Chapter 17 - Five Days Before the Wedding
Five days before our wedding, Raymond became ill.
The number itself terrified me.
Five days.
That was what Wallace had originally given him.
Raymond developed a fever and collapsed during breakfast.
At the hospital, I stood beside his bed with memories crashing over me.
Monitors.
IV lines.
Pale skin.
I couldn't breathe.
Raymond reached for my hand.
“Nora.”
I looked at him.
“I'm here.”
“This isn't then.”
I knew.
My body didn't.
Dr. Chen eventually returned with results.
A routine infection.
Treatable.
Nothing sinister.
Nothing hidden.
Nothing designed to kill him.
I started laughing.
Then crying.
Dr. Chen hugged me.
Raymond recovered within two days.
But the experience revealed something neither of us had admitted.
We had survived the danger.
We still carried it.
So we began therapy.
Together.
Raymond spoke about being trapped inside his body.
I spoke about Theodore’s kidnapping.
We learned that happy endings didn't erase scars.
They gave you a safe place to heal them.
The wedding remained scheduled.
On the morning of it, Raymond stood before the mirror adjusting his tie.
Claire entered.
“Nervous?”
“Terrified.”
“She already said yes.”
“I know.”
Claire fixed his collar.
Then Raymond looked at his daughter.
“I wish I'd found you sooner.”
She smiled.
“You found me.”
Downstairs, Theodore was supposed to carry the rings.
This concerned everyone.
He was now two years old and considered rules suggestions rather than obligations.
I stood at the end of the aisle.
Raymond turned.
His expression made every terrible thing between our first meeting and that moment feel impossibly far away.
Then Theodore ran down the aisle.
Without the rings.
Everyone laughed.
Raymond whispered, “Where are they?”
Theodore proudly pointed behind him.
Our dog came running with the ring pillow.
It wasn't planned.
It was perfect.
And as I walked toward Raymond, I remembered his first whispered words.
Don't tell anyone I woke up.
Now hundreds of people were watching him stand at the altar.
May you like
Alive.
Waiting for me.
