Page 82 of You Are Cordially Invited

Sandy pinched my cheeks, which earned him a furious scowl, and then led the rest of us through the curtains of trauma six, our yet-to-be-commissioned brand-spanking-new treatment room. The hall was eerily empty, which got me wondering for a second, that was until we got to the nurses station where I was brought up short.

Holy fucking shit.

An honour guard of practically every one of my nurses, on- and off-duty, and most of the medical and ancillary staff as well was lined up on either side of the corridor all the way to the elevators. They clapped and woo-hooed, wolf-whistled, and dabbed at their eyes, all of them holding walking canes and crutches above their heads in some kind of makeshift arch.

I lost my shit on the spot, a broken cry of appreciation falling from my lips as I blubbered shamelessly into my fist. Sandy stepped to my side and shoved another bunch of Kleenex into my hand, though I figured it would be nowhere enough.

The day had barely started, and I’d cried three times already before I’d even laid eyes on Reuben. We’d be lucky if we didn’t have to swim out of the chapel.

Sandy retouched my makeup and smiled fondly. “You deserve this,” he said. “You both do.”

I nodded like a bobblehead, then faced the lines of people and gave a deep bow. “Thank you all. You’re the best people I know, and I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

Silence fell in the corridor for a long, emotionally charged moment before Hayden Wilson, our head of radiology, broke into song: a beautiful Maori waiata that I recognised from our inaugural meeting of the Auckland Med queer focus group. He’d come along that day as an ally, his deep baritone sending shivers up my spine. I took a deep breath, gathered my fabulous around my heart and spine, and started walking. I thanked people as I passed, but when I came to Hayden, I stopped for just a second to let his voice soak in, and then I leaned in and kissed his cheek before moving on toward the corridor that led to the chapel.

When I’d heard Sandy’s idea for us to be married in the Auckland Med chapel, I gave him credit for the inspired choice. The chapel was close to the ER, easy to isolate, wouldn’t be high on the media’s list of possible venues, and allowed for the hiccup of Reuben not being discharged in time. And lastly, because it was on the hospital grounds, it gave Mark and Josh a lot of control for backup security.

But more than any of those excellent reasons, I loved that my staff could be part of it and maybe see a tiny piece of this softer part of me that Reuben seemed so damn keen to show the world.

The very thought made me want to stab a fork in my eyes, but what did I know?

The short walk to the chapel from the ER was via a back corridor used mostly by staff. But our little party caused quite a stir nonetheless, especially since most of the ER staff not tied up with a patient or providing coverage tagged along in a motley crew of supporters. Hayden also followed, his beautiful waiata echoing through the hospital.

I felt the heat of stares as I passed, heard the faint rumble of clapping and shouts of congratulations, but nothing shook my focus from the man I knew was waiting for me.

I am not going to cry.

I am not going to cry.

I am not going to fucking cry.

And I was doing just fine until we turned the corner to the chapel, and there he was, Reuben, standing outside the chapel doors. Six foot three of hard-muscled, big-hearted gorgeousness, with long blond waves kissing his shoulders and those devastating silver-grey eyes, and all mine.

We locked gazes and the world fell away.

He mouthed I love you and I mouthed the words back, my heart jumping in my throat.

We wanted to walk in together, side by side, but I’d completely underestimated what I’d feel when I laid eyes on him. And when his face lit up in the biggest smile, those devastating dimples popping all over the damn place, my knees went to jelly and he sucked every drop of oxygen from my lungs as he always did.

Cory stood with a hand around Reuben’s hips, the small bag with the rings dangling from the other and Tink glued to his side.How in the hell had Tink got the hospital’s okay to be there?

“I might’ve told them Tink was his service dog,” Sandy whispered with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Okay, so I’d obviously asked that question aloud and my tongue was on its own mission separate from my brain. That didn’t bode well for the rest of the day, but what the hell. As long as I said yes at the right time, we were golden.

I leaned close to Mathew. “For fuck sake, kick me if I don’t say yes when I’m supposed to.”

He snorted. “You got it.”

“You need to start moving if you intend to actually marry the guy,” Michael whispered from behind.

“What? Oh, right.” I straightened my shoulders, pulled up my sass, and planted my boots on solid ground.

The others took their place at my back and I met Reuben’s warm smile. He held out his hand, and time stopped for just a second as everything inside me calmed like a deep lake on a windless day.

I took a breath and drank in the sight of him, composed, focussed... and so damn happy. His gaze travelled the length of me with undisguised appreciation, taking his time, letting me know how much he liked what he saw, and my heart filled. And when we locked eyes again, his smile grew, like nothing else mattered in the world except this minute and this joining. That what we were about to do had some greater meaning in the universe, and maybe it did, in our universe at least.

My handsome, huge-hearted, gentle love. This beautiful man who drew a softness from me I didn’t know I had; who loved me in every way it was possible to love another person; who held my heart safe in his hands; and who somehow wantedme, every sharp-edged, lace-lined part of me, and who couldn’t seem to get enough.

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