Love's Second Chance (Second Chances #1)(58)

“And the same for you,” she replied. “So where is everyone?”

“They’ll all be back in a couple of hours. Galen’s mom refused to eat cafeteria food on Christmas day, so she’s making dinner and bringing me a plate. She also said that the baby needed to eat something healthy.”

“Well, she’s right. You know how mothers and mother-in-laws can be pushy sometimes, but at least you know they care,” she said to me. Looking down at her watch, her eyes went wide. “Oh hell, I need to hurry. I have to go clock in or I’ll be late. I’ll see you in a little bit?”

“I’ll be here,” I answered warmly.

Once she was gone, I went to sit by Galen’s bed. All of the gauze had been removed, so he didn’t look like a mummy anymore. I took his hand in mine and leaned over to kiss him gently on the lips. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart, you will not believe the amount of peanut butter balls my mother made for you. I swear you’ll have a ton of them to last for weeks. I’ll make a deal with you … if you wake up, I promise not to eat them all.”

I waited for him to banter along with me, but he didn’t. Taking the tin from the table, I opened it to reveal the chocolaty goodness inside. “So help me, if you wake up over this my mom will never let me live it down,” I said out loud to myself.

The scent of peanut butter filled the room and I fanned it across Galen’s nose, thinking he would wake up. “All right, Galen, here goes peanut butter ball number one disappearing into my mouth.” I placed it in my mouth and moaned the whole time I chewed it. It didn’t work, but it sure did taste good. “Peanut butter ball number two, here it comes,” I said lifting it to my mouth.

“You’ll make yourself sick eating all of that chocolate, Korinne,” Elizabeth teased. I turned and smiled as Brady and Jenna came in carrying huge boxes alongside her.

“You know my brother is going to be pissed if you eat all of his peanut butter balls,” Brady warned, but then burst out laughing. “Oh never mind, go ahead. He deserves it after keeping us waiting for so long.” After Galen’s accident I had come to the conclusion that Brady joked like that to brush off how he truly felt. I could see it in his eyes that he worried for his brother.

“That’s why I was taunting him, in hopes he would wake up.” I sighed.

Jenna piped in and said, “You know your mother will never let you live it down if he wakes up over the peanut butter balls.”

“I know.” I laughed. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“How about we eat some dinner and sing Galen some Christmas carols?” Elizabeth suggested. “It is Christmas after all.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” I murmured.

The boxes they brought in were all filled to the brim with food and presents. I stood there frozen, watching all of them pull out the contents. “Oh my,” I breathed. “Did you bring the whole kitchen?”

“I told Mom she was overdoing it,” Brady chimed in. Jenna was off to the side and nodded her head behind Elizabeth’s back, agreeing with Brady. I stifled a laugh and that earned us all a scowl from Galen’s mother.

“You can’t tell me you all would have rather ate cafeteria food?” she asked, looking at us all. When no one answered she smiled triumphantly. “That’s what I thought.”

Once everything was taken out of the boxes, we all grabbed a plate of food. The morning sickness still knocked me on my ass at times, but nothing could stop me from eating the plate of food in my hands.

“What are we going to do if he doesn’t wake up?” Brady asked. Everyone paused to stare at him, completely taken aback by the question. “I mean, there is a possibility that he won’t. I just wanted to know what we would do,” he stated quietly.

They all turned to look at me then. I guess to see what I was going to say. Looking at them I said, “He’s going to wake up. I can’t afford to think otherwise.”

“Of course he’s going to wake up, Ducky, but it doesn’t hurt to have a backup plan if things don’t work out,” Jenna replied.

I got up from the table to go to Galen’s bedside. “I understand that, but it’s Christmas. We need to celebrate the good things right now and not the bad.” Everyone smiled at me and nodded their heads. The mood was lightened for the time being, but I would have to face the choice eventually if Galen didn’t wake up.

“How about we sing some songs?” I suggested, thinking maybe it would get us in the Christmas spirit.

We crowded around the bed and sang Christmas songs to Galen until we could sing no longer. Nurses that passed by the room even came in and sang with us. The time eventually began to get late and it was wearing down on us all. Our hope for Galen waking up on Christmas day was slowly diminishing with the passing time. Deep down, I thought it would’ve been Christmas that would pull him from his slumber.

“Korinne, honey, I’m going to go home and get some rest,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll be back in the morning. Make sure you call me if anything changes.”

“Will do. Are you all leaving?” I asked, looking at everyone.

Jenna gave me a hug and nodded. “We’re all exhausted and you look like you could use some sleep, too.”

“I know, but I’m staying here with Galen.”