A Highland Family Affair (Highlands #3)

Chapter 22

22

‘Ahem, excuse me, Lady Olivia?’ A voice startled her awake and she sat bolt upright.

She squinted her eyes and rubbed her stiff neck as she tried to remember where on earth she was, and why a man in scrubs was talking to her. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep, what time is it?’

The nurse glanced at the clock on the wall behind her. ‘Don’t worry, I think you must have needed it. It’s just after 5a.m. Brodie’s awake now if you’d like to come and see him.’

Olivia stood too quickly in her eagerness, and a rush of blood caught her off guard. She gripped the sofa arm to steady herself as her head began to swim. ‘Oof.’ She touched her head until it wore off. ‘That’s great, thank you so much,’ she replied as her empty stomach churned.

‘Is he okay? Was the operation successful?’ Dougie asked. It was clear that he had been awake a lot longer than Olivia as he was gripping a cardboard coffee cup and guilt niggled at her. She was drained after the ordeal of the night before, however, and Dougie had been kind enough to let her sleep.

The nurse nodded and smiled. ‘He’s groggy but that’s only to be expected after a general anaesthetic. But the surgery went well from what the surgeon said. Fairly straightforward. That said, I don’t want you to stay too long, okay? He needs to rest. If all goes well, he will probably be released tomorrow, but that’s the surgeon’s decision, not mine, so we will see how he goes. He’ll need to be careful obviously. No hiking for a very long time.’

‘No hiking ever again if I’ve anything to say about it,’ Olivia chuntered, knowing she didn’t really mean it.

‘Come on, I’ll take you both to see him.’ The nurse gestured that they follow him.

Olivia caught sight of her reflection in a glass panel and grimaced when she realised her hair resembled a bird’s nest and her mascara had run. She could only imagine what a sight Dougie had had to put up with; her snoring, open-mouthed and drooling probably. She quickly made vain attempts to smooth down her locks and wiped at her dark-rimmed eyes in the hope to be more presentable for her fiancé. But knowing all the while, gratefully, that he wouldn’t care a jot about her appearance.

The nurse opened a door off the corridor to a private room. ‘Brodie, you have a couple of worried visitors.’

Dougie stepped aside to allow Olivia into the room first and she went straight to Brodie’s bedside, fighting off tears at seeing him attached to medical equipment once again. The gash to the side of his forehead was clean and had been taped and there was a kind of frame holding up a blanket over his injured leg.

‘Brodie!’ She peppered his face with kisses. ‘I thought I’d lost you when you didn’t come home. We were all so worried,’ she told him with a wavering voice.

Dougie kissed his son’s forehead. ‘Aye, son, you’ll have to stop scaring us like this and ending up in hospital, I’m getting on, you know, and my heart cannae take it,’ he teased.

‘Sorry I scared you all. Although I think I scared myself too, to be honest. It all went wrong so fast,’ Brodie said, frowning, his words a little slow and slurred. He reached up to touch Olivia’s cheek. ‘Thank you for sending out the search party.’

Olivia stroked his hair. ‘What happened out there? Was it the weather? Or did you get lost?’

He slowly shook his head. ‘I wasn’t lost. I was done for the day and was on my way back when the rain came out of nowhere. I’m sure it wasn’t forecast. I took a shortcut across the rocks which I now know was a stupid mistake. The rocks were super slippery, which didn’t help. But then there was a flash of lightning that spooked Wilf and he lurched forward, taking me with him. I landed on a sharp rock, and I both heard and felt a kind of snapping noise which was followed by searing pain. I knew it was serious when I could barely move to turn over onto my back. The rain got heavier and the lightning and thunder more frequent. Wilf was cowering by me, bless him, and Marley went shooting off down the mountain.’ His eyes widened. ‘Oh, God, Marley. Please tell me they found Marley. Is he okay? And they got Wilf, didn’t they? I wasn’t dreaming that, was I?’

The heart monitor’s beeping picked up pace with Brodie’s panic, but Dougie reached out and gripped his hand. ‘Aye, lad, dinnae fash, Marley made his way home, the brave wee soul. We think he might have been trying to alert us to there being a problem. And Wilf came down the mountain with you.’

Brodie exhaled a deep sigh and closed his eyes. ‘Thank God for that. Poor Marley. And Wilf must be traumatised. I was crying out and shouting for help and he was licking my face. I was in and out of consciousness due to the pain and I couldn’t keep an eye on them.’ His chin trembled. ‘I was trying to reassure Wilf and trying my damnedest to hang on to his lead, but I think I eventually let go when I became unconscious again. It was bloody awful.’

‘Hey, it’s fine. Wilf wouldn’t leave your side and even tried to fight off the rescue team until he realised they were helping you.’ Olivia chuckled; her vision was slightly blurred again with tears.

‘I’m so glad they’re both okay. I don’t what I would do if…’ He looked pale and exhausted after hours of lying out in the cold and rain with such a terrible injury.

Olivia smoothed her thumb across his face. ‘You don’t need to worry now. We just need you to rest and get better, that’s all that matters now.’ She took a deep breath, knowing her next words would be hard to say and possibly hard for Brodie to hear. ‘I’ve decided I’m going to start contacting everyone to say we’re postponing the wedding until your leg is healed. I’m sure people will understand and?—’

Brodie strained to lift up his head and glared at her. ‘You’ll do no such thing, Olivia MacBain. I’m marrying you on Saturday as planned and that’s that. I’ve waited all these years for this, and I won’t wait any longer. Do you hear me?’

Olivia was a little stunned by his forcefulness but thoroughly delighted that he still wanted to go ahead. She kissed him and said, ‘Okay, okay, that’s fine.’

He gave a deep sigh. ‘Good. Good.’ A crease appeared between his brows. ‘Unless you’ve changed your mind?’

Olivia scoffed. ‘Changed my mind? Absolutely not. I’m not letting you go ever again, Brodie MacLeod.’

He smiled. ‘Phew! Although, I was thinking… maybe we could miss out the whole cathedral aspect? I’m not sure I could hobble on crutches all that way down the aisle. I’m sure if I spoke to Bishop Latham, he would be fine about it.’ He winked. He knew full well that she hadn’t wanted to get married at the cathedral, preferring the intimacy of the little chapel by the loch, in the castle grounds, like the wedding Dougie and Mirren had, and this really was the perfect out. Not the best reason admittedly but a genuine reason, nonetheless. It also helped that Brodie had worked with the bishop at the cathedral doing research on their documents so he knew him quite well.

Olivia tried to stifle her grin. ‘That’s a very good point, Brodie. I think we should perhaps contact all the dignitaries and such and explain the situation. It’s for the best.’

Dougie chimed in, ‘But isn’t that going to upset a lot of people? Admittedly people that you don’t really know but still…’

Brodie turned to his dad. ‘If it does kick off, I’ll take the blame, Dad. But I actually do think I’d need a wheelchair to get me down the aisle at the cathedral with it being so far, and I have no idea where we would get one from at such short notice. At least at the chapel the aisle is shorter. Less hobbling distance. All the fancy folks are invited to the evening reception at the castle anyway and they can wear their posh gear for that. And all the people we know personally are coming to the chapel service anyway.’

Dougie frowned. ‘Wheelchairs are fairly easy to come by, son, if that’s your only concern.’

‘Yeah, but it would have to be a decent one that’s in really good nick if I’m having it at my wedding and it seems silly to buy a new one just to use for the day.’

As if the penny had dropped, Dougie held up his hands. ‘Well, it’s your wedding. You’ve got to do what’s right for you. I’m off to call Kerr and get him to come and pick us up so you can get some rest, son. I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone for a few minutes.’ He squeezed Brodie’s hand and left the room.

Olivia gazed at Brodie. Even with a gash and a bruise on his forehead he was still the sexiest, most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on.

‘What?’ he asked with a smile. ‘You’re looking at me funny.’

‘I love you so much, Brodie MacLeod,’ she said with a sigh, the relief of seeing him alive flooding her veins.

‘And I love you. I can’t wait to marry you.’ He fidgeted. ‘And I can’t wait to come home. This bed’s a bit like a plank.’

Olivia laughed. ‘You think that’s bad; I fell asleep in the waiting room and when I woke up I looked a bit like Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice .’

He laughed but held his stomach. ‘Ooh, ow, my ribs. It’s a great movie, though.’

‘Well, I knew you’d love it, it’s an eighties movie. I suppose I had better go. I don’t want to leave you, but you do need to rest.’

‘Aye and so do you. Thank you for sleeping on an uncomfortable sofa in a waiting room for me. It means the world.’ He smiled.

‘You’re welcome. I know you’d do the same for me.’ She kissed his lips, pausing for a moment to relish the feeling.

He narrowed his eyes. ‘Weeeell, I’m not sure…’ he teased.

She feigned shock. ‘Cheeky! I’ll see you later on today. Love you.’

‘Love you too, Beetle – I mean gorgeous.’

She stuck out her tongue at him and left the room giggling.