Page 359 of Under Her Skin

Meagan looks at me as she walks in between her father and me. “Do you smell that honey and lemonsmell?”

I take a deep breath and nod. “You think my mother’saround?”,

“I can’t hear her like I did before. I guess because I’m all me again. But I could smell her when they walked into the room. I guess the poor baby is really bad off,” she says with a sadface.

I’m shocked as her father stops, picks her up, and hugs her, then looks at me. “Can we all stop right here and pray for that child? Would everyone be okay with doing that?” he asks as he looks at every one ofus.

Kent, Randy, and I all hold out our hands as we stop in the middle of the hallway, join hands, and bow our heads. Meagan says, “Blaine, I think you should say theprayer.”

So I start a prayer for the baby none of us know a thing about, but we know one thing for sure. There’s a baby girl in this hospital who is near death and we must send our prayers up forher.

In the midst of what was supposed to be a day about me and Delaney, I’ve found there may have been a reason for our delayed wedding. One never knows how things will turnout.

The best-laid plans, as theysay.

DELANEY

“How long did I sleep?” I ask as I sit up and rub my eyes. My mother, father, soon to be sister-in-law, and my soon-t0-be brother-in-law’s new girlfriend stand aroundme.

“Finally!” my father says. “You’ve slept three hours.” He looks at my mother. “She needs a bit ofprimping.”

Kate and Tiffany spring into action, messing with my hair and makeup. “What happened?” I ask, then see Kate make aface.

“Oh no! You need to brush your teeth,Delaney!”

I look at Mom, nearly panicking. “Go to the nurses’ station and ask for a toothbrush packet, please, Mom.” Looking back at Kate, I ask, “I can’t remember hardly anything. Did I passout?”

“Yes, you did, and I am so sorry. I had no idea you were running on empty. I hope you can forgive me,” she says with a very sorryexpression.

Mom returns with the toothbrush packet, and I take it and go into the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, I see I don’t look quite as pretty as I did before. A crease is running along one cheek where I was lying on thebed.

I can’t believe I passed out. I feel fine now. Rinsing my mouth out, I dab the few drops of water away and decide I better use the bathroom while I’m here. Blaine will probably want to get going as soon as we getmarried.

I cannot believe I let myself get that way. That drink snuck up on me like a thief in the night. I can hear Kate on the phone with Blaine. “She’s up. Are you guys ready?” Then she says, “You’rekidding!”

Now,what?

As I walk out of the bathroom, I see Kate’s face has fallen. “I really am sorry,Delaney!”

“What’s the problem?” I ask as everyone looks verytired.

“There’s a grieving family in the chapel. It would be terrible to ask them to leave,” Kate says. “Blaine says he’s sorry. Now we all have towait.”

“I’m going to grab you something to eat, pumpkin,” Mom says and takes Dad with her to find mesomething.

I sit in the chair and wonder what happened to all the plans we made and why in the world so many things have gone wrong. Maybe this isn’t the right thing to do. Maybe the powers that be are stopping this fromhappening.

Maybe I should end this wholething!

I remember falling asleep and hoping I wouldn’t wake up to find this had all been a dream, but maybe it’s supposed to only be a memory.A memory of what almostwas.

BLAINE

A chill runs through me as we sit at a table in the cafeteria. Then I see Meagan looking at me. “You shouldn’t wait for the chapel, Blaine. You should get Nurse Richards and you should marry heranywhere.”

When I look up, I see Delaney’s mother and father coming into the nearly-empty cafeteria, and I get an idea. “I think you’reright.”

Getting up, I go to see the cashier, Shirley, who is still wearing a nametag that says, ‘Mildred.’ “Shirley, do you think it would be all right for us to have the wedding in here? We could make an aisle right through there and maybe dim all the lights like you do at night. What do yousay?”