Forbidden Surrender

‘Yes,’ her sister nodded.

‘You won’t change your mind?’

Marie licked her dry lips. ‘No.’

Sara hugged and kissed her, both of them laughing and crying at the same time, Marie’s headache apparently forgotten.

A knock sounded on the door before Dominic entered the room. ‘The doctor’s here, Marie,’ he frowned as they both beamed at him. ‘What’s happened?’

Sara stood up. ‘I’ll leave you two alone.’ She moved to the door, unintentionally brushing past Dominic as she went out, her breath catching in her throat at the warm vitality of him. ‘I—er—I’ll send the doctor up in a minute.’ She hastily closed the door and fled down the stairs.

When Dominic came down a few minutes later he was somewhat dazed. ‘How did you do it?’ he asked Sara softly.

She didn’t even pretend to misunderstand him. ‘I pointed out what a lovely future she had as your wife,’ she looked down, biting her bottom lip, ‘as the mother of your children.’

‘And that caused this change of heart?’

Her head went back. ‘Yes.’

‘Well, of course it would,’ her father said excitedly. ‘We should have thought of it before, Dominic, should have talked about the future instead of the present. God, I don’t care how it came about, I’m just glad she’s agreed at last.’ His arm went about Sara’s shoulders. ‘I don’t know how to thank you.’

‘I don’t want or need thanks. I just hope that Mr Forrester can operate now, before Marie has time to have second thoughts.’

Dominic frowned. Do you think she might?’

She swallowed hard. ‘Not if I keep reminding her of her future as your wife.’

‘Sara—’

‘I think I can hear Mr Forrester,’ she interrupted brightly, turning towards the door, swallowing down the raw emotion she felt at Dominic’s husky exclamation. Why couldn’t he leave her alone now? Couldn’t he see how the thought of him and Marie as husband and wife was breaking her up.

Simon Forrester looked very pleased when he came into the room. ‘If I could just use your telephone, Michael? I want to get Marie to hospital as soon as possible.’

‘You’re going to do it now?’ Sara’s father asked. ‘Today?’

The doctor nodded. ‘I don’t think we have any time to lose.’

After that things moved very fast. The hospital room was arranged, the ambulance sent for. Sara herself went in the ambulance with her sister, Dominic and her father following behind in Dominic’s car.

‘She’s already sedated,’ the doctor warned Sara as she joined Marie in the ambulance. ‘So don’t expect a great deal of conversation from her,’ he smiled, patting her hand comfortingly.

For the first part of the journey Marie seemed to be asleep, but Sara sat and held her hand anyway, sure that her sister could feel her presence beside her, could even draw on some of her strength to help her get through this.

It felt weird to be travelling through London in an ambulance, the siren wailing to warn the other traffic of the seriousness of the patient inside.

‘Sara? Sara!’ Marie opened bleary eyes; their journey was almost over.

‘I’m here,’ Sara reassured her, bending forward into Marie’s vision.

‘Tell him I love him, Sara. No matter what happens I want you to tell him I love him.’

‘He already knows,’ Sara said huskily

‘No,’ Marie shook her head, her voice slurred from the sedation. ‘No, he doesn’t know. Tell—tell Danny I love him.’

‘Danny?’ Sara repeated sharply, frowning heavily. ‘Surely you mean Dominic? Marie, it’s Dominic you love, Dominic you’re going to marry.’

‘Tell—tell Danny I love him,’ Marie repeated, dozing back into a drugged sleep.

Sara frowned. Tell Danny she loved him?

CHAPTER TEN

IT was a long night, not least because of Sara’s utter confusion about Marie’s emotions. Had she really meant for her to tell Danny, Dominic’s brother, that she loved him? It didn’t seem very likely. Marie had probably been confused by the sedative, had gone back into the past, to last summer when she and Danny were dating. Consequently, Sara didn’t make that call to Danny, sure that there had been some sort of mistake.