Just The Way You Are(83)

"Everything okay?" Alli asked as she joined them. She smiled down at Megan. "Better?"

Megan nodded, pushing the ice pack away from her face. "I'm hungry."

"I think there's a snack machine over there," Alli said. "Come and pick out something with me."

Megan immediately slipped off Tessa's lap and took her mother's hand.

"Anyone else want anything?" Alli asked.

Jimmy said no, and Tessa shook her head, feeling suddenly cold without Megan on her lap.

"What's wrong?" Jimmy asked.

"Nothing."

"Liar."

"I thought I was satisfied with my life until I came here," she said.

"And saw what you were missing? Come on, Tessa, I know Tucker's Landing is a cute little town, but do you really want to spend your life here?"

"I want a husband. I want children. I want some roots somewhere."

He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You do?"

"I don't think I realized I did until just now." She got to her feet and stretched her arms over her head. "Everything is all mixed up in my mind. And I find it odd that we're in this part of the hospital with Sam while my grandmother is just a few floors up."

"You want to go see her?"

"I think so. Do you want to come with me?"

"I'll wait here with Alli and Megan. I've been in emergency rooms before, and I have a feeling it will be a while before we see Sam again."

"I'll just stop in and say hello to Grams and tell her we're going to shuck some more oysters. That should reassure her."

Tessa stepped onto the elevator just as Alli returned to Jimmy with a bag of nacho chips and a can of Gatorade. She popped the lid for Megan and handed it over to her, then squeezed open the bag of chips. It was all so ordinary, and she relished the simple movements, feeling more like they were in a park at a picnic than in the emergency room of a hospital.

"Did Tessa go up to see Grams?"

"Yes."

"That's good." She cast another worried look at the double doors through which Sam had disappeared. She wished she could have gone with him.

"He's going to be fine, you know," Jimmy said.

"I know, but that doesn't stop me from worrying. Since I had Megan I've become immensely concerned with my own mortality—and Sam's, too." She dropped her voice, even though Megan had wandered over to a chair closer to the television set. "I don't want her to grow up without both of her parents."

"The way you did," Jimmy said.

"I wouldn't want her to go through that for anything in the world. Losing my parents left me with this incredible sense of panic that kicks in every time someone I love is a little bit late. I know it drives Sam crazy how often I call to check up on him, but he never had the rug pulled out from under him the way I did."

"I can see how you would worry. But he will be all right. You got him here in time."

"I know. You're right." She leaned back against her chair, taking slow, deep breaths. Five minutes passed, then fifteen. Alli stood up and paced. Jimmy went to get a soda. A half hour and no word. She was just about to demand to be taken to Sam when Tessa reappeared.#p#分页标题#e#

"How's Grams?" Alli asked.

Tessa frowned. "Tired, worried, sluggish. She was talking better yesterday than she is today. William said she just got back from physical therapy and that makes her too tired to speak clearly."

Alli studied Tessa's face thoughtfully, wondering if there was something her sister wasn't telling her. "Are you sure that's all it is?"

"I think so. She's still focused on us getting that pearl. I don't want to be the one to tell her we failed."

"We won't fail. Maybe you and Jimmy should go home and get started."

"I want to make sure Sam is all right," Tessa said.

"It could be a while."

"I don't want to leave yet."

Alli slowly nodded. "All right. Then we wait."

Fifteen minutes later, the double doors opened and Sam appeared in a wheelchair.

"I told them I could walk," he said as he was rolled up to them.

Alli smiled down at him with her heart filled to the brim with love. Thank God he was all right! His face was still swollen, but his breathing was clear and sharp. "Are you really okay?" She couldn't help taking his hand, and he gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm fine. How's Megan?"

Alli tipped her head to where Megan was engrossed in a television program, completely oblivious to anything else in the room. "Recovered," she said with a wry smile.

"Good. I was afraid she was worrying about me and blaming herself." Sam got to his feet. "Whoa," he said, steadying himself with a hand on Alli's shoulder. She slipped her arm around his waist.