“Mrs. Colter is out of surgery,” the doctor began.

Not able to contain himself another moment, Adam shot to his feet, but Ethan beat him to the doctor.

“How is she?” Ethan demanded. “Will she be all right? When can we see her?”

The surgeon held up a placating hand. “She’ll be fine. She’ll make a full recovery. We were able to remove her appendix before it burst. I’ll want her to stay in the hospital a day or two so I can be certain there’s no infection or leakage, but if all goes well she’ll be home before Christmas. ”

The relief in the room was palpable. Adam’s shoulders sagged and his eyes burned with sudden tears. Holly was his life. His entire life. And, oh God, he couldn’t lose her.

Dillon’s arm went around him and Adam turned, hugging his son fiercely as the others comforted one another.

“When can we see her?” Ethan asked hoarsely.

The doctor eyed the room full of people with doubt. “You can’t all see her. One of you can go in when she gets out of recovery. ”

Ryan scowled. “Hell no. We can manage three, but we’re going in to see her. ”

The doctor

cleared his throat. “It’s customary for a spouse to have access. The rest of the family must wait until she’s in a room. ”

“We are her damn husbands,” Ryan snarled. He jabbed his thumb into his chest and then jerked it over his shoulder to point at Ethan and Adam.

The doctor’s brows lifted and he went silent. He fiddled with his clipboard and uneasily fidgeted. “Uh, well, there isn’t a precedent for this. Perhaps you should take it up with the nurse in charge. ”

After saying that, the doctor beat a hasty retreat, muttering under his breath as he went.

Ryan turned back to Adam and Ethan. “Let’s go. They’ll let us in or I’ll tear this damn place apart. ”

Ethan chuckled, the tension escaping in a rush. “You don’t have a good track record with hospitals, man. ” He turned to Adam. “Remember when his cranky ass was shot and he pissed off every nurse and doctor in the ER and on the floor until they put him in the same room as Holly?”

Adam smiled but his heart clutched at that long-ago memory. At the moment he knew he’d be every bit as forceful as Ryan if they dared to keep him away from his wife.

CHAPTER 13

IT was as if time had stopped and for the moment Christmas had been suspended into a nebulous cloud that floated above the Colter family. Everyone refused to even contemplate the holiday without Holly at home, surrounded by her family.

She was, as Adam had asserted, the very center, the heart and soul of her husbands and children.

Holly sat in the hospital bed, her fingers gripping the sheet as she considered her options. With Christmas just a few days away, the very last thing she wanted was to be stuck in a hospital room when she could be at home, surrounded by the family she so dearly loved.

“I’m not asking, Dr. Hollister,” she said calmly, because she’d long ago discovered that calm was hard to argue with. “I’d like to be discharged today. I understand your concerns, and I’ll heed your instructions to the letter, but I would recover more rapidly in my own home. ”

“Nothing like throwing me to the wolves,” the doctor said dryly. “Those husbands of yours will kick my ass if I let you walk out of here before they believe it’s time. Hard to remember who has the medical degree here. ”

The light sarcasm in his voice made Holly grin. Dr. Hollister had been Holly’s physician for years. He was well acquainted with her unusual situation, just as he was very well acquainted with her husbands’ huge protective streak when it came to her.

“I want to be home for Christmas,” she said, an ache in her voice that was more pronounced than any residual pain from her surgery. “It’s going to be so wonderful this year. And I’m cooking!”

Dr. Hollister stared at her over his glasses and tactfully cleared his throat. “Well, maybe it’s best if you aren’t puttering around a kitchen quite yet. ”

Holly snorted. “You’ve listened to far too many stories about my lack of ability in the kitchen. My daughter-in-law is a dream cook, and she’s taught me how to make the most awesome holiday dinner. ” Her smile softened wistfully. “All my babies are going to be home this year. That hasn’t happened in so long. We always have most, but not everyone. No way I’m going to miss that. ”

Dr. Hollister smiled indulgently. “I’m going to let you go, Holly. I don’t fool myself into thinking that if I said no you’d actually listen to me. But I want you to follow my care instructions to the letter, and don’t think I won’t outline them in great detail to your husbands. ”

She scowled at him. “I’m not staying in bed twenty-four/seven. Just so you know. Don’t even hint to my husbands that this is part of your care plan. ”

He chuckled and shook his head. “What I’m going to tell them is that you are to resume normal activities with caution and that you are to rest perhaps more than usual until you’re feeling more yourself again. I want you to take your medications and I want you to listen to your body, Holly. I’m serious about this. If it’s telling you to slow down and rest, then do it. You don’t want to end up back in the hospital, I assume?”

She shook her head vigorously.

“Then follow my instructions and we’ll all be happy. Your husbands included. ”

“Okay, okay,” she grumbled. “How soon can you have me discharged?”

He sighed. “One-track mind you have. Give me an hour, okay? I need to give the nurse my report and write your scripts. She’ll be down to set you loose as soon as I’m done. Happy?”

She beamed at him. “Thanks, Pete. You know I appreciate you. ”

He rolled his eyes. “You only appreciate me when you’re bending me to your will. ” He leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Take care of yourself, okay? I’ll want to see you again in a week. If you don’t want to drive up to the city, I’ll be happy to come out on a Saturday. ”

Holly snagged his hand and squeezed. Over the years, Pete Hollister had become a family friend. During that terrible time when she’d been attacked and then had discovered her pregnancy, he’d been a rock. And because she’d trusted him, she’d continued to seek his medical care in the years afterward. She and her husbands had donated a large sum of money to fund his clinic for those who couldn’t afford healthcare and had no insurance, and as a result he felt deep loyalty to the Colters. It was nothing for him to drop everything and make the trip to Clyde if one of them needed care beyond what the general practitioner in Clyde provided. And, well, he didn’t seem to trust others to care for the Colters. He’d sort of adopted them, and while he gave her husbands grief over being so protective of her, he was just as protective of the Colters as a whole.

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