Wide Spaces (A Wide Awake Novella, Book 2) by The 12 NAs of Christmas, Shelly Crane Page A

hand up to my face, he held me in place for a series of kisses and licks and bites that had me forgetting me were at a hospital and wanting it to be our honeymoon.
    When he pulled back with a small laugh, I scowled. "I wanted to kiss you so badly that day in your room at the h ospice on your bed. The day we were supposed to have a date and I was late."
    "The day you teased me with your 'I just wan ted to taste that coconut' line," I said in my best Mason voice.
    He smiled, full-wattage. "Yeah. That."
    "Why were you late?"
    "Mamma had a doctor's appointment that day and the nurse's son got sick at the last minute, so she couldn't take her."
    I frowned and chided softly. "You could have just told me."
    "I kno w." He nodded. "I wish I had. I just loved the way we were and I thought if you found out about me you'd want nothing to do with me."
    "But you didn't know that it would make me love you even more for it, did you?"
    He smiled bashfully, but right into my eyes. "I should have. I'm sorry I didn't trust you."
    "Mason, you got hypothermia for me." Even saying it brought on a fresh round of tears. I smiled through them. "It's all forgotten."
    He sighed and leaned his forehead to mine. "Tell me you still love me."
    "I never stopped," I whispered.
    He lifted his head just barely, just enough to see my face. He groaned, "I love you, Em."
    "I love you."
    He scooted as close as he could and held my face gently. "Thank you for not leaving me here without you."
    I felt a sob break free of my lungs as the fact of how close I'd really been to death sank in. The nurse said they had to bring me back…
    I didn't want to know right then what exactly that entailed. But soon I'd get Mason to tell me the story.
    "Thank you for coming to get me."
    His thumbs caressed achingly slow across my cheeks. "I will forever do that." He smiled and glanced out the window. It was bright and white. The storm had calmed, leaving a peaceful, quiet morning behind. Funny how that seemed to be the theme of our lives."Merry Christmas, baby."

 
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
    Dolly Parton once anonymously entered a Dolly Parton look-alike contest…and lost to a drag queen.
     

 
    Mason

     
     
     
    Emma's parents were relieved, to say the least. They were also very upset with me that I hadn't gotten in touch with them sooner. I didn't tell them the extent of Emma's situation. They thought I went out and found her right away. They didn't know their daughter almost died again. I didn't have the heart to tell them over the phone. They didn't know that I'd stayed in bed with Emma all night to keep her warm and stave off hypothermia, and then long after that because I couldn't make myself leave her. I stood at the desk of the nurses station, the landline phone to my ear, and wanted to laugh at them the way they handed the phone back and forth, grilling me, laying into me, and then thanking me within seconds of each other.
    Emma couldn't go home today, but s he was in excellent spirits. It was Christmas after all. Her family was bringing the Christmas to her as soon as the roads were cleared.
    And they said they would check on my mom before they came there since my truck got towed from the ambulance bay this morning with a dead battery. But that was OK. It was worth it.
    I went back into the room with her and watched her sleep as I waited in my green scrubs. The news had said we were in a state of emergency from the storm, so there were plenty of things still not working properly, cell phones being one of them.
    I sat t here, waiting and watching until her family showed up. I wondered what Rhett and Isabelle were going to think of my small, normal house. They'd never been there, but they were going to be my in-laws, so they better get used to it.
    However, I was shocked when I saw the officer from last night come through the doors and head right for me. He stared at me expectantly and then sighed. "Well? You found her, didn't you? How is she?"
    "I found her." I