Gillian stirred. She was disoriented and very uncomfortable. She opened her eyes and remembered that she was in the hospital corridor. Thoughts of her grandmother flooded her mind.
Please be okay, Grandmama, Gillian thought. She shifted slightly to look at Ryan. He was still sleeping and his arms were wrapped around her.
She smiled to herself as her heart swelled with love for him. She didn’t know how she had managed to find this wonderful man to love her. Gillian wasn’t about to let him go.
Ryan opened his blue eyes and stared at his wife. “Hey,” he said softly. He stroked her cheek. “Are you okay?”
Gillian nodded. “I was just watching you sleep. I miss waking up next to you,” she said.
“Me too, Princess,” Ryan replied. He stood up to stretch. He spotted Hayley and Mateo huddled together on another bench. They were still sleeping. Dimitri was reading the paper, and Edmund was pacing.
“Is there any news?” Gillian asked.
Edmund shook his head. “She’s out of surgery, but Dr. Hayward hasn’t come down yet,” he said.
“Gillian, do you want me to get you some coffee?” Ryan asked.
Gillian shook her head. “Please don’t leave me,” she said.
“I won’t,” Ryan promised. He saw David coming towards them. He pulled Gillian to her feet and brought her close to him.
Dimitri stood up. “How is she?” he asked.
“She made it through the surgery fine. The heart attach was very mild, and I managed to take care of the blockage in her arteries,” David explained.
“What does that mean?” Gillian asked. She held onto Ryan tightly.
David turned to Gillian. “It means that I took care of the problem that caused her heart attack. She is in recovery now and she is going to be fine.”
“Oh, thank God!” Gillian cried. She turned around and gave Ryan a huge hug. “Grandmama is going to be okay!” she cried.
Ryan smiled. “I know baby,” he said.
Mateo and Hayley were woken up by the commotion, and they came over to join them.
“What’s going on?” Hayley asked.
“She’s going to be all right,” Edmund explained.
“That’s great,” Hayley said.
Dimitri shook David’s hand. “Thank you, doctor,” he said.
“Can we see her?” Gillian asked.
“Not yet. She should be moved from recovery to a private room within the hour. You can see her then,” David said.
“Thank you,” Edmund said. He turned to Dimitri. “I’m going to go home for awhile and check on the kids. Will you tell Eugenia that I’ll visit her later?” he asked.
“Of course,” Dimitri said.
“We’re going to take off too,” Mateo said.
Hayley gave Gillian a hug. “I’ll come back later,” she promised.
“Thank you, Hayley, for everything,” Gillian said gratefully.
“Anytime,” Hayley replied. She smiled at Ryan. “I’ll see you later too.”
“Okay, get some sleep,” Ryan suggested.
“We will,” Mateo said.
“Gillian, are you sure you don’t want some coffee or some food?” Ryan asked.
“No, I’m fine,” Gillian said.
Edmund, Hayley and Mateo left. Dimitri, Ryan and Gillian went back to waiting. A half hour later, David came back.
“She’s been moved to a private room and she’s awake. But she is still very weak,” David said.
“Can we see her?” Gillian asked.
“As long as you keep it brief. She’s requested to see you and your husband,” David said.
Ryan and Gillian followed David to Eugenia’s room. He warned them not to excite her and left.
Eugenia was lying in the hospital bed. She looked very pale, but she smiled when she saw them.
“Oh my darlings. Thank you for coming.”
“Grandmama, you scared us,” Gillian said. She carefully gave her grandmother a hug.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said.
“How are you feeling?” Ryan asked.
“Much better now that you two are here instead of that awfil man.” Eugenia frowned.
Gillian smiled. “Oh Grandmama,” she said.
Eugenia reached for Gillian’s hand. “I’m not going anywhere. Not until I meet my first great grandchild,” she said.
Ryan smiled at her. “We’re going to hold you to that,” he said.
“Come here, Ryan.” Eugenia took Ryan’s hand. “I love you both and I can see how happy you make each other. I also see when you make each other miserable.”
Ryan and Gillian exchanged a glance and Eugenia continued.
“But that is part of love, my darlings. My Alexi and I used to have such fights! But we loved each other no matter what. I know you two do too. I see it when you look at each other. Hold onto that,” she said.
“We will,” Ryan promised.
Gillian squeezed her grandmother’s hand. “Thank you.”
“We’re going to let you get some rest now,” Ryan said. “We’ll be back later. Dimtri is waiting to see you, and Edmund, Hayley and Mateo are coming back later.”
Eugenia smiled. “Thank you.”
“Bye Grandmama.” Gillian gave her grandmother a kiss and followed Ryan out of the room.
“She’s going to be okay,” Ryan said.
Gillian smiled. “I know.” She turned to face Ryan. “I want to thank you for staying with me. I know it wasn’t comfortable.”
“Hospitals are never comfortable,” Ryan replied.
“I know that. What I mean is.” Gillian paused and tried to find the right words.
“I know what you mean, Gilly. How many times do I have to explain this to you?” Ryan asked.
“Explain what?” Gillian braced herself for Ryan to yell at her.
Ryan took her by the shoulders so he could look into her eyes.
“Gillian, I love you. I want to be with you. When you need me, I am going to be there for you. End of story. Got it?” he asked.
“Got it,” Gillian replied.
“Good.” Ryan kissed her. “Now let me take you home,” he said.
Gillian shook her head. “I want to stay here in case Grandmama needs me,” she said.
“Gillian, you’re not going to do Eugenia any good if you don’t take care of yourself,” Ryan said.
“I slept last night,” Gillian reminded him.
“Gillian, that was not sleeping. How about this? Come back to Myrtle’s with me. She always has food around. We’ll get something to eat, relax a little and then we’ll come back. How does that sound?” Ryan asked.
“Wonderful,” Gillian said.
Ryan smiled and put his arm around her shoulders. “Let’s go,” he said.
