Her Sister's Fiancé - Book #1

Chapter 24

It was light that awakened him, the morning light and the warmth beside him. For a moment, Ethan blinked sleepily, only half opening his eyes as he tried to reconstruct what had happened the day before. The wedding, Manuel, and Lavinia. . .Drawing a sharp breath of air, he sat bolt upright, swinging his feet over the side of the bed and knocking into a chair that had been standing beside the bed. The chair toppled over, but he was too distracted to notice.

Lavinia! His eyes settled on her, his heart beating out a wild rhythm. She was still and quiet, her features pale. No! He couldn't breathe. No, no, no, not yet! They'd only just become husband and wife, how could he part with her?

Suddenly, her stomach moved, and her nostrils flared slightly. Relief flooded his body, causing him to gasp for air. Not dead yet. Tears flooded his vision, and he leaned back on the bed, panting heavily.

A quiet knock on the door penetrated the silence. Ethan pushed himself into a sitting position, sighing softly and running a hand through his disheveled hair. Rising, he crept to the door and opened it a crack. Cassandra's eyes met his, and he pushed the door the rest of the way open.

"Come in," he said quietly.

Cassandra was drawn and paler than usual, but she seemed to be bearing up under the calamity with a certain poise and dignity. Her eyes swept over him as she stepped into the room, and he could almost feel her eyes calculating how he was holding up as he closed the door.

"She hasn't woken up yet." Ethan said softly, looking away from her searching gaze and moving to stand at the foot of the bed where he looked down on the beautiful figure of his wife. She looked so peaceful and calm as though she were only sleeping instead of fighting for her life. "But it's probably a little early yet." He looked at the stream of sunshine pouring through the window in an attempt to check the time.

"It's past noon." Cassandra said almost absentmindedly as she, too, stood looking down at Lavinia.

"Noon?" Ethan's brows shot up.

"Yes," Cassandra looked up at him. "We've been waiting for you to wake up so we could check on her."

"I'm sorry." Ethan ran a hand through his hair again.

"No need, the doctor came in once earlier, but now that you're awake, he'll come in to change her bandage." She smiled reassuringly at him. "I was walking by the door when I heard you moving around." She added as if on second thought.

Ethan nodded curtly, his eyes going back to the still form of his wife. "Did he say anything? The doctor?"

"Only that she looks well, and he has high hopes." Cassandra said gently.

Ethan nodded again, looking down at his hands. What was there for him to do? How could he simply stand around waiting for her to come back to him while his mind was filled with such a waterfall of thoughts?

"Ethan," Cassandra whispered, drawing him out of his thoughts. He grunted softly in response. "You should get something to eat. I can take care of Lavinia, and you need to keep up your strength."

"No." Ethan said quickly. "I can't leave her."

"Ethan," Cassandra's voice reminded him of his nurse's whenever he'd done something naughty as a little boy. "Please. You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry." He refused to look at her.

"Father is in the dining room." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her biting her lower lip. "He needs reassurance. If I were Lavinia, I could help him, but I'm not. You have to talk to him. He needs you, Ethan, please." Her voice was so sincere and so filled with a sorrowful appeal that Ethan found himself heaving a sigh and nodding. "Thank you." She touched his arm briefly before moving to stand beside her sister.