and we walked to the back after pressing the number for the floor that we knew our parents were on. We didn't speak as we watched the numbers climb in the lift before the ding that let us know we had arrived at the floor we were needing. We stepped out and walked down to the room our dad was in.

I don't necessarily hate hospitals with their white walls and floors. It was like walking through a very bright light. Everything looked sterile and there was no personality anywhere in the hospital. the worst part of being in a hospital whether you were a visitor or patient was that the place stunk of disinfectant and bleach. Every time that I had to come to the hospital I had to stop myself from gagging based on the smell alone.

We stopped outside our dad's room and we both took a deep breath before opening the door and stepping into the room. The scene that met us was heartbreaking as our dad was lying in the metal hospital bed with a horrible grey patterned hospital gown and machines were on one side of him beeping every few seconds. I assumed that the beeping was for his heartbeat. I noticed the tube that left my dad's arm and connected to a bag hanging from a thin metal t bar styled pole. I watched the liquid drip into a little container before it went down to the tube and into my dad's arm.

I looked to where my mum was sitting holding my dad's hand. She looked like she had aged twenty years as her face was covered with dried tears. I watched Holly as she went and placed her hand on our mum's shoulder letting her know we were back. Mum jumped a little as she let go of our dad's hand and standing to face us.

"Doctor's don't know what's wrong," mum said trying to cover the fact that she was trying to be brave for her children. "They suspect that it's his heart or his lungs."

Mum broke after that falling to her knees. Holly looked to me for help and I quickly walked to where our mum knelt and I crouched to help her stand before pulling her into a hug. "He will be fine, we have to believe that," I said into my mum's hair as I held her tighter when I felt my mum shuddering against me.

"Mum, here I brought you some coffee from the bakery. Iona made it special for you. Have you eaten anything yet?" Holly asked pulling our mum away from me and guiding her back to the chair she was sitting on.

"The nurses brought me something earlier but the coffee will be great," our mum said trying to give us both one of her smiles.

"Mum, why don't you and Holly go and get something to eat and I will stay with dad. You need to go home and change and get some rest. You will feel better afterwards and I can let you know if anything happens when you're not here, OK?" I asked my mum looking at Holly pleading that she agrees with me.

Holly must've seen the pleading that I was trying to get her to see silently. She nodded her head slightly that she agreed. She hugged our mother tighter. "Tony is right mum, you need to rest and dad won't be alone. We can go and get something to eat and then I'm going to take you home so you can get some rest."

Our mum pulled away from Holly and looked towards the bed that held her husband. She was thinking about taking us up on the offer. She stood and bent over my dad and kissed his head. "You better not leave me, Nick, the world still needs you," my mum whispered into his ear. She straightened before she walked towards Holly who held up her jacket to put it on.

Once her jacket was on and zipped and her bag over her shoulder she turned to me. "You make sure you let us know if anything changes with your dad," my mum said pulling me into another hug. "Where is that coffee? I need something to pick me up."

I smiled as I handed over one of the coffee cups. I watched as my mum lifted the cup to her lips and took a big mouthful. I watched her eyes as she lowered the cup and looked thoughtful. "That is good coffee, where did you manage to find coffee like this?" she asked looking between me and Holly.

Holly grinned as she looked at me sideways. "Iona made it today when I popped in. It's honestly the best coffee we both have had, isn't that Tony?" she said turning to me.

I smiled as I knew what Holly was doing. "Yeah, I guess that if you want coffee like that you need to keep the creator of it." shrugging my shoulders.

My mum looked at me before draining the rest of the coffee in a couple of gulps. "Looks like she has definitely left her mark on the whole family." My mum gave me one of her knowing smiles as Holly held up both her thumbs.

I ran my hand threw my hair before moving to sit in the chair my mum had just vacated. Just as I was taking my jacket off my mum walked over to me and bent to give me another hug whispering in my ear. " I knew she would be good for you. Just don't spoil it before it had the chance to start."

I just nodded wondering why both my mum and sister were adamant that I was destined to be with Iona. I didn't say anything as I watched the women in my family take one last look at my dad before they left.

I leant forward and took my dad's hand in mine. "Hey, dad. I hope you can hear me as we need you to wake up as we need you. Plus I need to know how to go about getting my dream girl." I said quietly said looking at my dad's face.

I studied my father for a long time remembering how his cheeks were always red and how his belly wobbled when he laughed. It was completely different from how he looked at the moment as his skin was so pale that you could almost mistake it for paper. His eyes were sunk into his head and he looked like he had lost some weight even though he was only brought in last night.

"Dad, come on, I know you don't want to leave the kids disappointed as they need you." I pleaded to him. I closed my eyes and prayed to anyone who would listen to my pleas.