Bride on the Children's Ward / Marriage Reunited: Baby on the Way by Lucy Clark / Sharon Archer Read Free Book Online Page A

true.’ Sasha glanced behind her at the closed door. ‘Where’s Robert?’
    ‘Gone to make some phone calls. He said he wouldn’t be long. Do you want me to go find him?’
    ‘No.’ Sasha’s word was insistent and her big brown eyes—which were so much like her brother’s—stared at Eden. ‘I’m scared, Ede.’ Her lower lip began to quiver and her eyes instantly filled with tears. ‘I’ve put on a brave face. I’ve told everyone not to cry, not to lie and not to look back, but…’ She hiccuped. ‘I can’t walk. I can’t walk! ’ The tears bubbled over. ‘One minute my life is on track, and the next I’m lying in a hospital beneath a big round X-ray machine being told my spinal cord’s been severely damaged and that I may never walk again. It’s not fair. It’s so not fair. Poor Robert looks at me like he doesn’t know what to do next, and I don’t know what I want him to do, and we’ve only been married for a few years and I love him so much, but it’s not fair to put him through this, but if he leaves I’ll just shrivel up into nothing, and I have to know…What am I supposed to do now?’ She broke down and sobbed, clinging to Eden’s arm.
    Eden reached for a tissue with her free hand and gently dabbed the tears away, brushing the hair from her friend’s face. The door to the private room opened and Eden glanced up as David slipped in. She silently communicated that he should stay back, which he did. Sasha’s sobs were so heartwrenching, so full of pain and despair it really was heartbreaking, but Eden was glad Sasha had finally broken down.
    Softly she spoke. ‘ This is what you’re supposed to do, Sash. You’re supposed to cry, honey. You’re allowed to wallow, to feel sorry for yourself. You need to let the emotions out so the healing can come in.’ She leaned closer and kissed Sasha’s forehead. ‘Don’t be ashamed to cry.’
    Sasha reached up with her other arm and hooked it around Eden’s neck, holding her friend close as she cried. Eden could feel the pain, feel the anguish, and it was impossible to stop her own tears.
    ‘I hate feeling sorry for myself,’ Sasha whispered. ‘What if I get so depressed I stay that way?
    ‘Not going to happen. You’re too strong for that. Besides, a little depression is more than natural given what you’ve been through. You need to let it out, let out the stress and the anxiety and the uncertainty. You are surrounded by people who love you.’
    Eden looked over at David and he walked towards his sister. Sasha looked up at him and David’s heart constricted at the look in her eyes. It was as though she was six years old again and had done something wrong, and didn’t have a clue what to do next.
    ‘Cry, my sweet friend, because you’ll feel much better—I promise.’ Eden spoke softly but clearly near Sasha’s ear. ‘It’s OK to cry. It’s OK,’ she soothed. ‘I’m here, David’s here, and let’s not forget that brilliant husband of yours. We won’t let you fall.’ Eden sniffed as she spoke, her voice thick with emotion as she made such solemn promises to her friend. Tears slid down her cheeks as she felt Sasha’s pain. Her tears must have landed on Sasha because her friend looked up.
    ‘Why are you crying?’ Sasha asked, sniffing and releasing her grip on Eden to reach for a tissue.
    ‘Me? I’m not crying.’ She wiped at her own eyes, belying her words. ‘I merely have itchy eyes. On my way here I walked by the catering hall and they were chopping heaps of onions. I must have breathed in deeper than I thought and that’s why my eyes are watering. Crying? Pffttt! ’ She waved the suggestion away as though it was ludicrous.
    Sasha started laughing at the ridiculous excuse. ‘That’s our Eden. Isn’t it, David? Always saying the craziest things.’
    David looked across at Eden and acknowledged the deep, abiding friendship the two women had shared for most of their lives. For two weeks he’d watched his sister