“Witnesses,” suggested Hannah. “Throw 'em in there.”
“Flowers and colors?” asked Alicia.
“Christmas theme, right?” Ava looked at Olivia, who nodded vehemently. “So, white, red and green.”
For the next three hours, with the meticulous help of Alicia, the three of them—plus Olivia and Victoria—held estrogen-fueled pow-wows, discussing everything from food to dresses.
“I’ll have everything ready. Anything else?” Alicia rose when Ava shook her head, and put the notepad, laptop, and electronic gadgets in her Louis Vuitton backpack. “Don’t worry, Doctor Larsen, I will make this happen.”
Ava sighed in relief as Alicia left the room, ending the wedding talk for the day.
Though the planning period was short, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be a wondrous, magical celebration of their union. Albeit she would probably have to endure a few hair-pulling phone calls and sleepless nights leading up to said magical day.
But it was fine, if that was all it took to put that glowing happiness in Olivia’s eyes.
And it was alright, if that was all it took to make the tall, handsome man, with a striking smile and moody behavior, standing at the door, looking at her and Olivia with love in his eyes, her husband.
New York, Manhattan
Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center
10:00 p.m.
* * *
Brian waited until Dr. Wang was alone to make his way to her office. He was almost giddy with the gossip of Ava and Aleksander’s marriage. The perfect little bitch finally fucked up.
Dr. Wang was at her office door as he arrived and by the load of files she was carrying, she clearly had lots of work to do still. He shook the smile from his face immediately and cleared his throat. “Dr. Wang, I was hoping to catch you for a minute.”
“What is it, Dr. Duncan?” Dr. Wang asked, standing in the doorway as if she preferred not to invite him inside.
“I would prefer to say it in private,” Brian said. “It’s concerning a pretty serious ethical matter.” Dr. Wang didn’t show any hint of a reaction, so when she turned and stepped inside her office, Brian was hesitant to follow.
“Come on in if you must,” Dr. Wang said without looking at him and placed the armful of files on her desk before taking a seat behind it. She immediately turned her attention to one of her files, opening it and scribbling on the form.
Miserable old hag. Brian’s eyes narrowed, but he silently stepped into the office and closed the door behind him. “I’m here to report a breach of ethics by Dr. Ava Larsen.”
He elicited no response from Dr. Wang who continued to write, which pissed Brian off. “I know for a fact that she’s been getting unauthorized access to patient files for Olivia Maximilian,” he tried again.
Still no reaction.
Frustrated, he said, “And it has just come to my attention that Dr. Larsen is engaged and is going to marry Olivia’s father.”
Dr. Wang stopped writing.
Brian’s lips twisted upward knowing he had her attention.
“Is this some sort of game, Dr. Duncan?” she asked leaning back on her chair and staring at him. “Making up extravagant lies against the doctor who reported your lewd behavior?”
Brian feigned guilt and hung his head low. “It’s no game. I can get proof for you if needed.”
“There’s no need, Dr. Duncan. You may leave.”
“That’s it?” Brian said, maddened that she seemed to take such disinterest in Ava’s obviously unethical behavior only weeks after prosecuting him for the tiny bathroom incident. “Aren’t you going to at least investigate her?”
“Dr. Duncan, if I were you, I would concern yourself with your own ethical behavior,” Dr. Wang said sternly. “I will look into your accusations against Dr. Larsen and take appropriate actions.”
With that, Dr. Wang returned to scribbling notes in her files, meaning he was excused.
He closed the door to her office a bit harder than necessary and stalked off down the hall. There was no way Ava would be able to escape Dr. Wang’s investigative eye.
Still, Brian was pleased with this outcome. Ava would be her own downfall and Brian wanted to be there when it happened, to see the look on her pretty little face when she lost everything.
Nevada, Lake Tahoe
The Cottage
7:30 p.m.
* * *
During dinner Aleksander, Olivia, and Matthias kept trading whispers and secret looks which Ava feigned not to notice, but Sydney, who had not participated in whatever scheme the little girl had concocted, was dying of curiosity. Unable to contain herself anymore, the nurse bent, and very close to Olivia’s ear, she asked, “What is that all about?”
“What is what?” Olivia asked innocently, batting her now growing eyelashes. She’d gained a couple of pounds and her color was improved. There was now a thin, blonde fuzzy cap of hair covering her bald head. It wasn’t much, but it was there.
Her blue eyes were gleaming with mischief by the time dessert arrived. Not fruits or jelly or pudding, as usual. Matthias and Kira put in front of each one of them a pink petit gateau with raspberry and chocolate sauce carefully arranged to design two hearts on the plate.
Ava smiled at a brimming Olivia, who was almost jumping in her seat. “Oh, Pixie. I love it.”
“Now you have to eat it,” Olivia said, happy with the praise.
Aleksander came to stand behind his daughter’s chair and said, “It certainly looks delicious.”
“Mmm.” Ava cut into the crunchy pink edge of the cake with her spoon, hot chocolate fondant flowing from it. But when she scooped the steamy mellow filling, in the silverware there was something more—something more, almost thumbnail size—making her hand pause midway to her mouth.
She blinked and her breath caught.
Before she could say or do anything, Aleksander’s hand closed around her wrist and he took the spoon from her hand. Without releasing her arm, he knelt by her side. “Ava Larsen, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Her lips trembled, a lump formed in her throat, and she nodded.
Then he took a ring dripping with chocolate sauce and put it on her ring finger. It fit perfectly.
Ava looked at the messy ring, put her hands over her face, and burst out crying. He had probably done that because Olivia had asked him to, but hell if it wasn’t the sweetest and dreamiest thing a man could do.
“Ava?” Olivia asked, confused. “Is it too sticky?”
And then Ava was laughing and crying at the same time, because no one had made her cry with happiness before and she felt ridiculous—albeit a kind of happy ridiculous—for doing so. She raised her head from her hands and threw herself in Aleksander’s arms, kissing him to Olivia’s delight.
The little girl began to applaud and was joined by Sydney, Matthias, and Kira.
When she broke the kiss, Aleksander picked up a napkin from the table and cleaned her face and her hand.
“Thank you, Liv,” she said hugging the girl. “It’s perfect. The most beautiful surprise you could have thought of.”
Someday, Aleksander would shower Ava with jewelry. Paraíba Tourmalines set in white gold to match her changeable eyes. Black pearls to shine white against her creamy skin. Rubies to symbolize their passion. For her, he would buy only the best—the absurdly best, the kind of stuff someone paid insane amounts for—but not just to insure no one else in the world could also have it, although she was a unique woman.
He would buy only the best because what she gave him was priceless.
Chapter 34
Sunday, November 22, 2015
1:45 a.m.
* * *
He tugged her closer to his body. With both of them naked and sweaty after a bout of lovemaking, the sensation was sensual, but right then, it was also just good.
He felt strong and solid and protective around her, cherishing her.
Rubbing her cheek lightly on his bicep, she pressed
another kiss to it.
That initiated a lazy rumble that made her run her fingers across his lower stomach, her touch grazing his happy trail.
“Do that at your own peril.”
She laughed and placed her cheek against his chest, releasing a satisfied sigh. Her hair stretched across his skin, lightly caressing the surface, when she cuddled impossibly further into his side, her arm wrapped around his muscular torso.
He ran his fingers over the silky strands. “Ava?”
“Huh?”
“What did the doctor say?”
She was dreading the question since she had told him after dinner that Dr. Goldenstein wanted to talk with her and that she would like to do that in private. She disengaged from his embraced and got out from the bed. With her back to him, she said, “Get dressed. We have to talk.”
3:30 a.m.
* * *
His eyes were glued to the dying fire in the fireplace. His eyes felt as though he’d scrubbed his corneas with sandpaper, and a toothy vise clamped over his temples and the back of his neck, his pulse pounding in his temples.
When she left the room to check on Olivia and give him some space, he went downstairs and dug aspirin out of the kitchen cabinet. He downed them with water that he drank like a man dying of thirst before walking out onto the patio.
Starlight showered and the moon, waxing toward full, pulsed against the night sky. And down below, Lake Tahoe’s turquoise serene waters lapped the shoreline.
For untold minutes, he stood still. Just breathing. Staring into the darkness. Wanting some time to process all she had told him before making a decision.
“Alek?” Ava whispered, as she discovered him hunched on the patio rail, gazing distractedly. “Can’t sleep?”
“Headache.”
“Some tea might help.” She came to him, automatically reaching up to rub at his shoulders, seeking to free him of the tension. When her eyes met his, her look of concern deepened. “What is it?”
“A lot of things.”
“Tell me one of them.”
“It might not work.”
She didn’t need him to elaborate on what mightn’t work. “Negative thinking is unproductive. Plus, past history and statistics say it will work.”
“I know.” He lifted his shoulders, let them fall in the most casual gesture. “I guess I need time to deliberate on it all.”
She went to the kitchen, made them both a cup of hot chamomile tea, and back on the patio, snuggled by his side on the couch. “You are afraid, I know.”
“Terrified.”
“I would be, too. Hell, I have been.” Ava knew what he was going through. Knew the weight of having to make a decision like that.
“Yes, you have, haven’t you?” He pulled her into his arms. “And what would you do?”
“The way I see it, we have three scenarios.” She skirted answering by raising a hand and showing him three fingers. “One, we do nothing and Olivia dies; Two, we go ahead, and, if Dr. Goldenstein isn’t successful, we lose Olivia on the table.”
You mean: Olivia becomes a vegetable, for the rest of her life tied to machines. He rested his cheek on the side of her head and finished for her, “Provided Olivia agrees with going ahead,”—he stressed it—“the third scenario is: Dr. Goldenstein operates, and if he is successful, she is free of the cancer but blind.”
“Yes,” she said. “She will be blind, but she would live.”
He let out a haggard breath. “Tell me about Emma.”
While they talked, the sun broke over the horizon, splashing gold over the night-dark lake in a stunning and unique spectacle of nature making Aleksander’s heart break a little bit more.
If Olivia lives, she will never see this. He pulled Ava closer to his body. But if she lives, she will grow to be a happy woman and one day she will find love.
He turned to Ava. “We are going to tell Olivia.”
10:00 a.m.
* * *
“Olivia,” Aleksander said in a teasing worried voice when The Princess and the Frog ended and Olivia opened her journal—the one she had bought solely for their wedding—and began furiously writing in it. “What are you planning this time?”
Ava sneaked a peek at it and said, “Kristus, Liv. I don’t need a sleigh to bring me to the door.”
The girl closed the notebook and smiled at her. “Then can we go on a ride today? Can we?”
“If it’s not snowing, yes.”
“I’ll call Veronica and schedule one for us later,” Aleksander said, referring to the youngest of the Borges family who were the oldest and best sleigh ride service Lake Tahoe could offer
Sydney’s head appeared in the doorway. “Time for your shower, Liv.”
Obediently, the girl scooted out of the bed and followed Sydney to her room, with Toddy on their heels.
Aleksander stood up and stretched, walking to the door and locking it.
“I think I’m going to take a shower too,” said Ava.
He raked a hand through his hair and asked, “When do you think it’s a good time to tell her?”
“It’ll come. Naturally.” She placed a kiss on his mouth. “If we force the subject, she’ll be scared.”
Aleksander raked two hands through his hair. “I need some release. I’ll go for a run…”
“Well,” she ran her hands over his chest. “If it’s release you need—”
She finished her sentence in a squeal when he grabbed her by by the waist and went to the bathroom carrying her with him.
4:30 p.m.
* * *
“Say cheese!” Olivia shouted at them as they posed beside the sleigh which Aleksander had hired.
Since the Maximilians were old customers, Veronica Borges came to The Cottage to pick them up and did a special tour following Olivia’s whims, so she could take a lot of photos with her late model iPhone during the one-hour ride.
“See you soon.” Olivia waved as Veronica rode away and hurried inside to get the sweetened chestnuts Matthias promised he would have ready for her when she was back from her ride.
“Thank God Veronica convinced her that having a sleigh wedding here wouldn’t do,” Ava said.
“They are specialists in weddings, you know.”
“One time in an open sleigh wedding back home, a horse got spooked and carried a bride for miles until they were able to catch him and bring her back. What if I end up in California?”
She grinned and he laughed.
She always made him laugh, even when she was teasing him.
He was surprised, actually, that he could feel so much happiness, despite all the worry and sadness he was going through.
“Uh…” At the door, Olivia was looking at them a little bemused. “Daddy, it’s cold. You two planning on staying on the porch all night? It can’t be nice to kiss with cold lips. It might give you the cramps.”
Ava burst out laughing because Aleksander had his mouth open and actually looked at a loss for once.
“All right,” she told the little girl. “It’s official. Olivia, you must start working on your romantic bits.”
“Why? You’re both smiling. You’re both happy. How pretty everything is, how beautiful Ava is, how handsome Daddy looks.”
“So are you, skatten min,” said Ava, touched by the little girl’s selfishness. “And you will be the most beautiful flower-girl a bride could ever have.”
“I wish photos could have smell and sound. Oh, and taste, too,” she said, as she popped the last sweetened chestnut in her mouth. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“Very nice.”
Olivia plopped on the couch and asked, “When I am gone to heaven, will you remember this holiday?”
Ava hesitated, but it was the perfect time to broach the surgery subject. She sat beside the girl and said, “I want to tell you something.”
Olivia stared at her expectantly.
“I found a surgeon who is willing to operate on your tumor, Pixie,” she said, stroking he
r hand.
Olivia’s face was a blanket of confusion. “What? I thought it was…erm…too hard?”
“It is. But I know a doctor who is very good. The best at what he does. And he thinks there is a chance that he can remove the cancer for good.”
Olivia swallowed.
Ava was surprised to see fear in her eyes, instead of jubilation.
Aleksander knelt in front of her, but his eyes were on Ava. “There is a good chance, Liv.”
But still the little girl said nothing.
Ava squeezed her hand. “What is it, skatten min?”
“I just…I don’t want to go back to the hospital.”
“Maybe this would be the last time.” Ava smiled gently, coaxing the girl. “And maybe you get to live for a long, long time to still enjoy beautiful days.”
Olivia’s eyes widened. “If I do, the tumor inside my head will be gone forever? No more headaches? No more sickness?”
“There’s a good chance, although not everything would be perfect afterwards.”
“But I could—I would…stay with you?” She took in a breath. “And when you and Daddy have a baby, I can be her big sister?”
Ava nodded and looked at Aleksander, who was obviously going through a thousand questions in his head, none of which he could ask while his daughter was around.
“Yes, but if everything goes as good as it possibly can, there is one little problem.” Before Olivia could ask what the problem was—if she even thought to ask because she was so shocked by her future changing right before her eyes—Ava added, “You will probably not be able to see anymore.”
“But if I go blind…how am I going to see my little sister?” Squeezing her eyes shut, she gasped when she realized how disorienting it was. “And how will I know where to go if my eyes can’t see anything?”