Page 84 of Through the Snow Globe
“What time am I supposed to be there? Do you know?” Diana asked.
Rochelle hummed quietly in the receiver. “You’re acting very weird this morning.”
“I know,” Diana said. “I haven’t had my first cup of coffee yet.”
“Whatever you say. I believe you said you were going to the Grants’ house at noon. But first you’re going to visit Linus.”
Diana’s heart sank a notch in her chest. “At New Hope?”
“Where else would he be? I’m being serious, Diana. Do you need help?”
“No, I’m fine,” she said reflexively.
“F-word alert,” Rochelle shot back. “I’ll be there in ten.”
“No. Stay where you are. I’m okay. Really. Enjoy your morning with the guy. Is he your boyfriend now?”
Rochelle cleared her throat. “I’m calling you later to make sure you’re okay because you seem to have hit your head or something.”
“Maybe that’s true. So is he? Your boyfriend?” Diana repeated.
Rochelle chuckled. “Yes. For two weeks now. Where have you been, Diana?”
Diana sipped from her coffee. “I’m not really sure,” she said honestly. “I’ll talk to you later, okay? Merry Christmas.”
Diana disconnected the call and stood. Then she headed to her bedroom, quickly dressed, and prepared to go see Linus at New Hope. It felt weird, knowing he was back to lying in that dreadful bed. She’d just seen him last night. He’d been awake and happy. They’d planned their wedding to take place at Christmas with all his family present. They’d finally set a date! And Diana hadn’t felt the least bit intimidated by that thought. The idea of it actually felt perfect to her.
She swallowed, wishing those plans could come true. But Linus was back in his coma. She couldn’t humanely keep him in that horrible day, destined to be in one accident after another. How could she say she loved him and allow that to be the case? She couldn’t. He’d promised that he’d fight for her, though, and even if everyone in Diana’s life had left her, she believed in him. If there was a way, Linus would find it. He wouldn’t give up.
Grabbing her keys, she headed out the front door. The jingling sidewalk Santa was gone. Diana guessed he was celebrating with his own family today, if he had one. Or sleeping in after flying all over the world to leave presents under kids’ trees during the night.
Linus was the real Santa. Diana knew it, and the fact that he’d given Dustin that doll yesterday proved it. Diana wondered what Dustin was doing this Christmas morning. Were there presents under his tree for him to open? Did he even have a tree? Diana would like to think his foster parents were good people. But, if what Dustin had told her was true, they weren’t a match for him. He was a sweet boy. The woman Diana had seen him with at Linus’s store seemed bitter and cruel.
Diana pressed the gas pedal a bit harder. Her chest began to constrict the closer she got to New Hope Long-Term Care Facility. It had only been a few days since her last visit, but it felt like forever ago. As she approached the facility, she slowed her vehicle and turned into the parking lot. The SUV with the Rudolph hood ornament wasn’t parked in its usual spot. Most people were likely home with their loved ones this morning.
She cut the engine, grabbed her purse, and stepped out into the cold.Brrr.Her steps quickened until she pushed through the front entrance and was enveloped in heat and the smell of cinnamon and bleach. The giant Christmas tree was still in the corner of the front room, even larger than she remembered. Her gaze fell to the popsicle-stick ornament with Linus’s name on it. It looked like something a child might have made.
“Diana! Merry Christmas!” Ernest said as he pushed his mop forward.
“Merry Christmas to you as well. You don’t even get a day off on December twenty-fifth?”
He chuckled. “This place is my home. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Tell Linus hello for me.”
Diana nodded. “I will.” She headed past him, walking by a nurses’ station where a couple of employees were chatting about their plans for later in the day.
Meeka Jamison, the charge nurse, looked up as Diana passed. “Hey, Diana! Happy Holidays!”
“You too,” Diana said, slowing long enough to ask a question. “How is Linus?”
“Handsome as ever,” she said cheerily.
She wasn’t wrong. Even in his coma, Linus was still the handsomest man Diana had ever known. He wasn’t Linus without his lavender dog tie, though. Or his lopsided smile, quick wit, and self-deprecating humor.
Diana continued toward his room and rounded the corner. She couldn’t help it. Some part of her fantasized that he’d be sitting up. He had promised her last night, after all. Did he remember that? Was he really there? Maybe these last few days had only been a dream. If that were the case, though, Rochelle wouldn’t have woken up with her new boyfriend this morning.
Diana stood behind Linus’s door a moment, closed her eyes, and envisioned him sitting in bed eating Jell-O. Then she opened her eyes, took a breath, and turned the doorknob. Her heart plummeted into her empty belly. He wasn’t sitting up or eating anything. She shut the door behind her and approached his bedside. “Hey,” she said as she sat on the chair beside his bed and took his hand. “Remember me?”
Not a single muscle on his face moved. Not one.
