Saving Forever - Part 1 by Lexy Timms Read Free Book Online Page B

and held the door for her. His breath sucked in as he stepped through to see the view for himself.
    Charity couldn’t wait to read his expression. His eyes actually lit up. Or their brightness came from the chandelier’s reflection that hung not far from them. The floor on this level was a donut shape. A skinny round donut with a very large centre hole. People could walk around, or sit on antique benches. There were original brass bathroom and liquor signs on the outer wall.  A brass and cast iron railing ran between each pillar connecting them but still giving one full view of the scene below or across from them. Every angle seemed covered – except for the lower end of the large chandelier. It hid just a small space directly across.
    The walls were rough but large golden gilded mirrors lay against the walls, evenly spaced. Her father stepped carefully over the unfinished floors and put his hands on the top bar of the railing.
    Charity did the same thing. Below, all the original seating and floor plan had been ripped out. Half the flooring had been done in a dark, almost cherry, wood. It looked breathtaking with the chandelier sending zaps of gold and sparkles bouncing off of everything.
    “It’s extra bright now with the sun out. At night it’ll seem like we are looking up at the stars.”
    “That’s a very large space down there.” Her father continued to scan and scrutinize below.
    “We’re going to need it. She pointed to several spots. “I want to have gold banners coming down from up here, all the way to the area below. Mr. Bott said the waterfall will also be ready in time. They are building it in the far corner.” She pointed in the direction. “It’s going to look fantastic.” She could picture the layout in her head already, almost down to the itty-bitty details. Her mother would have loved everything about this place. The pain in her heart made its way to her throat. She had to swallow several times to get rid of it.
    Her father’s phone started to ring. “It’s the hospital.” He reached in and answered. A moment later he strode back to the entrance and hand motioned Charity to follow. “I’ll be right there. Prep the patient for surgery and ask one of the nurses to have my stuff ready. Send his chart and results to my phone right away and I’ll look over it as my daughter drives me back to the hospital.” He stuffed the phone in his pocket. “We need to go.”
    “Emergency?”
    “Bad accident.”
    “Let’s go then. You start walking to the car and I’ll shut everything off and lock up.”
    He was already out the door. Charity set the alarm and after locking the doors, she jogged to catch up to him. They drove in silence again, this time her father intent on his phone, even slipping on a pair of reading glasses Charity never knew he needed. As she turned into the hospital parking lot he took his glasses off and slipped them in his pocket. “The place will be great. Nice work.” He unclicked his seatbelt. “Call me if you need anything. I’ll be in surgery quite a while but just leave a message.” He jumped out and ran through the emergency entrance without saying goodbye.
    Charity pulled away from the curb, about to head back to her hotel, when she noticed her father’s phone lying on the passenger seat. She pulled into the visitor parking area and headed into the hospital.
    She had to wait for the elevator and by the time she stepped onto the sixth floor she knew her father would already be in surgery. He probably went straight to emergency instead of coming up to his office. She decided to try his office anyway.
    The nurse’s station was empty as she passed and the hall was quiet. She glanced at Elijah’s closed office door. Light shone through the frosted glass but she couldn’t tell if he was there or not. Charity reached for her father’s door handle and turned. She expected it to be locked but it opened.
    It felt eerie walking in, like she was snooping and shouldn’t