But thankfully Rose takes pity on me and says, “We’ll leave now. Would you guys like to come over for dinner tomorrow?”
I’m about to say yes, anything to get them to leave, when my senses return. Vienna has to be at the hospital tomorrow afternoon. The doctor wants to run some tests in preparation of her procedure on Monday.
I tell them the first reasonable excuse I can think of. “W-we’re going out of t-town tomorrow night for two d-days.”
“Out of town? Now?” Zander’s eyebrows rise, his dimpled smile immediately vanishing. “You have the wedding on Thursday.” Before I can find a suitable reply for my brother, Vienna says, “I actually want to visit a distant relative and invite them to the wedding.”
“But can’t you do that on the phone, or by email? Going now, three days before the wedding…”
“I’m not close to them, but they’re the only family I have left. They might not even come.” The sadness on her face seems to melts my brother’s heart and he nods.
“Okay, you guys go. We’ll take care of everything here. But be careful.”
Once Rose and Zander finally leave, I glance at the forgotten ring now resting on the glass table. I hold it up. “May I?” Her hand trembles as she places it over mine, and I slide it on her finger.
“Thank you, Zane. It’s perfect, like you.” Vienna traces the ring with her fingertips before placing a kiss on my cheek.
Her touch and her words, have my heart pounding so hard that I fear it’ll rip out of my body.
* * *
Vienna stayed quiet during the whole ride. When we reached home, I asked what she would like to eat, but she simply shook her head and curled up on the porch beside Tassels and Mystery. I’m sure the thought of her biopsy is slowly sinking in.
I look out through the kitchen window at her lost frame, staring far at the hills. I don’t think she’s enjoying the serenity tonight. Most likely, there’s turmoil inside her.
I open the fridge. The company that delivers homemade meals for me has prepared two boxes with rice and chicken for us. I transfer the food to two bowls before sliding them into the microwave and throwing some bread in the oven.
“Fuck!” With my mind continuously going back to Vienna, what she’s going through, and what’s to come next, my hand gets too close to the hot metal.
“Zane!” Vienna rushes to me.
I didn’t even know she was inside the kitchen.
“What are you doing?” She holds my hand under the running water in the sink and then wipes it cool with a kitchen towel.
“It’s-s okay.” There’s still a burning sensation, but I already feel much better now that she’s no longer silent and lost. “How ar-re you?”
She looks up at me, and the usual spark in her eyes is nowhere to be found.
“I’m scared.” She grips my hands tightly. “I’m hoping this will all be a dream.”
The raw voice behind her admission breaks my heart, and I pull her close to my chest.
“I really wish everyth-thing was a dream, exc-cept you.”
She places a gentle kiss over the cotton of my shirt over my pounding heart, and in this moment, I think I fell in love with my fake fiancée.
“It’ll all be over b-before you know it,” I tell her, even though I know these two days in the hospital are just the beginning of a harrowing journey for her.
She stays in my arms as if there’s no other place she would like to be. My own heartbeat slowly calms as I feel her pulse returning to normal.
Vienna takes a deep whiff, and when I think it must have been my imagination, she asks, “Zane, which shower gel do you use, the purple or the red one?”
A surprise grin pulls on my lips, which she of course doesn’t see. She must have spotted the shower gel bottles in my bathroom when she was getting ready this morning. “Th-the purple one.”
“Hmm.” She takes another whiff, making a loud inhaling sound. “I used the red one. It doesn’t smell this good.”
After Vienna’s mood is a bit better, which my crazy brain is partly attributing to my nice-smelling shower gel, I hand her a creamy chicken bowl. As much as I hate doing it, I read her the instruction email from the hospital about tomorrow.